QuickBooks Online

Cloud accounting for small businesses with invoicing, bank feeds, tax and reporting, plus payroll add-ons.

4.4Editor ratingFinance & AccountingFree trial · 30 days

Overview

QuickBooks Online is Intuit's cloud accounting platform and the default choice for small businesses in the United States, where it is the system most bookkeepers and CPAs know best. It covers invoicing, expense capture, bank feeds, sales tax, financial statements and, on higher plans, bills, inventory, project profitability and budgeting. Payroll, time tracking (QuickBooks Time) and card processing (QuickBooks Payments) are sold as add-ons.

Plans are priced per company rather than per user, but each tier caps the number of users: Simple Start allows one user, Essentials three, Plus five and Advanced 25. Accountant access is free on every plan. US list prices have risen several times since 2023 and are currently $38 to $340 per month; new customers usually choose between a discount for the first three months or a 30-day trial, not both.

The app marketplace is the largest in the category, with hundreds of connectors for ecommerce, CRM and payment tools. Trade-offs are cost, an interface that can feel cluttered and upsell-heavy, and reliance on add-ons for payroll and time tracking. Feature sets and pricing differ noticeably by country.

Key features

Automation

API access

Data

Reporting & dashboards

Platforms

Mobile app

Views

Time tracking

Ecommerce

Inventory management
App marketplace

Finance

Recurring invoices
Expense tracking
Bank connections
Tax reports
Multi-currency invoicing
Payroll

Integrations: Gmail, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Make, PayPal, Salesforce, Shopify, Zapier
Platforms: Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, API

Pros & cons

Strengths

Largest ecosystem of accountants, bookkeepers and third-party apps in small-business accounting
Deep feature set on higher tiers: inventory, projects, budgets, class tracking and workflow automation
Strong US bank feed coverage and solid receipt capture in the mobile app
Free accountant access on every plan

Limitations

Repeated price increases, and the cheapest plan is single-user only
Payroll, time tracking and payments are paid add-ons that push the real monthly cost up
Interface can feel cluttered and pushes upgrades and add-ons frequently
Features and pricing vary noticeably between countries

Pricing

Pricing last reviewed Sep 13, 2026

Subscription. Four company-level plans priced $38 to $340 per month in the US, with user caps of 1, 3, 5 and 25. Payroll, time tracking and payments are separate add-ons, and list prices have increased most years.

Simple Start

$38/mo

Single-user plan for invoicing, expenses, bank feeds and basic reports.

1 user plus free accountant access
Invoicing, estimates and bank feeds
Sales tax tracking and standard reports
Receipt capture and mileage tracking

Essentials

$85/mo

Adds bill management, basic time tracking and multi-currency for up to 3 users.

Up to 3 users
Bill entry and vendor management
Multi-currency
Basic time entry

Plus

Popular

$140/mo

Adds inventory, project profitability and budgeting for up to 5 users.

Up to 5 users
Inventory tracking
Project profitability
Budgets and class tracking

Advanced

$340/mo

Top tier with workflow automation, custom reporting and up to 25 users.

Up to 25 users with custom roles
Workflow automation and batch invoicing
Custom report builder
Priority support (Priority Circle)

See QuickBooks Online pricing

Prices are listed in USD and can change. Confirm current pricing on the vendor’s pricing page.

Best for

A good fit if you are

US small businesses that want the accounting system most bookkeepers and CPAs already use
Product businesses that need inventory and project profitability (Plus and above)
Companies with many third-party apps to connect
Businesses planning to add payroll and payments from the same vendor

Not ideal if you

Freelancers who mainly need invoicing and want a cheaper tool
Teams of more than five users on a tight budget
Businesses outside Intuit's core markets (US, Canada, UK, Australia)

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