Pilot vs QuickBooks Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Pilot pricing | QuickBooks pricing | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $99/mo | $38/mo |
| Number of plans | 3 | 4 |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | |
| Pricing model | flat-rate | per-seat |
Price is one row. To weigh the features too, use our feature comparison template →
Essentials
- Cash-basis bookkeeping using data from your bank and credit cards
- Standard chart of accounts
- Year-end package for your tax preparer
- Instant AI answers about past transactions and current cash flow, plus run scenarios to plan ahead
- Support through in-app messaging
Core
- US-based bookkeeper who handles, explains, and reviews your books
- Cash or accrual-basis bookkeeping that pulls from your bank, credit cards, payroll, AP, inventory, and payment platforms
- Bill management for up to 10 vendor bills per month
- Custom chart of accounts
- Reports on the 10th business day
- Support from your dedicated team in-app, email, and over the phone
Custom
- Keep your existing QuickBooks account and historical data
- Support for complex business structures
- Custom workflows and reporting
- Reports on the 6th business day
- Full accounts receivable
- Full accounts payable
- Payroll administration
- CFO advisory, financial planning, and fundraising support. Connect with your dedicated CFO in-app, by email, phone, or Slack
Simple Start
Popular- Intelligent onboarding with expert-guided setup (NEW)
- AI Chat for instant insights (BETA)
- Categorizes expenses
- Maximizes tax deductions (NEW)
- Handles the busywork (BETA)
- Run general business reports
- Automated bookkeeping
- Invoice and get paid
- Automate bill pay with free ACH
Essentials
- Annual books check-in with action plan (NEW)
- Cleans up your books, fast
- Creates invoices in bulk, automatically (BETA)
- Gets you paid faster
- Estimates quarterly payments
- Run enhanced reports
- Add employee time to invoices
- Integrate third-party data into KPIs and dashboards (NEW)
- Collect leads from a custom form on your website
Plus
- Reconciles your books
- Transactions auto-categorized and verified (NEW)
- Surfaces profit & loss insights
- Chat to plan scenarios and save as budgets (BETA)
- Finds and fixes anomalies
- Catch discrepancies pre-filing
- Sources leads and follows up
- Run comprehensive reports
- Plan budgets
- Track project profitability
- Track and manage inventory
- Track classes and locations (40)
Advanced
- Auto-creates projects and allocates costs
- Continuous books quality checks, with quarterly insights (NEW)
- Gives financial insights tailored to your business
- Customize dashboards with personalized KPIs and metrics to measure what matters most
- Track performance with unlimited classes, locations, and custom KPIs
- Free 1099 e-filing and approval workflows with Bill Pay Elite** (NEW)
- Construction financials solution (NEW)
- Advanced project financials (NEW)
- Customize user permissions and access
- Automate workflows
- Sync data with Excel
- Batch invoices and expenses
- Get priority support and training
Pilot vs QuickBooks FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- QuickBooks is the cheaper option, starting at $38/mo vs $99/mo for Pilot.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Neither has a free plan. But QuickBooks offers a free trial.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Pilot uses flat-rate pricing, while QuickBooks goes with per-seat. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Pilot: Pilot sits in the premium tier of startup bookkeeping services — well above DIY tools like QuickBooks or Xero, and priced to compete with Bench and Puzzle rather than freelance bookkeepers. They're clearly chasing venture-backed startups who'll trade cash for reliability and investor-ready financials. QuickBooks: QuickBooks sits mid-to-premium in small biz accounting — pricier than Wave (free) or newer entrants like Xero's lower tiers, but it trades on being the default choice accountants already know. The jump from Simple Start to Advanced (a nearly 9x spread) shows they're not competing on being cheap, they're betting on lock-in and ecosystem familiarity.
Still deciding? See the best Pilot alternatives or the best QuickBooks alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
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