Prices checked 2026-10-17
QuickBooks vs Xero pricing for service businesses
Both cut the price hard for the first 3 months, so the number on the pricing page isn’t what you pay for long. Here are the regular prices, the intro prices, and what a year costs either way.
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The short answer
- Cheapest paid plan: Xero Early at $27/mo vs QuickBooks Simple Start at $38/mo, regular price.
- Intro offers: QuickBooks: 50% off the regular price for the first 3 months. Xero: 80% off the regular price for the first 3 months. Each also offers a free month or trial as an alternative to the discount.
- Users: QuickBooks includes a set number of users per plan; Xero's pricing is not per-user.
Price only. We haven't compared features such as job costing or project tracking.
Every plan, cheapest first
'12 months with intro' = the intro price for the intro months, then the regular price. Invoice limits are in the notes: they matter if you bill a lot of small jobs.
| Plan | Regular price | Intro price | 12 months, regular | 12 months with intro | Users | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Free | $0/mo | — | $0 | — | 1 | No accountant access; 2 invoices/month (unlimited with QuickBooks Payments); 1 bank connection; no mobile app/integrations |
| Xero Early | $27/mo | $5.40/mofor 3 months | $324 | $259.20 | Not per-user | 20 invoices |
| QuickBooks Simple Start | $38/mo | $19/mofor 3 months | $456 | $399 | 1archived page; re-check | 1 user + access for 2 accountants |
| Xero Growing | $59/mo | $11.80/mofor 3 months | $708 | $566.40 | Not per-user | — |
| QuickBooks Essentials | $85/mo | $42.50/mofor 3 months | $1,020 | $892.50 | 3archived page; re-check | Access for 2 accountants |
| Xero Established | $97/mo | $19.40/mofor 3 months | $1,164 | $931.20 | Not per-user | — |
| QuickBooks Plus | $140/mo | $70/mofor 3 months | $1,680 | $1,470 | 5archived page; re-check | 5 users + access for 2 accountants |
| QuickBooks Advanced | $340/mo | $170/mofor 3 months | $4,080 | $3,570 | 25archived page; re-check | Access for 3 accountants |
Books plus payroll for a crew
Xero sells Xero Payroll, powered by Gusto at $36/mo + $6/employee. QuickBooks sells payroll bundled with QuickBooks Online. Regular monthly prices, books and payroll together:
| Crew | Xero Early + payroll | Xero Growing + payroll | Xero Established + payroll | QuickBooks Workforce Payroll + QBO Simple Start | QuickBooks Workforce Payroll + QBO Essentials | QuickBooks Workforce Premium + QBO Plus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person | $69/mo | $101/mo | $139/mo | $94.50/mo | $131.50/mo | $213/mo |
| 5 people | $93/mo | $125/mo | $163/mo | $120.50/mo | $157.50/mo | $253/mo |
| 10 people | $123/mo | $155/mo | $193/mo | $153/mo | $190/mo | $303/mo |
Xero's payroll fee covers employees and contractors (from Xero's page). Whether Xero's intro discount applies to the payroll add-on isn't stated, so regular prices are used. QuickBooks' bundle intro cuts the base price only. More: QuickBooks Payroll pricing · Gusto pricing.
QuickBooks Online pricing · Xero pricing · All accounting prices
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