Billing & Invoicing Software · Accounting Software

QuickBooks Online vs Xero

Both are billing & invoicing software and accounting software. The short answer: choose QuickBooks Online if you are small businesses in the US, UK, Canada and Australia; choose Xero if you are small businesses and accountants in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

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QuickBooks Online logo QuickBooks OnlineXero logo Xero
Best forSmall businesses in the US, UK, Canada and AustraliaSmall businesses and accountants in the UK, Australia and New Zealand
Free planNo (trial may exist)No (trial may exist)
PricingSee providerSee provider
Built for IndiaGlobalGlobal
CategoriesBilling & Invoicing Software, Accounting SoftwareBilling & Invoicing Software, Accounting Software
Strengths
  • Large accountant and app ecosystem
  • Strong reporting
  • Good bank integrations
  • Clean, fast reconciliation
  • Unlimited users on plans
  • Big integration marketplace
Watch out for
  • Availability and features vary by country
  • Costs rise with add-ons
  • Payroll availability depends on country
  • Lower plans cap some transactions
Visit QuickBooks OnlineVisit Xero

Which should you choose?

QuickBooks Online: Widely used cloud accounting software with invoicing, expenses, bank feeds and an accountant ecosystem.

Xero: Cloud accounting platform known for bank reconciliation, invoicing and a large app marketplace.

The best way to decide is to run the same week of real work through both — most offer a free plan or trial — and compare how long tasks take, what your team prefers, and the total cost for your number of users including renewal pricing.

Not sure either fits? See all billing & invoicing software compared.