QuickBooks Online offers five versions: Self-Employed, Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced. Pricing varies between $15 and $180 per month. Based on our QuickBooks Online comparison, your ideal plan depends on the number of users you need and whether your business requires features like accounts payable (A/P), inventory, or advanced reporting.
QuickBooks Online is our top pick among the best small business accounting software. To help narrow down the best plan for your business, answer a few short questions below. This will offer you a customized recommendation based on the responses you give. Afterward, continue reading the article for a more detailed comparison of the five QuickBooks products.
Answer a few questions about your business, and we'll give you a personalized product match.
Which QuickBooks Online Is Right for You
- QuickBooks Online Self-Employed: Best for owners of small service businesses that report business income on Schedule C of their personal tax return and have no employees
- QuickBooks Online Simple Start: Best for small service businesses that want to track assets, liabilities, income, and expenses, and only need access for one user
- QuickBooks Online Essentials: Best for small businesses that need to assign billable hours to customers, track bills due, and provide access for up to three users
- QuickBooks Online Plus: Best for retailers, wholesalers, contractors, and other small businesses that require inventory tracking, job costing, budgeting, and access for up to five users
- QuickBooks Online Advanced: Best for small to midsize businesses (SMBs) that want more detailed reporting, custom user permissions, a dedicated support manager, and up to 25 users
QuickBooks Online Comparison: Features
All five versions of QuickBooks Online can:
- Track your income and expenses
- Invoice customers and receive payments
- Invite your accountant to access your data
- Download your bank and credit card transactions
- Track mileage via a mobile device
- Capture and organize receipts via a mobile device
- Access unlimited customer support
QuickBooks Online Comparison: Chart of Pricing and Features
Feature | Self-Employed | Simple Start | Essentials | Plus | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
QuickBooks Online Monthly Price for First Three Months | $7.50 | $12.50 | $25 | $40 | $90 |
QuickBooks Online Standard Monthly Price | $15 | $25 | $50 | $80 | $180 |
Number of Users Included | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 25 |
Built-in Business Reports | 5 (Basic) | 20+ | 40+ | 65+ | 65+ |
Track Income & Expenses | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Create & Send Invoices | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Estimate Quarterly Income Taxes | ✔ | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Track Assets & Liabilities | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Create Estimates & Convert to Invoices | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Manage Sales Tax | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Payroll Service (Additional Fee) | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Online Payments (Additional Fee) | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Print Checks Instead of Writing Them Manually | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Prepare and Issue 1099s to Contractors | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
QuickBooks Live Online Bookkeeping Service (Additional Fee) | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Use Custom Tags to Categorize Transactions | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Input & Track Unpaid Bills | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Pay Bills Directly From QuickBooks | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Record Multicurrency Transactions | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Unlimited Time-tracking-only Users | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Create Purchase Orders (POs) to Place Orders With Suppliers | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ |
Track Inventory Using the First-in, First-out (FIFO) Method | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ |
Create & Manage Budgets | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ |
Track Profitability by Classes, Customer Types & Locations | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ |
Track Job Profitability | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ |
Unlimited Reports-only Users | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ |
Create Invoices by Batch | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Dashboard | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
Custom User Permissions | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
Automated Workflows | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
Integration With Premium Apps like LeanLaw, HubSpot, and DocuSign | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
Dedicated Success Manager | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
Training for Staff ($3,000 Value) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
QuickBooks Self-Employed vs QuickBooks Simple Start
QuickBooks Online Self-Employed works very well for people who work for themselves in a service industry and report their business income on Schedule C of their personal income tax return. Check out our review of QuickBooks Online Self-Employed to see what it can do for freelancers or solopreneurs. We consider QuickBooks Online Self-Employed the best for tracking freelance income and filing tax returns in our guide to the best accounting software for freelancers. Self-Employed can’t be upgraded to Simple Start, so make sure you won’t need any of Simple Start’s features anytime soon.
If you are looking into hiring employees or managing inventory soon, you can start setting up your company in QuickBooks Online Simple Start. Simple Start includes payroll processing, which allows you to calculate and track payroll taxes. QuickBooks Online Simple Start is also preferable if you need to track assets and liabilities and use automated sales tax on invoices. It is a great fit if you will be doing the bookkeeping yourself and don’t need inventory accounting. If you need a dedicated expert to handle your ongoing bookkeeping work, you can sign up for QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, available in Simple Start and all other higher plans.
QuickBooks Self-Employed vs Simple Start at a Glance
Feature | Self-Employed | Simple Start |
|---|---|---|
Promotion Price per Month for Three Months | $7.50 | $12.50 |
Standard Price per Month | $15 | $25 |
Number of Users Included | 1 | 1 |
Calculate Estimated Tax Payment | ✔ | N/A |
Transfer Income & Deductions to Schedule C | ✔ | N/A |
Print Balance Sheet Showing Assets & Liabilities | N/A | ✔ |
Payroll Add-on Available | N/A | ✔ |
Add Sales Tax to Invoices Automatically | N/A | ✔ |
Takeaway: Schedule C businesses should go with the higher-priced Simple Start if they have employees, need to charge customers sales tax, or need a balance sheet showing assets and liabilities. If your Schedule C business has inventory, you will need to upgrade to QuickBooks Online Plus to calculate your cost of goods sold (COGS) and ending inventory.
