Small business accounting software · Comparison
FreshBooks vs QuickBooks Online vs Xero vs Zoho Books
4 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | FreshBooks | QuickBooks Online | Xero | Zoho Books |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Easy to adoptInvoicing, time tracking, projects and payments for client work, with the accounting reports your accountant needs behind them. | Built-in reachFull small business books with payments, payroll and bill pay from one vendor, and a plan ladder from a free tier to 25 users. | Worth the priceAccounting priced per business, not per user, with inventory, purchase orders and bank feeds on every plan. | Worth the priceBills, multi-currency, inventory, projects and custom roles on a $50 plan with 5 users, backed by SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001. |
| Overall score | 6.1 | 7.5 | 7.1 | 8.2Best |
| Free option | 30-day free trial | Free plan | 30-day free trial | Free plan |
| Card to start | No card needed | No card needed | Card required | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $23/mo | $38/mo | $27/mo | $20/mo |
| Pricing model | Seat + usage | Tiered | Tiered | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per business per month by billable clients, plus $11/mo per team member | Per company per month, in plan tiers; no extra seats sold | Per organization per month; no per-user license fees | Per organization per month, in plan tiers; extra users $3/mo each |
| Free option | No free plan; 30-day trial, no card | Free plan (1 user, 2 invoices/mo, 1 bank connection); 30-day trial of paid plans | No free plan; one month free with billing details taken at sign-up | Free plan under $50K yearly revenue (1 user + 1 accountant, no bills or bank feeds); 14-day trial |
| Reference scenario (3 users, monthly) | $92/mo on Premium ($70 + 2 × $11), computed | $85/mo on Essentials, computed | $59/mo on Growing, computed | $50/mo on Professional, computed |
| Users per plan | Owner plus team members at $11/mo each; up to 10 accountants free on Plus and up | 1 / 1 / 3 / 5 / 25 (Free to Advanced); 2 or 3 accountants free on paid plans | No per-user fees on any plan | 1 + accountant / 3 / 5 / 10 / 10 / 15; extra users $3/mo ($2.50 yearly) |
| Multi-currency | Invoices and expenses in other currencies, reports per currency | Essentials ($85) and up | Established ($97) | Professional ($50) and up |
| Inventory and projects | Stock counts on items; project profitability on Premium ($70) | Plus ($140) and up | Inventory in every plan (Inventory Plus $39/mo); projects on Established | Stock tracking and project profitability on Professional ($50) |
| Card / bank payment fees | 2.9% + 30¢ / 1% (FreshBooks Payments or Stripe) | 2.99% / 1% (QuickBooks Payments) | 2.9% + 30¢ / ACH debit 1% capped at $9 (Stripe, managed by Xero) | 2.9% + 30¢ / ACH 0.8% capped at $5 (Zoho Payments) |
| Payroll | FreshBooks Payroll $40/mo + $6 per user | Workforce Payroll bundles, e.g. with Essentials $125/mo + $6.50 per employee | Xero Payroll, powered by Gusto: $36/mo + $6 per employee or contractor | Zoho Payroll from $39/mo + $6 per employee |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type 1 (2023, on request under NDA); no ISO 27001 stated | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 on the Intuit Trust Center | SOC 2 Type II report on request; ISO/IEC 27001:2022 | SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 for Zoho cloud services |
| Custom roles / audit log | Fixed team roles; audit log for admins | Custom roles on Advanced; audit log from Essentials | Fixed user roles; History and notes audit trail | Custom roles on Professional; activity log on every plan |
| Data export | CSV of chart of accounts, clients, expenses, invoices, items, vendors and reports | Export data tool (reports and lists to Excel); read-only access 1 year after cancelling | Any report exported to Excel or PDF; API | Reports to CSV, XLS, XLSX or PDF; API on every plan |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, FreshBooks is invoicing-first accounting for client work, with strong billing tools on every plan and project profitability on Premium. Bills start on Premium and each team member adds $11 a month. | From its public pages, QuickBooks Online is a full accounting suite with payments, payroll and bill pay from Intuit and a clear plan ladder. Users are tied to tiers, and inventory and projects start on Plus. | From its public pages, Xero is full small business accounting priced per organization with no per-user fees, with inventory and purchase orders on every plan. Most businesses that pay bills start on Growing, and currencies and projects need Established. | From its public pages, Zoho Books puts the broadest set of bookkeeping and control features at $50 a month, with SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 behind it. Bills start on Professional, and the free plan is limited to businesses under $50K revenue. |
Evidence: FreshBooks: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; QuickBooks Online: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Xero: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Zoho Books: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our FreshBooks review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick FreshBooks when
- You bill clients for time and projects and want project profitability below $140 a month.
