File No. 119 against No. 126
Zoho Books vs QuickBooks Online: what each costs
Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online are accounting software for small businesses. Neither charges per user: each plan is a flat price with a set number of users included. The difference in how they bill: the Zoho Books figures on file are annual billing rates, while QuickBooks Online shows monthly list prices only.
The short answer. Zoho Books vs QuickBooks Online pricing: Zoho Books has a free plan for 1 user plus 1 accountant, and Standard is $15 a month billed annually with 3 users. QuickBooks Online has no priced free plan; Simple Start lists at $38 a month for 1 user, billed monthly. Zoho Books is lower at each team size on file. Checked 6 and 10 Oct 2026.
What each one costs
Every figure below is read from the two price files at the moment this page loads, so this page cannot drift away from them. Each row links to the vendor page the price came from.
| Plan | Price | Billed | Checked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Books Free, or from $15/org/mo | ||||
| Free | $0 | free plan | Vendor page | |
| Standard | $15/org/mo | billed annually | Vendor page | |
| Professional | $40/org/mo | billed annually | Vendor page | |
| Premium | $60/org/mo | billed annually | Vendor page | |
| Elite | $120/org/mo | billed annually | Vendor page | |
| Ultimate | $240/org/mo | billed annually | Vendor page | |
| QuickBooks Online From $38/mo | ||||
| Simple Start | $38/mo | billed monthly, list price | Vendor page | |
| Essentials | $85/mo | billed monthly, list price | Vendor page | |
| Plus | $140/mo | billed monthly, list price | Vendor page | |
| Advanced | $340/mo | billed monthly, list price | Vendor page | |
Which one is for you
Pick Zoho Books if one person can work in the free plan, or if paying annually is acceptable: Standard is $15, Professional $40 and Premium $60 a month billed annually, with 3, 5 and 10 users included.
Pick QuickBooks Online if month-to-month billing matters or a team of 11 to 25 needs one plan without add-on users: Advanced lists at $340 a month with 25 users, and every plan is billed monthly.
What Zoho Books's pricing page does not say
- The price is per organization, not per user. Each plan includes a fixed number of users (3 on Standard, 5 on Professional, 10 on Premium and Elite, 15 on Ultimate). More users are an add-on at $2.5 per user per month, billed annually.
- The rates shown when the page opens are the Billed Annually rates. Each has a higher crossed-out figure beside it ($20 beside $15 on Standard, $50 beside $40 on Professional, $70 beside $60 on Premium). The month-to-month rates were not captured for this file.
- Several functions are priced separately as add-ons, each billed annually: Document autoscans at $8 per 50 scans per month, Locations at $10 per location per month, Expense claim at $7 per active user per month and BillPay at $59 per month.
- Bank feeds and sales tax tracking are listed from Standard, and inventory tracking, purchase orders and multi-currency from Professional. None of them appears in the Free list.
- Elite costs twice what Premium costs ($120 against $60) and includes the same 10 users. The difference is inventory and warehouse functions.
- Prices are exclusive of local taxes.
What QuickBooks Online's pricing page does not say
- The large figures the page loads with ($19, $42.50, $70 and $170) are the 50% discount, which lasts 3 months. The struck-through figures ($38, $85, $140 and $340) are the list prices filed here, and the terms say billing continues at the then-current price.
- The discount and the free trial are a choice, not a stack. The page puts them on one switch, and the terms say offers for the same product cannot be combined. Both are for new customers only.
- Plans are capped by user seats: 1 on Simple Start, 3 on Essentials, 5 on Plus and 25 on Advanced. A fourth user means moving from $85 to $140 a month, and a sixth from $140 to $340.
- The free trial converts by itself: the terms say the plan is charged automatically at the end of the 30 days and monthly after that until cancellation.
- Payroll is a separate, optional step after choosing a plan, and its price is not on this page. The terms say neither offer applies to per-employee fees, per-contractor fees or other add-on fees.
- Inventory tracking, budgets and project profitability are listed from Plus up, not on Simple Start or Essentials.
Zoho Books vs QuickBooks users included
Both tools sell plans by seat count, not by user. The team size decides the plan.
| Plan | Zoho Books | Users | QuickBooks Online | Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free, $0 | 1 plus 1 accountant | no priced free plan | |
| Entry | Standard, $15 | 3 | Simple Start, $38 | 1 (plus 2 accountants) |
| Second | Professional, $40 | 5 | Essentials, $85 | 3 (plus 2 accountants) |
| Third | Premium, $60 | 10 | Plus, $140 | 5 (plus 2 accountants) |
| Upper | Elite, $120; Ultimate, $240 | 10; 15 | Advanced, $340 | 25 (plus 3 accountants) |
The Zoho Books figures are per organization per month billed annually; the QuickBooks Online figures are monthly list prices.
What a team of 1, 5 and 20 pays
- 1 person: Zoho Books Free at $0, or Standard at $15 x 12 a year. QuickBooks Online Simple Start at $38 x 12 a year.
- 5 people: Zoho Books Professional at $40 x 12 a year. QuickBooks Online Plus at $140 x 12 a year; Essentials stops at 3 users.
- 20 people: QuickBooks Online Advanced at $340 x 12 a year covers up to 25 users. On Zoho Books, no plan includes 20 users: Ultimate at $240 includes 15, and more users are an add-on priced per user in Zoho Books' price file.
Zoho Books vs QuickBooks annual vs monthly
- Zoho Books opens on Yearly, and each rate is marked Billed Annually. A higher crossed-out figure sits beside each one, and the month-to-month rates were not captured, so a monthly-billing comparison is not possible from the files.
- QuickBooks Online showed monthly prices only, and no annual price. New customers choose either a 3-month 50% discount or a 30 day free trial, not both.
- Add-ons. Zoho Books prices extra users, autoscans, locations, expense claims and BillPay as annual add-ons. QuickBooks Online prices payroll on a separate step.
The full tables are in Zoho Books' price file and QuickBooks Online's price file. Other tools of this kind are in the invoicing and billing drawer.
The evidence
Both vendors' pricing pages, as they looked when the figures were read.
Figures on this page come from the two files named above, each read off the vendor's own pricing page on the date shown. Prices change without notice; check before buying.
The files behind this
- Zoho Books Free, or from $15/org/mo
- QuickBooks Online From $38/mo