5 Best Alternatives to QuickBooks Desktop Pro

We chose several alternatives to QuickBooks Desktop Pro due to varying reasons for each. Zoho Books ranked as our “best overall” in part because of its outstanding mobile app. 

However, each software has its own pros and cons that may or may not mesh with your business. 

Here our five alternatives to QuickBooks Desktop Pro:

• Zoho Books: Best overall QuickBooks alternative with an outstanding mobile app 
• Xero: Best for unlimited users
• Sage 50cloud: Best QB Desktop alternative for multi-company bookkeeping 
• FreshBooks: Best for excellent customer service 
• Quicken: Best for individuals with rental property

Consider some important factors when choosing the right tool for your business, like specific features, ease of use, cost, and your business’s overall needs. Read on for a list of the best QuickBooks Desktop Pro competitors, or Quickbooks Desktop alternatives.

QuickBooks Desktop Pro vs Alternatives

5 Best QuickBooks Desktop Pro Alternatives

Read on for the benefits, pros and cons, and price and plans of alternatives to Quickbooks Desktop. You’ll want to analyze each Quickbooks Desktop alternative and option before you get started.

Zoho Books: Best Overall QuickBooks Alternative with an Outstanding Mobile App 

Zoho Books offers a fantastic QuickBooks alternative to handle your company’s invoices, reconcile bank statements, oversee projects, and more.

pros

• Simple, easily navigable dashboard with a user-friendly UI
• Secure features
• Can connect your business across many platforms; Zapier acts as the middleman

cons

• Can access a wide number of third-party apps, but you won’t have full access to all features, such as direct payroll and point-of-sale (POS) integrations.
• Doesn’t allow you to have unlimited users on your account. Furthermore, advanced features are also only available for premium versions. 

Price

You’ll gain access to a wide variety of features in this alternative to Quickbooks Desktop Pro, including purchase orders, timesheet approval, and advanced analytics like up-to-the-minute reports and key financial metrics. Tiers include:

• Standard: $15 for three users
• Professional: $40 for five users
• Premium: $60 for 10 users
• Elite: $120 for up to 10 users
• Ultimate: $240 for up to 15 users

Plans

• Standard plan: The Standard plan offers features like recurring expenses, project tasks, payment gateways, phone and live chat customer service and more available integrations. 
• Professional plan: The professional plan offers retainer invoices, bills, recurring bills, stock trading, and more. It truly offers a notch up.  
• Premium and Elite plans: For larger businesses, these plans offer more customization options, like custom fields and reports, and a vendor portal. Elite offers advanced inventory controls and an integration with Shopify.

Xero: Best for Unlimited Users 

You can’t list alternatives to Quickbooks Pro without Xero. Xero’s cloud-based accounting software system offers data management and reports and the ability to track and pay bills on time. You can see a wide variety of accounting services: accounts payable and cash flow, and can accept payments, track projects, get reports, and send invoices. 

pros

• Analytics feature
• Free support through email and through phone number

cons

• Some users reported challenges learning and using Gusto
• Must use Gusto to integrate the payroll process

Price

• Early: $3.25
• Growing: $9.25
• Established: $17.50

Plan

The details of plans include the following: 

• Early: Send quotes and 20 invoices, enter five bills, reconcile bank transactions, capture bills and receipts with Hubdoc, and get a short-term cash flow and business snapshot. 
• Growing: The Growing plan allows you the same options as the Early plan, except it also allows you to bulk reconcile transactions. 
• Established: The Established plan offers the same options as the Growing plan but allows you to add in multiple currencies, track projects, claim expenses, and analytics.

