FreshBooks vs. QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FreshBooks
Score 7.9 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
FreshBooks is an accounting service for small businesses. The solution enables users to send and manage invoices, track billable time and collect online payments. The vendor’s value proposition this that their solution provides a straightforward service that simplifies the billing process.
$21
per month
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
A now discontinued accounting solution, QuickBooks Self-Employed featured tools to help the self-employed drive growth and financial stability. It is replaced by the more advanced QuickBooks Solopreneur.N/A
Pricing
FreshBooksQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Editions & Modules
Lite
$21
per month
Plus
$38
per month
Premium
$65
per month
Select
Custom Pricing
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FreshBooksQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details10% discount for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
FreshBooksQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Considered Both Products
FreshBooks
Chose FreshBooks
FreshBooks does very well in comparison, especially since it is free software for Barclays bank users. Sage software is much worse than FreshBooks. However, Xero and QuickBooks, the market leaders, are still ahead with usability, additional features, reporting, and connection …
Chose FreshBooks
I selected FreshBooks because it combined Toggl, Harvest and Quickbooks features into a single system. This simple move allowed for me to save money on the tools and in turn bring all client data into a single portal.

FreshBooks is easy to use and automatically generates the …
Chose FreshBooks
FreshBooks allows for more than one payment portal, automatically creates, sends, and/or auto charges invoices, and has a more robust automatic emailing system, as compared to PayPal Payments. PayPal Payments is more suited to "one-off" transactions, in my opinion. Also, it is …
Chose FreshBooks
I am not a full time bookkeeper and when I used to use QuickBooks I felt like I had to relearn the software each time. When I had to do something unusual I frequently got frustrated trying to figure out how to do it. FreshBooks has eliminated that with its ease of use and their …
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Chose QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
FreshBooks limited my ability to categorize transactions, specifically removing duplicates or excluding them. I selected QuickBooks Self-Employed because it allowed me to be in control of items. Sometimes accounting is just making sure things are organized the way YOU think, …
Chose QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
I selected QBSE because no other system fit my needs as a freelancer and as of now, I've not become aware of a program like this that I would opt out for.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
FreshBooksQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
8.5
35 Ratings
10% above category average
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
10.0
5 Ratings
26% above category average
API for custom integration8.730 Ratings10.04 Ratings
Plug-ins8.426 Ratings10.04 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
9.6
41 Ratings
16% above category average
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
10.0
8 Ratings
20% above category average
Single sign-on capability10.01 Ratings10.08 Ratings
Role-based user permissions9.341 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
7.2
57 Ratings
7% below category average
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
10.0
14 Ratings
25% above category average
Dashboards8.457 Ratings10.012 Ratings
Standard reports8.355 Ratings10.014 Ratings
Custom reports4.82 Ratings10.08 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
7.3
56 Ratings
4% below category average
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
10.0
15 Ratings
27% above category average
Accounts payable7.641 Ratings10.09 Ratings
Accounts receivable9.055 Ratings10.010 Ratings
Cash management7.03 Ratings10.09 Ratings
Bank reconciliation7.02 Ratings10.010 Ratings
Expense management6.351 Ratings10.014 Ratings
Time tracking7.242 Ratings10.07 Ratings
Multi-currency support7.01 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Regulations compliance5.621 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Self-service portal9.13 Ratings10.08 Ratings
Fixed asset management00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
Multi-division support00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Electronic tax filing00 Ratings10.013 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Localizations00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
8.9
49 Ratings
15% above category average
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
10.0
5 Ratings
26% above category average
Pricing8.439 Ratings10.04 Ratings
Order entry8.737 Ratings10.04 Ratings
Credit card processing8.741 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Cost of goods sold10.01 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Order Orchestration00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Order exception Resolution00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
7.8
3 Ratings
4% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings5.02 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
10.0
3 Ratings
28% above category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Manufacturing module00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
FreshBooksQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Small Businesses
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.6 out of 10
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 7.4 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 7.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 6.9 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 6.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FreshBooksQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
7.5
(75 ratings)
10.0
(15 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.6
(18 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(20 ratings)
9.4
(2 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.3
(11 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
FreshBooksQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
FreshBooks
I recommend FreshBooks to anyone running a service-based business that needs invoicing, time reporting, and accounting tools. FB is adept in all three of these scenarios and isn't overly complicated like similar accounting packages I have used. I love how I can write estimates and proposals, manage the business development process from the software, and quickly convert prospects to invoiced clients.
Read full review
Intuit
