Are you looking for a QuickBooks alternative in 2026? If yes, then this article is just right for finding the best bookkeeping alternative to QuickBooks. I have researched lots of free as well as paid bookkeeping software with the same features as the Quickbooks. I hope that you will find this article helpful

While selecting the best QuickBooks alternatives of 2026, I have looked into the pricing, ease of use, features, customer support, accuracy, business, and scaling requirements, and many other parameters. While there are many other articles about the QuickBooks alternative online, this one gives you the best insight into each platform, its features, and how they compare with QuickBooks in 2026.

• Why Consider QuickBooks Alternatives?
• Quick Comparison Table
• 1. Xero – Best Overall Alternative
• 2. FreshBooks – Best for Freelancers
• 3. Wave – Best Free Option
• 4. Zoho Books – Best for Integration
• 5. Sage 50 – Best Desktop Alternative
• 6. AccountEdge – Best for Data Ownership
• 7. Gusto – Best for Payroll Focus
• 8. Other Notable Alternatives
• How to Choose the Right Alternative
• Frequently Asked Questions

Overview

Xero is an accounting software just like QuickBooks. The main difference between QuickBooks and Xero is that Xero specifically targets small businesses. It is also considerably cheaper than QuickBooks. For the past few years, it has been the top choice for an alternative to QuickBooks.

💰 Pricing: $29 – $75/month

Pricing Tiers (2026)

• Starter: $29/month – 20 invoices, 5 bills, bank reconciliation
• Standard: $50/month – Unlimited invoices and bills, expense claims
• Premium: $75/month – Multi-currency, projects, analytics

Why Choose Xero?

Xero is the best choice for small businesses and businesses that need multiple team members. The unlimited user feature alone can save businesses thousands of dollars, becase QuickBooks charges per user. With robust features, excellent integrations, and a growing network of certified advisors, Xero provides enterprise-level functionality at small business prices.

Overview

FreshBooks is a purpose-built QuickBooks alternative for freelancers, consultants, and service-based businesses. This accounting software has all the features you need for your service-based business. The pricing plans of FreshBooks are also suitable for businesses that are based on clients instead of products. This accounting software is also scalable with an additional team member cost of $11/Month per user. The payroll feature costs an additional $40/Month.

💰 Pricing: $19 – $60/month

Pricing Tiers (2026)

• Lite: $21/month – Up to 5 clients, unlimited invoices
• Plus: $38/month – Up to 50 clients, proposals, automated receipts
• Premium: $65/month – Unlimited clients, advanced reports, subcontractors
• Select: Custom pricing – Enterprise features, dedicated support

Why Choose FreshBooks?

FreshBooks is a great QuickBooks alternative for freelancers, for service professionals, and businessess who bill hourly or by project. This platform is most suitable and adopted for hourly bills. With client portals, automated payment reminders, and beautiful invoice templates, FreshBooks can help you get paid faster. They also have pricing tiers for all professionals and industries.

Overview

If you are someone who is just starting their business and can not afford expensive accounting and bookkeping softwares, Wave is the best choice for you. Wave accounting software is one of the very few free Quickbooks alternative. Although they have a premium plan as well, the free plan is more than enough for your business operations in start up phase. When you start making profits, you can go to higher-tier plans.

Wave’s free plan offers unlimited invoices, bills, and estimates. Furthermore, you can create unlimited bookkeeping records. Even many premium software out there do not offer such features.

💰 Pricing: Free (Starter) / $16/month (Pro)

Pricing Tiers (2026)

• Starter (Free): Invoicing, expense tracking, basic reports, receipt scanning
• Pro: $16/month – Automatic bank imports, transaction categorization, multiple users, discounted payment processing
• Payroll: $20/month base + per employee fees

Why Choose Wave?

Wave is the best Quickbooks alternative for startups, small businessess, and freelancers. The free plan of the Wave is very generous and is more than enough to fulfil your core requirements. If your annual business revenue is less then $50000, then Wave is more than enough for your accounting needs.

Overview

Zoho is one of the best companies who has built their own ecosystem to provide a large number of products and services to business owners. Many small and large busienssess use Zoho products for their business purposes. Their products provide good features at low price.

If you or your company also uses Zoho products or want to integrate into the Zoho ecosystem, then the Zoho Books is the best option for you. While QuickBooks has a mandatory premium plan purchase to use its features, Zoho Books gives you free access to its accounting software until you make a revenue of $50,000. This approach to pricing plan makes Zoho books one of the best QuickBooks alternatives for startups and freelancers who are just starting.

💰 Pricing: Free (up to $50K revenue) – $20+/month

Pricing PLANS

• Free: For micro businesses and individuals with less than $50,000 annual revenue – 1 user, up to 1,000 invoices/year
• Standard: $20/month; $15/Year – 3 users, advanced reports, workflow automation
• Professional: $50/month or $40/Year – 5 users, custom fields, budgeting
• Premium: $70/month or $60/Year – 10 users, vendor portal, custom modules

Since QuickBooks has discontinued its desktop software for accounting, many people are searching for a good alternative as well. Sage 50 is a good candidate for the replacement of QuickBooks desktop. However, the desktop software has clear disadvantage over cloud-based accounting as you can access it from anywhere.

With that said, Sage 50 does provide a really good desktop alternative to QuickBooks. It is good for people with privacy concerns and data security. Some of the top features of Sage 50 Desktop include –

• Full control over data
• Advanced budget and forecast features
• Job cost
• Multi-entity consolidated reporting
• Best for construction, manufacturing, and distribution businesses

Most people out there often debate between QuickBooks and Xero, but there is a very good platform in the middle of these two cloud software programs: the AccountEdge. The features of this platform include:

• General Ledger
• Sales & Invoices
• Expense Management
• Bank Reconciliation
• Financial Reporting
• Budgeting
• Inventory Management
• Payroll Processing
• Time Billing
• Contact Management
• Password Protection
• Data Backup
• Free Accountant Copy

💰 Pricing: Starting at $20/month

• AccountEdge Pro – ($20/month)
• AccountEdge Network Edition – $30/Month(2 Users)
• AccountEdge Hosted – $50/Month

This platform is great for people who need a solution like QuickBooks at relativeliy low price. It also has unlimited employees for payroll at just $20/Month. It also has both desktop and cloud-hosted platforms

However, the cons of this platform include charging extra $10 for phone support, 10 company file limit, and you must access their server at least once per month.

Gusto is a payroll-first accounting software platform. Nothing comes close to Gusto when it comes to payroll-related features. And that is why I have put it into the best alternative of QuickBooks in the payroll category.

Gusto Pricing Plans – Key Comparison

💰 Pricing: $40/month + $6/employee

• Automated payroll + tax filing
• Benefits administration (health, 401k, etc.)
• HR compliance & support
• Employee self-service portal
• Integration with Xero and other accounting software