QuickBooks Simple Start vs QuickBooks Essentials
QuickBooks Essentials allows three users vs only one user allowed by QuickBooks Simple Start. The advantages of Essentials vs Simple Start are the ability to manage unpaid bills and assign hours worked to specific customers. In addition to helping you pay bills on time, recording unpaid bills is necessary if you need to produce accrual-based financial statements. Very small businesses that bill customers for hourly services usually find that QuickBooks Essentials meets their needs.
QuickBooks Simple Start vs Essentials at a Glance
Feature | Simple Start | Essentials |
|---|---|---|
Promotion Price per Month for Three Months | $12.50 | $25 |
Standard Price per Month | $25 | $50 |
Number of Users Included | 1 | 3 |
Manage Accounts Payable (Schedule & Pay Vendor Bills) | N/A | ✔ |
Assign Hours to Specific Customers | N/A | ✔ |
Number of Built-in Reports Available | 20+ | 40+ |
Takeaway: Most companies that choose Essentials over Simple Start do so because they need more than one user. However, service-based businesses that charge customers by the hour should also choose Essentials to assign time to customers.
QuickBooks Essentials vs QuickBooks Plus
QuickBooks Plus is a substantial upgrade compared to QuickBooks Essentials. The most crucial improvements are that Plus allows your company to track inventory costs and calculate profit and loss by project. Other helpful features that are included in Plus, but not available with Essentials, are budgets, classes, customer types, locations, and unlimited report-only users. You can learn more about QuickBooks Online’s most popular version by reading our complete QuickBooks Online Plus review.
Businesses that sell products and need to keep track of the quantity on hand and cost of products sold should subscribe to QuickBooks Plus. While Plus is the best QuickBooks Online option for retailers, wholesalers, and contractors, you should also consider checking out our QuickBooks Desktop vs QuickBooks Online guide as QuickBooks Desktop offers more features and flexibility for dealing with inventory and projects.
QuickBooks Essentials vs Plus at a Glance
Feature | Essentials | Plus |
|---|---|---|
Promotion Price per Month for Three Months | $25 | $40 |
Standard Price per Month | $50 | $80 |
Number of Users Included With Monthly Subscription | 3 | 5 |
Maximum Classes & Locations | N/A | 40 |
Track Inventory Costs | N/A | ✔ |
Profit and Loss By Project | N/A | ✔ |
Unlimited Reports-only Users | ✔ | |
Prepare Budgets | N/A | ✔ |
Takeaway: Retailers and wholesalers should choose Plus so they can track the cost of inventory. Contractors should also choose plus to track the profitability of individual projects. Other businesses should consider whether tracking profit and loss by class and location is worth the extra $30 per month subscription price.
QuickBooks Plus vs QuickBooks Advanced
QuickBooks Advanced has many bells and whistles compared to QuickBooks Plus, but no additional features that are crucial to good bookkeeping. However, as your business grows from small to midsize, you will probably need to upgrade from Plus to Advanced for the additional users. In addition to allowing up to 25 users, Advanced removes the limitations on the number of classes, locations, and accounts imposed by Plus. This makes Advanced ideal for a business with a growing staff, especially considering the maximum number of users for QuickBooks Online Plus is only five. QuickBooks Online Advanced is also the only product with a dedicated success manager and free training for your entire staff.
QuickBooks Plus vs Advanced at a Glance
Feature | Plus | Advanced |
|---|---|---|
Promotion Price per Month for Three Months | $40 | $90 |
Standard Price per Month | $80 | $180 |
Number of Users Included With Monthly Subscription | 5 | 25 |
Maximum Classes and Locations | 40 | Unlimited |
Maximum Chart of Accounts | 250 | Unlimited |
Batch Invoices, Bills, Checks, and Expenses | N/A | ✔ |
Customize Access by Roles | N/A | ✔ |
Key Performance Indicators Dashboard | N/A | ✔ |
Dedicated Success Manager | N/A | ✔ |
Training for Staff | N/A | ✔ |
Takeaway: Upgrading from Plus to Advanced isn’t crucial unless you’re running up against the size limitations of Plus. The most likely limitation that will cause you to upgrade is requiring more than five full-access users.
Bottom Line
QuickBooks Online Plus is the best option for most small businesses, especially those that deal with inventory or large projects. However, if you are self-employed with no employees, then QuickBooks Self-Employed is a good low-cost option. If your business is service-based, without any inventory, then QuickBooks Essentials should provide everything you need while saving you $30 per month compared to Plus.
