QuickBooks Online Alternatives That Are Actually Worth Switching To
I used QuickBooks Online for about three years before I got fed up enough to look elsewhere. It wasn’t that QBO was bad, exactly — it did what it needed to do. But I was paying $80/month for the Plus plan, and I was maybe using 40% of the features. That’s an expensive 40%.
The breaking point was when I needed multi-currency support for some international suppliers and discovered it was only available on the Advanced plan at $200/month. For an accounting feature. That felt like extortion.
So I spent a month testing alternatives. Here’s what I found, with honest opinions about each one.
Why People Leave QuickBooks
Cost is the big one. QBO’s pricing has crept up steadily, and the feature gating is aggressive — basic stuff like inventory tracking and project profitability only exists on higher tiers. If your needs are simple, you’re overpaying. If your needs are complex, you’re REALLY overpaying.
Customization is the other common complaint. QBO works great if your business fits its assumptions about how a business should operate. When it doesn’t — and eventually it won’t — you hit walls. Custom fields are limited, report customization is frustrating, and integrating with niche industry tools can be painful.
The API is fine for common integrations but if you need something specific, you’re often relying on third-party connectors like Zapier, which adds more monthly cost on top of what you’re already paying.
Xero: My Pick for Most Small Businesses
This is what I switched to, and I’m still on it two years later. Xero’s interface is noticeably cleaner than QBO’s — less cluttered, easier to find things. The bank reconciliation workflow is faster, which matters when you’re doing it weekly.
The real advantage is integrations. Xero connects to over 800 apps natively. Whatever weird industry-specific tool you use, there’s probably a Xero integration for it. I connected it to my inventory system, my POS, and my project management tool without any third-party middleware.
Multi-currency is included on all paid plans. That alone saved me $120/month versus QBO Advanced. Payroll is available as an add-on in supported regions.
The downside: reporting is slightly less powerful than QBO out of the box. Power users who build complex custom reports might find it limiting. For standard financial reports and dashboards, it’s perfectly adequate.
Wave: Best Free Option (With Caveats)
Wave is genuinely free for accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning. No trial period, no feature limits, no catch. They make money on payment processing and payroll add-ons.
For freelancers and very small businesses, Wave is honestly all you need. I recommended it to my sister-in-law for her photography business and she’s been happy with it for over a year. Invoicing is solid, expense tracking works, and the reports cover the basics.
The caveats: no inventory management, limited integrations, and customer support is basically just help articles. If you need to call someone when something goes wrong, Wave isn’t the answer. But if your accounting needs are straightforward, free is a compelling price.
FreshBooks: Great for Service Businesses
FreshBooks was built for people who bill by the hour — consultants, designers, lawyers, freelancers. The time tracking is excellent, the invoicing is beautiful (clients actually compliment my invoices, which is a weird thing to experience), and the project management features tie directly into billing.
A web developer friend switched from QBO to FreshBooks and said it cut his invoicing time in half. The automated payment reminders alone were worth the switch for him since he was spending hours chasing late payments manually.
Less ideal for product-based businesses. Inventory features are minimal. If you sell physical goods, FreshBooks probably isn’t your best bet.
Sage: The Enterprise-Adjacent Option
Sage Business Cloud is for businesses that are outgrowing small business tools but aren’t ready for enterprise software. If you have 20+ employees, complex inventory, or multi-location operations, Sage handles that complexity well.
The interface feels more “serious” — which is a diplomatic way of saying it has a steeper learning curve. But the feature depth is impressive, especially for manufacturing, distribution, and project-based businesses.
Sage integrates well with Microsoft products, which matters if your company runs on Outlook and Excel. Tax compliance across different jurisdictions is a strong suit too.
I wouldn’t recommend Sage for a 3-person operation. It’s built for businesses with dedicated bookkeeping staff or an accountant who uses the system regularly.
Zoho Books: The Sleeper Pick
Zoho Books doesn’t get the attention it deserves. If you’re already using any Zoho products (Zoho CRM, Zoho Projects, Zoho Mail), the integration is seamless and the combined ecosystem is genuinely powerful.
The automation features are the standout. You can set up workflow rules that automatically categorize transactions, send payment reminders, and flag anomalies. I set up about 15 automation rules during my trial and it handled a solid chunk of the repetitive bookkeeping that used to eat my Monday mornings.
Inventory management is better than most competitors in this price range. Automatic reorder points, batch tracking, and a client portal where customers can view their statements and pay invoices directly.
The mobile app is decent — not as polished as Xero’s but functional for checking balances and approving expenses on the go.
For Non-Profits: Aplos
If you run a non-profit, general-purpose accounting software is going to frustrate you. Fund accounting doesn’t work like business accounting, and forcing QBO to handle restricted funds and donor tracking is a headache.
Aplos is built specifically for non-profits and churches. Fund accounting, donation management, contribution statements for donors, grant tracking — it handles the stuff that non-profits actually need. A friend who runs a local food bank switched to Aplos from QBO and said it eliminated about 5 hours of manual work per month around donation reconciliation.
How to Actually Decide
Start with what annoys you about your current setup. If it’s price, try Wave or Zoho (both have free or low-cost tiers). If it’s integration limitations, look at Xero. If you bill hourly, FreshBooks. If you’re growing fast and need more horsepower, Sage.
Most of these offer free trials — use them with real data, not sample data. Import your actual chart of accounts, connect your real bank, and run it in parallel with your existing system for a month. That’s the only way to know if it actually works for YOUR business.
Switching accounting software is annoying but it’s not as painful as paying for the wrong tool for years. I put off switching for probably 18 months longer than I should have. Don’t make my mistake.
