QuickBooks Online offers five plans—Solopreneur, Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced—ranging from $20 to $235 per month. This QuickBooks Online comparison highlights their features, pricing, and ideal use cases, helping you choose the best plan for your business.
Learn which plans suit you best in this detailed QuickBooks Online comparison guide:
- QuickBooks Solopreneur: Best for one-person businesses
- QuickBooks Online Simple Start: Best for small businesses needing basic accounting tools
- QuickBooks Online Essentials: Best for businesses billing time and expenses
- QuickBooks Online Plus: Best for growing businesses with inventory and project management needs
- QuickBooks Online Advanced: Best for established businesses with complex workflows
With hands-on experience in accounting software since 2014, I bring a deep understanding of accounting and bookkeeping to my writing.
Over the years, I have specialized in creating finance and accounting content, leveraging my expertise to thoroughly evaluate software using the Fit Small Business internal case study that objectively scores key features.
Committed to accuracy and editorial independence, I deliver clear, authoritative insights in alignment with the Fit Small Business mission.
- Certified QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor
- Certified Xero Advisor
- Certified Bookkeeper
- Certified Financial Advisor
- Over 15 years of experience in the financial industry working in banking, insurance, accounting, and finance.
QuickBooks Online Plans Comparison: Pricing & Features
The QuickBooks Online comparison chart below highlights some of the key features of the five plans. We include in-depth, side-by-side comparisons of each plan against its next-level tier in the sections that follow.
Solopreneur | Simple Start | Essentials | Plus | Advanced | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3.73 ★ | 3.81 ★ | 4.61 ★ | 4.69 ★ | ||
$20 | $35 | $65 | $99 | $235 | |
Users Included | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 25 |
Chart of Accounts | Up to 250 | Up to 250 | Up to 250 | Unlimited | |
Number of Sales Channels That Can Be Connected | 0 | 1 | 3 | All | All |
Double-entry Accounting | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Connect Bank Accounts | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Send Invoices | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Accept Payments | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Manage Expenses | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Create Estimates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Track Mileage | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Capture Receipts | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Print Balance Sheet | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Print Checks | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Run Payroll | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Make Contractor Payments | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
File 1099s | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Track Sales Tax | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Use Modern View Reports | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Manage Bills | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Track Time & Add to Invoices | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Track Delayed Charges | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Set Recurring Transactions | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Use Multicurrency | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Track Expenses by Customer | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Create Budgets | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Track Activity by Project, Class & Location | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Import and Send Batch Invoices | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Fixed Asset Accounting | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Add Enhanced Custom Fields | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Automate Workflows | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Revenue Recognition | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Data Restoration | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Batch Enter or Edit Data | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Data Sync with Excel | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
24/7 Support & Training | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
When to Use Each
Solopreneur
QuickBooks Solopreneur is ideal for one-person businesses with limited bookkeeping knowledge or those needing to separate business and personal expenses. It’s also great for project-based work or managing finances remotely.
- Freelancers: Solopreneur is designed for taxpayers that work alone. If you pay employees or contractors, you must upgrade to Simple Start for integrated payroll.
- To separate your business and personal expenses: QuickBooks Solopreneur automatically classifies expenses, ensuring accurate tax reporting and preventing your personal activity from being reported on your business return.
- For limited bookkeeping knowledge: Its intuitive interface and automated tools simplify the management of income, expenses, and deductions for solopreneurs.
- For project-based work: Ideal for freelancers and consultants to track expenses, invoice clients, and manage project-related finances.
- For frequent travelers: Use the mileage tracker for business trips and the mobile app for invoicing and receipt captures on the go.
Simple Start
QuickBooks Simple Start is perfect for small businesses needing a double-entry accounting system or payroll integration through QuickBooks Payroll.
- For recurring payment arrangements: Ideal for businesses with ongoing payments like rent, utilities, or subscriptions, thanks to its recurring payment setup.
- For businesses with employees: Simplifies payroll tasks like paycheck processing and payroll tax calculations with QuickBooks Payroll integration.
- To pay vendors or employees by check: Allows you to enter and print checks for bills and salaries, unlike Solopreneur.
