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The short version
QuickBooks Online is still the safest choice for most US small businesses. Your accountant almost certainly knows it, it handles US sales tax and 1099s well, and it connects to nearly every app you’re likely to use. The catch is price. Intuit raised the three upper plans again in August 2026, and the features most growing businesses need, like inventory, project tracking and classes, sit on the $140-a-month Plus plan.
- Best for: US businesses with 2 to 25 people, anyone who works with an outside bookkeeper or CPA, contractors who need job costing.
- Skip it if: you’re a freelancer who mainly sends invoices, your budget is under $40 a month, or you bill in several currencies.
- Price: $38 to $340 a month at list price, plus payroll if you need it.
What it costs in 2026
These are US list prices as of October 2026. Intuit usually runs a discount for new customers, recently 50% off for the first three months, and every paid plan has a 30-day free trial. After the promo you pay full price, so budget for the list price.
| Plan | Price per month | Users | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 | Income and expense tracking, 2 invoices a month, 1 bank connection. No accountant access. |
| Simple Start | $38 | 1 | Unlimited invoicing, bank feeds, bill pay, standard reports. Your accountant can log in. |
| Essentials | $85 | 3 | Three users, enhanced reports, employee time on invoices, multi-currency. |
| Plus | $140 | 5 | Inventory, project profitability, budgets, class and location tracking. |
| Advanced | $340 | 25 | Custom user permissions, batch invoices and expenses, workflow automation, Excel sync, priority support. |
Payroll is a separate subscription. It starts at roughly $50 a month plus a fee for each employee, and the higher payroll tiers add same-day direct deposit, time tracking and HR support. If you only need to pay a few people, compare it with Gusto, which connects to QuickBooks and is often cheaper for small teams.
Which plan should you pick?
- Simple Start covers a one-person service business that wants real books its CPA can work in. Skip the Free plan unless you only send a couple of invoices a month; it doesn’t let your accountant in, which defeats much of the point.
- Essentials makes sense when a second or third person needs to log in, or you invoice in another currency.
- Plus is where most growing businesses end up. If you sell products, run jobs, or want profit by location or department, you need it.
- Advanced is for companies with an in-house bookkeeper or controller who need tighter permissions and automation. Below about 10 users it’s hard to justify.
You can move up a plan at any time without losing data. Moving down is harder, because features like classes and inventory don’t carry over cleanly. Start on the plan you need today, not the one you might need in three years.
What QuickBooks does well
Your accountant already knows it
This is the biggest reason to choose QuickBooks, and it’s easy to underrate. Most US bookkeepers and CPA firms work in QuickBooks every day. When your accountant can log in, fix a miscategorized transaction and pull a trial balance without learning a new system, you pay for fewer hours. At tax time, that adds up quickly.
Built around US tax rules
QuickBooks calculates sales tax by address, tracks payments to contractors and files 1099s from inside the product. Xero and Zoho Books can do some of this, but QuickBooks does it with less setup for a US business.
It connects to almost everything
Shopify, Amazon, Stripe, PayPal, Square, most restaurant point-of-sale systems, most CRMs. If a business app has one accounting integration, it’s usually QuickBooks. That matters more than it sounds, because every manual import is a chance for an error.
Job costing for trades and project work
On Plus and Advanced, you can tag income, expenses and payroll to a project and see whether each job made money. For a contractor or an agency, that one report can be worth the whole subscription.
Where it falls short
The price keeps going up
In August 2026, Essentials went from $75 to $85, Plus from $115 to $140, and Advanced from $275 to $340. Intuit raises prices most summers. Switching away later is painful, so factor in another increase when you compare.
User limits
Simple Start allows one user, Essentials three, Plus five. If several people need to approve bills or send invoices, you can be pushed up a plan for seats alone. Xero, by contrast, allows unlimited users on every plan.
The upsells
Payroll, payments, time tracking and lending offers all show up inside the product. None of them are required, but new users sometimes turn on payment processing without comparing fees. Read the rate before you accept card payments through an invoice.
More than a freelancer needs
If your accounting is mostly sending invoices and tracking a few expenses, QuickBooks is a lot of software. FreshBooks or Wave will feel simpler and cost less.
A note on QuickBooks Desktop
Intuit has stopped selling most Desktop versions to new US customers and is steering everyone toward QuickBooks Online. If you’re still on Desktop, you aren’t forced to move today, but plan the switch on your schedule rather than Intuit’s. A clean cut-over at a year-end is the easiest time.
How it compares
- Xero: unlimited users and better multi-currency, but fewer US accountants use it. Read our QuickBooks vs Xero comparison.
- FreshBooks: simpler and friendlier for freelancers and service businesses that bill by the hour.
- Zoho Books: more features for the money, and free under $50,000 in revenue.
- Wave: free core accounting for a one-person business.
The bottom line
For a US business with employees, inventory or projects, and an accountant you rely on, QuickBooks Online is the default for good reason. Start with the 30-day trial, connect your bank, and ask your accountant to look at the setup before you’ve entered months of transactions. If the price is the sticking point, or you mostly need invoicing, one of the alternatives above will likely serve you better.
Prices and plan features checked October 26, 2026. Software companies change pricing often, so confirm on the provider’s site before you buy.
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