18 Best Xero Alternatives Reviewed For 2024
Best Xero Alternatives Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 18 tools reviewed.
Our one-on-one guidance will help you find the perfect fit.
Xero is a popular accounting software that offers features like invoicing, payroll, and bank reconciliation, making it a valuable tool for businesses to manage their finances effectively. However, some users might seek alternatives due to specific feature limitations or pricing concerns. Here are my suggestions for the best Xero alternatives.
What Is Xero?
Xero is a cloud-based accounting software designed to assist small and medium-sized businesses with their financial management needs. Business owners, accountants, and bookkeepers commonly use Xero to handle invoicing, bank reconciliation, and financial reporting tasks.
It provides users with tools to manage their finances efficiently, ensuring accurate tracking of income and expenses, and compliance with accounting standards.
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Why Look for a Xero Alternative?
Although Xero is a valuable software, there are several reasons you might be looking for an alternative, such as:
- Pricing Concerns: Xero may not offer the pricing flexibility that some businesses need, leading them to seek more cost-effective solutions.
- Feature Limitations: Companies might require features Xero lacks, such as more advanced finance management tools or features tailored for particular industries.
- Scalability Issues: As businesses grow, they may find that Xero's capabilities do not scale effectively with their increasing needs.
- Customer Support: Some businesses might be dissatisfied with Xero’s customer support and look for alternatives with more responsive service.
- Integration Needs: Companies that rely on various software applications may need accounting solutions with better integration capabilities than Xero.
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Best Xero Alternatives Summary
| Tools | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Zoho Books | From $15/month (billed annually) | Website |
| Bonsai | From $19/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
| FreeAgent | From $13.50/user/month | Website |
| ZarMoney | From $20/month (up to 2 users) | Website |
| ProfitBooks | From $20/month | Website |
| PocketSmith | From $26/month (billed annually) | Website |
| Reckon | From $6/month (for 6 months, then $12/month) | Website |
| ZipBooks | From $15/user/month | Website |
| Kashoo | From $20/month | Website |
| Akaunting | From $8/month (billed annually) | Website |
Compare Software Specs Side by Side
Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.
Compare SoftwareBest Xero Alternatives
In this analysis, I delve into various alternatives to Xero, examining each one’s features, pros, and cons. I’ll guide you through their best use cases to help you find the perfect fit for your business needs.
Zoho Books ensures your financial data is secure with role-based access control and a detailed audit trail. It’s best suited for small and medium-sized businesses looking for privacy-focused tools with invoicing, expense tracking, tax compliance, and real-time financial insights.
Why it's a good Xero alternative: Zoho Books focuses on data privacy, offering role-based access control where only authorized members can view sensitive financial data. You can easily manage invoicing, track expenses, reconcile your bank accounts, and handle tax and regulations with the built-in compliance features. Additionally, Zoho Books offers a detailed audit trail, giving you full visibility over every transaction and change made to your financial records.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include role-based access control, real-time financial insights to keep you updated on your business’s performance, and built-in tax management tools for compliance. Zoho Books also offers automated bank reconciliation, invoicing, expense tracking, and an intuitive interface.
Integrations include Zoho CRM, Zoho Inventory, PayPal, Stripe, Square, Microsoft Office 365, Dropbox, Google Drive, Slack, and Zoho Analytics.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Invoice and payment reminders
- Audit trail visibility
- Automatic tax calculations
Cons:
- Delayed automatic bank feeds
- Limited integrations with accounting tools
Bonsai simplifies complex workflows for businesses in the creative and service industries. It helps agencies manage their projects, clients, and finances in one place with its tracking, invoicing, contracts, and task management features.
Why it's a good Xero alternative: Bonsai’s project tracking and task management features help you organize and schedule everything. It provides invoicing tools that automatically sync with project tasks and contract management features for creating and sending contracts directly from the platform. Additionally, the software includes time tracking, allowing your team to log hours seamlessly and stay productive.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include project management tools that allow you to track tasks, deadlines, and team progress in real-time. Bonsai also offers invoicing that automatically syncs with your project tasks, making billing easy. Additionally, it provides contract management tools, letting you draft, send, and sign contracts all in one platform.
Integrations include QuickBooks, Zapier, Stripe, PayPal, Google Calendar, Slack, Dropbox, Google Drive, Trello, and Asana.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Automatic invoice syncing with tasks
- Built-in contract management
- All-in-one project and financial management
Cons:
- No multi-currency support
- Limited advanced features
FreeAgent offers tools for invoicing, expense tracking, and project time tracking. Its built-in tax management feature ensures users can easily calculate and submit taxes and oversee their financials.
Why it's a good Xero alternative: FreeAgent simplifies financial management for sellers by automatically importing transactions from Amazon and categorizing them. This automation reduces manual entry, ensures accurate bookkeeping, and provides real-time financial insights, making it easier for Amazon sellers to manage taxes, profits, and overall cash flow.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include automated invoicing for sending and tracking invoices, time tracking for managing project hours and costs, and a tax management system that simplifies the calculation and filing of taxes. FreeAgent also offers real-time bank feeds, keeping your accounts up-to-date automatically and provides clear financial reports to help you monitor your business performance.