- For managing 1099 contractors: Easily assign payments to 1099 categories and prepare or file 1099s with the QuickBooks Payroll integration.
- For a double-entry accounting system: Provides the lowest-cost option in QuickBooks Online for double-entry accounting, which Solopreneur lacks.
Essentials
Essentials adds advanced features to those already found in Simple Start. Most notably, Essentials can track time and expenses and automatically add them to a customer’s invoice.
- For small teams: Allows up to three users without extra fees, making it great for small businesses with multiple users.
- For service-based businesses: Track billable hours by customer and project directly within the platform.
- For international businesses: Supports multiple currencies, ideal for companies operating outside the US.
- For enhanced reporting: Access over 40 financial reports, including A/P and A/R aging, transaction lists by customer, and expenses by vendor, offering deeper financial insights.
Plus
QuickBooks Plus is a great fit for growing businesses needing inventory tracking, project management, or managing multiple locations and sales channels.
- For small teams: Supports up to five users, ideal for most small businesses.
- For inventory management: Tracks inventory and COGS, perfect for product-based businesses.
- For project management: Includes tools to create and track projects, allocate costs, and monitor project-related expenses.
- For multiple departments or locations: Class and location tracking makes it easy to manage income and expenses across services, departments, or locations.
- For ecommerce businesses: Connect unlimited sales channels, like Amazon, Shopify, and eBay, with automated tracking for revenue, taxes, and fees.
Advanced
QuickBooks Advanced is designed for larger businesses with complex workflows, multiple users, and advanced financial tracking needs.
- For larger teams: Supports up to 25 users, ideal for SMBs with larger teams.
- For tracking fixed assets: Record fixed assets, calculate depreciation, and generate detailed reports.
- For managing multiple entities: Consolidate financial data from multiple company files into one report.
- For project cost tracking: Compare estimated vs actual project costs to analyze profitability.
- For complex workflows: Includes free training ($3,000 value) to help teams optimize advanced features.
Fit Small Business Case Study
Our internal case study compares the four standard QuickBooks Online plans for small businesses across major accounting categories and functions to help you decide which one fits your needs. We excluded QuickBooks Solopreneur because it’s not a double-entry accounting system.
QuickBooks Online Comparison Interactive Chart
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Simple Start $35 per month
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Essentials $65 per month
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Plus $99 per month
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Advanced $235 per month
QuickBooks Solopreneur vs QuickBooks Online Simple Start
Solopreneur | Simple Start | |
|---|---|---|
3.73 ★ | ||
$20 | $35 | |
Users Included | 1 | 1 |
Bank Feeds | ✓ | ✓ |
Create & Send Estimates | ✓ | ✓ |
Create & Send Invoices | ✓ | ✓ |
Accept Partial Customer Payments | ✓ | ✓ |
Prepare for Schedule C (Form 1040) Tax Filing | ✓ | ✓ |
Track Mileage | ✓ | ✓ |
Manage Cash Flow | ✓ | ✓ |
Capture & Attach Receipts to Transactions | ✓ | ✓ |
Generate Profit & Loss | ✓ | ✓ |
Estimated Tax Projections | ✓ | ✓ |
Record & Track Bills and Expenses | Expenses Only | ✕ |
Set Up Recurring Payments | ✕ | ✓ |
Get Paid With No Fees | ✕ | ✓ |
Print Full Financial Statements | ✕ | ✓ |
Make Contractor Payments or File Form 1099 | ✕ | ✓ |
Print Checks | ✕ | ✓ |
Sales Tax Tracking | ✕ | ✓ |
Customize Chart of Accounts | ✕ | ✓ |
QuickBooks Solopreneur is tailored for one-person businesses focusing on simple income and expense tracking with features like invoicing, sending estimates, mileage tracking, and tax filing for Schedule C. In contrast, Simple Start is designed for growing small businesses, offering payroll processing, automated sales tax, and 1099 contractor tracking, but lacks Solopreneur’s simplicity and streamlined tools for solo entrepreneurs. The solopreneur plan generates a profit and loss report but lacks a balance sheet—a crucial tool for providing a comprehensive view of your business’s financial health.
