QuickBooks Online vs. ZipBooks

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
QuickBooks Online
Score 8.1 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.
$38
per month
ZipBooks
Score 7.0 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
ZipBooks is an accounting software solution for small business owners and accountants. Users can track expenses, manage their team, send recurring invoices and manage projects.
$15
per month
Pricing
QuickBooks OnlineZipBooks
Editions & Modules
Simple Start
$38
per month
Essentials
$75
per month
Plus
$115
per month
Advanced
$275
per month
ZipBooks Starter
$0
ZipBooks Smarter
$15
ZipBooks Sophisticated
$35
ZipBooks Accountant
Custom
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks OnlineZipBooks
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
QuickBooks OnlineZipBooks
Considered Both Products
QuickBooks Online
Chose QuickBooks Online
We liked the fresh approach and the clean aesthetics of Wave, Xero and ZipBooks. However they all lacked the ability to customize a invoice template, which is sad to say, but that was the #1 feature for us, since we had existing customers that we didn't want to disrupt; i.e., …
Chose QuickBooks Online
The only other service I have used that was similar to QuickBooks was Gusto. My experience with it was pretty limited. We did not use it for very long. We tried it because it was made for small businesses and we are a smaller department. QuickBooks was more scalable and worked …
ZipBooks
Chose ZipBooks
ZipBooks is a much cleaner, easier to use software.
Features
QuickBooks OnlineZipBooks
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
8.0
110 Ratings
6% above category average
ZipBooks
-
Ratings
Pay calculation8.4100 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.452 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.592 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.165 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.871 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
6.9
100 Ratings
9% below category average
ZipBooks
9.1
2 Ratings
18% above category average
API for custom integration6.882 Ratings9.12 Ratings
Plug-ins6.982 Ratings9.11 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
8.4
171 Ratings
3% above category average
ZipBooks
9.5
5 Ratings
15% above category average
Single sign-on capability8.6136 Ratings9.74 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.3161 Ratings9.34 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
8.3
197 Ratings
6% above category average
ZipBooks
10.0
6 Ratings
25% above category average
Dashboards8.4184 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Standard reports8.6192 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Custom reports8.0175 Ratings00 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
7.9
214 Ratings
4% above category average
ZipBooks
8.8
6 Ratings
15% above category average
Accounts payable8.9180 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.9197 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Cash management8.2180 Ratings00 Ratings
Bank reconciliation9.0203 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Expense management8.5187 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Time tracking7.083 Ratings9.06 Ratings
Fixed asset management7.983 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support7.037 Ratings9.12 Ratings
Multi-division support7.565 Ratings00 Ratings
Regulations compliance7.866 Ratings00 Ratings
Electronic tax filing8.3101 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service portal7.5111 Ratings00 Ratings
Global Financial Support6.729 Ratings00 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers8.058 Ratings00 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting8.158 Ratings00 Ratings
Localizations7.743 Ratings00 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.4127 Ratings00 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting6.948 Ratings00 Ratings
Configurable Accounting7.872 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework7.647 Ratings00 Ratings
Standardized Processes8.791 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
6.8
76 Ratings
7% below category average
ZipBooks
-
Ratings
Inventory tracking6.571 Ratings00 Ratings
Automatic reordering7.238 Ratings00 Ratings
Location management7.242 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing module6.528 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online
7.7
129 Ratings
3% above category average
ZipBooks
9.2
6 Ratings
21% above category average
Pricing7.979 Ratings00 Ratings
Order entry7.775 Ratings00 Ratings
Credit card processing8.297 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Cost of goods sold8.497 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Order Orchestration6.937 Ratings00 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility7.840 Ratings00 Ratings
Order exception Resolution7.033 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
QuickBooks OnlineZipBooks
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 6.9 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 6.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.1 out of 10
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
Score 7.6 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
Score 7.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
QuickBooks OnlineZipBooks
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(231 ratings)
9.0
(6 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.3
(27 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.4
(146 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.9
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
1.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.6
(70 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.7
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
1.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
1.3
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
2.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
4.9
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
4.9
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
QuickBooks OnlineZipBooks
Likelihood to Recommend
Intuit
I appreciate the ability to auto-generate invoices for recurring transactions, which saves time, as well as the option to set up auto-generated transactions. The report option is super helpful when reviewing information, as you can click to view the details in the report without having to go back and forth.