Integrations include Amazon, PayPal, Stripe, GoCardless, HMRC, Wise, Google Calendar, Mailchimp, Zapier, and Dropbox.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Convenient expense tracking
- Automatic bank feeds
- Deep Amazon integration
Cons:
- No audit trail
- Limited financial reporting customization
ZarMoney is more than just basic bookkeeping. It integrates inventory management for product tracking needs with flexible invoicing, customizable reporting, and automated workflows for billing and online payments.
Why it's a good Xero alternative: ZarMoney offers tools for managing accounting and inventory. It simplifies accounting tasks with automated invoicing and bill payment and includes inventory management tools for tracking stock levels, pricing, and product movement. The software also allows you to turn financial data into detailed reports to understand your business’s performance.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include invoicing tools for creating, sending, and tracking invoices, customizable financial reports, and expense tracking. It has a detailed inventory management system for monitoring product levels and movements. Plus, it allows you to set user permissions for secure access.
Integrations include Shopify, Stripe, PayPal, Square, Authorize.net, Amazon, UPS, FedEx, USPS, and QuickBooks.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Custom financial reports
- Automated workflows
- Advanced inventory management
Cons:
- Limited budgeting tools
- Manual expense tracking
ProfitBooks is a free cloud-based accounting software with financial reporting, stock level monitoring, invoicing, and inventory management. It’s ideal for small businesses with simple financial needs and minimal accounting experience.
Why it's a good Xero alternative: ProfitBooks offers essential features like invoicing, expense tracking, and inventory management without any cost. It simplifies accounting needs, making it accessible for non-accountants while providing strong functionality to help businesses manage their finances effectively. The platform also provides simple financial reports and overviews of your business’s performance.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include simple invoicing for creating and sending professional invoices, easy expense tracking, and built-in inventory management. Its intuitive design makes managing accounting tasks accessible for users with little to no experience.
Integrations include PayPal, Stripe, Google Drive, Dropbox, Zoho CRM, QuickBooks, Slack, Mailchimp, HubSpot, and Shopify.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Customizable invoicing templates
- Expense management
- Integrated inventory management
Cons:
- No tax compliance automation
- No detailed budgeting tools
PocketSmith provides detailed cash flow forecasting, budgeting, and financial reporting, enabling users to gain insights into their financial future. It allows unlimited users to forecast based on historical trends and spending patterns.
Why it's a good Xero alternative: PocketSmith’s forecasting tools allow you to project your cash flow far into the future, helping you plan for upcoming expenses and income. Its intuitive budgeting features make it easy to allocate funds and stay on track with financial goals. You can create multiple scenarios, which helps your team understand how different financial decisions could impact your future. Additionally, PocketSmith provides detailed financial reports that offer insights into both current performance and future projections, ensuring you stay prepared for what’s ahead.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include cash flow forecasting for visualizing future financial scenarios, detailed budgeting tools, and customizable financial reporting for insights into your income, expenses, and saving goals.
Integrations include Xero, Mint, PayPal, Yodlee, Wise, Plaid, Stripe, QuickBooks, Google Calendar, and CSV file uploads.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Daily financial tracking
- Multiple financial scenarios
- Advanced cash flow forecasting
Cons:
- No invoicing and billing tools
- Limited business accounting software features
Reckon is a budget-friendly solution for key financial tasks like invoicing, expense tracking and automated payroll processing. It complies with local regulations and offers real-time financial reporting.
Why it's a good Xero alternative: Reckon manages accounting and payroll in one platform. It offers automated payroll processing and compliance with local regulations. The software also has a simple invoicing system for creating, sending, and tracking invoices and generates financial reports to give you insights into your business's performance.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include easy-to-use invoicing, automated payroll processing and expense tracking to help you monitor your business costs and maintain accurate financial records.
Integrations include PayPal, Stripe, QuickBooks, HubSpot, Google Drive, Microsoft Outlook, Mailchimp, Zapier, Shopify, and Xero.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Local compliance focus
- Unlimited transactions
- Simplified invoicing system
Cons:
- Limited tax compliance automation
- Primarily for the Australian market
ZipBooks is a simple yet effective tool for users with minimal accounting experience. It offers simple yet effective invoicing and expense tracking tools, financial reporting, and color-coded financial health scores to help users stay on top of their cash flow.
Why it's a good Xero alternative: ZipBooks simplifies invoicing with automated invoice creation and reminders. It also tracks and categorizes your expenses, and provides real-time financial insights through easy-to-understand reports. Overall, the software has a clean, intuitive interface, making it easy to navigate essential bookkeeping functions.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include easy-to-use invoicing for quickly creating and sending invoices, smart expense tracking to help you categorize and organize your business expenses, and financial health scoring, which provides a color-coded view of business performance. You can also track time and manage your projects, all within the same platform.
