What separates them
QuickBooks Online is the dominant accounting platform in the United States. Intuit has been the default for US small businesses for decades, and that history shows up in the product: deep US tax compliance features, a massive accountant network, and payroll integration that is hard to match. Most bookkeepers and CPAs in the US have been trained on QuickBooks. That is not a small thing when you are trying to hire help or hand off your books.
Xero was built in New Zealand and launched in 2006. It is the market leader in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and it has spent the last several years building a serious US presence. The product is cleaner. The bank reconciliation workflow is genuinely better than QuickBooks in most people's experience. And its unlimited-user model on every plan is a structural pricing advantage that QuickBooks cannot match at lower tiers.
Both platforms cover everything a small business fundamentally needs: invoicing, expense tracking, bank feeds, financial reporting, and integrations with payroll and payment processors. The difference is in the details of how they do it and which ecosystem you are plugging into.
"If your accountant is in the US and you have never left the country, QuickBooks is probably the easier path. If you have a multi-user team, operate internationally, or care about a cleaner day-to-day workflow, Xero is worth looking at harder."
Quick comparison: QuickBooks vs Xero
| Feature | QuickBooks Online | Xero |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Simple Start $35/mo · Essentials $65/mo · Plus $99/mo · Advanced $235/mo | Starter $15/mo · Standard $42/mo · Premium $78/mo |
| User limit | Per-tier limits (1 user on Simple Start, up to unlimited on Advanced) | Unlimited users on all plans |
| Bank reconciliation UX | Functional, familiar to most accountants | Cleaner workflow, widely praised |
| US accountant ecosystem | Dominant — most CPAs know QBO | Growing, still smaller in US |
| Payroll (US) | Add-on via Intuit Payroll | Add-on via Gusto or others |
| Inventory tracking | Plus and above | Standard and above |
| Multi-currency | Advanced plan only | Premium plan ($78/mo) |
| US tax compliance | Strong — 1099s, state payroll | Adequate, improving |
| International use | Possible but not built for it | Designed for it |
| Best for | US businesses, payroll-heavy, CPA-dependent | Multi-user teams, international, cleaner workflow |
QuickBooks Online — deep dive
QuickBooks Online is the default accounting platform for small businesses in the United States, and it earned that position. Intuit reports roughly 7 million businesses on QuickBooks globally, and the product's US-market dominance means that your accountant, your bookkeeper, and probably the accountant your friend's business uses are all already trained on it. That network effect is real and it matters when you need help.
Pricing starts at Simple Start ($35/month, one user, basic income and expense tracking), moves to Essentials ($65/month, three users, adds bill management), Plus ($99/month, five users, adds inventory and project tracking), and Advanced ($235/month for larger teams with custom reporting needs). Intuit regularly runs 50% off the first three months for new subscribers, but budget for the full rate when evaluating annual cost.
Where QuickBooks wins:
- US tax compliance is thorough. 1099 management is built in, state payroll tax handling is handled through the payroll add-on, and the platform is genuinely built around the way US businesses need to report.
- The accountant ecosystem is unmatched in the US. Finding a QuickBooks ProAdvisor or a bookkeeper who works in QBO daily is not hard in any US market. Xero is growing, but this gap is real.
- Payroll integration through Intuit keeps your payroll and accounting data in one system — a genuine operational advantage over using a separate payroll platform.
- Reporting is extensive. Profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, accounts receivable aging — QuickBooks has dozens of pre-built reports and solid custom reporting on the Advanced plan.
- Inventory tracking on Plus and above works well for product-based businesses that need to track stock levels and cost of goods sold.
- Integrations are broad. QuickBooks connects with hundreds of platforms — CRMs, e-commerce tools, field service software, payroll systems — and has a large developer ecosystem behind it.
Where QuickBooks has limitations:
- Per-user pricing adds up fast. A three-person team needs the Essentials plan at minimum. Five people pushes you to Plus at $99/month. Xero's unlimited-user model makes this comparison unfavorable for teams.