Read full review
ZipBooks
ZipBooks is really strong for small businesses (and non-profits like the ones I help manage). It may not yet be ready to handle medium or large businesses given the deep, niche functionality that is sometimes required in those cases.
Read full review
Pros
Intuit
  • Workflows for accounts payable invoice review are terrific.
  • Bill payment allows you to pay vendors online via ACH or check without having to write a physical check, which reduces admin time.
  • The cloud based login lends well to a remote or hybrid work environment for staff.
  • QuickBooks Online allows you to pre-configure vendors' general ledger expense accounts. This helps with general ledger coding accuracy and consistency.
  • QuickBooks Online integrates with Rippling HRIS, Coast, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, etc., which lends well to an efficient month-end closing and reduced administrative time.
Read full review
ZipBooks
  • Invoicing is particularly easy-to-use, quick, clean and beautiful. GREAT for branding.
  • The time tracker was unexpected, but very useful and integrates well with the invoicing. Leads to quick invoicing every time.
  • Customer support is phenomenal -- the support staff is friendly and helpful.
  • Although they are a new company, they are definitely on the right track!
  • I recommend this software to clients, colleagues, and friends alike, mostly for it quick and beautiful invoicing.
  • They do what they can to live up to their name! It doesn't take very long to get set up, or very long to create a complete invoice and send it to the right person.
Read full review
Cons
Intuit
  • The upsells have gotten worse over time and are on every screen in the most awkward positions. I don't need a constant reminder to upgrade, especially on a very old account that's paid thousands over the years.
  • The interface has never been especially intuitive, but I was an old Quicken user and it was somewhat familiar. Over time, it's gotten worse, and in the last 2 years, the program seems to move things more often than I would expect.
  • The software constantly adds features that I don't want and want to turn off, but the interface is so difficult to use that I find myself skipping it. Imagine seeing a message that the system recognized invoices that hadn't been paid so it prepared reminder notices for you that can be sent at the click of a button. Who thinks using canned reminders that you've never seen is a good thing?
  • A lot of functionality seems to derive from connecting your bank accounts to QBO. I don't want Intuit to have an always-on connection to any bank accounts, even checking.
Read full review
ZipBooks
  • There is some difficulty with a need to learn the use of the menus, they are not open and click, at the moment, the user needs to open the menu then using the pad keys scroll down and use enter to select from the drop-down menu. A mouse does not work.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
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
ZipBooks
No answers on this topic
Usability
Intuit
I had very little trouble setting up the program and migrating from our old accounting system. The daily usage is also very intuitive and easy. Anytime we run into minor trouble with the program, there are always tons of help available on YouTube, so we don't even look up the online manual anymore.
Read full review
ZipBooks
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
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
ZipBooks
No answers on this topic
Performance
Intuit
Everything process has its bugs lately with the new interface. Nothing has worked smoothly since this all began last month.
Read full review
ZipBooks
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Intuit
In my experience, most representatives keep me on the phone for hours, literally, for a single issue and then usually cannot resolve it satisfactorily. I have 10 open cases that need resolution and, in my experience, there has been NO follow-up communication on any of them.
Read full review
ZipBooks
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
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
Read full review
ZipBooks
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Intuit
As a freelance bookkeeper, the Desktop version of QuickBooks Online doesn't allow for ease of access from any device. Having to be on a computer with the software downloaded creates additional work to gain access to all required filings etc. Also, I personally find the linking functionality on the Online version to be much more streamlined and user friendly.
Read full review
ZipBooks
I've primarily compared ZipBooks vs. Quickbooks because I've used Quickbooks at larger companies before. ZipBooks was the right fit for a smaller organization because it still had all the core features of Quickbooks but at a dramatically lower price that fits the budget.
Read full review
Scalability
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
Read full review
ZipBooks
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Intuit
  • QuickBooks has given us a useful portal by which to get an overview of our financials.
  • QuickBooks has given us a relatively easy way to send out invoices quickly and efficiently.
  • Due to the customization limitations on QuickBooks, we've had to get creative in third-party implementations to better represent our brand and to track financials.
Read full review
ZipBooks
  • ZipBooks is entirely affordable, and with my current $15/mo payments, I get ROI pretty quickly.
  • Invoices are simple and easy to make, while staying beautiful and functional at the same time. This saves me TIME, which means that I don't need to spend 15-20 minutes fiddling with the software to make it do what I want it to do. It just works. And that means, I can spend more time doing client work, and managing projects and sales.
Read full review
ScreenShots

QuickBooks Online Screenshots

Screenshot of the accounting and bank transactions interfaceScreenshot of an overview of the accounting inventoryScreenshot of book marksScreenshot of the business tax overviewScreenshot of the customer hubScreenshot of the dashboard

ZipBooks Screenshots

Screenshot of ZipBooks DashboardScreenshot of ZipBooks TransactionsScreenshot of ZipBooks InvoicingScreenshot of ZipBooks Accountant Messaging