Drake Tax is a desktop tax preparation software that can be hosted in the cloud for better accessibility and collaboration. Through cloud hosting, it’s easier to outsource tax return preparation without compromising security and client information. The best Drake tax software hosting provider should offer enough cloud storage, reasonable pricing, scalability, and a high uptime guarantee.
Here are the five best Drake tax software hosting providers:
- Right Networks: Overall best cloud hosting software recommended by Drake
- Quick Cloud Hosting: Most affordable Drake Tax hosting
- Sagenext: Best for hosting Drake Tax and Sage 50 or QuickBooks Desktop
- Verito Networks: Best for scalability and free Microsoft 365
- Apps4Rent: Best for using Drake Tax on a virtual desktop
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Comparison of Best Drake Tax Software Hosting Providers
Monthly Cost per User | Number of Users | Free Trial | Cloud Storage | Monthly Cost for Additional Cloud Storage | Uptime Percentage Guarantee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | $99 | 100+ | ✕ | 40GB per user | $1 per 1GB | 99.95% |
 | Starts at $33 | Up to 10 or custom quote | 7 days | Starts at 5GB per user | ✕ | 99.99% |
 | $59 for one user | 1 to 15 | ✕ | 6GB to 195GB | $1 per 1GB | 99.99% |
 | Starts at $49 per user | 4 or more | 15 days | 20GB to 100GB | $1 per 1GB | 99.995% |
 | $24.95 to $74.95 | ✕ | 40GB to 65GB | ✕ | 99.9% | |
Drake Tax subscriptions are excluded from the pricing of the cloud hosting provider unless otherwise stated below. We recommend that you first get Drake Tax before subscribing to a cloud hosting provider. Read our Drake Tax review to learn about the platform.
Right Networks: Best Cloud Hosting Software Recommended by Drake
Pros
- Has a partnership with Drake Software for cloud hosting
- Can also host Drake Accounting
- Offers 99.95% guaranteed uptime
- Has free data migration
- Charges zero fees for integrating Microsoft 365 apps
Cons
- Requires credit card for billing
- no free trial
- Lacks an annual billing option
- Is the most expensive option on our list
Plans & Pricing
Pricing is $99 per user, per month, for up to 10 users. Custom pricing applies if you need more than 10 seats. Each user gets 40GB of storage and an overage fee of $1 per 1GB in excess of 40GB.
Right Networks is the best Drake tax software hosting provider because of its partnership with Drake Software. This provides assurance that Right Networks offers the best and most secure cloud hosting service for Drake Tax, given that there are a lot of third-party providers that compete with Right Networks. What we dislike is the pricing and fixed storage per user, as this limitation creates less scalability for users. We recommend Verito instead because of its outstanding scalability features in adding more storage and hosted apps.
Quick Cloud Hosting: Most Affordable Drake Tax Hosting
Pros
- Has an affordable and fixed rate per user
- Offers 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Provides free data backup and migration
- Has free Adobe Reader hosting
- Accepts quarterly and yearly billing cycles
Cons
- Has a short free trial period (7 days)
- Offers only 7GB of storage per user, with no option to add more
Plans & Pricing
Quick Cloud Hosting offers standard and dedicated hosting services. A standard hosting service is a shared service, while the dedicated hosting service is exclusive only to you. We recommend that you get the dedicated hosting service for more control and admin privileges.
- Standard: $33 per month per user for 5GB; scales from 1 to 10 users
- Dedicated: $45 per month per user for 7GB; scales from 3 to 10 users
If you need more than 10 users, custom pricing applies. You can try Quick Cloud Hosting for free for seven days.
Quick Cloud Hosting is by far the most affordable pick on this list with its fixed monthly that can scale up to 10 users. However, Quick Cloud Hosting can only host Drake Tax, not Drake Accounting. So if you’re using Drake Accounting, you might want to consider Right Networks. Moreover, the storage capacity per user of Quick Cloud Hosting is not big. For this, we recommend Verito for a larger storage space per user.
Sagenext: Best for Hosting Drake Tax and Sage 50 or QuickBooks Desktop
Pros
- Comes with free QuickBooks or Sage hosting for two or more users
- Has 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Offers semi-annual and annual billing options
- Comes with free Microsoft Word and Excel
Cons
- Has small storage capacity for lower plan tiers
- Doesn’t offer shared plans for Drake Tax hosting
Plans & Pricing
Sagenext offers Drake hosting for one to 15 users at the following price points:
- 1 user: $59 with 6GB storage
- 2 users: $89 with 12GB storage
- 3 users: $115 with 18GB storage
- 4 users: $150 with 24GB storage
- 5 users: $180 with 30GB storage
- 6 users: $210 with 36GB storage
- 7 users: $240 with 42GB storage
- 8 users: $260 with 56GB storage
- 9 users: $285 with 63GB storage
- 10 users: $310 with 70GB storage
- 11 users: $335 with 77GB storage
- 12 users: $345 with 120GB storage
- 13 users: $365 with 130GB storage
- 14 users: $385 with 140GB storage
- 15 users: $390 with 195GB storage
For two or more users, these prices include free hosting for QuickBooks Pro, Premier, or Enterprise—plus free hosting for QuickBooks POS. For Sage users, the price includes free hosting for Sage 50, 100, 300, or 500. You can also add 1GB for $1 per month in case you go over the storage limit.
