QuickBooks Pricing 2025: Full Breakdown and a Better Alternative That Saves You Hours

QuickBooks is often the first name that comes to mind for anyone launching a business and looking to keep their finances organized. Yet, with QuickBooks in the market, a host of alternatives, such as Adam by Tyms, Wave, and ZohoBooks, are up, each bringing its own mix of features and pricing to the table.

Picking the best accounting software in 2025 is about more than just ticking off features. For most businesses, the real decision-makers are price, transparency, and how much of the workload you can put on autopilot. QuickBooks overtime has its pricing get increasingly complex and costly over time.

In this guide, we will examine QuickBooks pricing and explore a better alternative.

What is QuickBooks Online (QBO)?

QuickBooks Online is the cloud-based accounting platform from Intuit, widely used by small, medium, and large businesses globally. It offers invoicing, expense tracking, bill payments, inventory & project features (on higher tiers), payroll add-ons, payment processing, and more.

Because it’s feature-rich and has a large ecosystem, it can feel like “all you need”, but the cost and complexity can catch up with you quickly, especially for small business owners.

QuickBooks 2025 Pricing — Official Plans & What They Mean for You

As of December 2025, QBO charges the following standard monthly subscription rates at a 70% discount for 3 month :

• Simple Start: $11.40/month — basic invoicing, expense & income tracking, single user. (Actual Price - $38 monthly )
• Essentials: $22.50/month — adds bill management, three-user access, time tracking.(Actual Price - $75 monthly )
• Plus: $34.50/month — supports up to 5 users, inventory and project tracking. (Actual Price - $115 monthly )
• Advanced: $82.50/month — supports up to 25 users, advanced reporting, user permissions, and more robust tools. (Actual Price - $275 monthly )

Many businesses start on Simple Start or Essentials, but often upgrade as they grow, increasing monthly costs significantly.

QuickBooks Official Price Increase in 2025

Intuit raised prices for all plans in mid-2025: Simple Start (+$3), Essentials (+$10), Plus (+$16), and Advanced (+$40) compared to previous 2024 rates.

This recent inflation matters because it demonstrates that QBO pricing is variable, and every budget calculation must account for possible future hikes.

What You Get (and Pay) — QuickBooks Costs vs What You Actually Receive

Here’s what different types of businesses typically spend on QuickBooks monthly, and what that actually looks like in real usage:

1. Small Business Owner, Entrepreneur, Freelancer (Simple Start Plan)

A small business owner, entrepreneur or freelancer, usually pays $38 per month, plus additional payment processing fees for receiving client payments.

In reality, what they get is basic income and expense tracking and simple invoicing , but they still need to manually categorize transactions and handle most bookkeeping tasks themselves.

2. Growing Small Business (Essentials Plan with 3 Users)

A small but growing business often pays $75 per month, and then adds payroll charges or integration fees depending on their workflow. They gain shared team access, time tracking, and bill management.

However, manual categorization, reconciliation, and setup still take time, especially as transactions multiply.

3. E-commerce Store or Shop with Inventory (Plus Plan)

An online store using the Plus plan typically pays $115 per month, but usually ends up adding more cost for shipping tools, inventory add-ons, or payment transaction fees.

They do get inventory tracking and project insights, but the added complexity means the business owner spends significantly more time on setup, maintenance, and categorization.

4. Mid-Sized Company (Advanced Plan with 10–25 Users)

A company running QuickBooks Advanced pays $275 per month, but real monthly cost often reaches $350–$500+ after payroll, multiple user seats, and premium integrations.

They get extensive features and permissions , but also the highest ongoing cost and the most administrative overhead, since more users and processes require more bookkeeping structure.

Across all scenarios, businesses often find themselves paying far more than the base subscription. And because each plan still requires manual bookkeeping, QuickBooks becomes both expensive and time-consuming, especially for freelancers, consultants, and small business owners who don’t have dedicated accounting teams.

Adam by Tyms - A Quickbook Alternative for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Adam by Tyms is built for small business owners, entrepreneurs, freelancers, and founders who want accounting that runs itself. Instead of relying on complicated setups, endless categorization rules, and time-consuming reconciliations, Adam focuses on one thing: turning your raw bank transactions into clean financial reports instantly.

You simply upload your bank statement, or sync your bank, and Adam’s AI automatically categorizes every transaction, identifies patterns, creates financial statements, and gives you insights that help you understand your business, without needing to be an accountant or pay for multiple add-ons.

What Adam by Tyms Will Do for You

1. Automate Your Bookkeeping — No Rules, No Setup

Upload your bank statement, and Adam’s AI categorizes everything automatically. No manual tagging, no rule creation, and no reconciling multiple accounts. Your bookkeeping becomes a 3–5 minute task, not a weekly burden.

2. Generate Instant Financial Reports

Adam automatically produces your Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Summary from the transactions it categorizes. No templates, no configurations, and no accountant-level knowledge required.

3. Save Money With Flat, Transparent Pricing

Unlike tools that charge per user, per feature, or per add-on, Adam uses a simple pricing model with no hidden fees. You don’t pay extra for more users, reports, or automation tools, everything is included.

4. Give You Financial Visibility Without the Complexity

Because Adam focuses on clarity, you instantly understand where your money is coming from and where it’s going. You get plain-language insights, simple charts, and auto-summarized spending patterns — perfect for business owners who want answers, not accounting jargon.

Who Should Consider QuickBooks — and Who Should Ignore It

Good fit (use QuickBooks):

• Businesses with complex workflows, multiple users, inventory, payroll, integrations
• Firms that need deep customization and bookkeeping control
• Companies already handling large transaction volumes, with resources (team + budget) for bookkeeping

Best for Adam by Tyms:

• Freelancers, consultants, solopreneurs
• Micro-businesses without dedicated accountants
• Businesses tired of spending hours on reconciliation and setup
• Teams that want instant financial reports, not accounting complexity

Final Thoughts

QuickBooks pricing could change in 2026 or later, but it’s not certain. As your business grows, your costs usually go up with most accounting software.

Adam by Tyms offers a payment plan that provides small business owners with everything they need, without a complicated interface or concerns about future price changes. Try Adam by Tyms today