QuickBooks vs Zoho Books Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| QuickBooks | Zoho Books | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $38/mo | $20/mo |
| Number of plans | 5 | 4 |
| Free plan | ||
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | per-seat | flat-rate |
Free
- 1 user
- No accountant access
- Track income and expenses
- Send 2 invoices per month
- Run profit & loss report
- Connect 1 bank
- Chat support
Simple Start
- 1 user
- With access for 2 accountants
- Run general business reports
- Automated bookkeeping
- Invoice and get paid
- Automate bill pay with free ACH
Essentials
- 3 users
- With access for 2 accountants
- Run enhanced reports
- Add employee time to invoices
- Integrate third-party data into KPIs and dashboards
- Collect leads from a custom form on your website
Plus
Popular- 5 users
- With access for 2 accountants
- Run comprehensive reports
- Plan budgets
- Track project profitability
- Track and manage inventory
- Track classes and locations (40)
Advanced
- 25 users
- With access for 3 accountants
- Free 1099 e-filing and approval workflows with Bill Pay Elite**
- Construction financials solution
- Advanced project financials
- Customize user permissions and access
- Automate workflows
- Sync data with Excel
- Batch invoices and expenses
- Get priority support and training
FREE
- Create invoices, quotes, expenses & journals
- Receipt autoscans (New)
- Sales receipts
- Manage vendors
- Mileage tracking
- Accept online payments
- Enable self-service customer portal
- Retention payments
- Automate payment reminders
- Bank reconciliation
- Setup recurring invoices
- W-9 management
- Track 1099 contractors
- Prepare and file 1099s
- P&L, Balance Sheet & 50+ Reports
STANDARD
- Progress invoicing
- Track sales tax and use tax
- E-File 1099-MISC & 1099-NEC
- Connect bank feeds
- Setup recurring expenses
- Enable transaction period locking
- Add custom fields
- Create custom reports
- Create journal templates
- API Access
PROFESSIONAL
Popular- Track sales and purchase orders
- Record multi-currency transactions
- Bill timesheets
- Project profitability
- Manage retainers
- Track inventory
- Create price lists
- Setup sales and purchase approvals
- Customize business workflows
- Collaborate with users (chat, voice, video and screen sharing)
- Create custom user roles
PREMIUM
- Revenue recognition - Basic
- Fixed asset management
- Profit Margin
- Manage budgets
- Cashflow forecasting
- Enable self-service vendor portal
- Set up custom domain
- Create business-specific custom modules
- Add custom button
- Create custom field validation rules
- Embed contextual web pages/apps
- Manage custom functions
QuickBooks vs Zoho Books FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Zoho Books is the cheaper option, starting at $20/mo vs $38/mo for QuickBooks.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. QuickBooks uses per-seat pricing, while Zoho Books goes with flat-rate. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. QuickBooks: QuickBooks sits at the premium end of small-business accounting software, especially once you're past Simple Start — $85-140/mo is a big step up from competitors like Wave or even FreshBooks at similar tiers. They're leaning on brand trust and accountant ubiquity to justify the premium, targeting businesses that want the default choice their bookkeeper already knows. Zoho Books: Sitting well under QuickBooks and Xero at every tier, Zoho Books is clearly playing the value card for cost-conscious small businesses and Zoho ecosystem users who want accounting bundled cheaply with CRM, inventory, and other Zoho apps.
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