QuickBooks Alternatives: 6 Best Options in 2023

Here are the best QuickBooks Alternatives in the accounting and bookkeeping game that you should familiarize yourself with this year. While it’s true that each has pluses and minuses attached to them, all made the list as a top choice for a free Quickbooks alternative. Is your small business looking for software that handles payrolls, accounting, and other day-to-day functions? Check out the best choices for programs other than QuickBooks in 2023.

• Zoho Books: Best Overall QuickBooks Alternative With an Outstanding Mobile App.
• Xero: Best for Unlimited Users.
• Sage 50cloud: Best QuickBooks Desktop Alternative for Multi Company Bookkeeping.
• FreshBooks: Best for Excellent Customer Service.
• Lendio Accounting: Best Free Alternative To QuickBooks.
• Quicken: Best QuickBooks Alternative for Individuals With Rental Property.

QuickBooks vs Alternatives:

The best alternative to Quickbooks might be just a click away. Figuring out what your company needs and how a Quickboosk free alternative can help save you money, as well as time and energy. Here is how each free QuickBooks alternative stacks up:

6 Best Choices Other Than QuickBooks

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

When it comes to a free QuickBooks alternative you might want to consider Zoho Books. Not only is the app considered one of the best out there, but the free plan covers all the bases. 1,000 invoices annually for companies pulling in under $50K a year? That’s hard to beat. However, that’s just for one user and if you want more, Zoho Books makes you pay for it.

pros

• Pricing scalable to find a plan that fits a budget.
• Free version available to small businesses making less than $50,000 per year.
• The mobile app comes with more functionality than QuickBooks.

cons

• Free plan limited to one user with fees required to add more users.
• Higher plans are the only ones to include accounting and inventory.
• Bill payment management unavailable in lower tier plans.

Xero: Best for Unlimited Users

Your company has numerous employees working with your software and managing fixed assets. That makes Xero one of the best alternatives to Quickbooks. Not only is it more friendly in terms of pricing, but it comes with an interface that’s easy to navigate than QuickBooks. Integration choices are vast in the Xero App store. It is one of the best alternatives to Quickbooks, but to do everything that its rival does, you will need to pay for a higher plan.

pros

• All plans available to an unlimited number of users.
• Xero App Store provides robust integration choices.
• User friendly interface that’s easy to learn and navigate.

cons

• Unpopular in The United States of America.
• All features of QuickBooks only available on the highest priced plan.
• Payroll requires third-party integration with Gusto.

Sage 50cloud: Best QuickBooks Desktop Alternative for Multi Company Bookkeeping

When it comes to dealing with multiple parent entities, you need consolidation features. No one is better than Sage 50cloud when it comes to easily putting financial statements from various businesses into one place. Tiers are priced out into three different price levels, as well as customer pricing if you have more than 11 customers. Just make sure you take extra time to train users on your staff since Sage 50cloud can be tricky to navigate without prior experience on other accounting platforms. If you can do that, then you might have found a suitable free QuickBooks alternative for your company to use.

pros

• Consolidation features help financial statements from numerous companies live in one place.
• Inventory management features rival other accounting softwares.
• Cloud connect options available when needed.

cons

• Even with cloud accessibility, the default setting reverts to the desktop platform.
• New users will require extra training to become acquainted with accounting software’s idiosyncrasies.
• Support limited in the United States.

FreshBooks: Best for Excellent Customer Service

If time tracking and invoicing are top priority then your best alternative to QuickBooks might come with Freshbooks. With built-in project and timing tracking features, Freshbooks can generate accurate invoices at the click of a button. If you are a new small business owner, take advantage of the 70% discount for three months when you sign up. If you are an experienced accountant or bookkeeper, you might have to unlearn some of your standard techniques in order to adapt to Freshbooks interface.

pros

• Interface is user-friendly and straightforward to learn for new business owners.
• Customer service is outstanding.
• Time tracker comes as a built-in feature with project accounting.

cons

• Additional users require an extra fee.
• Unable to class track expenses and income.
• Users experienced with other accounting software might find Freshbooks confusing.

Lendio Accounting: Best Free Alternative To QuickBooks

The best Quickbooks alternative is Lendio Accounting. With invoicing management, contact database, tax prep, plus billing and payment processing, there’s very little Lendio can do. You can auto-categorize expenses while getting an overview of cash flow with up to date alerts. They even have a web app for business owners who are on the go or rarely at their desk. The flip side is that if you are a company that runs on IOS, Macintosh, or Windows primarily, Lendio would not be the optimal choice for keeping your books.

pros

• Interface is user-friendly and straightforward to learn.
• Free trial and free version available.
• Customer service is highly rated in multiple user reviews.

cons

• Lack of features compared to other free alternatives to QuickBooks.
• Interface lacks customizations capabilities.
• No phone or 24/7 live rep support offered to users.

Quicken: Best QuickBooks Alternative for Individuals With Rental Property

Do you own property? Do you collect rent? Then the best free Quickbooks alternative might be Quicken. The accounting software allows you to keep all your financial information up-to-date and can help you track rental payments, tenant information, and other data related to your property. The downside is that there is no online version, making it harder to transfer data. However, if you are a solo business owner, then Quicken might be a great Quickbooks free alternative.

pros

• Affordable subscription options available for any price range.
• Terrific option for solopreneurs.
• Up-to-date financial statements.

cons

• Features offered are limited compared to other accounting software programs.
• Desktop version only.
• Transfer of data to third-party softwares difficult.

How We Evaluated QuickBooks Alternatives: 

To make it on this list of the best free QuickBooks alternatives, several factors were evaluated and weighed against each other. This included the price of the accounting software, the maximum number of users, billing and invoicing features, as well as the level of customer support. In order to be deemed as a worthy best alternative to Quickbooks the accounting programs needed to offer an array of perks at a cost that small business owners could afford.

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