Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online are some of the best small-business accounting software products around. Their biggest differences are their price points, reporting capabilities and popularity in the U.S.
Choose Zoho Books if you’re on a tight budget or prefer to get all of your business software from the same company. QuickBooks Online is a better fit for growing small businesses with complex accounting needs. Your accountant is also more likely to be familiar with it, which is important if you plan on collaborating with them.
Zoho Books is better for:
✔️ Saving on software costs.
✔️ Building an all-in-one business software solution.
✔️ Automated workflows.
QuickBooks is better for:
✔️ Working with your accountant.
✔️ Detailed reporting.
QuickBooks Online
Starting At
$35
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $65, $99, $235.
Zoho Books pros and cons at a glance
Free plan for businesses making less than $50,000 annually.
Suite of in-house solutions for CRM, social media marketing, HR, etc.
Workflow automations in Professional plan and up.
Fewer third-party integrations than competitors.
Poor customer support, according to user reviews.
QuickBooks pros and cons at a glance
Familiarity among accountants.
More than 750 app integrations, including live, in-house bookkeeping.
Variety of in-depth reports in all plans.
More expensive than many competitors.
Poor customer support, according to user reviews.
Zoho Books vs. QuickBooks: Head-to-head comparison
NerdWallet independently reviews accounting software products, like Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online, across 10 categories and more than 30 subcategories. We collected the data from the companies’ public-facing websites and from company representatives.
Our accounting software ratings range from one to five stars overall. But we also score individual features to help business owners understand a product’s strengths and weaknesses.
Here’s how Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online stack up:
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Has robust reporting tools, but offers fewer reports than QuickBooks. Has customizable invoicing features, advanced inventory control in higher tier plans and a capable mobile app. |
Has robust reporting tools and report customization options. Invoicing for an unlimited amount of clients. Inventory tracking in higher tier plans, plus a capable mobile app. |
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Includes tools that help automate the reconciliation process, along with a global search function. Auto-categorizes transactions for you and lets you set up your own bank rules. Customizable dashboard available in Elite and Ultimate plans. |
Includes tools that help automate the reconciliation process, along with a global search function and customizable dashboard. However, there is a learning curve. |
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Highest-tier plan includes 15 users (additional users can be added for a fee). Typically serves businesses with fewer than 100 employees. |
Can support larger small businesses with dozens of employees. Highest-tier plan includes 25 users. |
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Ease of sharing with accountants |
Includes audit trails and easy accountant access. Less popular than QuickBooks Online. |
Includes audit trails and easy accountant access. Has millions of users, so your accountant will likely be familiar with it. |
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Integrates with fewer than 50 third-party apps. Limited choices for point-of-sale integrations. |
Integrates with more than 750 apps and offers live, in-house bookkeeping add-on. |
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Email support in free plan. Phone and live chat support from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET on weekdays in paid plans. |
All plans include 24/7 live chat support. Phone support is available 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST Saturday and Sunday. |
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Includes project tracking tools in higher-tier plans, along with reporting tags. Lacks industry-specific reports. Users with multiple businesses must pay for separate subscriptions. |
Includes project tracking tools in the Plus plan. Limited transaction tracking tags. Lacks industry-specific reports. Users with multiple businesses must pay for separate subscriptions. |
We don’t incorporate user reviews in our star ratings, because we can’t verify every user’s individual experience. However, small-business owners’ perspectives are still worth taking into account to get a more complete overview.
For a more detailed analysis of the user sentiment around each product, read our individual reviews of Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online.
Where Zoho Books stands out
In-house apps
If you’d rather opt for an all-in-one business software solution than deal with third-party integrations, Zoho Books is a solid choice. Accounting programs aside, Zoho makes software for social media management, HR, payroll, e-commerce, customer relationship management and more. Having all of your business software programs under the same umbrella is convenient and can help you avoid manual data entry.
QuickBooks Online has some in-house solutions — like QuickBooks Payroll and Time — but not as many as Zoho.
Price point
Unlike QuickBooks Online, Zoho Books has a free accounting software plan. And, it’s our choice for the best free accounting software, thanks to all its features. Zoho’s free plan includes up to 1,000 invoices per year, a client portal, basic reporting and email support. However, you need to subscribe to a paid plan, which starts at $20 per month, to access automatic bank feeds or if your annual revenue is above $50,000.
QuickBooks Online plans, in comparison, start at $35 per month. There is no free option.
Where QuickBooks stands out
Ubiquity in small-business accounting
QuickBooks has an industry-leading 37.49% global market share for accounting software, according to 6sense, a revenue intelligence platform. Zoho Books, on the other hand, has a 0.53% market share per 6sense.
That means more accountants in the U.S. are likely to be familiar with QuickBooks than Zoho Books. QuickBooks is the standard for most bookkeepers in general. This is important if you plan on regularly collaborating with your accountant.
Advanced reporting
QuickBooks Online offers more than double the number of reports that Zoho Books does (100+ versus 40). Those extras include breakdowns of sales by class or location, and profit and loss by customer. That data is important for growing businesses that need to dissect their finances.
QuickBooks Online has more preset report filtering options than Zoho Books, like the ability to sort by customer or employee. Zoho Books lets you create custom tags to filter reports, but that’s not as convenient.
Zoho Books and QuickBooks alternatives
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NerdWallet rating
5.0 /5 |
NerdWallet rating
4.8 /5 |
NerdWallet rating
3.8 /5 |
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Starting at $20/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $47, $80. |
Starting at $21/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $38, $65, custom. |
Starting at $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $16 |
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Promotion 90% off for 6 months. |
Promotion 50% off for 6 months. 30-Day Money Back Guarantee. |
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Xero: Better for adding users. All of Xero’s plans let you invite an unlimited number of users to collaborate with you. Zoho Books’ most expensive plan includes 15 users, and QuickBooks Online’s includes 25. Read our full Xero review.
FreshBooks: Better for tracking time. FreshBooks includes time-tracking capabilities in all of its plans, making it a great choice for freelancers who charge by the hour. Automated time tracking is an add-on for QuickBooks Online, and Zoho Books only includes it in the Professional plan and up. Read our full FreshBooks review.
Wave: Better for side gigs. Wave is simpler than both Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online. If you’re only sending out a few invoices each month, it’s a free and easy way to manage your finances. Read our full Wave review.
