QuickBooks alternatives for nonprofits and churches

QuickBooks Online has no nonprofit edition, so funds get tracked with classes. Here's when that's enough, and how Aplos, Icon Systems and Vestrybooks compare if you want fund accounting built in, using each vendor's official pricing page. Checked October 26, 2026.

The short version

• QuickBooks Online has no nonprofit edition. Nonprofits track funds with classes, which Intuit only offers on Plus (up to 40 classes and locations combined) and Advanced (unlimited). Simple Start and Essentials don't have them.
• Want fund accounting built in? Look at Aplos (from $79/mo, balance sheet and income statement by fund on every plan), Icon Systems (accounting from $35/mo, or $385/yr) or, for small churches, Vestrybooks (free plan; Core $25/mo).
• Volunteer treasurer at a small church? Vestrybooks and Icon's church packages are aimed squarely at you. Aplos is the deeper option for nonprofits with grants, budgets by fund and a board to report to.
• Prices below are from each vendor's official pricing page, checked October 26, 2026. Intro discounts are noted separately because they expire.

Why fund accounting is the real question

A business can spend any dollar in its bank account on anything. A nonprofit often can't: a gift for the building fund or a grant for one program has to be tracked and spent for that purpose. That's fund accounting, tracking income, spending and balances by fund (and by restricted vs. unrestricted money), not as one pot.

That's why the same question comes up in church and nonprofit forums. In an r/churchtech thread, "Church Finance Software Recommendation" (March 2026), replies named Aplos, ACS Realm and One Church Software as fund-accounting tools, one church said it moved from QuickBooks Desktop to Xero, another uses PowerChurch, and one treasurer asked how others handle payroll, since their accountant only did payroll in QuickBooks Online. In r/Bookkeeping's "Your favorite software for fund accounting?", the recurring needs were handling restricted donations cleanly, easy bill entry, editing without breaking the books, and reports a board can actually read.

Option zero: stay on QuickBooks and use classes

If your organization is small and your bookkeeper knows QuickBooks, you can approximate funds with classes: one class per fund or program, tag every transaction, and run reports by class. Per Intuit's own help pages:

• Classes are only on QuickBooks Online Plus (40 classes and locations combined) and Advanced (unlimited). Simple Start and Essentials don't include them, so a nonprofit on a cheaper plan has to upgrade to use them.
• You turn them on under Settings, Account and settings, Advanced, Categories, then "Track classes". There's an option to warn you when a transaction has no class.

The catch is that classes are tags, not separate self-balancing funds. A mis-tagged transaction quietly lands in the wrong fund, and fund-level balance sheets take extra work. Aplos (a competitor, so weigh it accordingly) says bank and receivable balances can show as "Not Specified" on QuickBooks Online's Balance Sheet by Class. If you have more than a handful of restricted funds or grants, a purpose-built tool is usually less work.

Purpose-built options for nonprofits and churches

Aplos: the deeper option for nonprofits and churches

• Lite, $79/mo: 2 users, balance sheet by fund, income statement by fund, bank reconciliation, custom reports, a board portal and 1099 management.
• Core, $129/mo: 2 users, adds basic budgeting, accounts payable and receivable, recurring transactions, period close, third-party integrations and user roles.
• Advanced, from $229/mo (custom quote): 3 users, budgeting by fund/grant and by department or project, and dimensional reporting. Aplos aims it at organizations with $250K+ in annual revenue. Tailored pricing for $1M+ organizations.
• Intro offer on the check date: 50% off for 3 months on Lite ($39.50/mo) and Core ($64.50/mo) with code FALL26, for new customers, ending October 31. 15-day free trial, no card required.
• Good fit if: you have several restricted funds or grants, a board that wants fund-level statements, and one bookkeeper or finance person.
• Watch out for: $79/mo is a lot for a tiny all-volunteer group, and budgeting by fund or grant is an Advanced feature.