Advantages of QuickBooks Online Simple Start
Unlike QuickBooks Solopreneur, Simple Start allows you to manage and pay bills directly within QuickBooks. You can track unpaid bills, select the ones to pay, and process them easily through QuickBooks Bill Pay—a service included with your Simple Start subscription. Learn more in our review of QuickBooks Bill Pay.
With Simple Start, you can process payroll by subscribing to QuickBooks Payroll starting at $50 per month plus $6 per month per employee. This automates payroll calculations, taxes, and deductions while offering direct deposit options for employees. Payroll taxes can be filed and paid automatically, and employees can access their pay stubs and W-2s online, saving time for both employers and staff.
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Simple Start uses a double-entry accounting system, letting you track assets—like bank accounts—and liabilities, such as credit card balances and loans. While basic liability tracking is supported, complex items like deferred revenue or detailed inventory management require manual adjustments or an upgrade to a higher plan. Payroll liabilities are also tracked automatically when using QuickBooks Payroll.
Simple Start makes it easy to record and track payments to independent contractors. You can designate vendors as 1099 workers, ensuring their payments are tracked for tax purposes. Expenses related to contractors can be categorized, and the plan helps you generate and print 1099 forms. However, e-filing 1099s requires a subscription to QuickBooks Payroll.
QuickBooks Online Simple Start vs Essentials
Simple Start | Essentials | |
|---|---|---|
3.73 ★ | 3.81 ★ | |
$35 | $65 | |
Users Included | 1 | 3 |
Number of Built-in Reports Available | 20-plus | 40-plus |
Recurring Transactions | ✕ | ✓ |
Record Billable Time and Add to Invoices | ✕ | ✓ |
Supports Multiple Currencies | ✕ | ✓ |
Control What Users Can Access | ✕ | ✓ |
General Ledger Report | ✕ | ✓ |
Assign Billable Expenses to Customers | ✕ | ✓ |
Time-tracking | ✕ | ✓ |
Simple Start is best for small businesses needing basic accounting tools like invoicing, sales tax automation, bill management, and 1099 contractor tracking. On the other hand, Essentials adds advanced features, such as time tracking and support for up to three users, making it a better fit for businesses with employees or more complex financial needs.
Advantages of QuickBooks Online Essentials
Record Time Activity as Billable to Customers
QuickBooks Essentials lets you track billable hours by job and assign them to specific customers, a feature not available in Simple Start. You can easily add billable time to invoices and send them to clients, making it ideal for service-based businesses like lawyers or freelancers who charge by the hour.
Generate Basic Reports
Essentials includes all 20-plus reports from Simple Start, such as cash flow statements, P&L, and balance sheets, plus over 20 additional reports. These standard reports include A/P and A/R aging details, expenses by vendor, and uninvoiced charges. Essentials also provides tools to analyze outstanding invoices and unpaid bills in greater detail, offering a clearer picture of your business finances.
QuickBooks Essentials vs QuickBooks Plus
Essentials | Plus | |
|---|---|---|
3.81 ★ | 4.61 ★ | |
$65 | $99 | |
Users Included | 3 | 5 |
Class and Location Tracking | ✕ | ✓ |
Profit and Loss by Project | ✕ | ✓ |
Inventory Management | ✕ | ✓ |
Create Budgets | ✕ | ✓ |
Track Purchases of Products/Services | ✕ | ✓ |
Purchase Orders | ✕ | ✓ |
Import & Send Batch Invoices | ✕ | ✓ |
QuickBooks Essentials is best for small businesses needing basic bill management, time tracking, and support for up to three users. On the other hand, QuickBooks Plus includes everything in Essentials but adds tools for inventory tracking, project management, and class/location tracking, making it ideal for growing businesses with more complex financial needs. Plus also supports up to five users, offering better scalability for expanding teams.
Advantages of QuickBooks Online Plus
QuickBooks Plus includes inventory tracking, letting you monitor stock levels, update costs, and separate taxable from nontaxable items. It uses FIFO accounting to calculate COGS and inventory value, eliminating the need for manual calculations required in lower-tier plans.
