QuickBooks Online
Intuit's cloud accounting for US small businesses, from a free tier to plans with AI bookkeeping
What is QuickBooks Online?
QuickBooks Online is Intuit's cloud accounting software for small businesses. It syncs bank and card transactions, learns how you categorise them, sends invoices that customers can pay by card or bank transfer through QuickBooks Payments, pays bills by ACH and runs profit and loss and other reports. A Free plan covers 1 user, 2 invoices a month and 1 bank connection. Paid plans are billed monthly, from Simple Start (1 user) to Advanced (25 users), and add automated bookkeeping, inventory, project profitability, workflow automation and Intuit Intelligence AI features. Payroll is sold as QuickBooks Workforce bundles.
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
Key features
- Bank and credit card feeds that sync transactions and learn how you categorise them
- Invoices that customers pay by card or bank transfer through QuickBooks Payments, with status updates and reminders
- Bill pay by ACH, with 1099 e-filing and approval workflows on Advanced (Bill Pay Elite)
- Receipt photos matched to expenses and mileage tracking in the mobile app
- Intuit Intelligence AI by plan: Accounting AI, Payments AI, Business Tax AI, Sales Tax AI, Customer AI, Finance AI and Project Management AI
- AI Chat for questions about your business (beta, limited capacity) from Simple Start
- Profit and loss, balance sheet and sales reports, with budgets, classes and locations on Plus
- 800+ integrations on paid plans
Limitations to know about
- 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 pricing page shows monthly billing only, and payroll costs extra as a Workforce bundle
QuickBooks Online pricing
QuickBooks Online has a free plan. Simple Start, Essentials, Plus and Advanced cost $38 to $340 a month.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 user, 2 invoices a month (unlimited with QuickBooks Payments), top 3 reports, 1 bank connection, chat support; no mobile app or third-party integrations |
| Simple Start | $38/mo, or $19/mo for the first 3 months (50% off) | 1 user plus 2 accountants; automated bookkeeping that learns your categories, expense categorisation, AI Chat (beta), general business reports, invoices with card and bank payments, ACH bill pay |
| Essentials | $85/mo, or $42.50/mo for the first 3 months (50% off) | 3 users plus 2 accountants; enhanced reports, employee time on invoices, lead capture form, Accounting AI, Payments AI, Business Tax AI for quarterly estimates, bulk invoices (beta) |
| Plus | $140/mo, or $70/mo for the first 3 months (50% off) | 5 users plus 2 accountants; AI reconciliation and auto-categorisation, anomaly detection, Sales Tax AI, Customer AI, budgets, project profitability, inventory, 40 classes and locations |
| Advanced | $340/mo, or $170/mo for the first 3 months (50% off) | 25 users plus 3 accountants; Project Management AI, Finance AI, custom user permissions, workflow automation, Excel sync, batch invoices and expenses, Bill Pay Elite with 1099 e-filing, priority support |
Free plan limits: 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.
Costs on top of a plan
- QuickBooks Workforce Payroll + Simple Start: $88/mo + $6.50 per employee/mo (Payroll bundled with Simple Start; Workforce Payroll + Essentials is $125/mo + $6.50 per employee. 50% off the base price for 3 months.)
- QuickBooks Workforce Premium + Plus: $203/mo + $10 per employee/mo (Payroll, Time and Payments bundled with the Plus plan; 50% off the base price for 3 months)
- ACH bill payments over the allotment: $0.50 per standard ACH transaction (Charged above the monthly allotment of free ACH payments, which may vary)
QuickBooks Online alternatives
Xero
Cloud accounting with three US plans, no per-user fees, Gusto payroll and the JAX AI assistant
FreshBooks
Invoicing and accounting for freelancers and service businesses, priced by number of billable clients
Zoho Books
Accounting with a free plan under $50K revenue, six US plans priced per organization and the Zia AI assistant
Wave
Free invoicing and double-entry bookkeeping for small businesses, with a $19 Pro plan for bank sync
Sage Accounting
UK cloud accounting with payroll and the Sage Copilot AI assistant included in all three plans
FreeAgent
UK accounting for sole traders, companies and landlords, free with a NatWest Group business account
Compare QuickBooks Online with these side by side
Head to head: QuickBooks Online vs Xero · QuickBooks Online vs FreshBooks · QuickBooks Online vs Wave · QuickBooks Online vs Zoho Books
Frequently asked questions
Is QuickBooks Online free?
QuickBooks Online has a 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. Paid plans start at $38/mo.
How much does QuickBooks Online cost?
Simple Start, Essentials, Plus and Advanced cost $38 to $340 a month. There is also a free plan. On Simple Start: 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. Prices as published on QuickBooks Online's pricing page on 21 October 2026.
Does QuickBooks Online have a free plan?
Yes. QuickBooks Free costs $0 with no credit card: 1 user, up to 2 invoices a month (unlimited if you qualify for and enable QuickBooks Payments), the top 3 reports and 1 bank connection. Mobile app access and third-party integrations are not available on it.
Is payroll included in QuickBooks Online?
No. Payroll is sold in QuickBooks Workforce bundles, for example Workforce Payroll + Simple Start at $88 a month plus $6.50 per employee, and existing QuickBooks Online users can add it.
What is QuickBooks Online used for?
QuickBooks Online is Intuit's cloud accounting software for small businesses. People use it 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 and growing teams that need inventory, project profitability and up to 25 users.
What are the alternatives to QuickBooks Online?
Tools that do a similar job include Xero, FreshBooks, Zoho Books, Wave and Sage Accounting. Each has its own page here with its plans, limits and prices.
Who makes QuickBooks Online?
QuickBooks Online is made by Intuit Inc., based in Mountain View, California, US. The company was founded in 1983.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from the pages below, read on the dates shown: Intuit Inc.'s own pages first, and a named public reference where they are silent.
- quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing/ (plan prices, 50%-off promotion, free plan limits, users and accountants per plan, AI features per plan, ACH fee, 30-day trial) read 21 October 2026
- quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/pricing/ (payroll pricing: QuickBooks Workforce bundle plans and per-employee fees) read 21 October 2026
- quickbooks.intuit.com/online/ (product description, Intuit Intelligence AI features, mobile apps, 800+ integrations claim) read 21 October 2026
- quickbooks.intuit.com/accounting/ (features: bank feeds and automatic matching, receipt capture, invoicing, bill pay, reports, mileage, Sales Tax AI) read 21 October 2026
- intuit.com/company/ (legal company name (Intuit Inc.)) read 21 October 2026
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuit (company founding year and headquarters) read 21 October 2026
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