Icon Systems (IconCMO): church management plus accounting, sold separately

• Accounting Standard, $35/mo or $385/yr: general ledger, banking and reporting, 1 user.
• Accounting Premium, $45/mo or $495/yr: adds accounts receivable and payable, 5 users.
• Membership and donation packages (can be bought with or without accounting): Basic $50/mo ($550/yr, 1 user), Standard $75/mo ($825/yr, 5 users), Premium $125/mo ($1,375/yr, unlimited users).
• Add-ons: Icon Payroll from $40/mo, and done-for-you Icon Bookkeeping from $500/mo. Free trial, no card required.
• What Icon says it does: fund accounting, budgets by fund, program or campaign, FASB 958 reporting, and tracking multiple funds within a single bank account.
• Good fit if: you're a church that wants membership, giving and the books from one company, with payroll in the same system.

Vestrybooks: a free plan for small churches

• Free, $0: record money in and out, fund tracking, a donor list, online giving with no platform cut (where available), and a preview of year-end statements.
• Core, $25/mo or $250/yr: adds sending year-end giving statements, bank matching across multiple accounts, credit card and payables tracking, and budget, board and balance-sheet reports.
• Plus, $39/mo or $390/yr: adds view-only board access, unlimited users and priority support.
• Also on the pricing page: 30 days of full access with no card, then you drop to Free rather than losing access; prices are "locked for life"; the automatic bank feed only covers US banks.
• Good fit if: you're a volunteer treasurer at a small church or faith-based nonprofit.
• Watch out for: it's church-focused. Grant-heavy or secular nonprofits will likely want Aplos or a larger system.

Others that come up

ACS Realm, One Church Software and PowerChurch were all named by church users in the threads above. We haven't verified their current pricing on official pages yet, so they're not in the table. Larger nonprofits with many entities or grants tend to look at quote-only systems such as Sage Intacct or Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT.

Side by side

"Not listed" means the vendor's pricing page didn't mention it on the check date. It doesn't mean the feature doesn't exist. Ask the vendor before you decide.

How to choose (our suggestions)

1. A handful of funds, a QuickBooks-savvy bookkeeper and no grants? Staying on QuickBooks Online Plus with classes can be enough. Turn on the "warn me" option so untagged transactions get caught.
2. Small church, volunteer treasurer, tight budget? Try Vestrybooks Free or Icon's accounting packages first.
3. Restricted grants, a board that wants statements by fund, and room to grow? Price out Aplos Core, or Advanced if you need budgets by fund or grant.
4. Payroll in house? Check payroll before anything else. It's the gap that keeps coming up for churches leaving QuickBooks.
5. Ask your accountant or auditor. If they already work in one of these tools, that often saves more than the price difference.

Moving your books off QuickBooks

Aplos publishes a five-step migration outline that works as a checklist for any of these tools: export your chart of accounts, bank reconciliation reports, donor and vendor lists, and a trial balance as of your cut-off date; map QuickBooks accounts and classes to the new accounts and funds; import contacts; enter opening balances as a single journal entry from the trial balance; then enter outstanding transactions, unpaid invoices and bills, and compare reports in both systems before you go live.

Export everything before you cancel. Intuit gives paid subscribers read-only access for one year after canceling. For general-purpose tools, see our guides:

• QuickBooks Online to Xero
• QuickBooks Online to Zoho Books
• QuickBooks Online to FreshBooks
• QuickBooks Online to Wave

Compare every tool we track in QuickBooks alternatives by business type, or see alternatives for freelancers and solo 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.

• Aplos: Pricing & Features (checked October 26, 2026)
• Aplos Academy: QuickBooks for Nonprofits (vendor guide, includes migration steps) (checked October 26, 2026)
• Icon Systems: Plans & Pricing (checked October 26, 2026)
• Icon Systems: Nonprofit Accounting Software (checked October 26, 2026)
• Vestrybooks: Pricing (checked October 26, 2026)
• Intuit QuickBooks Help: Create and manage classes in QuickBooks Online (checked October 26, 2026)
• Intuit QuickBooks Help: Turn on class tracking (checked October 26, 2026)
• Intuit QuickBooks Help: Learn about usage limits (checked October 26, 2026)
• Intuit QuickBooks Help: What happens to my QuickBooks Online data after I cancel? (checked October 26, 2026)

Last checked: October 26, 2026. Not tax, legal or accounting advice.

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