Best accounting software
Every vendor here runs introductory discounts most of the year — the comparisons linked from each row show the price after the promo expires. Every figure below was read from the vendor's own pricing page on the date beside it. The ordering is cheapest entry price first — a basis you can check rather than a ranking you have to trust.
What “best” means on this page
“Best” is not a mood — it is whichever axis you actually care about, measured. Our record can say which tool is cheapest to start, whose free plan is real, who bills local currency and whose prices just moved; it cannot say which tool fits your work, which is what the full comparisons are for. Cheapest never means best — it means cheapest. Each verdict below names its axis, and every tool links to its own site so you can check us against the source. No vendor paid for any position.
Entry at £10/mo — the lowest published paid plan in this set. Cheap is a fact, not a verdict; the profile below says what you get for it.
site ↗pricing ↗Showed us different money in different countries on the same day — measured, not assumed. The profiles carry the figures.
A change only counts once a second clean read agrees. The change log →
Tool by tool
FreeAgentsite ↗pricing ↗
Paid plans start at £10/mo (UK Unincorporated Landlords); no free plan is published. The ladder we hold runs 4 paid tiers, topping out at £33/mo (UK Limited Companies).
Xerosite ↗pricing ↗
Cloud accounting software for small businesses and their accountants, strong on bank reconciliation and third-party apps. Paid plans start at £18/mo (Ignite); no free plan is published. The ladder we hold runs 4 paid tiers, topping out at £70/mo (Ultimate). It bills by country — entry $27/mo to a US reader and $29/mo in the eurozone, from our same-day reads. Its published prices moved on 2026-10-06 — the change log holds the rows.
Side by side
| Tool | Paid from | Free plan | Currency | Read | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreeAgent | £10/mo | — | GBP | 2026-09-03 | page |
| Xero | £18/mo | — | GBP | 2026-10-13 | page |
Billed in another currency
These tools are in the same category but did not show us a price in GBP on our last read — they quote the currency shown. We list them rather than convert: a converted figure is not a price anyone is charged.
Zoho Bookssite ↗pricing ↗
Accounting software within the Zoho suite, covering invoicing, inventory and compliance. Paid plans start at €12/mo (STANDARD); a free plan exists. The ladder we hold runs 5 paid tiers, topping out at €249/mo (ULTIMATE). It bills by country — entry $12/mo to a US reader, from our same-day reads.
Wavesite ↗pricing ↗
Free accounting and invoicing software for very small businesses, which makes its money on payments and payroll. Paid plans start at $19/mo (Pro); a free plan exists.
FreshBookssite ↗pricing ↗
Accounting software aimed at freelancers and service businesses, organised around invoicing and time tracking. Paid plans start at $23/mo (Lite); no free plan is published. The ladder we hold runs 3 paid tiers, topping out at $70/mo (Premium). We read the same $23/mo in every market we check, so this vendor does not price by country. It quotes USD here rather than local currency, so your bank sets the conversion. Its published prices moved on 2026-09-17 — the change log holds the rows.
QuickBookssite ↗pricing ↗
Accounting software for small businesses, covering invoicing, expenses, payroll and tax reporting. Paid plans start at $38/mo (Simple Start); a free plan exists. The ladder we hold runs 4 paid tiers, topping out at $340/mo (Advanced). We read the same $38/mo in every market we check, so this vendor does not price by country. It quotes USD here rather than local currency, so your bank sets the conversion.
| Tool | Paid from | Free plan | Currency | Read | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Books | €12/mo | Yes | EUR | 2026-10-13 | page |
| Wave | $19/mo | Yes | USD | 2026-09-03 | page |
| FreshBooks | $23/mo | — | USD | 2026-09-15 | page |
| QuickBooks | $38/mo | Yes | USD | 2026-10-13 | page |
How to choose in this category
- Almost every vendor leads with a limited-time discount; the standing price after it is the real comparison.
- Plans differ in users and features more than in price — read the rows, not just the header.
- Several of these vendors charge different amounts by country; the table shows what each market pays.