QuickBooks alternatives for client-service firms and agencies

In QuickBooks Online, project profitability starts on Plus at $140/mo. Here's how Zoho Books, FreshBooks, Xero and Wave handle billable time, retainers, project margins and team pricing, using each vendor's official pages. Checked October 31, 2026.

The short version

• In QuickBooks Online, project profitability starts on Plus ($140/mo). Intuit's pricing page lists "Add employee time to invoices" on Essentials ($85/mo, 3 users) and "Track project profitability" on Plus. Advanced ($340/mo, 25 users) adds "advanced project financials".
• Cheapest plan with timesheets, retainers and project profitability: Zoho Books Professional, $50/mo or $40/mo billed annually, 5 users included.
• Invoicing-first agencies: FreshBooks includes unlimited time tracking. Retainers and proposals start on Plus ($43/mo, 50 clients), and project profitability is on Premium ($70/mo, unlimited clients). Each extra team member is $11/mo.
• Bigger teams: Xero Established ($97/mo) includes project time and cost tracking, and Xero charges no per-user license fees. Its US page shows 90% off the first 6 months for new customers, an offer that ends November 2, 2026.
• Wave ($0 Starter, $19/mo Pro) handles invoicing and estimates, but its pricing page doesn't list time tracking or project tools.
• Prices are from each vendor's official US pages, checked October 31, 2026.

What client-service firms actually need

Marketing agencies, consultancies, design studios, IT shops and other firms that sell time usually need four things from their books:

1. Billable time that turns into invoices, ideally without retyping hours from a separate timer.
2. Retainers or deposits, so you're paid before the work and can draw the balance down.
3. Profit by client or project, not just one agency-wide profit and loss.
4. Room for the team, because per-user pricing adds up fast once staff and contractors log time.

Many agencies split these across tools today. One time-tracking vendor puts it as "QuickBooks for accounting, Harvest or Toggl for time tracking" (@Spotchdashboard, a vendor). A CFO on X suggests tagging "income and direct costs by customer" with "classes, projects or tracking" for six months before a client renewal (@EthanTheCFO). On Reddit, a thread in r/AskMarketing describes the usual setup: time in Harvest or Toggl, billing in QuickBooks or FreshBooks, "then someone manually exports everything to figure out actual margins weeks later" (r/AskMarketing).

What QuickBooks Online charges for it

Intuit's pricing page (checked October 31, 2026) spreads these features across plans:

• Simple Start, $38/mo: invoicing and general reports. No time-to-invoice or project features listed.
• Essentials, $85/mo, 3 users: adds "Add employee time to invoices".
• Plus, $140/mo: adds "Track project profitability", budgets and classes and locations (up to 40).
• Advanced, $340/mo, 25 users: adds "Advanced project financials", projects that are auto-created with costs allocated, custom user permissions and batch invoicing.

Each paid plan shows 50% off for the first 3 months. After that, the list price applies. One bookkeeper on X says the owners they work with feel "Quickbooks has been doing rug pulls: first they had to go to QBO from desktop, then the price increases" (@BryanJBryce). If you're on Plus only for project profitability, the tools below include it for less.

The alternatives

Zoho Books: timesheets, retainers and project profitability from $40/mo

• Professional, $50/mo ($40/mo billed annually), 5 users: Zoho's pricing page lists "Bill timesheets", "Project profitability" and "Manage retainers" as Professional features, along with sales and purchase orders and multi-currency. Extra users are $3/user/month ($2.50 billed annually).
• How time works: Zoho's help center says the timesheet module is for businesses "which charge their customers based on the time spent" on a project. You log time manually, with a timer, or with a Chrome extension, then bill it. The help docs also cover internal and customer approval of timesheets.
• Retainers: Zoho Books has retainer invoices, a separate invoice type in its help center.
• Fit: small agencies that want time, retainers and margins in one ledger at the lowest price here.

FreshBooks: built around client billing

• Time: FreshBooks' pricing page lists "Unlimited Time-Tracking". Its time-tracking page says you start a timer, then add the time log to an invoice. You can also track time from Asana, Basecamp, Trello and Teamwork, and see how the whole team spends its time.
• Plans: Lite $23/mo (5 billable clients), Plus $43/mo (50 clients; estimates, proposals and client retainers; accountant access), Premium $70/mo (unlimited clients; adds project profitability). Select is priced by quote and includes 2 team member accounts. Team members are $11/mo each on every plan. The pricing page shows 80% off for the first 4 months.
• Project profitability (Premium): FreshBooks lists a Profitability Widget (income, costs and unbilled hours), a Profitability Summary across clients and projects, and a Project Profitability Details report.
• Watch the client cap: FreshBooks counts both active and archived clients toward the 5 or 50 limit.
• Fit: small creative and consulting teams that live in invoices, proposals and retainers.

