QuickBooks Online vs Zoho Books vs FreshBooks

Written head to head: QuickBooks Online vs FreshBooks · Zoho Books vs QuickBooks Online, with when to choose each side.

Compared on	QuickBooks Online Free plan · from $38/mo VisitRemove	Zoho Books Free plan · from $15/mo VisitRemove	FreshBooks Free trial · from $20.70/mo VisitRemove
What it is	Intuit's cloud accounting for US small businesses, from a free tier to plans with AI bookkeeping	Accounting with a free plan under $50K revenue, six US plans priced per organization and the Zia AI assistant	Invoicing and accounting for freelancers and service businesses, priced by number of billable clients
Free plan	1 user, no accountant access, up to 2 invoices a month (unlimited if you qualify for and enable QuickBooks Payments), the top 3 reports (profit and loss, balance sheet, account quick report), 1 bank connection, chat support. No credit card required. Mobile app access and third-party integrations are not available on Free.	For businesses with financial-year revenue under $50K: 1 user plus 1 accountant, up to 1,000 invoices and 1,000 expenses a year, 50 receipt autoscans a month, 5 scheduled reports, email support. Bank feeds are not included; document autoscans are the only add-on allowed.	No
Cheapest paid plan	$38/mo (Simple Start)QuickBooks Online pricing	$15/mo billed annually (Standard)Zoho Books pricing	$20.70/mo billed annually (Lite)FreshBooks pricing
What it covers	1 user plus access for 2 accountants. Promotion: 50% off ($19/month) for the first 3 months. No annual contract; the pricing page shows no annual price.	Per organization; 3 users, up to 5,000 invoices and 5,000 bills/expenses a year, 200 receipt autoscans a month. Extra users $3/user/month ($2.50 billed yearly). Prices exclude local taxes.	Invoice up to 5 billable clients; extra team members $11/month each; $248.40 billed yearly. Promotion: 80% off ($4.60/month) for the first 4 months.
Free trial	30-day free trial, shown alongside the 50%-off offer on the pricing page	14-day free trial	30-day free trial, no credit card required
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	Web, iOS, Android, Windows, API	Web, iOS, Android
Integrations (vendor's figure)	800+ integrations	Not stated	100+ apps in the FreshBooks AppStore
Open source	No	No	No
Good for	US small businesses that want accounting, invoicing and payroll from one vendor Sole owners starting on a free plan with a few invoices a month Growing teams that need inventory, project profitability and up to 25 users	Micro businesses under $50K revenue that want free double-entry accounting Product businesses that need inventory and purchase orders inside the accounting tool Teams that want custom workflows, approvals and custom modules	Freelancers and consultants who bill a small number of clients Service businesses that invoice for tracked time and project work Owners who want their accountant working in the same books
Watch out for	Free plan: 1 user, 2 invoices a month unless QuickBooks Payments is enabled, 1 bank connection, no mobile app or third-party integrations User caps: 1 on Simple Start, 3 on Essentials, 5 on Plus, 25 on Advanced Inventory, budgets and project profitability need Plus ($140/mo); workflow automation and custom permissions need Advanced ($340/mo)	The Free plan applies only while annual revenue stays under $50K, with 1 user and no bank feeds Annual invoice and bill caps on every plan, from 5,000 on Standard to 100,000 on Elite and Ultimate Multi-currency, projects and inventory need Professional ($50/mo); budgets and cash flow forecasting need Premium	Lite invoices only 5 clients and Plus 50; unlimited clients need Premium ($70/mo) Each team member costs $11 a month on top of the plan Bank reconciliation, receipt scanning and accountant access are not on Lite
Made by	Intuit Inc.	Zoho Corporation Pvt. Ltd.	2NDSITE Inc.

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

Every tool in accounting and invoicing software is on its category page, with the written head-to-heads on Compare.