QuickBooks Desktop for Mac vs. QuickBooks Online

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Quickbooks Desktop for Mac is an accounting software designed for Mac users. It is designed to integrate with Apple iCloud. It provides core accounting features in line with the rest of the Quickbooks Desktop product line.N/A
QuickBooks Online
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Online is a SaaS version of the QuickBooks product. It contains all of the features found in the local version. Higher-priced plans include greater automation, payment management, inventory and time tracking, and analytics features.
$15
per month
Pricing
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Self-Employed
$15
per month
Simple Start
$25
per month
Plus
$75
per month
Advanced
$150
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online
Considered Both Products
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
Chose QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
QuickBooks for Mac is great because it has an offline version and cloud storage capabilities. QuickBooks Online is a cheaper alternative but in the event of needing to access the database without internet access, it's nice to have it backed up when you need it. Plus QuickBooks …
Chose QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
Xero has tried copying what Quickbooks offers but it is missing a lot of features and it is not as easy to navigate through.
Chose QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
QuickBooks for Mac definitely outshines other competitors mainly due to its ability to sync seamlessly with all mac products, which other programs have continual problems with. Although the Mac version isn't quite as powerful as the Microsoft counterpart, it is still one of the …
Chose QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
I feel that the online (QBO)version is the platform of the future. With third party companies building solid apps and plugins that integrate with QBO seamlessly, the desktop versions are becoming limited.
Chose QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
QuickBooks Mac really is incredible. As a mac user for 10 years, I found this software easy to use and understand. It has a beautiful layout without sacrificing any of the ample features that made me fall in love with QuickBooks Pro.

  • Scheduled Reports: The ability to automate …
Chose QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
I originally reviewed 2 programs back in 1994 and chose QuickBooks. I have been upgrading my QuickBook versions since that time and haven't evaluated any other accounting software programs
Chose QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
QuickBooks for Mac 2015 has been updated consistently over the last 3 years and continues to provide for the bookkeeping needs of small companies using Macs in their offices. However, it has limited job costing functionality. Outside of that limitation, it is similar in …
Chose QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
QuickBooks for Mac is roughly equivalent in functionality to QuickBooks Pro for Windows. It has better job costing than QuickBooks Online with roughly equivalent inventory functionality. QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Wave offer anytime, anywhere functionality for multiple users …
Chose QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
I did not select the Mac version for my own business. I don't use a Mac but I have access to one. I do know how to use and support the Mac version. I use all of the various QB versions as necessary to support my clients on a regular basis. I still feel that QB for Mac is not …
QuickBooks Online
Chose QuickBooks Online
I chose QuickBooks Online primarily because I had the most experience with it. Although the desktop versions will generally have more robust reporting and some areas of versatility, QuickBooks Online has the best immediate access when it comes to support and it's online …
Chose QuickBooks Online
Ultimately, QuickBooks/Intuit has the most market share when it comes to accounting software. The benefit of so many people using this software is that there's always an answer to a problem that you may be having when it comes to using the software. Intuit has provided a …
Top Pros
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TrustRadius Insights
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online
Highlights

TrustRadius
Research Team Insight
Published

QuickBooks Desktop for Mac and QuickBooks Online are both accounting software designed to handle financial data, invoicing, and reporting. Both solutions are popular with small businesses, though QuickBooks online is also used by many mid-sized companies.

QuickBooks Online is a popular choice for businesses looking for a cloud-based accounting solution. In contrast, organizations wanting to use a desktop application prefer QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.

Features

Both QuickBooks Desktop for Mac and QuickBooks Online provide essential accounting features such, but both solutions also have some standout features.

QuickBooks Desktop for Mac includes a simple user interface that is familiar for Mac users and simple to learn for Windows users. Additionally, data is easy to convert from windows accounting software to QuickBooks Desktop for Mac. Almost all features available on QuickBooks Windows software is also available on the Mac version.

QuickBooks online offers robust remote access features, allowing accounting teams to access records and data easily. Additionally, QuickBooks Online includes flexible administration tools that enable simple setup for user roles and permissions. Lastly, QuickBooks online can update and generate reports on the fly as data is added, ensuring that reports are always up to date.

Limitations

Though QuickBooks Desktop for Mac and QuickBooks Online both offer robust accounting features, there are a few areas where they have limitations as well.

QuickBooks Desktop for Mac can have some difficulties migrating data from other tools or apps. Similarly, some users have noted that when restoring data to QuickBooks Desktop for Mac, small user errors can result in loss of data. Lastly, users familiar with QuickBooks for Windows may notice a few missing features.

QuickBooks Online users report occasional data loss when transitioning from desktop apps to the cloud. Additionally, QuickBooks Online reporting lacks some features available on the desktop version. Reporting on QuickBooks Online is also a little slower than other cloud-based accounting software.

Pricing

QuickBooks Desktop for Mac costs $299.95 for up to three users and includes all reporting features.

Free trials are available for the software for thirty days. QuickBooks Online offers three pricing tiers. The Simple Start package includes essential features for a single user at $12.00 per month. The essentials tier is priced at $20.00 per month and supports up to three users with added invoicing features. Lastly, the Plus tier supports up to five users for $35.00 per month and includes inventory tracking features.

