I want to confidently say that the difference in pricing is due to the considerable amount of features that QuickBooks Desktop offers, but I’m unsure if that’s the case. While QuickBooks Desktop is great for users who prefer locally-installed software, users will have to pay additional fees for cloud hosting, adding to the already expensive cost. Perhaps the biggest area where QuickBooks Desktop falls short is that its Pro and Premier versions will soon be discontinued for new users. While QuickBooks Enterprise will still be an option, this is powerful software with an expensive price tag that will be too much (in terms of features and pricing) for most small businesses. We at the MarketWatch Guides team spent over 100 hours researching and testing 15 accounting software providers.

The software must have tools to track time, record billable hours or expenses, send invoices for progress billings, or monitor project progress and performance. Additionally, QuickBooks Online allows you to calculate sales taxes automatically to apply to an invoice based on the customer’s address. This feature is particularly useful if you sell and ship products out of your state.

QuickBooks Desktop provides better security and control over data than QuickBooks Online

We also clarified auditing standards don’t recommend QuickBooks Desktop to Mac users, since there’s just one desktop-based plan for Mac users. This plan, QuickBooks Desktop for Mac, has the same features as QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus, the most basic desktop-based plan. In other words, Mac users can’t scale up their software from one plan to the next as they add software users.

Online Plus and Payroll Core Bundle

QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop share the same basic functionality of organizing your accounting processes and automating much of the manual data entry work. It has faster load times and quicker response rates, all while requiring minimal local processing power. You can (almost) always trust your local access, and QuickBooks Desktop reinforces that by keeping your accounting data on your local drive or network. QuickBooks Desktop can feel rigid and resistant to modification or integration—the same way Apple products and iOS felt rigid back when everyone had overheating, self-cooking Android phones. QuickBooks Desktop is a better fit for businesses that prefer to store their data locally and are less dependent on real-time updates or extensive collaboration.

1. It provides features that cater to invoicing, expense tracking, payroll management, and tax preparation.
2. Personalized setup is limited to a 1-hour session with a customer success product expert.
3. Each offers a detailed chart of accounts, journal entries, bank reconciliation, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and the basic reports needed to run a company.

QuickBooks Online vs. Desktop pricing

QuickBooks Online gives small-to-mid-sized businesses the ability to host their accounting on a cloud-based system, allowing for access and collaboration across devices. On the other hand, QuickBooks Desktop offers large businesses and enterprises a more advanced system that’s limited to desktop devices. To expedite product setup, you can choose to use the default chart of accounts that is included in the application. You also have the option to import products and services into the application to avoid having to re-enter the data.

How They Compare: QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop

The key difference between QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop is how the data is stored and hosted — cloud vs. desktop. Meaghan Senn is a writer from North Carolina with experience in B2B, technology and digital marketing topics. Throughout her career, Meaghan has worked with B2B, software and digital marketing businesses. Cassie is a former deputy editor who collaborated with teams around the world while living in the beautiful hills of Kentucky.

Granted, you don’t have to be an accountant to learn QuickBooks Desktop either, but if you are new to accounting, you will need a lot of time to learn the program. In comparison with QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online is cloud-based, cheaper, easier to use, supports more integrations, and is unlikely to be discontinued by QuickBooks. Yes, QuickBooks Desktop has a subscription fee that users pay annually. Another notable difference is QuickBooks Online offers a Self-Employed version for $15 per month, which is not available with QuickBooks Desktop. If you’re a freelancer, stick with its Self-Employed plan, bookkeeping vs accounting which is $15 per month 9after the three-month discount at $7.50).

If you don’t renew your QuickBooks Desktop subscription at the end of the year, then you will no longer be able to access your data on the desktop app. You may consider switching to QuickBooks Online if you want a cloud-based solution with several affordable plans and an easy-to-use interface. During our testing, it took us no time to get up to speed on how to use the QuickBooks Online platform. The platform has an intuitive layout that we were able to navigate on our own. However, QuickBooks also provided help bubbles and other guidance throughout the platform when we opened certain features for the first time.

While you can add cloud access to QuickBooks Enterprise, it involves an additional fee. Offers four plans to accommodate a range of businesses with different needs; each plan limits the number of users, though. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. QuickBooks might encourage its users to switch from QuickBooks Desktop inventory cycle for manufacturers retailers and distributors to Online, but it hasn’t issued any statements about discontinuing Desktop entirely. But based on the tech industry’s growing emphasis on cloud storage over local storage, it’s hard to imagine that downloadable programs like QuickBooks Desktop will still be relevant a decade down the road. In contrast, QuickBooks Desktop’s interface was built with accountants in mind.