Akaunting vs Zoho Books
We give Akaunting a 2.2 GPA and Zoho Books a 3.4, out of 4.0. Zoho Books grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Akaunting
Open-source accounting you can host yourself or use in the cloud
Zoho Books
Online accounting from Zoho, with a free plan and six paid tiers
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAkauntingFair | 3.4GPAZoho BooksVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe cheap prices leave out the main bits. Self-hosting is free or $72 a year and Standard Cloud is $8 a month, but double-entry and bank feeds start on Premium Cloud at $24 a month yearly, about this category's middle. | BStandard is $15 a month billed yearly ($20 monthly) for the whole business with 3 users, right at the cheaper quarter of this category. It already has bank feeds, sales tax, 1099 e-filing and API access. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe open-source edition is free, but you run it on your own server, and it's 1 company, 1 user plus an accountant and 1,000 invoices, with no double-entry reports or bank feeds. Cloud plans have a trial of unstated length. | BFree for businesses under $50K revenue a year: 1 user plus an accountant, 1,000 invoices a year, bank reconciliation, 1099s and 50+ reports. One person could live on it, though automatic bank feeds need Standard. |
| Features | CInvoices, bills, sales tax, currencies and reports in the core, with double-entry, bank feeds, payroll, inventory and projects as apps. The listing's own notes say the free and cheapest plans go without the ledger and bank feeds. | BInvoices, bills, bank feeds, sales tax, 1099s, projects, multiple currencies, inventory up to warehouses and batch tracking, budgets, custom modules and AI that answers questions about the books. That covers the whole job. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You either sign up for the cloud version or set up your own server, then choose which apps to add before the books are complete. That's a learning curve. | A4.81 from 5,247 App Store ratings, the top band for accounting apps. Receipt autoscans work on every plan, the free one included, which saves typing. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with no phone or desktop app. What lifts it is the connections: Shopify, Stripe and Google, plus bank feeds in the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. | AWeb, Windows, iPhone and Android, with an API from Standard up and links to Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Etsy and the rest of Zoho. That's the full spread. |
| Best for | open-source books you can host yourself | a real free plan with room to grow |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Akaunting and Zoho Books. How we grade
Price against what you get
Akaunting starts at $6 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zoho Books starts at $15 a month and scores 3.7.
Zoho Books scores higher, and starts $9 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 2 score higher than Akaunting for less, and none scores higher than Zoho Books for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Akaunting starts at $72 per year, self-hosted. Zoho Books starts at $15 per organization / month, billed annually.
- Only Zoho Books lists Windows, iOS and Android apps.
- Akaunting is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Akaunting | Zoho Books | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $72 per year, self-hosted | $15 per organization / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | Standard On-Premise: the free, open-source edition you host yourself, for 1 company, 1 user plus 1 accountant and 1,000 invoices, with forum support. Apps cost extra. | Free plan for businesses with under $50K revenue a year: 1 user plus 1 accountant, invoices, quotes, expenses, bank reconciliation, 1099s and 50+ reports, with email support. |
| Free trial | Free trial of each cloud plan; the length is not stated | 14-day free trial of the paid plans |
| Web | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Akaunting | Zoho |
| Price read from | akaunting.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Akaunting
- Businesses that want to own and host their accounting data
- Accountants managing books for many small companies
- Teams outside the US, with translations in 50+ languages
Zoho Books
- Very small businesses that want a free plan with real double-entry books
- Companies already using other Zoho apps
- Growing product businesses that will need inventory and warehouses later
Worth knowing
Akaunting
- The free self-hosted edition and Standard Cloud lack double-entry reports and bank feeds; those come from Premium Cloud or as paid apps.
- Self-hosted plans include no apps at all; Elite and Ultimate On-Premise cost $168 and $684 a year before any apps.
- Payroll, inventory, projects and estimates need Elite Cloud or separate app purchases on lower plans.
- The free self-hosted edition is supported only through the community forum; ticket support comes with the paid plans.
Zoho Books
- The free plan stays free only while revenue is under $50K a financial year, and paid add-ons other than autoscans cannot be added to it.
- Each plan caps users at 3, 5, 10, 10 or 15; more cost $3 per user a month, or $2.50 billed annually.
- Every plan caps invoices and bills a year: 1,000 on Free, 5,000 on Standard, 10,000 on Professional and 25,000 on Premium.
- These are US prices; Zoho lists separate editions for 18 countries plus a global one, including the UK, Canada, India and Australia.