Features
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
10.0
11 Ratings
29% above category average
QuickBooks Online
3.1
78 Ratings
83% below category average
Pay calculation10.09 Ratings4.269 Ratings
Benefit plan administration10.06 Ratings3.732 Ratings
Direct deposit files10.08 Ratings4.765 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management10.05 Ratings1.744 Ratings
Reimbursement management10.07 Ratings1.446 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
6.0
11 Ratings
16% below category average
QuickBooks Online
2.6
68 Ratings
92% below category average
API for custom integration6.07 Ratings1.354 Ratings
Plug-ins6.010 Ratings3.857 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
10.0
20 Ratings
24% above category average
QuickBooks Online
3.7
108 Ratings
72% below category average
Single sign-on capability10.020 Ratings3.081 Ratings
Role-based user permissions10.017 Ratings4.5102 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
10.0
22 Ratings
27% above category average
QuickBooks Online
5.4
132 Ratings
34% below category average
Dashboards10.019 Ratings4.7124 Ratings
Standard reports10.022 Ratings5.4128 Ratings
Custom reports10.022 Ratings6.0116 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
5.8
24 Ratings
24% below category average
QuickBooks Online
3.8
143 Ratings
64% below category average
Accounts payable8.124 Ratings5.4122 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.123 Ratings6.0131 Ratings
Cash management6.218 Ratings6.2120 Ratings
Bank reconciliation8.824 Ratings6.3137 Ratings
Expense management6.220 Ratings5.5123 Ratings
Time tracking6.212 Ratings1.856 Ratings
Fixed asset management6.214 Ratings5.353 Ratings
Multi-currency support1.010 Ratings1.423 Ratings
Multi-division support6.211 Ratings1.542 Ratings
Regulations compliance6.210 Ratings1.738 Ratings
Electronic tax filing8.115 Ratings5.266 Ratings
Self-service portal6.213 Ratings2.666 Ratings
Global Financial Support1.07 Ratings1.416 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers6.213 Ratings3.535 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting6.214 Ratings5.029 Ratings
Localizations1.06 Ratings4.121 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations6.217 Ratings5.274 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting6.25 Ratings1.825 Ratings
Configurable Accounting6.29 Ratings2.138 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework6.29 Ratings2.924 Ratings
Standardized Processes6.213 Ratings4.048 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
7.7
15 Ratings
9% above category average
QuickBooks Online
1.3
47 Ratings
138% below category average
Inventory tracking6.214 Ratings1.345 Ratings
Automatic reordering7.810 Ratings1.222 Ratings
Location management7.09 Ratings1.321 Ratings
Manufacturing module10.08 Ratings1.317 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
8.3
18 Ratings
11% above category average
QuickBooks Online
3.7
86 Ratings
67% below category average
Pricing10.017 Ratings4.755 Ratings
Order entry10.016 Ratings4.753 Ratings
Credit card processing10.017 Ratings2.463 Ratings
Cost of goods sold10.016 Ratings3.968 Ratings
Order Orchestration5.76 Ratings4.621 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility6.77 Ratings4.620 Ratings
Order exception Resolution5.66 Ratings1.218 Ratings
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QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online
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Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
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Score 8.3 out of 10
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Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
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Score 8.2 out of 10
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User Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(32 ratings)
4.2
(161 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(9 ratings)
2.5
(24 ratings)
Usability
5.4
(6 ratings)
4.1
(76 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(1 ratings)
2.1
(5 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
1.1
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
6.9
(4 ratings)
2.3
(68 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.0
(1 ratings)
3.0
(6 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
1.4
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
1.1
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
1.1
(2 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
1.1
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online
Likelihood to Recommend
Intuit
If you're a freelancer or running a very small business where you do your own bookkeeping I think this is a great option, especially if you're familiar with accounting and bookkeeping in general. If you're not so familiar with bookkeeping, I would say that the learning curve is too steep and you might want to look elsewhere for a more intuitive solution
Read full review
Intuit
It seems Intuit is more interested in generating revenue than taking care of their customers. After only 28 (working) days using it, I've had to call for Help 23 times, and, in my experience, only spoken to 2 people who had an understanding of basic accounting practices and the ramifications of some of their suggested fixes on the General Ledger.
Read full review
Pros
Intuit
  • The program is very easy to learn, the interface is incredibly user-friendly and there are tons of free resources and tutorials available
  • It makes managing payroll really easy for the employee and accountant on staff. No more lost time sheets or late paychecks!
  • Managing bills and paying them has become streamlined and it's great having everything in one place so we don't lose track of things.
Read full review
Intuit
  • It enables me to do a P&L for each specific program as requested by the county for the grant money that they give us.
  • It enables me to do [an] organizational budget as well as a budget for each specific program
  • It enables the accountant and the auditor access at any time for transparency
Read full review
Cons
Intuit
  • The #1 complaint is that setting it up right is a challenge. People waste time trying to figure it out only to realize that they don't know accounting so of course they don't know how an accounting program should be set up. Like any time you are in over your head, reach out to your network and find someone who can log onto your computer and walk you through it.
  • If you need to track the cost of wages to jobs you can't do it with the online payroll, but check for yourself because it's a function that landscaping companies and construction businesses usually need, so maybe they have added it by now. That would really help!
  • It's premise-based software and that means you take on the role of hardware admin, and it's a lot of work for what is increasingly becoming a smaller gap in the functionality between QuickBooks for Mac and QuickBooks Online.
