Zoho Books vs Karbon Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Zoho Books | Karbon | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $20/mo | $79/mo |
| Number of plans | 4 | 3 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | — | |
| Pricing model | flat-rate | per-seat |
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
Team
- Integrated Email
- Team Collaboration Tools
- Workflow and To-Do Lists
- Time Tracking & Budget Reporting
- Billing
- Payments
- Engagements
Business
Popular- Automatic Client Reminders
- Task Automation
- Industry Integrations
Enterprise
- Enterprise Platform
- Dedicated Karbon Contact
- Customization
- Unlimited Usage Limits
Zoho Books vs Karbon FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Zoho Books starts lower at $20/mo, compared to $79/mo for Karbon.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Zoho Books has a free plan. Karbon doesn't — you'll need to pay from day one.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Zoho Books uses flat-rate pricing, while Karbon 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. 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. Karbon: Karbon sits in the premium tier of practice management software — there's no free plan, no trial, and both published tiers run higher than budget alternatives aimed at solo practitioners. This is a bet that mid-size and growing accounting firms will pay up for a polished, all-in-one workflow tool rather than stitching together cheaper point solutions.
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