Xero: project time and costs on Established, no per-user fees

• Established, $97/mo: Xero's US pricing page lists "Track time and costs for projects" on Established only. Early ($27) and Growing ($59) exclude it. New customers get 90% off for 6 months ($9.70/mo on Established), an offer that ends November 2, 2026. After that, the regular price applies.
• What projects do: Xero's projects page lists a start-stop timer, linking costs to projects, creating a quote from a project, fixed-price or time-and-materials invoices, deposit and progress invoices, a profitability dashboard and a Project Summary report.
• Users: the pricing page says "No per-user license fees", so adding staff doesn't raise the price.
• Fit: agencies with larger teams or overseas clients (Established also has multiple currencies), and firms whose accountant prefers Xero.

Wave: fine for invoicing, not for timesheets

• Starter $0, Pro $19/mo (promo $9.50/mo for the first 3 months). Both include unlimited estimates and invoices. Pro adds bank auto-import and automatic late-payment reminders.
• Catch: Wave's pricing page doesn't list time tracking, retainers or project profitability. You'd pair it with a separate time tracker.
• Fit: one- or two-person shops that bill flat fees.

Side by side

Rough monthly cost for an 8-person agency

This example uses list prices after any intro offer, assuming eight people log time and you want project profitability:

• Zoho Books Professional: $50 + 3 extra users × $3 = $59/mo (or $40 + 3 × $2.50 = $47.50/mo billed annually).
• Xero Established: $97/mo, with no per-user fees.
• FreshBooks Premium: $70 + 7 team members × $11 = $147/mo.
• QuickBooks Online: Plus is $140/mo. Intuit's pricing page doesn't show Plus's user limit, but 25 users is listed for Advanced ($340/mo), so check how many users your plan allows before you count on Plus.

Our arithmetic from the published prices. It leaves out payments fees, payroll and add-ons. Confirm on each vendor's page.

Moving a service firm off QuickBooks

1. Bill all unbilled time first. Invoice or write off open time before cutover so you don't have to rebuild timesheets.
2. Export before you cancel. Save open invoices, a customer list, a trial balance as of your cutover date, and any project profitability reports you rely on. See our QuickBooks Online export guide.
3. Record unused retainer balances per client in the new tool as an opening liability. Ask your accountant how they want this done.
4. Set up clients, services and billable rates, then active projects only. Closed projects can stay in your QuickBooks exports.
5. Move the team's timer on a Monday so a full week lands in the new system.

Step-by-step guides: QuickBooks Online to Zoho Books, QuickBooks Online to FreshBooks, QuickBooks Online to Xero and QuickBooks Online to Wave.

How to choose (our suggestions)

1. Small team that wants everything in one place for the least money? Zoho Books Professional.
2. Invoices, proposals and retainers are the heart of the business, with under 50 clients? FreshBooks Plus, or Premium if you need project margins.
3. Growing headcount, or overseas clients? Xero Established. Flat pricing beats per-seat pricing as the team grows.
4. Flat-fee work with no timesheets? Wave, or stay on a lower QuickBooks plan.

Compare every tool we track in QuickBooks alternatives by business type, or see the pages for freelancers, contractors and multi-currency businesses.

Sources

Prices and plan features come only from each vendor's official pages. Plans change, so confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.

• QuickBooks: Online pricing (plans and features) (checked October 31, 2026)
• Zoho Books (US): Pricing (checked October 31, 2026)
• Zoho Books Help: Timesheets (checked October 31, 2026)
• FreshBooks: Pricing (checked October 31, 2026)
• FreshBooks: Time tracking (checked October 31, 2026)
• FreshBooks: Projects and collaboration (checked October 31, 2026)
• FreshBooks: Accounting software for marketing and advertising agencies (checked October 31, 2026)
• Xero (US): Pricing plans (checked October 31, 2026)
• Xero (US): Track projects (checked October 31, 2026)
• Wave: Pricing (checked October 31, 2026)

Last checked: October 31, 2026. Not tax, legal or accounting advice.

QuickBooks is a registered trademark of Intuit Inc. Xero, Zoho Books, FreshBooks, Wave and Aplos are trademarks of their respective owners. BookSwitcher is an independent site and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Intuit or any vendor listed.