Bench vs Kashoo (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Kashoo grades higher than Bench: 2.2 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Bench grades higher on features. Kashoo grades higher on value for money, the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Bench
Bookkeeping done by an assigned bookkeeper, with optional tax filing
Kashoo
One-plan online accounting with unlimited users and bank feeds
Which one is for you
Pick Bench if
- Fits if you'd rather pay someone to do the monthly books than do them yourself
- Makes sense if you're a small US business that also wants tax filing from the same provider
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're a small outfit: $399 a month for the base plan and $649 with tax filing
- Skip it if you want a free plan or a trial, because there's neither
- Not for you if your business is outside the US
- Watch out: monthly tax pricing needs a 12-month commitment, and bigger QuickBooks plans start at $999 a month
- Watch out: Bench paused operations in December 2024 and resumed in January 2025 under Employer.com
Pick Kashoo if
- Fits if you want every feature on one plan at $30 a month
- Works for businesses where the accountant, bookkeeper and staff each need a login, as users are unlimited
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want payroll inside your books, as it comes through PaymentEvolution instead
- Pricey if you only send a few invoices a month, since there's no plan below $30
- Tight if you run several businesses: each needs its own subscription, and past 5 you have to ask for a quote
- Watch out: Kashoo now promotes its newer TrulySmall Accounting, and its help center calls this one Kashoo Classic
- Watch out: a card is needed once the 14-day trial ends, and there's no free plan or desktop app
How we grade them
| 1.6GPABenchWeak | 2.2GPAKashooFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$199 a month for Light and $399 for the base plan, against $26 in the middle for this category. A person does the work, but that's still the dearest tenth. | C$30 a month for the business, or $324 a year, just under the dearer quarter of accounting tools at $31.10. Everything is on that one plan, users included, so there's no upsell. There's no cheaper plan for a quiet month either, and each business pays separately. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial on the pricing page. The 20% discount only comes with paying for 12 months at once. | CA 14-day free trial with no card needed. After that a card is needed to carry on, and there's no free plan, though an unpaid account is kept for 90 days. |
| Features | BMonthly books, year-end financials, tax filing, catch-up work and a QuickBooks Online option from one provider. The listing shows no gap in the bookkeeping job. | CInvoices with online payments, expenses and bills, sales tax, bank feeds from 5,000+ banks, projects, inventory items, several currencies and a double-entry ledger. The gap is on the listing: payroll isn't built in and comes through PaymentEvolution. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It's a service, so you hand over account access and answer your bookkeeper's questions instead of learning software. | CNo store rating on record. Bank feeds bring the transactions in for you, but it's still a double-entry ledger, with banks to connect and categories to learn before it runs itself. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, for US businesses only. It reads your accounts, and works inside QuickBooks Online on the QBO plans. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with bank feeds through Plaid, payments through Stripe and Square, and payroll through PaymentEvolution. There's no desktop app, which keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | hands-off monthly bookkeeping for US businesses | one flat-priced plan with every feature in it |
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: Bench and Kashoo. How we grade
Price against what you get
Bench starts at $199 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Kashoo starts at $30 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Kashoo starts $169 a month lower. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 16 score higher than Bench for less, and 12 score higher than Kashoo 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
- Kashoo also covers invoicing and expense tracking.
At a glance
| Bench | Kashoo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free trial |
| Starts at | $199 per month, billed monthly (Bookkeeping Light) | $30 per business / month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Bench Accounting | Kashoo |
| Price read from | bench.co | kashoo.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Bench
- Bench serves U.S.-based businesses; it is a service with a monthly fee, not software you run yourself.
- The base Bookkeeping plan is $399 a month, and Complexity 3 QuickBooks plans start at $999 a month.
- Monthly tax pricing needs a 12-month commitment bought at least 3 months before the filing deadline.
- Bench paused operations in December 2024 and resumed in January 2025 under Employer.com.
Kashoo
- Each business needs its own subscription; for more than 5 businesses Kashoo quotes a package by phone, email or chat.
- Payroll is not built in: Kashoo connects to PaymentEvolution for it.
- The maker now promotes TrulySmall Accounting, $20 a month, as its newer automated product; Kashoo's help center calls this one Kashoo Classic.
- When the trial ends a card is needed to continue; an unpaid account is kept for another 90 days.
Key features
Bench
- Assigned bookkeeper
- Each business is matched with a bookkeeper who reconciles accounts transaction by transaction and can be reached by phone, message or video call.
- Monthly books and year-end financials
- Plans deliver up-to-date monthly books and year-end tax-ready financial statements, with reviews by multiple bookkeepers each month.
- Business tax filing
- The tax plans add filing of business income tax returns by licensed tax professionals, with up to four advisory calls a year.
- Catch-up bookkeeping
- Past months that were never reconciled can be cleaned up; the page says catch-up for the current year is free with an annual plan.
- Work inside QuickBooks Online
- A separate QBO plan has Bench's bookkeepers work in your existing QuickBooks account instead of Bench's own software.
- Read-only account access
- Bench says it connects to financial accounts with read-only access to import transactions for bookkeeping.
Kashoo
- Bank feeds
- Connects to more than 5,000 banks and credit unions through Plaid and imports transactions automatically.
- Invoices and online payments
- Unlimited invoices, with customers paying straight from the invoice once a Stripe account is set up. Square sales can be brought in too.
- Expenses, bills and sales tax
- Track expenses and bills, attach unlimited receipts and documents, and track sales tax on a double-entry ledger.
- Projects, items and currencies
- Track projects and inventory items, and record transactions in more than one currency, all on the one plan.
- Unlimited users
- Add your accountant, bookkeeper and staff at no extra cost, each with their own access level.
- Mobile app
- The iOS and Android app sends invoices, shows customer balances and reports, and turns receipt photos into expenses.
Plans
Bench
Bookkeeping Light$199
per month, billed monthly
Monthly books for micro businesses with $250K a year or less in revenue; 20% off with annual payment.
Bookkeeping$399
per month, billed monthly
Monthly books, year-end tax-ready financials and unlimited contact with your bookkeeper; $3,830 a year if paid annually.
Bookkeeping + Tax$649
per month, billed monthly
Bookkeeping plus business income tax filing and up to four tax advisory calls a year; $6,230 a year if paid annually.
Full-service tax$300
per month, 12-month commitment
Tax filing and year-round advisory without bookkeeping; $2,880 a year if paid annually.
QBO Bookkeeping: Complexity 1$399
per month, billed monthly
Cash-basis books kept inside your own QuickBooks Online, up to 500 transactions a month.
QBO Bookkeeping: Complexity 2$699
per month, billed monthly
Cash or accrual books in your QuickBooks Online, up to 2,000 transactions a month.
Kashoo
Kashoo$30
per business / month, billed monthly
Every feature: unlimited invoices and users, bank feeds, sales tax, projects, inventory items, multi-currency and two-factor sign-in.
Ways to pay less
Bench
- Annual discount
Save 20% on a 12-month plan
Bench's pricing page lists 20% off its bookkeeping, tax and QuickBooks plans when you pay for 12 months at once.
Kashoo
- Annual discount
Pay $324 a year with annual billing
Annual billing costs $324 a year, 10% less than twelve monthly payments of $30.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Bench or Kashoo?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Kashoo is cheaper to start with: $30 a month, against $199 a month for Bench. Bench starts at $199 per month, billed monthly (Bookkeeping Light), and Kashoo starts at $30 per business / month, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Bench or Kashoo?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Bench nor Kashoo has a free plan. Kashoo has a free trial.
Which platforms do Bench and Kashoo run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Kashoo lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.