General ledger with built-in AI
QuickBooks Online
The default US small-business ledger, now with Intuit Intelligence AI built into every plan — and the baseline every AI bookkeeping product is really competing with.
At a glance
- What it is
- General ledger with built-in AI
- Relationship to your books
- Runs on top of your existing ledger
- Starting price
- $38/mo
- Pricing basis
- Per company, per month, by feature tier. List prices below; Intuit runs heavy introductory discounts (90% off for 3 months at time of retrieval).
- Human involvement
- Software only, partner network
- QuickBooks Online
- Yes
- Xero
- No
- Multi-entity
- No
- Income tax filing
- Partial
- Free trial or free tier
- 30-day free trial
- Best suited to
- Almost any US small business — and specifically, anyone evaluating AI bookkeeping should price the QuickBooks-plus-AI-layer route before assuming they need to switch.
- Tested by the AI Ledger Benchmark
- Not yet — see the benchmark programme
- Facts verified
- September 4, 2026
QuickBooks Online is the ledger most US small businesses already run, and most AI bookkeeping products either sit on top of it or ask you to leave it. Intuit Intelligence features — expense categorization, AI chat, reconciliation help, anomaly detection — are now bundled by plan rather than sold separately, with AI chat limited to 25 questions per month in beta. Expert full-service bookkeeping is available as a separate Intuit service, priced on request.
Who it is for
Choose QuickBooks Online if: Almost any US small business — and specifically, anyone evaluating AI bookkeeping should price the QuickBooks-plus-AI-layer route before assuming they need to switch.
Look elsewhere if: No native multi-entity consolidation — this is the single most common reason buyers look elsewhere, or if any of the limitations below are load-bearing for your business.
QuickBooks Online pricing
Per company, per month, by feature tier. List prices below; Intuit runs heavy introductory discounts (90% off for 3 months at time of retrieval).
| Plan | Price | Basis | Notes and inclusions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Start | $38 | per month | Introductory price $3.80/mo for 3 months at retrieval Intuit Intelligence · AI chat (25 questions/month, beta) · Expense categorization · Tax deduction tracking |
| Essentials | $85 | per month | Introductory price $8.50/mo for 3 months at retrieval Everything in Simple Start · AI book cleanup · Payment acceleration |
| Plus | $140 | per month | Introductory price $14/mo for 3 months at retrieval Everything in Essentials · AI reconciliation · P&L insights · Anomaly detection · Sales tax AI · Inventory · Classes and locations |
| Advanced | $340 | per month | Introductory price $34/mo for 3 months at retrieval Everything in Plus · Project management · Finance AI · Customisable KPI dashboards |
Add-ons and separately priced services
The headline monthly fee is rarely the whole bill. These are the extras Intuit publishes.
| Add-on | Price | Basis | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intuit Expert Full Service Bookkeeping | Not published | per month | Referenced on the pricing page as a separate service; no price is published there |
| Payroll | Not published | per month | Sold separately |
Accounting platform compatibility
This is the first thing to check. A product that replaces your ledger is a migration; one that sits on top of it is reversible.
| Platform | Support |
|---|---|
| QuickBooks Online | Yes |
| Xero | No |
| NetSuite | No |
| Sage Intacct | No |
| Own general ledger | Yes |
Capabilities
| Capability | Status |
|---|---|
| Automated transaction categorization | Yes |
| Bank / account reconciliation | Yes |
| Month-end close workflow | Partial |
| Accounts payable / bill pay | Yes |
| Invoicing / accounts receivable | Yes |
| Receipt & document capture | Yes |
| Multi-entity support | No |
| Classes, departments or locations | Yes |
| Accrual-basis accounting | Yes |
| Revenue recognition | Partial |
| Inventory accounting | Yes |
| Payroll (included or native) | Partial |
| Sales tax handling | Yes |
| Income tax return filing | Partial |
| CFO / advisory service | No |
| Anomaly & error detection | Yes |
AI and developer surface
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| Named AI agents that complete work | Partial |
| Natural-language assistant over your books | Yes |
| Public API | Yes |
| MCP server / LLM-native access | Not published |
| White-label for firms | No |
Strengths
- Every accountant in the US can work in it; portability and hiring are non-issues
- AI features are now bundled into the plan price rather than sold as an upsell
- Largest integration ecosystem of any product in this set, by a wide margin
- Multi-entity aside, the feature coverage (inventory, classes, sales tax, AP/AR) is broader than most AI-native challengers
Limitations
- No native multi-entity consolidation — this is the single most common reason buyers look elsewhere
- AI chat is capped at 25 questions per month and is in beta
- List prices have risen steadily; the advertised price is a 3-month promotion, not the ongoing cost
- Automation is assistive; QuickBooks alone will not close your books without someone driving it
What we could not verify
Most sites in this category would state these as facts. We list them as gaps, and they are the questions to put to Intuit directly.
- Intuit does not publish a price for its Expert Full Service Bookkeeping offering on the main pricing page
- Whether an MCP endpoint is offered
Frequently asked
How much does QuickBooks Online cost?
QuickBooks Online starts at $38/mo. Per company, per month, by feature tier. List prices below; Intuit runs heavy introductory discounts (90% off for 3 months at time of retrieval). Full published tiers are listed above; figures were read from the vendor's own pricing page on September 4, 2026.
Does QuickBooks Online work with QuickBooks Online?
Yes. QuickBooks Online works with a QuickBooks Online file, so your books do not have to move.
Does QuickBooks Online include a human bookkeeper?
Software only, partner network. No accountant included, but the vendor will refer you to a partner firm.
Has AI Ledger Intelligence tested QuickBooks Online?
No. We have not run QuickBooks Online against a transaction set, and we do not claim hands-on experience we do not have. This page is a verified-data profile built from primary sources. Our benchmark programme explains the accuracy testing we intend to publish and how it will be run.
Alternatives to QuickBooks Online
Closest products by category, ledger relationship, human involvement and price.
Xero
$25/moThe main QuickBooks alternative, materially cheaper at list price, with JAX as its AI layer.
Botkeeper
$53/moPer-entity licensing for accounting firms, with the only published volume-discount ladder in the firm category.
Puzzle
$25/moAI-first accounting software positioned explicitly as a QuickBooks replacement, with the cheapest published entry price in the category.
Sources for QuickBooks Online
Every figure on this page was read from the vendor’s own published material or from named trade press on the date shown. We do not estimate prices.
- QuickBooks Online pricing — quickbooks.intuit.com, retrieved September 4, 2026
Record last verified September 4, 2026.