QuickBooks Review 2026

What is QuickBooks?

QuickBooks is Intuit's cloud accounting software for small businesses, and on this page you get the QuickBooks Online pricing plans compared using Intuit's US pricing page as it stood in October 2026. Indian readers need one fact up front: Intuit shut the product down in India in 2023, so this review also explains what Indian firms should use instead.

What is QuickBooks used for?

At its core it is a general ledger with automation around it. You raise invoices, record expenses, connect bank and card accounts through bank feeds, and the software sorts each transaction into your chart of accounts. Your profit and loss statement and balance sheet stay current without month-end spreadsheet work.

Higher tiers add inventory, project profitability, budgets and class or location tracking. The typical buyer is a small business in the US, UK, Canada or another market where Intuit sells it, plus the bookkeepers who look after them. Paid plans include free accountant access: two accountant seats on Simple Start, Essentials and Plus, and three on Advanced, according to the US pricing page. The free tier has none.

QuickBooks Online price in India: the product has exited

There is no QuickBooks Online price in India any more because there is no Indian product. Intuit's own India page says new sign-ups ended in July 2022, existing subscribers kept access until 30 April 2023, and from 1 July 2023 nobody in India has access. The closure covered QuickBooks Online, Online Accountant, the mobile app and QuickBooks Time.

So does QuickBooks support GST in India? Not today. The old Indian edition handled GST, but it is gone, and the editions still on sale are built around the tax rules of their own countries. Intuit's notice points Indian users to the GST services portal for government-approved, compliant alternatives. In practice most small Indian firms choose between two products:

• Tally Prime from Tally Solutions: desktop accounting priced in rupees. Silver (single user, one PC) costs ₹750 a month or ₹22,500 for a lifetime licence. Gold (multi-user) is ₹2,250 a month or ₹67,500 lifetime. All prices exclude 18% GST.
• Zoho Books: cloud accounting with a free plan for businesses whose yearly revenue stays within ₹25 lakh (1 user plus 1 accountant, up to 1,000 invoices a year). Standard costs ₹749 a month billed yearly or ₹899 month to month, with 3 users and e-invoice management.

If you liked the QuickBooks way of working, Zoho Books is the closer match. If your CA already files returns from Tally data, Tally Prime keeps everyone on one system.

QuickBooks Online pricing plans compared

The US page lists four paid tiers plus a limited free plan. Paid plans are billed monthly with no annual contract, and you can cancel anytime. Budget on these list prices, which apply month after month.

How much is QuickBooks Online per month, really?

The honest answer is $38 to $340 before tax and add-ons. User caps matter more than the headline number. QuickBooks Simple Start covers one person (plus two accountant logins), so the day a second staff member needs access you move to QuickBooks Essentials at $85.

The step from Essentials to QuickBooks Plus costs $55 more a month and buys inventory, budgets and project tracking. Plus also brings Sales Tax AI, which Intuit says catches discrepancies before you file, handy for US sellers whose sales tax tracking spans several states. Advanced is about headcount, permissions and automation, so it suits a finance team of five or more working in the books daily. Automated bill pay is included, but the pricing page notes a $0.50 fee per standard ACH payment once you pass the monthly allotment.

Does QuickBooks have a free plan?

Yes, on the US site. QuickBooks Free costs $0 and needs no card, but it is deliberately small: one user, no accountant access, 2 invoices a month (unlimited if you qualify for and switch on QuickBooks Payments), one bank account, three reports and chat help. The mobile app and third-party integrations are not included. Paid plans come with a 30-day free trial, and phone support is free during the trial and on paid plans. The UK page lists Sole Trader Plus and no free tier, while the Canadian page lists a Lite plan for solo users. Regional prices differ, so check your country's page.

Key features in practice

Bank feeds pull in transactions automatically, and from Simple Start up the software learns how you categorise them. Plus adds automatic reconciliation. Reports run from three basics on the free tier up to custom KPIs and dashboards on Advanced. The Android and iOS apps (paid plans only) handle invoicing, expenses and mileage on the go. Intuit has also added AI tools, such as bulk invoice creation on Essentials (still in beta) and anomaly detection on Plus.

Developers get the QuickBooks Online Accounting API, a REST API with OAuth 2.0 sign-in, sandbox companies for testing, webhooks for change alerts, and SDKs for Java and .NET.

