Head to head · checked
QuickBooks Online vs Xero
The two ledgers bookkeepers meet most often. Both show steep intro discounts for the first 3 months.
Verdict
- 1
Pick QuickBooks Online
if your clients are US small businesses or their accountant uses it. Simple Start is $38/mo after the intro period; there's also a limited QuickBooks Free.
- 2
Pick Xero
if you want no per-user fees and a lower entry price: Early is $27/mo, but capped at 20 invoices and 5 bills.
Bottom line: Use whichever the client's accountant uses. For your own books, compare Xero Early's invoice cap against your volume.
Side by side
| QuickBooks Online | Xero | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Paid plans only | Paid plans only |
| Free plan | Trial only | Trial only |
| What the free plan gives | QuickBooks Free costs $0 but excludes mobile app access and third-party integrations. Paid plans showed 50% off for 3 months or a 30-day free trial. | No free plan; the US page offered 80% off for 3 months or one month free. No per-user license fees. |
| Plans and prices |
|
|
| Month 1 (our estimate) | Simple Start: $19 | Early: $5.40 |
| Month 12 (our estimate) | Simple Start: $38 | Early: $27 |
| Commercial rights | Not a content generator | Not a content generator |
| Learning difficulty | 3/5 Accounting concepts. | 3/5 Accounting concepts. |
| Best for | Books your accountant already knows | Accounting outside the US or with many bank feeds |
| Watch out for |
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| Sources | QuickBooks pricing | Xero US pricing |
| Full profile | QuickBooks Online profile · Official site | Xero profile · Official site |
Every price and limit above comes from the linked vendor pages, read on . Month-1 and month-12 figures are our estimate of the plan a solo seller needs, not quotes. The order of the tools never depends on affiliate status.