QuickBooks Online vs Xero

QuickBooks Online caps users at 1 on Simple Start ($38/mo), 3 on Essentials ($75/mo), 5 on Plus ($115/mo), and 25 on Advanced ($275/mo). Growing teams are forced into expensive tier upgrades just to add a login — not new features. Intuit raised every tier 15–25% on May 1, 2026.

Intuit takes 2.9% + $0.25 per invoice payment processed through QuickBooks Payments. For a business processing $50K/month in invoices, that's $1,475/month in payment processing fees alone — often overlooked in TCO calculations.

QuickBooks Online Payroll is a separate $45–$125/mo add-on plus $6/employee/month. A 50-person company on Premium payroll pays $425/month ($5,100/year) on top of their QBO subscription.

Annual price increases of 10-20% are common. Intuit raised QBO prices three times between 2023 and 2025. Users report being locked into the ecosystem because migrating chart of accounts and historical data is painful.

Xero's Early plan ($25/mo, formerly Starter) limits you to 20 invoices and 5 bills per month. Any real business blows past this in week one, forcing an upgrade to Growing ($55/mo, formerly Standard) or Established ($90/mo, formerly Premium).

Xero Payroll is included in Australian plans but costs extra in the US ($40/mo + $6/employee). A 50-person US company pays $340/month just for payroll — a cost that's invisible in Xero's headline pricing.

Multi-currency support is only available on the Established plan ($90/mo). Businesses with even one international supplier or client must pay 3.6x the Early price for a feature that's table stakes in modern accounting.

Xero's app marketplace creates hidden dependency costs. Core features like advanced inventory, job costing, and purchase orders require third-party apps at $20-100/month each, making the true stack cost significantly higher than the base subscription.