Small business accounting software · Comparison
FreshBooks vs Xero vs Zoho Books
3 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 | 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. | 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 | 7.1 | 8.2Best |
| Free option | 30-day free trial | 30-day free trial | Free plan |
| Card to start | No card needed | Card required | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $23/mo | $27/mo | $20/mo |
| Pricing model | Seat + usage | Tiered | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per business per month by billable clients, plus $11/mo per team member | 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 | 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 | $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 | 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 | Established ($97) | Professional ($50) and up |
| Inventory and projects | Stock counts on items; project profitability on Premium ($70) | 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) | 2.9% + 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 | 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 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 | 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 | 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, 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; 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 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 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 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
- 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, 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 3 self-serve products here (8.2/10).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- FreshBooks30-day free trial, no card needed; scored 6.1/10.
- 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
Full reviews
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