- The interface has accumulated complexity. It is not hard to learn, but it is not as clean as Xero, and users who just want to reconcile transactions quickly often find the QBO workflow slower than it needs to be.
- Multi-currency support is locked behind the Advanced plan at $235/month. Xero handles it on the $78 Premium plan.
- The bank reconciliation experience, while functional, is not as intuitive as Xero's. Most bookkeepers who have used both platforms note the difference.
QuickBooks pricing note: A business with five users needs the Plus plan at $99/month ($1,188/year) at standard rates. Add payroll and that number climbs significantly. Factor in the full cost — not the introductory rate — before committing.
Xero — deep dive
Xero has built a genuinely competitive accounting platform. It is the dominant choice in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and it has been making real inroads in the US market. The product is cleaner to navigate than QuickBooks, the bank reconciliation workflow is faster in practice, and the unlimited-user model is a structural advantage that becomes obvious the moment you have more than two people who need access to the books.
Xero US pricing: Starter at $15/month (limited to 20 invoices and 5 bills per month — a real cap, not just a soft limit), Standard at $42/month (unlimited invoices and bills, the plan most small businesses will land on), and Premium at $78/month (adds multi-currency). All three plans include unlimited users at no extra cost.
Where Xero wins:
- Unlimited users on every plan is Xero's clearest advantage. A team of six people paying for Xero Standard at $42/month pays $42/month. The same team on QuickBooks needs the Plus plan at $99/month minimum — and may still need to add users at extra cost on Advanced.
- Bank reconciliation is faster and cleaner. Xero's matching interface is intuitive in a way that QuickBooks is not, and for businesses that reconcile frequently, this reduces a real amount of weekly friction.
- Multi-currency support on the Premium plan at $78/month is accessible. QuickBooks requires the $235/month Advanced plan for the same capability.
- The interface is modern and easier to navigate. Xero has invested in UX in a way that shows — it is simply a cleaner product to work in daily.
- International business is a first-class use case. Xero handles foreign currency, international bank feeds, and cross-border invoicing in a way QuickBooks does not prioritize.
- The accountant ecosystem outside the US is larger than QuickBooks. In the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, Xero is what your accountant will know.
Where Xero has limitations:
- The US accountant ecosystem still favors QuickBooks. If you rely on a US-based CPA or bookkeeper, there is a reasonable chance they will prefer QuickBooks — and asking them to work in Xero can raise their rates or narrow your hiring pool.
- The Starter plan's caps — 20 invoices and 5 bills per month — are easy to hit. Most growing businesses will need Standard at minimum, making the $15 entry price less relevant than it looks.
- US-specific tax features like 1099 management are not as deeply integrated as QuickBooks. You may need workarounds or third-party tools for some US compliance tasks.
- Payroll requires a third-party add-on (Gusto is the most common pairing in the US). There is no native Xero payroll for US businesses, which means a separate subscription and one more integration to maintain.
"Xero's unlimited-user pricing is the feature that makes the most accountants and operations managers stop and do the math. For a team of five or more, the cost comparison often flips dramatically in Xero's favor."
US businesses vs international: where geography changes the answer
If your business is based in the United States and your accountant is US-based, QuickBooks starts with a structural advantage: your tax forms, your payroll, and your CPA's workflow are all built around it. That is a real practical benefit, not a marketing point.
If you operate across borders — invoicing clients in multiple currencies, paying contractors internationally, or running a UK or Australian entity — the calculation flips. Xero was built for international business in a way QuickBooks was not. The multi-currency support is better, the international bank feed connections are broader, and accountants in the UK and ANZ are almost universally trained on it.
For US-based businesses with a growing team, the calculus is less clear. A five-person operations team where three people need daily accounting access is paying a meaningful premium for QuickBooks over Xero. That difference — potentially $600 or more per year at standard rates — is worth running the actual numbers on before defaulting to the more familiar name.
We lean toward QuickBooks when: The business is US-based with one to two users in the accounting system, has employees on payroll that benefits from Intuit's native integration, works with a US CPA who prefers QBO, or has inventory tracking needs that require the Plus plan anyway.
