Zoho Books makes NerdWallet’s list of the best accounting software with a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. The cloud-based software is known for its reasonable prices, various plan options and add-ons, overall feature set and usability. However, there are downsides to consider as well, including limited integration options, a lack of payroll services and plan restrictions based on contacts, users and workflows.
Still wondering whether it’s the right fit for your business? Read our full Zoho Books review for details on pricing, features, benefits and drawbacks. If Zoho Books' features or prices aren’t right for your business, consider these alternatives.
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Best Zoho Books Alternatives
Product | Promotion | Learn more | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Xero Learn more on Xero's secure website | 5.0/5 Best for Overall Zoho Books alternative | $15/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $42, $78. | 30-day free trial or monthly discount (terms vary). | Learn more on Xero's secure website |
QuickBooks Online Learn more on QuickBooks Online's secure website | 5.0/5 Best for Zoho Books alternative with additional inventory features | $30/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $60, $90, $200. | 50% off for first three months or free 30-day trial. | Learn more on QuickBooks Online's secure website |
FreshBooks Learn more on FreshBooks' secure website | 4.5/5 Best for Zoho Books alternative for freelancers | $19/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $33, $60, custom. | 30-day free trial or monthly discount (terms vary). | Learn more on FreshBooks' secure website |
Wave Accounting | 3.5/5 Best for Free alternative to Zoho Books | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $16 | N/A | |
Odoo | 4.0/5 Best for Zoho Books alternative with seamless business app integrations | $0 For use of a single app. Additional pricing tiers per user (per month): $38.90, $58.40. | Monthly discount for the first 12 months. | |
Striven Learn more on Striven's secure website | 3.5/5 Best for Zoho Books alternative with industry-specific features | $35/month Per user. Additional pricing tiers per user (per month): $70. | 7-day free trial | Learn more on Striven's secure website |
Our pick for
Overall Zoho Books alternative
Xero
Learn more
on Xero's secure website
Starting at
$15/month
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $42, $78.
Promotion
30-day free trial
or monthly discount (terms vary).
Xero allows unlimited users at every subscription tier, a valuable feature for businesses where several users may need at least limited access to the system to run reports or analyze performance. Xero also has a customizable analytics dashboard that lets each user rearrange or hide panels.Read full review
Pros
- Unlimited users in all pricing plans.
- Integrates with more than 1,000 third-party apps.
- Feature set includes an excellent mobile app and suite of reports, capable invoicing features, plus automated bill and receipt capture through Hubdoc.
- Simple layout and easy to use.
Cons
- No phone number for customer support listed.
- Entry-level plan limits bills and invoices to five and 20 per month, respectively.
Our pick for
Zoho Books alternative with additional inventory features
QuickBooks Online
Learn more
on QuickBooks Online's secure website
Starting at
$30/month
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $60, $90, $200.
Promotion
50% off
for first three months or free 30-day trial.
QuickBooks Online is an industry leader in the accounting field, thanks to its strong feature set, scalability and ability to accommodate small businesses with more complex financial needs. With millions of users worldwide, your accountant will likely be familiar with it.Read full review
Pros
- Easy to share information with your accountant and to find QuickBooks experts and online resources if needed.
- More than 750 app integrations.
- Robust feature set includes record-keeping, reporting, invoicing and inventory management, plus a capable mobile app.
- Chat and phone support available Monday through Saturday in all plans.
Cons
- Expensive compared with the competition.
- Frequent price increases and a tendency toward upselling.
- Limited account users with each plan.
Our pick for
Zoho Books alternative for freelancers
FreshBooks
Learn more
on FreshBooks' secure website
Starting at
$19/month
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $33, $60, custom.
Promotion
30-day free trial
or monthly discount (terms vary).
FreshBooks is a simple and affordable option for freelancers and very small businesses that don’t require many users and prioritize being able to operate on the go via mobile app. It’s an especially inexpensive choice for those who can work within lower-tier plans’ billable client limits, and all plans include time tracking.Read full review
Pros
- Stay in touch with clients through the FreshBooks mobile app and get notified when invoices have been viewed or become overdue.
- Intuitive, customizable invoicing capabilities compete with those of more robust accounting solutions.
- Track time and add billable hours to invoices in all plans.
