Looking for an alternative to Xero? Here’s our comprehensive list covering the top competitors to help you find the best fit for your business.
Xero is an accounting software solution aimed at small and mid-sized businesses, as well as professional accountants and bookkeepers. Featuring double-entry accounting, it’s designed to maximize ledger accuracy, error prevention and fraud protection. The tool boasts over 3.5 million users, but that doesn’t mean it’s a perfect fit for every use case.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at several alternatives to Xero so you can choose the best software for your business.
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No business lasts long without an accurate financial record and an effective system for managing cashflow. But there is more to accounting than just managing a spreadsheet, and different industries have different financial concerns. We’ve highlighted four major areas of functionality and identified which solutions fulfill these areas.
| Starting price for paid plans | Basic accounting functions | Time/project tracking functions | Logistics functions | HR functions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xero | $13/mo. | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| QuickBooks | $30/mo. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| FreshBooks | $17/mo. | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Sage Intacct | Call for quote | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Wave | $20/mo. + $6/employee | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
| Zoho Books | $20/mo. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| ZipBooks | $15/mo. | Yes | No | No | No | |
| NetSuite | Call for quote | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Kashoo | $216/yr. | Yes | No | No | No |
Say goodbye to duplicate data entry and other payroll errors. Switch to Humi all-in-one HR & Payroll software and start running payroll easily and accurately. Book a demo today.
Rippling Global Payroll is a full-service, native global payroll engine that processes Canadian and international payroll. It automatically calculates, files, and pays taxes. Admins can view taxes, gross pay, and currency conversions during pay runs.
Bigger isn’t always better and less isn’t always more. Some businesses only need basic accounting support while others need comprehensive software suites to manage processes at scale. The list of competitors below reflects those varied use cases and are identified by their target market applications.
The foremost name in business financial software, QuickBooks by Intuit is an industry powerhouse that has been around since the rise of digital systems. Designed to help organizations of any size track income and expenses, inventory, production costs and a great deal more, QuickBooks is among the most widely used solutions in the business landscape today.
The core QuickBooks product has four pricing tiers:
The Simple Start and Essentials plans primarily include core accounting functions, with most advanced features like inventory and profitability projections available at only the higher tiers. In some cases, like payroll, these features are part of distinct add-on subscriptions that increase the monthly base cost when included.
You can get QuickBooks for 50% off for the first three months to save a little money upfront, or you can take advantage of the 30-day free trial to see if it’s the right fit for you. However, you can’t do both — it’s either the discount or the trial.
For more information, read the full QuickBooks review.
FreshBooks offers software solutions to freelancers, solopreneurs, small businesses and organizations that rely on contractors. With tools to support accounting, invoicing, time-tracking, payroll and client communication, it offers many of the core features QuickBooks does without the added costs or tier-based limitations.
FreshBooks has three standard pricing tiers, plus an enterprise tier:
The Select tier also offers a dedicated account manager, specialized features and help migrating from other accounting software.
Like QuickBooks, you can choose to have FreshBooks at 50% off for the first three months or take it for a spin with a 30-day free trial, but you can’t have both.
For more information, read our FreshBooks review.
Sage is a finance platform that incorporates extensive business intelligence functionality. Its two core products, Sage Intacct and Sage X3, function as analytics-boosted versions of SMB finance and enterprise ERP, respectively. The suite also includes products for payroll, CRM, human asset management, time tracking and more.
Sage doesn’t have transparent pricing on its site, so you’ll have to call for a quote.
Wave positions itself as a bridge between professionals just starting their business journey and growing businesses who now need a way to pay employees and contractors. Offering the use of most of its features for free, Wave only charges users for processing incoming payments and paying employees and contractors. For professionals looking to minimize costs, but needing the flexibility to include payroll functions, Wave is a solid bet.
For more information, read our Wave Payroll review.
Zoho Books is the accounting and financial portion of the full Zoho software suite. An expansive platform built to power inventory systems, CRM efforts, email automation, human resources, IT management and more, Zoho is one of the broadest software tool sets on the market. Businesses can use Zoho Books as a standalone product or combine it with any number of other products to customize the level of functionality brands need.
ZipBooks combines several of the advantages of the entries listed above and packages them into a free or low-cost option for the smallest of businesses. Offering unlimited invoices, vendors and customers even on the free plan, ZipBooks helps solopreneurs and small teams run their finances smarter, without having to pay hundreds a month in software fees.
Just as QuickBooks is the foremost name in financial software, NetSuite has been a pioneer of cloud-based business systems since the very beginning. The full platform encompasses ERP, global business management, human capital management, omnichannel commerce and much more. Unlike other options in this list, however, NetSuite is all-or-nothing. Using any of the products requires paying for the whole platform, meaning enterprises are the best suited to this accounting solution.
Unfortunately, you have to contact NetSuite for a quote. To get started, simply fill out a form on the NetSuite site.
Xero represents a middle ground between complex, expensive solutions and simple, affordable ones. With plans ranging from $13 per month to $70 per month, there are options to fit most small and midsize budgets while also offering room to grow. And, as a double-entry solution, it prioritizes accuracy and compliance.
If you haven’t gotten Xero yet and are thinking about it, you can get 50% off your first three months.
Xero is a solid option for businesses as they start to get organized with their finances, but some users may find it restrictive feature-wise, especially compared to other options with similar price points. Ultimately, though, you have to decide if its features and functionality will adequately support your particular business.
While writing this comparison article, we researched vendor websites and customer reviews on sites like Trustpilot and Gartner to fully understand the offerings and target use cases of each solution.
Say goodbye to duplicate data entry and other payroll errors. Switch to Humi all-in-one HR & Payroll software and start running payroll easily and accurately. Book a demo today.
Rippling Global Payroll is a full-service, native global payroll engine that processes Canadian and international payroll. It automatically calculates, files, and pays taxes. Admins can view taxes, gross pay, and currency conversions during pay runs.