Integrations include PayPal, Stripe, Square, Google Drive, Gusto, QuickBooks, Slack, Google Contacts, Zapier, and Asana.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Ease of use for non-accountants
- Automated payment reminders
- Visual financial health score
Cons:
- Not suitable for large businesses
- Limited advanced accounting features
Kashoo offers easy-to-use tools for automating day-to-day financial tasks. It helps users manage everything from expense tracking to invoicing and financial reporting, focusing on simplifying bookkeeping processes.
Why it's a good Xero alternative: Kashoo simplifies tasks such as expense tracking, categorization, and invoicing through AI-powered features. Its automation significantly reduces manual entry and helps maintain accurate financial records in real-time, making it efficient for business owners with limited time or accounting experience.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include automated expense categorization, creating and sending professional invoices, and payment tracking. It offers one-click financial reporting, bank reconciliation, and sales tax tracking.
Integrations include Stripe, Square, PayPal, BluePay, FreshBooks, Plaid, Dropbox, Gusto, and Google Workspace.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Multi-currency support
- One-click and customizable reports
- Automated categorization
Cons:
- Limited chart of account customization
- Limited support for multi-entity accounting
Akaunting provides comprehensive accounting tools like invoicing, expense tracking, and financial reporting, all in one customizable platform. It allows businesses to self-host the software, offering complete control over data and customization.
Why it's a good Xero alternative: Akaunting’s open-source nature offers you control over your financial management. It allows you to customize the software based on your needs and can easily manage invoices, track expenses and reconcile your accounts all in one place. Akaunting generates financial reports and offers budgeting features, ensuring your team stays on track financially.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include easy invoicing and expense tracking tools that help you monitor business spending and categorize expenses effectively. It also provides budgeting features, enabling you to set financial goals and track progress over time.
Integrations include PayPal, Stripe, WooCommerce, Mollie, Razorpay, Mercado Pago, Skrill, PayU, Authorize.net, and CoinGate.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Built-in expense management
- Multi-currency support
- Open-source and self-hosted
Cons:
- No automatic bank reconciliation
- Limited third-party integrations
Other Xero Alternatives
Below is a list of additional Xero alternatives that I shortlisted. While they didn’t make the top 10, they’re still valuable and worth further research.
- Envoice
Best for automated expense management
- Sage Intacct
Best for advanced financial management
- Odoo Accounting
Best for customizable business solutions
- HoneyBook
Best for project-based businesses and creatives
- Plooto
Best for automated payment processing
- NetSuite Cloud Accounting Software
Best for enterprise resource planning
- Wave Accounting
Best for freelancers and small businesses
- QuickBooks
Best for comprehensive financial management
Xero Alternatives Selection Criteria
The criteria for choosing a Xero alternative should directly address buyer needs and common pain points, ensuring that the software serves its intended purpose effectively. As an expert who has personally tried and researched these tools, here are the requirements I use when evaluating software:
Core Functionality (25% of total weighting score)
- Invoicing for credit cards, online payments, and debit transactions
- Ability to track income and expenses
- Bank reconciliation
- Financial reporting
- Payroll management
Additional Standout Features (25% of total weighting score)
- Advanced automation
- AI-driven predictive analytics
- Add-on third-party app integration
- Customizable dashboards
- Fully functional mobile app (iOS and Android)
- Unlimited invoices
Usability (10% of total weighting score)
- Intuitive, minimal-click navigation
- Customizable workflow interface
- Responsive design across devices
- Drag-and-drop data organization
- Easy role-based access configuration
Onboarding (10% of total weighting score)
- Comprehensive training videos and webinars
- Interactive product tours
- Pre-made setup templates
- In-app chatbots for assistance
- Supportive user community and forum
Customer Support (10% of total weighting score)
- 24/7 global availability
- Multi-channel support
- Fast query response
- Detailed knowledge base
- Personalized support options
Value For Money (10% of total weighting score)
- Competitive pricing
- Flexible plans
- Transparent pricing
- Long-term discounts
- ROI-based evaluation
Customer Reviews (10% of total weighting score)
- Satisfaction ratings
- Feature and usability feedback
- Reported issues or drawbacks
- Business-specific testimonials
- Feedback trends over time
Key Features of Xero Alternatives
Here are some key features of Xero that your alternative software should be able to replicate or improve upon in order to be a good fit.
- Invoicing: Easily create and customize invoices and set up automated reminders for due or overdue payments.
- Bank Reconciliation: Import bank statements, categorize transactions, and reconcile accounts payable.
- Expense Tracking: Monitor, categorize, and manage business expenses in real-time.
- Inventory Management: Keep track of stock levels, and manage inventory across multiple locations.
- Multi-Currency: Can handle transactions in multiple currencies with automatic exchange rate updates.
- Payroll Management: Simplify payroll processing, handle employee records, track hours worked, and ensure compliance with tax and labor laws.
- Financial Reporting: Generate detailed financial reports for comprehensive business insights.
- Project Tracking: Track time, costs, and billable hours on specific projects to ensure profitability and accurate client billing.
- Tax Management: Calculate, track, and submit tax returns accurately and comply with local tax laws.
- Mobile Access: Fully functional mobile app for managing business finances on the go.
What’s Next?
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