- Weekday phone support in all plans.
Cons
- Lacks features that quickly growing companies need, like audit trails for accountants to review.
- Highest-tier Select plan only comes with two users (additional users add $11 per month) and lower-tier plans put limits on billable clients.
- Least expensive plan lacks double-entry accounting reports, bank reconciliation and accountant access.
Our pick for
Free alternative to Zoho Books
Wave Accounting
Starting at
$0
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $16
Promotion
N/A
Wave’s free accounting software lets you create an unlimited number of customizable invoices and estimates, as well as bookkeeping records, and includes a free mobile app for invoicing. It can be a simple solution for small, service-based businesses.Read full review
Pros
- Free plan available.
- Intuitive, customizable invoicing capabilities compete with those of more robust accounting solutions.
Cons
- Lacks features that quickly growing companies need, like audit trails.
- Must subscribe to Wave’s Pro plan or other paid services (payroll, payments, advisor, etc.) to receive customer support from a human.
- No third-party integrations, mileage tracking feature or ability to accept in-person card payments.
Our pick for
Zoho Books alternative with seamless business app integrations
Odoo
4.0
NerdWallet rating Starting at
$0
For use of a single app. Additional pricing tiers per user (per month): $38.90, $58.40.
Promotion
Monthly discount
for the first 12 months.
If you just want to use Odoo’s accounting app alone, you and an unlimited number of users can do so for free. If, however, you have need for any of Odoo’s dozens of other open-source business apps (for inventory, sales, marketing, manufacturing, HR and more), then you can choose a paid plan to open your access to the full library of apps that integrate seamlessly.
Pros
- Unlimited users.
- Vast library of directly integrated apps means the software can grow with your business.
- Open-source model encourages regular testing and improvement of the software.
Cons
- Paid plan is required to access the full list of features for most apps and any additional apps.
- Phone support is only available for database emergencies.
Our pick for
Zoho Books alternative with industry-specific features
Striven
3.5
NerdWallet rating Learn more
on Striven's secure website
Starting at
$35/month
Per user. Additional pricing tiers per user (per month): $70.
Promotion
7-day free trial
Striven offers cloud accounting software that is designed to be able to grow with your business. The robust software includes features for general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, automated invoicing and can handle multi-currency transactions. The software also includes industry-specific features for a variety of business types.
Pros
- Offers industry-specific features for consulting businesses, nonprofits, manufacturing companies, professional services and more.
- Tools to ensure tax compliance.
- Other features include inventory tracking, reporting, invoicing, project management tools and the ability to categorize transactions using classes.
- Customer support available by phone and live chat.
Cons
- Monthly costs could add up quickly if you require multiple users.
- No mobile app.
- Limited third-party integrations available; no POS or payroll integrations.
NerdWallet’s picks for the best alternatives to Zoho Books
Xero
Best overall Zoho Books alternative
Why we picked it: Xero and Zoho Books go toe to toe on affordable pricing, advanced features such as project tracking and transaction tagging, support availability and resources, and mobile app functionality — though Xero’s app allows for scanning and uploading receipts, while Zoho’s doesn't. Xero stands apart from Zoho Books by allowing unlimited users in all plan options (Zoho caps users at 15 with the highest plan tier) and a customizable dashboard. And while Zoho’s software integrations are largely limited to its own software ecosystem, Xero offers hundreds of integrations that include POS systems along with a variety of third-party apps related to e-commerce, payroll, CRM, time tracking and more. Read our complete Xero accounting review.
- $15 per month for the Early plan.
- $42 per month for the Growing plan.
- $78 per month for the Established plan.
QuickBooks Online
Best Zoho Alternative with more inventory features
Why we picked it: QuickBooks Online combines the convenience of cloud-based accounting software with a trusted name in small-business accounting. You’ve likely heard of QuickBooks in some capacity. It's one of the largest providers of business accounting tools around and is trusted by accountants and business owners. Overall, QuickBooks Online plans are more expensive than those that Zoho Books offers; however, you may find the features and allowances (e.g., QuickBooks Online’s most expensive plan allows up to 25 users) worth the extra cost.
