6 providersAll prices in USD

Compare Accounting Software in the United States

Compare accounting software for small business in the US. See subscription costs, sales tax automation, 1099 and W-2 reporting, payroll, bookkeeping, bank feeds, and integrations side by side.

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	Wave	Zoho Books	Xero	FreshBooks	Sage	QuickBooks Online
Est. Cost /mo (USD)	$0/moCheapest	$0/moCheapest	$20/mo	$21/mo	$25/mo	$38/mo
	Visit Wave	Visit Zoho Books	Visit Xero	Visit FreshBooks	Visit Sage	Visit QuickBooks Online

Ratings
User rating	4.4Capterra (1,724)	4.4Capterra (673)	4.4Capterra (3,299)	4.5Capterra (4,518)	4.1Capterra (614)	4.3Capterra (8,460)
Plans & Pricing
Entry plan /mo	Free (Pro $16/mo)	Free / $15 Standard	$20/mo (Early)	$21/mo (Lite)	$25/mo (Accounting Start)	$38/mo (Simple Start)
Free plan	✓	✓under revenue cap	✕	✕	✕	✕
Payroll included	✓add-on	✕add-on	✕Gusto	✕Gusto	✓add-on	✓add-on
Users included	Unlimited (with limited roles)	3 (Standard)	Unlimited	1	1 (Start)	1 (Simple Start)
Payroll cost	Add-on (+$6/emp)	N/A	N/A (Gusto)	N/A (Gusto)	Add-on	$50/mo + $6/emp
Contract required	✕	✕	✕	✕	✕	✕
Tax & Compliance
Sales tax automation	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Multi-state sales tax	Limited	✓Professional	✓	Limited	Limited	✓
Sales tax filing	✕	✓	✓	✕	✓	✓
1099 / W-2 reporting	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Tax prep support	✕	Partial	✕	✕	✕	✓
Bank feeds	✓Pro	✓Standard	✓	✓	✓	✓
Bank feed connections	Unlimited (Pro)	Unlimited (Standard+)	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Invoicing	✓unlimited	✓annual caps	20/mo (Early)	✓client caps apply	✓unlimited	✓unlimited
AI
AI features	Limited (receipt OCR on Pro only)	Native (Zia)	Native (JAX)	Native (AI categorization, receipt OCR)	Native (Sage Copilot)	Native (Intuit Assist)
MCP / AI agents	Via 3rd-party (community)	Native MCP (Zoho, official)	Native MCP (via Anthropic Claude connection)	Via 3rd-party (Zapier)	Via 3rd-party (community)	Via 3rd-party (Zapier)
Features & Integrations
Multi-currency	Limited	✓Professional	✓Established	Limited	✓Plus	✓Essentials
Receipt capture	✓Pro	✓	✓Hubdoc	✓Plus	✓Standard	✓
Accountant access	✓Pro	✓free	✓free	✓Plus	✓free	✓free
Customer support	Live chat (Pro)	Email / voice / chat	24/7 online	Phone + email	US phone	Phone + chat

Estimates based on 20 invoices/mo and 0 employees. Best-in-row cells are highlighted in emerald. Rates can change without notice, confirm current pricing with the provider before signing on.How we calculate fees

Estimates cover the subscription plus a payroll add-on where the provider offers one (QuickBooks, Sage, and Wave charge a base fee plus a per-employee fee). Wave is free for core accounting, and Zoho Books is free under its revenue threshold. Card processing fees are not included.

Provider details

The top providers, expanded.

Same data as the table above, broken out per provider with the use cases each one fits best.

We may earn a commission when you click through to a provider. This never affects ranking or data shown. Read our terms.

Wave

Genuinely free core accounting and invoicing for US micro-businesses, with a low-cost Pro tier and add-on payroll in supported states.

Est. cost

$0/mo

Best for

US sole proprietors and micro-businesses wanting free invoicing and bookkeeping with optional low-cost payroll

Entry plan: Free (Pro $16/mo)
Users: Unlimited (with limited roles)
Payroll: Add-on (+$6/emp)
Bank feeds: Yes (Pro)

Visit Wave View full details

Zoho Books

Strong-value US accounting with a genuine free plan under a revenue threshold, an official AI MCP server, and a clear upgrade path to inventory and multi-currency.

Est. cost

$0/mo

Best for

Cost-conscious US sole proprietors and growing SMBs, especially Zoho users, wanting a free entry tier with a clear upgrade path

Entry plan: Free / $15 Standard
Users: 3 (Standard)
Payroll: N/A
Bank feeds: Yes (Standard)

Visit Zoho Books View full details

Xero

Cloud accounting with unlimited users on every plan and a deep app ecosystem, increasingly popular with US small businesses and accountants.

Est. cost

$20/mo

Best for

US small businesses and accountants wanting unlimited users and a deep app ecosystem

Entry plan: $20/mo (Early)
Users: Unlimited
Payroll: N/A (Gusto)
Bank feeds: Yes

Visit Xero View full details

FreshBooks

Invoicing-led accounting popular with US freelancers and service businesses, with strong project profitability tracking but no payroll built in.

Est. cost

$21/mo

Best for

US freelancers and small service businesses that mainly need polished invoicing, time tracking, and project profitability

Entry plan: $21/mo (Lite)
Users: 1
Payroll: N/A (Gusto)
Bank feeds: Yes

Visit FreshBooks View full details

Sage

Long-established accounting vendor with a cloud Sage Accounting product, unlimited invoicing from the entry plan, and the Sage Copilot AI assistant.

Est. cost

$25/mo

Best for

US businesses wanting an established vendor with unlimited invoicing from the entry plan and strong reporting heritage

Entry plan: $25/mo (Accounting Start)
Users: 1 (Start)
Payroll: Add-on
Bank feeds: Yes

Visit Sage View full details

QuickBooks Online

Intuit's cloud accounting and the US market leader, with deep sales tax automation, built-in inventory, and a low-cost payroll add-on.

Est. cost

$38/mo

Best for

US small businesses wanting the market-leading platform with strong sales tax automation and the widest accountant network

Entry plan: $38/mo (Simple Start)
Users: 1 (Simple Start)
Payroll: $50/mo + $6/emp
Bank feeds: Yes

Visit QuickBooks Online View full details

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quickbooks vs xeroAn independent US comparison of QuickBooks Online and Xero on real pricing, the market leader versus unlimited users, sales tax automation, payroll, AI, and integrations, so you can see which accounting platform fits your business and your budget.View comparison

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