We lean toward Xero when: The team has three or more people who need regular accounting access, the business operates internationally or invoices in multiple currencies, the owner or bookkeeper values a cleaner daily workflow, or the existing accountant is UK, Australia, or NZ-based.
We flag the trade-off when: A US business is weighing Xero primarily on price. The savings are real, but if finding a US bookkeeper comfortable in Xero is harder in your market, the hidden cost of that friction can exceed the subscription savings. We check the local accountant landscape before recommending a switch.
Pricing: the real numbers
Headline pricing comparisons can mislead. Here is what it actually costs for a few common team configurations at standard monthly rates:
- Solo owner, basic books: QuickBooks Simple Start $35/month vs Xero Standard $42/month. QuickBooks wins on price here, though Xero's unlimited users means you can add a bookkeeper later without an upgrade.
- Two to three users, no inventory: QuickBooks Essentials $65/month vs Xero Standard $42/month. Xero is $276 cheaper per year at standard rates.
- Five users, no advanced features: QuickBooks Plus $99/month vs Xero Standard $42/month. Xero saves $684 per year — before payroll considerations.
- Multi-currency, any team size: QuickBooks Advanced $235/month vs Xero Premium $78/month. Xero saves $1,884 per year for this specific capability alone.
The caveat on all of these: add payroll. QuickBooks payroll integrates natively; Xero US users typically add Gusto ($40/month plus $6 per employee at their base plan). For a business with employees, run the full combined cost before deciding.
The user math matters: A team of five paying for Xero Standard ($42/month) saves $684/year versus QuickBooks Plus ($99/month) at standard rates. Over three years, that is over $2,000 before accounting for any price increases.
The automation gap — what neither platform does
This is the part of the comparison that most people skip, and it is the part that has the most impact on how your business actually runs.
QuickBooks and Xero are both good at recording what has already happened. A payment came in — they record it. An invoice went out — they track it. A bank transaction hit your account — they match it. That is what accounting software does.
What neither platform does: send a sequence of polite, escalating reminder emails when an invoice hits 7, 14, and 30 days overdue. Trigger a client onboarding workflow the moment a deposit clears. Pull job data from your field service software — ServiceTitan, Jobber, Housecall Pro — into your accounting system automatically so your books reflect what actually happened in the field. Send a weekly P&L summary to your business partner without anyone manually running and exporting a report.
These are not exotic use cases. They are the things most small business owners say they want their software to do, and that they end up doing manually — or not doing at all — because neither QuickBooks nor Xero automates them natively.
At Aplos AI, we build the automation layer that sits on top of whichever accounting platform you run. We connect your books to the rest of your business: your CRM, your payment processor, your field service software, your client communication tools. The goal is not to replace QuickBooks or Xero. It is to make them do more than they do out of the box — specifically, to make things happen automatically instead of requiring someone to log in and do it by hand.
Manually chasing overdue invoices? Copying job data from one system to another? Sending the same report every Friday by hand? We map your current workflow in a free audit and identify exactly which steps can be automated — on top of QuickBooks, Xero, or whatever you are currently running.
Get a Free Automation Audit →The verdict
Neither platform is universally better. The right answer depends on where your business operates, how many people need accounting access, and what your accountant already knows.
Pick QuickBooks if you are a US-based business with a US accountant, you have or plan to have employees on payroll, and your team is small enough that per-user pricing does not create a cost problem. The accountant ecosystem advantage and native US tax compliance features are real, and for most straightforward US small businesses, QuickBooks is still the safer default.
Pick Xero if you have three or more people who need regular access to your accounting system, you operate internationally or invoice in multiple currencies, or you simply want a cleaner, faster daily workflow. The unlimited-user pricing model is a structural win that compounds over time, and the product is genuinely well-built.
Either way, your accounting software is still just the foundation. The workflows that happen around it — chasing payments, onboarding clients, syncing job data, delivering reports — are what Aplos AI handles on top of whichever platform you choose.