QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online is Intuit's accounting software for US small businesses: it pulls in bank transactions and categorises them, sends invoices customers can pay online, pays bills and keeps the books your accountant works in.
It suits US founders who want the books kept as they go, with an accountant invited in and room to add users, inventory and payroll later.
QuickBooks Free costs nothing for 1 user; paid plans run from $38 to $340 a month, and new customers take either 50% off the first 3 months or a 30-day free trial, as checked on 30 October 2026.
Reviewed by the IndieHacked team
- What it does
- Bookkeeping for a US business: bank feeds bring the transactions in and sort them, you invoice and pay bills, and your accountant works in the same books.
- Our take
- US founders who want the books kept properly from the first sales, with the accountant working in them. Bank feeds bring the transactions in and sort them, and the same account grows from a free plan to inventory, projects and payroll.
- Pricing
- FreemiumMid priceQuickBooks Free has no time limit: 1 user, 2 invoices, 2 receipt captures and 1 bank connection a month, with no accountant access, mobile app or third-party integrations. The regular monthly prices are Simple Start $38 for 1 user, Essentials $85 for 3, Plus $140 for 5 and Advanced $340 for 25, each with 2 accountant seats (3 on Advanced) and no annual contract, as checked on 30 October 2026. New customers pick one of two offers that cannot be combined: 50% off the first 3 months, then the regular price, or a 30-day free trial. Multiple currencies start on Essentials. Payroll (QuickBooks Workforce) is a separate add-on, and ACH bill payments past the monthly allowance are $0.50 each. A Lite plan for solopreneurs, with unlimited invoices but no accountant access, sits on the Solopreneur page; Intuit was testing its price on the day we checked.
The IndieHacked breakdown
What it does
QuickBooks Online connects to your bank and card accounts, brings the transactions in and categorises the expenses, and Intuit Intelligence, its AI, looks for deductions and answers questions about the numbers in a chat that is still in beta. From the same books you send estimates and invoices customers can pay online, pay bills by ACH, track sales tax and run profit and loss reports.
Plans step up by users and depth. Simple Start is 1 user; Essentials adds users and multiple currencies; Plus adds budgets, inventory and project profitability; Advanced adds custom permissions, workflow automation and Excel sync for up to 25 users. Paid plans work in the mobile app and connect to 800+ integrations, and Intuit's own payroll plugs into the same account.
Who it suits
US founders past their first sales who want the books kept as they go rather than rebuilt at tax time. Invite the accountant on day one: every paid plan includes 2 accountant seats, 3 on Advanced, so they work in your books directly.
It also suits a founder who expects to add stock, projects or staff. Inventory and project profitability come with Plus, payroll joins the same account, and a side project can start on the free plan and move up once 2 invoices a month is not enough.
Not the right fit for
Founders whose company is registered outside the US. This review covers the US product; Intuit runs separate QuickBooks sites for other countries, the UK, Canada and Australia among them. Xero, reviewed here, publishes its own plans for markets such as the UK.
Founders who want a team in the books without paying by headcount. QuickBooks caps users at 1, 3, 5 and 25 by plan, so a fourth person means a bigger plan. Xero, reviewed here, includes unlimited users on every plan.
Also on the shortlist
- XeroFinanceUnlimited users on every plan and local plans outside the US; multiple currencies on Established, $97 a month in the US.US plans from $27 a month, first month free, as checked on 30 October 2026
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