Sagenext is a good pick if you want to host Drake Tax and QuickBooks Desktop or Sage 50 while only paying the price of Drake Tax hosting. Unlike other options on this list, QuickBooks or Sage hosting comes free if you get Drake hosting for two users. If priced separately, each costs $59 for one user and $89 for two users. You can save on monthly hosting fees if you get Drake Tax hosting together with your chosen accounting software. However, if you find Sagenext too expensive for your needs, we recommend Quick Cloud Hosting for its affordably priced plans.
Verito Networks: Best for Scalability and Free Microsoft 365
Pros
- Is very scalable due to different add-on options
- Has 99.995% guaranteed uptime
- Offers free Microsoft 365
Cons
- Requires at least four users for Small Team plan
- Offers bulk discounts only for 500GB storage requirements
Plans & Pricing
You can try Verito for 15 days before subscribing to any of the following:
- Solo: $69 per month, per user, with 20GB storage; can host up to two applications
- Small Team: $49 per month, per user, with 50GB storage; can host up to four applications, and a minimum of four users
- Large Team: Custom priced with 100GB storage; can host up to 10 applications
Add-ons:
- Storage: $1 per 1GB per month
- Additional application: $10 per app per month
Verito is very scalable because users can host as many apps as they can afford. Since the base plans can host two to 10 apps, you can add more for only $10 per app, per month, as long as storage allows. And if you run out of space, you can expand storage for only $1 per 1GB per month. The only downside here is Verito’s pricing when it comes to teams. Sagenext is better if you need more than eight users because it’s considerably more affordable than Verito’s $49 rate per user.
Apps4Rent: Best for Using Drake Tax on a Virtual Desktop
Pros
- Offers a 15-day, money-back guarantee
- Has 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Can host all Drake applications
Cons
- Has no option to add more users in the Bronze plan
- Has small storage capacity for a virtual desktop
Plans & Pricing
All plans come with one user.
- Dedicated Drake Bronze: $24.95 per month with 40GB storage
- Dedicated Drake Silver: $39.95 per month with 50GB storage
- Dedicated Drake Gold: $74.95 per month with 65GB storage
Additional users (Silver and Gold plans only) are $18 per user, per month, and this includes additional storage of 1GB of RAM each.
You can add more disk space for a monthly fee in case you need more storage for files and applications. You can purchase more disk space in the following denominations:
- 15GB: $11 per month
- 50GB: $24 per month
- 100GB: $44 per month
- 250GB: $65 per month
- 500GB: $100 per month
- 1TB: $200 per month
Apps4Rent is a great pick if you prefer a virtual desktop over dedicated Drake Tax hosting. Though hosting services and virtual desktops share the same concept, the latter is preferable if you want a desktop computer where you can access and modify all programs and files via cloud. You may also have superior virtual desktop specs, such as higher RAM and more central processing unit (CPU) cores, than your physical desktop. Meanwhile, dedicated hosting is best if you only want one desktop software to be accessible in the cloud.
However, Apps4Rent’s base plans come with a small storage, considering that it’s a virtual desktop and not just a single software hosting plan. It is likely that you’ll get additional disk space once you store more files and install more applications in the virtual desktop. If you dislike the idea of a virtual desktop, we recommend that you get a dedicated hosting plan instead. Look into Right Networks since it’s the hosting provider recommended by Drake Software for its software products.
How We Evaluated Best Drake Tax Hosting Software Providers
We evaluated Drake software cloud hosting based on the following criteria:
- Pricing: The cloud hosting cost weighs significantly in our evaluation because we’re aware that hosting fees are exclusive of software subscription fees. As much as possible, the price must be reasonable, even for multiple users.
- Scalability: Cloud hosting plans often go head-to-head with scalability as some providers tend to offer plans with limited scalability options. We focused on the number of seats per plan, the cost per additional seat, and the ability to add more applications.
- Storage capacity: Storage is also part of scalability, but it deserves to be its own criterion because it’s a crucial factor in decision-making. The storage capacity per plan must provide users with enough space to install applications and save files in the cloud.
- Uptime guarantees: While uptime guarantee percentages tend to look the same or rounded off, they matter greatly in cloud computing. For example, 99.9% uptime translates to nine hours of downtime in a year, while 99.99% uptime translates to less than an hour of downtime in a year. You should choose a cloud hosting provider with a good uptime guarantee to avoid interruptions.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
It is the duration for which the cloud service is accessible to its users. Uptime guarantees also define the length of downtime per year, such as 0.1% downtime per month for an uptime guarantee of 99.9%.
No. You have to buy a Drake Tax license separately.
Bottom Line
Hosting Drake Tax in the cloud enhances the collaboration and efficiency of your business’s accounting and tax team, especially during tax season. With the right hosting provider, tax preparation will be easier and faster since Drake Tax will be accessible everywhere as long as there’s internet access.
