Small business accounting software · Comparison
QuickBooks Online vs Wave vs Xero
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 | QuickBooks Online | Wave | Xero |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | 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 priceInvoices, bills and bookkeeping for free, and bank imports, users and reminders for $19 a month per business. | Worth the priceAccounting priced per business, not per user, with inventory, purchase orders and bank feeds on every plan. |
| Overall score | 7.5Best | 6.7 | 7.1 |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan | 30-day free trial |
| Card to start | No card needed | –Not measured | Card required |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $38/mo | $19/mo | $27/mo |
| Pricing model | Tiered | Tiered | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per company per month, in plan tiers; no extra seats sold | Per business per month or year | Per organization per month; no per-user license fees |
| Free option | Free plan (1 user, 2 invoices/mo, 1 bank connection); 30-day trial of paid plans | Free Starter plan (unlimited invoices and bills, no bank import) | No free plan; one month free with billing details taken at sign-up |
| Reference scenario (3 users, monthly) | $85/mo on Essentials, computed | $19/mo on Pro, computed | $59/mo on Growing, computed |
| Users per plan | 1 / 1 / 3 / 5 / 25 (Free to Advanced); 2 or 3 accountants free on paid plans | Admins, editors and viewers on Pro; payroll manager and tax pro on all plans | No per-user fees on any plan |
| Multi-currency | Essentials ($85) and up | Foreign currency invoices and bills | Established ($97) |
| Inventory and projects | Plus ($140) and up | Not listed | Inventory in every plan (Inventory Plus $39/mo); projects on Established |
| Card / bank payment fees | 2.99% / 1% (QuickBooks Payments) | 2.9% + $0.60 (first 10 a month at 2.9% + $0 on Pro) / 1%, $1 minimum | 2.9% + 30¢ / ACH debit 1% capped at $9 (Stripe, managed by Xero) |
| Payroll | Workforce Payroll bundles, e.g. with Essentials $125/mo + $6.50 per employee | $40/mo + $6 per employee and per contractor paid | Xero Payroll, powered by Gusto: $36/mo + $6 per employee or contractor |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 on the Intuit Trust Center | Not stated; Level 1 PCI DSS | SOC 2 Type II report on request; ISO/IEC 27001:2022 |
| Custom roles / audit log | Custom roles on Advanced; audit log from Essentials | Fixed roles that cannot be customized; no audit log described | Fixed user roles; History and notes audit trail |
| Data export | Export data tool (reports and lists to Excel); read-only access 1 year after cancelling | Data Export: journal entries and transactions, bills, customers, vendors (XLS or CSV) | Any report exported to Excel or PDF; API |
| Bottom line | 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, Wave is the lowest-cost way here to keep small business books: free invoices and bills, and bank imports and users for $19 a month. It lists fewer bookkeeping and security features than the larger suites. | 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. |
Evidence: QuickBooks Online: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Wave: 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. 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 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 Wave review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Wave when
- You want bills on a free plan and bank imports with several users for $19 a month.
- Pick QuickBooks Online when
- You need multicurrency with an audit log, inventory or more users with custom roles.
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.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- 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
- WaveLowest pricePro$19/mo$190 billed yearly; per business
- Automatic bank imports and auto-categorized transactions
- Admin, editor and viewer users
- Payment reminders and recurring invoices
- First 10 card payments a month at 2.9% + $0
- 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
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: QuickBooks Online 2026-10-16, Wave 2026-10-16, Xero 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- QuickBooks OnlineSelf-serve sign-up, no card needed; the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here (7.5/10).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- QuickBooks OnlineFree plan, no card needed; scored 7.5/10.
- Lowest starter price
- Wave$19/mo for the Pro ($190 billed yearly) plan.
- Highest overall score
- QuickBooks Online7.5/10 (Good). 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
Add a product
Search by product name or by what it does, such as “email” or “feature flags”. 1 more fits in this comparison.