Sage Accounting vs Xero vs QuickBooks Online

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 21 October 2026.

Written head to head: QuickBooks Online vs Xero · Xero vs Sage Accounting, with when to choose each side.

Compared on	Sage Accounting From £20/mo Visit Remove	Xero From $27/mo Visit Remove	QuickBooks Online Free plan · from $38/mo Visit Remove
What it is	UK cloud accounting with payroll and the Sage Copilot AI assistant included in all three plans	Cloud accounting with three US plans, no per-user fees, Gusto payroll and the JAX AI assistant	Intuit's cloud accounting for US small businesses, from a free tier to plans with AI bookkeeping
Free plan	No	No	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.
Cheapest paid plan	£20/mo (Start)Sage Accounting pricing	$27/mo (Early)Xero pricing	$38/mo (Simple Start)QuickBooks Online pricing
What it covers	UK price excluding 20% VAT; 1 user; payroll for 1 employee included, then £1.85 per employee a month; no receipt capture. Promotion: 90% off (£2/month) for the first 6 months.	Per organization, no per-user licence fees; send quotes and 20 invoices, enter 5 bills; auto-reconcile is a $5/month add-on. Promotion: 90% off ($2.70/month) for the first 6 months for new US customers, until 2 November 2026.	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.
Free trial	30 days free of Accounting Standard, taken instead of the 90%-off offer	One month free on any Xero plan	30-day free trial, shown alongside the 50%-off offer on the pricing page
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	Web	Web, iOS, Android
Integrations (vendor's figure)	Not stated	Integrate with 1000+ apps	800+ integrations
Open source	No	No	No
Good for	UK small businesses that want accounting and payroll in one subscription VAT-registered sole traders filing Making Tax Digital VAT returns Construction businesses that submit CIS returns	Small businesses that want several people in the books without per-user fees Businesses that work closely with an accountant or bookkeeper Companies that bill or pay in foreign currencies	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
Watch out for	Sold on Sage's UK site in GBP excluding VAT; Sage's US site lists Sage 50 and Sage Intacct, not Sage Accounting Start has 1 user and no receipt capture; Standard is capped at 3 users Budgets, inventory and multi-currency need the Plus plan	Early caps you at 20 invoices and 5 bills, and auto-reconcile costs $5 a month extra Multi-currency, projects and expense claims need Established ($97/mo) Payroll costs $36 a month plus $6 per person through Gusto	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)
Made by	Sage Group plc	Xero Limited	Intuit 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.

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