Small business accounting software · Comparison
QuickBooks Online 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 | QuickBooks Online | Xero | Zoho Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 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 | 7.5 | 7.1 | 8.2Best |
| Free option | Free plan | 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 | $38/mo | $27/mo | $20/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 organization per month; no per-user license fees | Per organization per month, in plan tiers; extra users $3/mo each |
| Free option | 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) | $85/mo on Essentials, computed | $59/mo on Growing, computed | $50/mo on Professional, computed |
| Users per plan | 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 | Essentials ($85) and up | Established ($97) | Professional ($50) and up |
| Inventory and projects | 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 | 2.99% / 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 | 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 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 | 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 | 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, 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: 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 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 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 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.
- 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: 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 3 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
Full reviews
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