QuickBooks is a great tool for new SoleTraders that need basic accounting software and require digital invoicing for their clients to send via email and access key features via a mobile app on the go. QuickBooks is a straightforward tool to use with a simple design and learning curve for business owners that are not very tech-savvy. For businesses that operate on a larger scale and need to provide access to other users on their team, QuickBooks is limited. This type of business may also require more insights into the business outside of accounting, and QuickBooks won't be able to supply insights outside of that.
Read full review
Pros
FreshBooks
  • Invoicing - FreshBooks basically ensures our accountants spend less time on invoices via its automated invoicing system, which sends invoices to our customers and clients alike and also send them regular reminders for them to pay up their bills.
  • Collecting business insights - FreshBooks enable our company analysts measure our business performances via data reports provided by FreshBooks' intuitive dashboard. Allowing us do a comparative analysis of key business metrics of a current month against past months and determine if the business is growing.
  • Expense tracker - We have recently embraced FreshBooks as an expense tracker for teams at our company branch. Thusfar, FreshBooks has performed very well, making our expense management a perfect operation; ensuring teams do not exceed their planned budget and also eliminating the need for tracking expenses on excel spreadsheets.
Read full review
Intuit
  • QuickBooks Self-Employed does keep a running total of your income and estimated taxes. Of course, this requires that your entries are accurate.
  • The mileage feature is particularly helpful. One just needs to either use the phone app in conjunction with QuickBooks Self-Employed, or keep a log of all mileage.
  • When tax time comes around, it's easy to use TurboTax software and import your data from QuickBooks.
Read full review
Cons
FreshBooks
  • I can brand invoices with my business logo, but I might like to change colours of the invoices themselves to match the rest of my business documents. That isn't a major point at all, but it's something that I'd like to see.
  • Freshbooks doesn't remember the categories that similar expenses were previously assigned to. It would be nice if Freshbooks would suggest a category for an already saved vendor, to ensure the consistency of expense reporting.
  • The home page of a Freshbooks account has a great graph display of expenses and income, but it only shows the last 6 months. This is still very useful, but I'd like to be able to see this kind of graph for different periods of time.
Read full review
Intuit
  • Doesn't integrate with Mint, which I use for my home expenses. I think this would be a nice addition to the program, so I could keep track of my whole financial situation.
  • A Windows 10 app would be a nice addition to the program, so I could access it securely from my desktop.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
FreshBooks
At the current needs of our business, FreshBooks suits us perfectly - it allows online access by our accountant to the system for GST purposes, easy input of expenses and tracking of Profit and Loss statements. FreshBooks customer service is great as well - very understanding and accommodating.
Read full review
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Usability
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is very easy to use even for novices. If you're looking for an online accounting software that is full of features, has great aesthetics and is user-friendly, then this is definitely the software for you. I've been using it for several years now and despite being tempted to switch by other vendors, I like the feel of FreshBooks and it's mobile features.
Read full review
Intuit
I have been using this software for several years now and it has always put out my data in beautiful generated reports that I can use for verification purposes with my financial institute and the IRS. It has all the tools I need to run my business without loosing track of anything
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Reliability and Availability
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
Read full review
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
FreshBooks
I think the support level for FreshBooks is on par with a 6 because the folks behind this application do a fairly good job at providing support for their customer base. I still don't think they are at an elite level when it comes to supporting but are getting there although too slow in my opinion.
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Intuit
I have never faced any difficulties that required me to contact QuickBooks customer service. QuickBooks has plenty of online tutorials, blog posts, and helpful tips and advice for almost any issues you may face using the desktop or app version of the software. Even if you can not find the right answer on the QuickBooks webpages, there are loads of YouTube videos from experts.
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Implementation Rating
FreshBooks
I haven't changed my mind since my first evaluation. Freshbooks is still meeting my needs, easy to use, etc.
Read full review
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
FreshBooks
FreshBooks does very well in comparison, especially since it is free software for Barclays bank users. Sage software is much worse than FreshBooks. However, Xero and QuickBooks, the market leaders, are still ahead with usability, additional features, reporting, and connection with third-party software providers. We chose FreshBooks as it does everything we require from this type of software.
Read full review
Intuit
FreshBooks limited my ability to categorize transactions, specifically removing duplicates or excluding them. I selected QuickBooks Self-Employed because it allowed me to be in control of items. Sometimes accounting is just making sure things are organized the way YOU think, and FreshBooks wasn't doing that for me.
Read full review
Return on Investment
FreshBooks
  • In reality, we do not implement all of its use at the moment in order to determine an adequate ROI.
  • In our approach to the use of the system, it seems to us a considerable time saving by achieving the integration of the Mexican subsidiary with its parent located in the US.
  • Financial reports meet the necessary USGAAP requirements.
Read full review
Intuit
  • Overall, tagging expenses and mileage has saved me thousands in taxes, for a relatively low cost of around $8/mo.
  • QuickBooks allows me to get invoices to clients quickly and accept online payments, which helps with cashflow.
  • The app has stopped tracking mileage automatically on my device, so I worry that sometimes I am not tracking business miles effectively, which could end up costing me at the EOY.
Read full review
ScreenShots

FreshBooks Screenshots

Screenshot of the dashboardScreenshot of an invoice overviewScreenshot of an example of a customizable invoiceScreenshot of an invoice appearing across devicesScreenshot of expensesScreenshot of time tracking