Sage 50cloud: Best QB Desktop Alternative for Multi-Company Bookkeeping 

Sage 50cloud deserves a spot in our alternatives to Quickbooks Pro because of perks like its invoicing system, payments and banking features, inventory management, and more. You get the perks of a desktop accounting software with the perks of the cloud, in the form of cash flow and invoicing, job records, payroll and reporting.

pros

• Inventory tracking
• Payroll processes made simple
• Advanced security features

cons

• Costs a lot compared to other accounting options

Price

• Sage 50cloud Pro Accounting: $578 per year
• Sage 50cloud Premium Accounting: $824 per year
• Sage 50cloud Quantum Accounting: $1,368 per year

Plan

• Sage 50cloud Pro Accounting: This plan, for one user, includes a wide variety of features: invoice and bill tracking, purchase orders, expense management, bank reconciliation, inventory and job management, and more. 
• Sage 50cloud Premium Accounting: For one to five users, you’ll get all the same perks as Pro, plus purchase and change orders, advanced budgeting and reporting, inventory tracking for multiple companies, and more. 
• Sage 50cloud Quantum Accounting: Quantum Accounting allows up to 40 users. You get the same perks as that in Pro and Premium, but it also creates, sends and tracks invoices, tracks money owed, and offers excellent mobile options. 

FreshBooks: Best for Excellent Customer Service 

At tax time, who doesn’t want a smooth transition? You stay compliant with regulations and make insight-based decisions with your accountant using FreshBooks. The software ensures accuracy, compliance and flexibility that grows with your business. Among alternatives to Quickbooks accounting desktop, you also likely want a great customer service, which FreshBooks provides.

pros

• Easy-on-the eyes dashboard allows you to zip through taxes and other accounting tasks
• No upper-tier requirements for multiple users
• Gusto payroll is part of each plan

cons

• Per-user payment plan
• No bookkeeper or accounting access

Price

• Lite: $8.50 per month plus $11 per team member per month
• Plus: $15 per month plus $11 per team member per month
• Premium: $27.50 per month plus $11 per team member per month

Plans

FreshBooks’ plans offer the following as an alternative to Quickbooks online: 

• Lite: Unlimited invoices to up to five clients, unlimited expense tracking, unlimited estimates, credit card and bank transfer payments, tax time reports, easy cloud access.
• Plus: Plus offers the same features as Lite, plus automatic expense tracking and receipt data capture, unlimited estimates and proposals, recurring bills and client retainer setup, business health/financial/accounting reports. You can also invite your accountant and get mobile mileage tracking. You can also send unlimited invoices to up to 50 clients.
• Premium: You get the same “stuff” with Premium as in Plus, in addition to unlimited invoices to unlimited numbers of clients, bill tracking, bill payments, project profitability tracking, customized email templates/signatures. You’ll also get automatic expense tracking, bill capture, and receipt data, as well as late payment and late fee reminders. You can also send late payment reminders and bill late fees and unlimited estimates and proposals and also tap into other features.

Quicken: Best for Individuals with Rental Property

Quicken offers personal finance plans to help you manage spending, savings, business, and real estate rentals. In this Quickbooks alternative open source, you’ll access a slick, easy-to-understand dashboard. 

pros

• Some of the least expensive options available
• Can easily see business and rental finances and how they impact you
• Effortless bill tracking

cons

• Some individuals reported trouble importing transactions
• Not double-entry

Price

• Simplifi by Quicken: $2.39 per month
• Quicken Home and Business: $5.99 per month
• Quicken Premier: $4.19 per month
• Quicken Deluxe: $2.99 per month

Plans

• Simplifi by Quicken: See financial accounts in one dashboard, automatic downloads and categorized transactions, personalized budges, track projects, and insights to help you reach your goals. 
• Quicken Home and Business: Everything in Premier, built-in Schedule C and E tax reports, P&L, cash flow and more, managing tenants, lease terms, deposits, and other rental property options.
• Quicken Premier: Everything in Deluxe plus investment tracking and growing tools, tax benefits, track and pay bills from Quicken, and get priority access to customer support.
• Quicken Deluxe: You can connect banking, credit cards, loans, investments, property, track monthly bills, and manage and grow your savings. You can also create a customized budget and plan reports and scenarios for investments.

How We Evaluated QuickBooks Desktop Pro Alternatives 

We evaluated QuickBooks Desktop Pro alternatives by looking into the features, price, security, customer service and other factors that make QuickBooks Desktop Pro alternatives a great option. In addition, we paid particular attention to the plans that outmatched QuickBooks Desktop Pro and which would benefit clients above and beyond QuickBooks. We also considered the number of users who could benefit from each plan and which plans offered the easiest transition at tax time.

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