- Pick QuickBooks Online when
- You need purchase orders, budgets, class tracking or several users without per-user fees.
From our FreshBooks review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick FreshBooks when
- You want a 30-day trial without a card and client billing tools such as retainers and late fees.
- Pick Xero when
- You want bills, purchase orders and any number of users for $59 a month.
From our QuickBooks Online review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick QuickBooks Online when
- You want multicurrency on the $85 plan, custom roles on a plan bought online, and payroll and payments from the same vendor.
- Pick Xero when
- You want users without seat limits and a lower 3-user cost ($59 a month on Growing).
From our QuickBooks Online review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick QuickBooks Online when
- You want a free plan with a bank connection and no revenue limit, and Intuit’s own payroll bundles.
- Pick Zoho Books when
- You want inventory, projects, purchase orders and custom roles on a $50 plan with 5 users.
From our QuickBooks Online review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick QuickBooks Online when
- You need purchase orders, budgets, class tracking or more than a few users without per-user charges.
- Pick FreshBooks when
- You bill clients for time and projects and want a 30-day trial that needs no card.
From our Xero review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Xero when
- You want users without seat limits and inventory and purchase orders below $100 a month.
- Pick QuickBooks Online when
- You want multicurrency on the 3-user plan ($85 Essentials), custom roles on Advanced, or a free plan.
From our Xero review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Xero when
- You want no limit on users and capped ACH fees with Stripe.
- Pick Zoho Books when
- You want multi-currency, projects and custom roles on a $50 plan, or a free plan under $50K revenue.
From our Xero review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Xero when
- You want bills, purchase orders and budgets with any number of users at $59 a month.
- Pick FreshBooks when
- You mainly bill clients for time and projects and want a 30-day trial without a card.
From our Zoho Books review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Zoho Books when
- You want inventory, projects, purchase orders and custom roles for $50 a month with 5 users.
- Pick QuickBooks Online when
- You want a free plan with a bank connection and no revenue limit, or Intuit payroll bundles.
From our Zoho Books review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Zoho Books when
- You want multi-currency, projects and custom roles below $97 a month.
- Pick Xero when
- You want no per-user fees at all and inventory on every plan.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- FreshBooksLite$23/mo$248.40 billed yearly; 80% off for 4 months shown for new customers
- Invoices to 5 billable clients
- Unlimited estimates and expenses
- Automated bank import and recurring invoices
- Card, ACH and buy now, pay later payments
- QuickBooks OnlineSimple Start$38/mo1 user plus 2 accountants; 50% off for 3 months shown
- Automated bookkeeping and general business reports
- Invoices with card and bank payments, reminders
- Bill pay with free ACH up to a monthly allotment
- Mobile app and app integrations
- XeroEarly$27/moBilled monthly; 80% off for 3 months shown for new US customers
- Quotes and 20 invoices a month
- Enter 5 bills a month
- Bank reconciliation, sales tax, W-9 and 1099
- Auto-reconcile as a $5/mo add-on
- Zoho BooksLowest priceStandard$20/mo$15 billed yearly; 3 users
- Bank and credit card feeds
- Sales and use tax tracking
- Transaction locking and custom reports
- No bills (expenses only)
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: FreshBooks 2026-10-16, QuickBooks Online 2026-10-16, Xero 2026-10-16, Zoho Books 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- Zoho BooksSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 4 self-serve products here (8.2/10).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- QuickBooks OnlineFree plan, no card needed; scored 7.5/10.
- Lowest starter price
- Zoho Books$20/mo for the Standard (3 users; $15 billed yearly) plan.
- Highest overall score
- Zoho Books8.2/10 (Excellent). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score