With Plus, you can create, track, and send POs to vendors. Easily specify items, quantities, and delivery timelines. Once fulfilled, POs can be seamlessly converted into bills, streamlining your purchasing process.
Plus allows you to assign classes and locations to transactions, providing insights into the performance of various divisions or locations. This feature is invaluable for businesses operating in multiple areas or departments, helping identify the most profitable units.
The Projects tool in Plus enables you to track income, expenses, and wages by project. It’s perfect for managing job costs and ensuring project profitability with clear visibility into labor and material costs.
QuickBooks Plus vs QuickBooks Advanced
Essentials | Plus | |
|---|---|---|
4.61 ★ | 4.69 ★ | |
$99 | $235 | |
Users Included | 5 | 25 |
Maximum Classes & Locations | 40 | Unlimited |
Maximum Chart of Accounts | 250 | Unlimited |
Batch Invoices, Bills, Checks & Expenses | ✕ | ✓ |
Customize Access by Roles | ✕ | ✓ |
Dedicated Success Manager | ✕ | ✓ |
Training for Staff | ✕ | ✓ |
Advanced Reporting | ✕ | ✓ |
Manage Fixed Assets | ✕ | ✓ |
Compare Estimated vs Actual Project Costs | ✕ | ✓ |
Consolidate Multicompany Files Into a Single Report | ✕ | ✓ |
QuickBooks Advanced builds on the features of Plus with tools designed for larger businesses or those with complex workflows. While Plus supports up to 5 users, Advanced accommodates up to 25 users, custom user permissions, batch transactions, and automated workflows. Advanced also provides exclusive benefits, like a dedicated account manager, premium support, and unlimited chart of accounts and classes. Businesses with multiple entities, advanced reporting needs, or a larger team should consider upgrading to Advanced, even at a higher monthly cost.
Advantages of QuickBooks Online Advanced
QuickBooks Advanced streamlines invoicing with batch invoicing, letting you create multiple invoices at once using a single template. Ideal for businesses invoicing multiple customers for the same products or services, it saves time compared with creating invoices individually.
With batch expensing, you can record and categorize multiple expenses simultaneously, such as travel, office supplies, or equipment purchases. Upload receipts in bulk, assign them to the correct accounts, and submit them for approval, simplifying expense management.
Advanced offers highly customizable reports with tools to filter, group, and create custom dashboards. Features like multicompany reporting, scheduled report emails, and Spreadsheet Sync allow seamless integration with Excel for consolidated data and enhanced reporting capabilities.
Advanced users enjoy Priority Circle membership, which includes access to a dedicated customer success manager and priority support with shorter wait times for chat and phone assistance.
Track fixed assets like vehicles, buildings, and equipment with automatic depreciation calculations and schedules. This feature simplifies asset management and aligns with standard accounting practices.
Compare projected costs and revenues against actual figures for your projects. This feature helps identify profitability issues and make adjustments to keep projects on track.
How We Evaluated QuickBooks Online Plans
Our QuickBooks Online comparison is based on our internal case study, explained below. As mentioned earlier, QuickBooks Solopreneur is excluded from our evaluation since it’s not a double-entry accounting software.
5% of Overall Score
We first determined a pricing score by assessing the software’s price for one, three, and five users. We also considered whether there was a free trial, monthly pricing, and a discount for new customers. After determining the pricing score, we assigned a value score based on the pricing score and the solution’s total score across all categories except Value.
5% of Overall Score
We evaluated general features like the flexibility of the chart of accounts, the ability to add and restrict the rights of users, and how your information can be shared with an external bookkeeper. We also searched for ways to provide more granular information like class and location tracking and custom tags.
10% of Overall Score
This assessed the ability to print checks, establish live bank feeds, and import bank transactions from a file. We also looked closely at the bank reconciliation feature. We wanted to see the ability to reconcile bank accounts with or without imported bank transactions and a list of book transactions that have not yet cleared the bank.
10% of Overall Score
In addition to the basics of issuing invoices and collecting customer payments, we evaluated the software’s ability to create customized invoices. We also assessed whether it could handle non-routine transactions like short payments, credit memos, and the refund of credit balances in customer accounts.