How to reconcile bank accounts in QuickBooks

Open the reconcile tool, pick the bank account, then enter the statement's ending date and ending balance. Tick every transaction that also appears on the statement. When the difference shows zero, finish the reconciliation and save the report. If it will not close, look for missing downloads, duplicates or a wrongly dated entry.

QuickBooks bank feed not updating: the fix

Intuit's help article gives a clear order of checks:

• Open Bank transactions and select Update. Most banks send new transactions roughly every 24 hours.
• Retry in a private browser window and complete any verification prompt.
• Log in to your bank's own site to look for alerts or maintenance. Intuit says bank outages usually clear within 24 to 48 hours.
• If your bank password or account number changed, edit the sign-in info on the account card and reconnect.

Anything older than 90 days will not download and has to be added by hand.

QuickBooks payroll setup guide (US)

In the US, payroll is now sold as Workforce bundles with accounting. The payroll pricing page lists Workforce Payroll + Simple Start at $88 a month plus $6.50 per employee, Workforce Payroll + Essentials at $125 plus $6.50, and Workforce Premium + Plus at $203 plus $10 per employee. All three are full-service, so Intuit calculates, files and pays payroll taxes. The cheapest bundle uses next-day direct deposit and the other two same-day. Premium adds an expert review of your setup and more HR tools, and Intuit's FAQ says the Elite tier includes setup done for you.

A sensible setup order: add federal and state tax IDs, enter each employee's pay rate, withholding and bank details, choose a pay schedule, then review everything before the first live run. Existing QuickBooks Online users can add payroll at any time.

QuickBooks vs Xero for small business

Xero is the usual rival. Its US plans cost $27 (Early), $59 (Growing) and $97 (Established) a month, with no per-user licence fees. Early is tight, with 20 invoices and 5 bills. Payroll on Xero comes through Gusto at $36 a month plus $6 per person.

Xero is cheaper and does not charge per user, which suits teams where several people need access. QuickBooks costs more but has deeper reporting tiers, its own payroll, and a much larger pool of US accountants who know it. For a five-person US team that needs inventory, compare Plus at $140 with Xero Growing at $59 and decide whether the extra depth is worth $81 a month.

QuickBooks Desktop alternative: free and paid routes

Intuit stopped selling Desktop Pro Plus, Premier Plus, Mac Plus and Enhanced Payroll to new US subscribers after 30 September 2024. Existing subscribers can keep renewing, and QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is still sold. Intuit's suggested path for most Desktop users is the cloud product. QuickBooks Free is too limited to replace Desktop for an active business, so a truly free route usually means a different vendor. For Indian users, the Zoho Books free plan is the practical pick, and it includes 50 receipt autoscans a month.

Is QuickBooks Online secure?

Intuit's help pages say it uses multi-factor authentication, keeps bank login details encrypted so staff cannot view them, and connects to banks on a read-only basis, so nobody can move money through the feed. Intuit also says it does not sell or share your data with third parties for their promotional use, and it runs a public status page. Your books sit in Intuit's cloud, so read the privacy terms if your industry has data-location rules.

Is QuickBooks good for freelancers?

A US freelancer with a handful of clients can start on QuickBooks Free, provided invoices go through QuickBooks Payments or stay at two a month. Simple Start at $38 adds phone support and accountant access but costs more than Xero Early. Indian freelancers cannot use it at all, and Zoho Books' free plan or Tally Prime Silver fits better.

Best QuickBooks alternatives

• Zoho Books: best for Indian SMEs wanting cloud books with GST features and a free tier.
• Tally Prime: best when your CA works in Tally, with a one-time licence option.
• Xero: best for global teams that want unlimited users at a lower price.

Limitations

• Not available in India since July 2023.
• Per-user caps (1, 3, 5, 25) push teams up the price ladder.
• The free plan allows 2 invoices a month, one bank account and no mobile app.
• Payroll bundles add a per-employee fee on top of the base price.

How to get started

Outside India, start the 30-day trial so you can test with real data before paying. Set up your chart of accounts, connect one bank feed, import a month of transactions and reconcile it. Then pick the tier that matches your user count. In India, open a Zoho Books free account or ask your CA about Tally Prime before migrating any old QuickBooks exports.