  • QuickBooks for Mac 2015 has been updated consistently over the last 3 years and continues to provide for the bookkeeping needs of small companies using Macs in their offices. However, it has limited job costing functionality. It is similar in functionality to the 2010 version of QuickBooksPro which runs on Windows.
Read full review
Intuit
  • The budgets feature leaves a lot be desired - difficult and clunky to populate and maintain.
  • Reporting for Budget vs Actual is available but the ability to reforecast based on updated data is not.
  • The rules function to default common types of expenses isn't perfect and will get confused if like amounts or a number of similar items present.
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Likelihood to Renew
Intuit
I haven't spent that much time with the newer versions of QuickBooks for Mac, but I think I'm seeing it make the much-needed improvements. For example, something as simple as undoing the previous reconciliation was a terrible chore, and I'm glad that feature has been included in the newer versions of QuickBooks for Mac
Read full review
Intuit
It like the product 'right out of the box' and I trust Intuit will continually improve it over the years based on my experience with their desktop products. The large providers of Apps makes customizing the entire package relatively easy and seamless for a wide variety of business types.
Read full review
Usability
Intuit
The Mac version is OK overall. I find the Windows versions to be much more robust but Mac is quite good for Mac users. Though I think die hard Mac users should consider QuickBooks Online instead as there is a new QB for Mac app that makes using QBO much better!
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Intuit
While QuickBooks Online is generally easy to navigate, there are some features and functions that often require a Google search in order to find out where they are actually hidden. Additionally, there are some simple customization features that are surprisingly not available for an otherwise advanced program (e.g. only having a pool of 4 fonts to choose from, only having 4 very limited templates for invoicing, not color selection, etc). While I would say that about 75% of users shouldn't have a problem finding their way around with basic functions, there is a learning curve if you want to be able to dive into some of the more useful features, almost to the point that you need to have a dedicated account manager in order to use QuickBooks Online most effectively.
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Reliability and Availability
Intuit
I've been using the QuickBooks online version for a little over 6 months now (upgraded from Mac desktop) and I haven't had any access issues. There have been times when it was down for service/upgrade however there is always plenty of notification time given by the Quick Books Online Support team. These upgrade maintenance time frames are always over night hours and on the weekends so everything can be worked around very easily.
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Intuit
We have rarely had outages in the last 10 years. I can only recall 2 times in the last 10 years where we were not able to access our client files.
Read full review
Performance
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Intuit
There are tab issues. When I tab the field doesn't highlight and I have to backspace or delete what is in the field. Happens on the memo field and sometimes other fields. Very time consuming.
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Support Rating
Intuit
Fortunately, I haven't had to reach out much for support.
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Intuit
Support is great, all incidents been resolved. Quickbooks Online forum is very well organized and helpful. I like the fact that they let the community contribute in resolving issues. Most or many of your answers can be found online. You can also get help on YouTube, but the easiest way to get assistance is through their chat system.
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Implementation Rating
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Intuit
The person in charge of QB needs to be very accurate with record keeping and is recommended to stay on top of tasks. The biggest issue we have is reconciliation, and those issues occur only when too much time has occurred between reconciliations
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Alternatives Considered
Intuit
I love using Quickbooks compared to other software we've tried. QuickBooks Online and TSheets interface. Customer service and problem resolution are generally excellent, with well-trained and proficient agents taking calls or on chat. Ease of use and accessibility via the mobile app. Great courses were available to help with learning the basics and some advanced accounting background. I love learning! Online accessibility - it can work anywhere with an internet connection. Linking to bank and credit card accounts is handy.
Read full review
Intuit
I have used Wave Accounting for another business. I selected QuickBooks Online over Wave because of the features available from QuickBooks. Wave is great since it is free, but I feel that paying for QuickBooks Online is worth it for the features. In addition there is such a robust support network and training available for QuickBooks.
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Scalability
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Intuit
As we have grown along our professional path, we have also expanded our use of QB. The scalability is easy and features seem to be waiting for you until you need them. We have increased profits by over 10x from our first year in business to the current and have yet to find a reason to look elsewhere
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Return on Investment
Intuit
  • The ROI was good for when we were a smaller company because it is a lot cheaper than other more sophisticated programs.
  • The negative impact is that it caused a lot of extra manual entering and data entry that too often resulted in mistakes.
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Intuit
  • It has created a lot of cost and in-efficiency whenever we need to talk to support.
  • I spent a lot of time setting up their automatic reminders for past due invoices and it worked for a couple of months and then it stopped. It's currently being worked on by their tech team but it has been months and it is still not working. It would have saved me a lot of time.
  • Their multi-currency saves time in sending invoices abroad but it's limiting when a customer wants an invoice in USD instead of a foreign currency so I have to set up different customer accounts for different currencies.
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