10% of Overall Score
The A/P score consisted of the basics like tracking unpaid bills, recording vendor credits, and short-paying invoices, but it also included some more advanced features—such as paying bills electronically, creating recurring expenses, and working with purchase orders. Receipt capture and the ability to automatically generate bills from captured receipts were also part of our A/P evaluation.
10% of Overall Score
10% of Overall Score
At the very least, we looked for software that could create multiple projects and separately assign income and expenses to those projects. We also searched for the ability to create estimates and assign those estimates to projects. Ideally, the program would then compare the actual expenses to the costs on the original estimate.
5% of Overall Score
Software should be able to track sales tax for multiple jurisdictions with varying tax rates. It’s helpful to have a function to easily record the remittance of the sales tax by jurisdiction. The very best tool will also help determine which jurisdictions sales are taxable to based on the address of the customer or delivery.
10% of Overall Score
I evaluated basic financial reports (such as a balance sheet, income statement, and general ledger) and common management reports (like A/R and A/P aging).
5% of Overall Score
Ideally, a mobile app should have all the same features as the computer platform, including the ability to capture receipts, send invoices, receive payments, enter and pay bills, and view reports.
5% of Overall Score
While it’s nice to have as many integrations as possible, we focused our evaluation on the four integrations we believe are most critical for small businesses: payroll, online payment collection, sales tax filing, and time tracking.
10% of Overall Score
The largest component of usability is the ability to find bookkeeping assistance when users have questions. This could be in the form of a bookkeeping service directly from the software provider or from independent bookkeepers familiar with the program. Other components of usability include customer service and ease of use.
5% of Overall Score
Our user review score is the average user review score reported by Capterra and G2. Other review sites might be used if a score from Capterra or G2 is unavailable.
When to Consider a QuickBooks Online Alternative
QuickBooks Online isn’t always the perfect fit for every business. Here are some situations where an alternative might be better:
- If you want free accounting software: Managing your finances on a budget is possible. Check out our list of top-recommended free accounting software for the best options and their features.
- If you need parts inventory management: While QuickBooks Online has strong inventory management features, it can’t track parts and inventory assemblies. Check out our guide to the best accounting software for small manufacturing businesses for options.
- If you prefer desktop-based software: For businesses with limited internet connectivity, QuickBooks Desktop may be a better choice than QuickBooks Online. Our QuickBooks Online vs Desktop comparison highlights the differences, including features in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, the only available desktop version.
- If you need better scalability: As your business grows, QuickBooks Online may struggle with higher transaction volumes, more users, or complex operations. Explore our list of the leading small business accounting software for scalable solutions.
- If you require industry-specific features: QuickBooks Online is versatile but may not meet all industry-specific needs. If you’re relying heavily on workarounds or third-party integrations, consider specialized software. Check out our buyer’s guides for tailored solutions:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, you can. However, note that there’s no direct data migration option available from QuickBooks Solopreneur to any higher version of QuickBooks Online. This means you must first cancel your Solopreneur subscription and then sign up for the QuickBooks Online version you wish to upgrade to.
QuickBooks Online is better than QuickBooks Desktop if you prefer cloud-based accounting software to a locally installed one. QuickBooks Online’s biggest advantage is its ability to be accessed from anywhere with an internet-enabled device. Learn about all the differences in our QuickBooks Online vs Desktop comparison.
The QuickBooks Online Plus subscription is the most popular plan among small to medium-sized businesses. It offers robust features, such as inventory tracking, project profitability tracking, budgeting, and class/location tracking, making it ideal for businesses with diverse needs. It also supports up to five users, which is perfect for growing teams.
Yes, QuickBooks Online offers a mobile app that allows you to access your account, track expenses, create and send invoices, and more, all from your smartphone or tablet.
Bottom Line
The right QuickBooks Online plan depends on your business size and needs. Solopreneur works well for self-employed individuals or solo business owners, but if you have employees, upgrade to Simple Start. For service-based businesses without inventory, Essentials offers everything you need while saving $34/month compared with Plus, which is ideal for managing inventory or large projects. If you’re scaling to over 5 users or need advanced features like fixed asset accounting, Advanced is the best choice.