One notable feature difference between QuickBooks Online and Zoho Books is that QuickBooks allows you to easily track inventory both in-store and online and across multiple shopping platforms. Zoho Books contains some inventory features, but this level of cross-channel tracking is available only in Zoho’s separate app, Zoho Inventory. Read our review of QuickBooks Online.
- $30 per month for the Simple Start plan.
- $60 per month for the Essentials plan.
- $90 per month for the Plus plan.
- $200 per month for the Advanced plan.
FreshBooks
Best Zoho Books alternative for freelancers
Why we picked it: FreshBooks excels at accounting software for freelancers and self-employed professionals. It’s an accounting product with great customer service that’s intuitive and easy to use.
There are a few areas where FreshBooks outshines Zoho Books. One of the things it does best is time tracking. There’s even a Chrome extension you can add and integrations with websites like Asana and Trello so you can accurately track your time, then bill clients or generate an invoice from those hours. Along with its stellar time-tracking capabilities, you’ll get unlimited and customizable invoices, as well as online payment acceptance, mileage and expense tracking, dashboards and reports and more. Read more about this accounting solution in our FreshBooks review.
- $19 per month for the Lite plan.
- $33 per month for the Plus plan.
- $60 per month for the Premium plan.
- Custom pricing for the Select plan.
Wave
Best free alternative to Zoho Books
Why we picked it: Wave, like Zoho Books, offers a free accounting software plan. While Zoho’s free accounting plan includes many features and functionality, it is limited to businesses with a total annual revenue of less than $50,000. Wave’s free plan, however, has no revenue limits and no limits on the number of estimates and invoices you send or the bills and bookkeeping records you track. It covers all accounting and invoicing basics, including the use of a mobile app. And, as with Zoho Books, if you find you’re outgrowing the free version, you can upgrade to Wave’s paid plan at a reasonable monthly price. Read our review of Wave for more details.
- $0 for the Starter plan.
- $16 per month for the Pro plan.
Odoo
Best Zoho Books alternative with seamless business app integrations
Why we picked it: Similar to Zoho, Odoo offers an ecosystem of business software applications designed to integrate painlessly with one another. But while Zoho’s apps require separate subscriptions (which can add up quickly), Odoo offers a free plan for access to a single app, such as its full-featured accounting app, and two paid plan options for access to Odoo’s full library of dozens of apps, including ones for marketing, HR, sales, inventory management and more. Odoo also stands apart from Zoho Books as open-source software. If you’re comfortable with coding, or have access to a team that is, you can join Odoo’s open-source community to learn about the latest software enhancements, collaborate on future app releases and get support from other users.
- $0 per month for use of a single app.
- $38.90 per user per month for access to all apps.
- $58.40 per user per month for access to all apps across multiple companies plus Odoo’s external API.
Striven
Best Zoho Books alternative with industry-specific features
Why we picked it: If you run a larger small business or one with high growth potential, you may want to skip the basic accounting solutions designed to best suit very small businesses and instead focus on a product that can grow with your business. While Zoho Books does offer plan options for larger and quickly growing businesses, Striven may be a better fit, particularly if you’re looking for software tailored to a specific industry. Striven’s software (which goes beyond accounting to include CRM, project and inventory management, HR and more) includes unique features to suit more than a dozen industries, from construction and manufacturing to property management and law firm businesses. Plan pricing for Striven’s software is straightforward and transparent.
- $35 per month per user for the Standard plan.
- $70 per month per user for the Enterprise plan.
Nina Godlewski contributed to an earlier version of this article, which was first published on Fundera, a subsidiary of NerdWallet.
Last updated on June 10, 2024
Methodology
NerdWallet independently reviews accounting software products before determining our top picks. We collect the data for our software ratings from products’ public-facing websites and from company representatives. Information is gathered on a regular basis and reviewed by our editorial team for consistency and accuracy.
NerdWallet’s accounting software ratings favor products that are easy to use, reasonably priced, have a robust feature set and can grow with your business. The best accounting software received top marks when evaluated across 10 categories and more than 30 subcategories. Learn more about how we rate small-business accounting software.
These ratings are meant to provide clarity in the decision-making process, but what’s best for your business will depend on its size, growth trajectory and which features you need most. We encourage you to research and compare multiple accounting software products before choosing one.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.
