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Xero vs QuickBooks: neither advertised price is the real one
On the day we checked, Xero was showing $2.50 a month and QuickBooks $19. The actual ongoing prices are $25 and $38 — ten times and twice what the pages led with.
Xero
vs
QuickBooks
Start here: both prices on screen were promotional
This is the most useful thing on this page, and it's the reason most comparisons of these two are misleading.
When we checked on 16 September 2026:
- Xero was advertising 90% off for the first six months, for purchases by 30 September 2026. Displayed: $2.50, $5.50 and $9 per month. Actual ongoing: $25, $55 and $90.
- QuickBooks was advertising 50% off for three months. Displayed: $19 and $37.50. Actual ongoing: $38 and $75.
Neither vendor is hiding this — both state the terms on the page. But a headline of "$2.50/month" against a real cost of $25 is a tenfold difference, and accounting software is precisely the kind of purchase you keep for years. Budget the standard price, treat the discount as a bonus for the first few months, and ignore any article that compares the promotional figures.
Xero's promotional deadline of 30 September 2026 was stated on its own page. We mention it because it's a real, published date — not manufactured urgency. If you're reading this later, that offer has passed and the standard prices below are what apply.
The real prices
| Xero | QuickBooks Online | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | None | Yes1 user, 2 invoices/mo, 1 bank |
| Entry plan | Early $25/mo20 invoices, 5 bills | Simple Start $38/mo1 user |
| Mid plan | Growing $55/mounlimited invoices & bills | Essentials $75/mo3 users |
| Upper plan | Established $90/mo | Higher tiers available |
| Per-user fees | None | Users tied to plan tier |
| Accountant access | Included | 2 accountants on paid plansnone on free |
| Trial | Promotional pricing | 30-day free trial |
| Entry plan limits | 20 invoices, 5 bills/mo | Unlimited invoices |
USD, standard post-promotional monthly pricing, read from xero.com/us and quickbooks.intuit.com on 16 September 2026. QuickBooks' upper tiers beyond Essentials were not established and are not quoted.
Where each entry plan pinches
Both entry plans are restricted, and in different places — which is usually what decides this rather than the price.
Xero Early caps you at 20 invoices and 5 bills per month. If you invoice more than about five clients a week, you're on Growing at $55 whether you like it or not. That's the number to check against your actual invoicing volume before choosing.
QuickBooks Simple Start covers one user. Adding a second person means Essentials at $75 — nearly double. Xero, by contrast, charges no per-user license fees at all, which is a structural advantage as soon as more than one person touches the books.
So the honest framing: Xero is cheaper per seat and pinches on transaction volume. QuickBooks is unlimited on invoices and pinches on people.
QuickBooks has a free plan — with real limits
Worth knowing, because Xero has no equivalent. QuickBooks' free tier gives you income and expense tracking, a profit and loss report, one connected bank account and two invoices per month, for one user with no accountant access.
Two invoices a month is genuinely restrictive — this is a plan for a side business or a pre-revenue company, not a functioning small business. But it's free permanently rather than a trial, and for someone who just needs to keep clean records before they start trading properly, it does the job.
Questions we get asked
Which is cheaper overall?
Xero, at standard pricing: $25 against $38 at entry, and no per-user fees. The exception is a business that invoices heavily but has only one person doing the books — there, Xero's 20-invoice cap pushes you to $55 while QuickBooks Simple Start handles unlimited invoices at $38.
Check your invoice volume and your headcount. Those two numbers decide it, not the headline price.
Should I take the promotional pricing?
Take it if you've already decided — free money is free money. Just don't let it decide for you. Six months at 90% off is worth about $135 on Xero Early; the software choice will cost you years of workflow, and switching accounting systems mid-year is genuinely painful.
How hard is it to switch later?
Harder than most software. Your historical transactions, reconciliations, chart of accounts and tax history all live in there, and most businesses switch at a financial year boundary to avoid splitting a reporting period. Both support data export and there are migration tools, but treat this as a multi-year decision rather than a reversible one.
That's also the strongest argument for ignoring introductory pricing entirely.
Should I ask my accountant first?
Yes, genuinely — more than for any other tool we cover. Accountants specialise, and one who works in your chosen platform daily will save you more than the price difference between these two. If your accountant has a strong preference, that preference is usually worth more than this comparison.
The verdict
Xero for most small businesses, on the strength of $25 against $38 and no per-user fees — as long as you invoice fewer than 20 times a month. Once more than one person needs access, the gap widens in Xero's favour.
QuickBooks if you invoice heavily on a small team, where unlimited invoices at $38 beats being pushed to Xero's $55 tier. Or if you want a free plan to keep clean records before you start trading.
Whichever you pick: budget the standard price. $25 and $38, not $2.50 and $19. This is software you'll still be paying for in five years, and the introductory discount is a rounding error against that. Then ask your accountant — their answer beats ours.
Pricing read from xero.com/us and quickbooks.intuit.com on 16 September 2026, in USD. Both vendors were running promotional pricing on that date; the figures above are the standard post-promotional prices stated on their own pages. QuickBooks tiers above Essentials were not established and are not quoted. Under our methodology this comparison is at the "researched, not tested" level. Found something out of date? Tell us.