Key features
Akaunting
- Invoices, bills and payments
- Unlimited customers, vendors and products, recurring payment reminders, sales tax calculation and multiple currencies on every plan.
- Double-entry accounting
- Chart of accounts, general ledger, balance sheet, trial balance and manual journals come with the Double-Entry app, included from Premium Cloud.
- Bank feeds
- Connect bank accounts in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Europe to import transactions; included from Premium Cloud.
- App store
- 50+ apps add payroll with payslips, inventory, projects, CRM, expense claims and more. Self-hosted plans include no apps, so each is bought.
- Multiple companies
- Run the books of several businesses from one account: 10 on Premium, 30 on Elite and unlimited on Ultimate.
- Self-hosting
- Install it on your own server with the source code available, and Akaunting says it collects none of your financial data.
Zoho Books
- Invoicing and online payments
- Quotes, invoices, recurring invoices, retention payments and automatic reminders, with a customer portal for paying online.
- Banking and reconciliation
- Reconcile accounts on every plan. Automatic bank feeds start on Standard, along with recurring expenses and period locking.
- US tax and 1099s
- Track sales and use tax, manage W-9s and 1099 contractors, and e-file 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC forms from Standard up.
- Projects and inventory
- Professional adds timesheets, project profitability and basic inventory. Elite adds warehouses, serial and batch tracking and shipping labels.
- Automation and customization
- Workflows, approvals and custom roles from Professional; custom modules, buttons and functions from Premium; Blueprints on Elite.
- AI in accounting
- Ask questions about the books in plain English, spot anomalies and automate collections, plus receipt autoscans on every plan.
Plans
Akaunting
Standard On-Premise$0
Free and open source, hosted on your own server. 1 company, 1 user plus 1 accountant, 1,000 invoices and forum support.
Premium On-Premise$72
per year, self-hosted
Hosted on your own server. 10 companies, 10 users, 10,000 invoices and ticket support. Apps are bought separately. $756 as a one-time lifetime license.
Standard Cloud$8
per month, billed yearly
$12 billed monthly. Hosted by Akaunting for 1 company, 1 user plus 1 accountant and 1,000 invoices, with 4 apps included.
Premium Cloud$24
per month, billed yearly
$36 billed monthly. 10 companies, 10 users and 10,000 invoices, adding double-entry, bank feeds, expense claims, roles and a client portal.
Elite Cloud$56
per month, billed yearly
$84 billed monthly. 30 companies, 30 users and 30,000 invoices, adding estimates, payroll, projects, inventory, CRM, receipt scanning, Shopify and Stripe.
Ultimate Cloud$145
per month, billed yearly
$218 billed monthly. Unlimited companies, users and invoices, and all 50+ apps, including budgeting, purchase orders, point of sale and 1099 tools.
Zoho Books
Free$0
Revenue under $50K a year. 1 user and 1 accountant, up to 1,000 invoices a year, recurring invoices, payment reminders and 1099 filing.
Standard$15
per organization / month, billed annually
$20 billed monthly. 3 users, bank feeds, sales and use tax, 1099 e-filing, custom reports, API access and 5,000 invoices a year.
Professional$40
per organization / month, billed annually
$50 billed monthly. 5 users, sales and purchase orders, multiple currencies, timesheets, project profitability, retainers and inventory.
Premium$60
per organization / month, billed annually
$70 billed monthly. 10 users, fixed assets, budgets, cash flow forecasting, a vendor portal and custom modules.
Elite$120
per organization / month, billed annually
$150 billed monthly. 10 users, advanced inventory with warehouses and batch tracking, Etsy, eBay and Amazon channels, and up to 2 Shopify stores.
Ultimate$240
per organization / month, billed annually
$275 billed monthly. 15 users and built-in business intelligence with 50+ prebuilt visualizations, KPI tracking and embeddable reports.
Ways to pay less
Akaunting
- Annual discount
4 months free with yearly cloud billing
Yearly billing brings Standard Cloud from $12 to $8 a month, Premium from $36 to $24, Elite from $84 to $56 and Ultimate from $218 to $145.
- Lifetime license
Lifetime licenses for the self-hosted plans
Pay once instead of yearly: $756 for Premium On-Premise, $1,764 for Elite and $7,224 for Ultimate.
Zoho Books
- Annual discount
Save up to 25% with yearly billing
Yearly billing cuts Standard from $20 to $15 a month, Professional from $50 to $40, Premium from $70 to $60, Elite from $150 to $120 and Ultimate from $275 to $240.
