Botkeeper vs Karbon (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Karbon grades higher than Botkeeper: 1.6 against 1.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Karbon grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Botkeeper
Automated bookkeeping platform sold to accounting firms
Which one is for you
Pick Botkeeper if
- Fits if you run an accounting firm with 10 or more clients to keep books for
- Works for firms that want categorization and reconciliation done by software
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you're a business keeping your own books, as it's sold to accounting firms
- Pricey if you have only a few clients: $134 a license for 1 to 4, $98 for 5 to 9
- Skip it if you want to try before paying, because there's no free trial
- Watch out: licenses are software only, and extra services and support upgrades cost more
Pick Karbon if
- Fits if you run an accounting firm and want shared client email and workflow in one place
- Makes sense if your firm already works in Gmail and Google Calendar
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want software for your own books, as it's built for firms
- Skip it if you want to try it yourself first, because there's no self-serve trial
- Pricey if you want automation: reminders and task automation need Business at $89 a user
- Watch out: monthly billing is open only to teams of 4 or more users
How we grade them
| 1.4GPABotkeeperWeak | 1.6GPAKarbonWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$134 a license a month for 1 to 4 licenses on annual billing, one license per client. That's about five times the $26 middle; the $53 rate needs 25 or more clients. | D$59 a user a month billed yearly for Team and $89 for Business, where the automation is. That's past the $52 where the dearer quarter starts, and Business is above $75. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial. Monthly billing can be cancelled, but an annual plan commits you for the full year. | FNo free plan, and the pricing page says self-serve free trials aren't offered, so access starts with a demo request. |
| Features | CCategorization, bank reconciliation, journal entries and a close tracker. The licenses are software only, and extra services are bought separately. | CShared email, workflow templates, a client portal, time, budgets and billing. It runs a firm and doesn't keep a business's books, and automation isn't on Team. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. A firm has to onboard every client entity as its own license. | CNo store rating on record. You set up templates and client requests, and access starts with a demo. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, and no integrations are listed on the pages we read. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Ignition and QuickBooks Online Accountant, plus an API. |
| Best for | accounting firms automating client bookkeeping | practice management for accounting firms |
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: Botkeeper and Karbon. How we grade
Price against what you get
Botkeeper starts at $53 a month for each person and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Karbon starts at $59 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Karbon scores higher, and starts $6 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 69 score higher than Botkeeper for less, and 28 score higher than Karbon 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
- Botkeeper also covers reports and bookkeeping.
- Karbon also covers tasks, shared inbox, time tracking and invoicing.
At a glance
| Botkeeper | Karbon | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $53 per license / month at 25+ licenses, billed annually ($59 billed monthly) | $59 per user / month, billed yearly ($79 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Botkeeper | Karbon |
| Price read from | botkeeper.com | karbonhq.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Botkeeper
- It is sold to accounting firms, with one license per client entity, not to a business keeping its own books.
- The listed licenses are software only: the firm manages and administers the work, and extra services are bought separately.
- There is no free trial; monthly billing can be cancelled anytime, while an annual plan commits for the full year.
- Support is tiered, and the licenses include standard support with paid upgrades.
Karbon
- It is a tool for running a firm, not general ledger software for a business's own books.
- The pricing page says self-serve free trials are not offered; access starts with a demo request.
- Monthly billing is open only to teams of 4 or more users.
- Automatic client reminders, task automation and industry integrations are not on the Team plan.
Key features
Botkeeper
- Transaction categorization
- Machine learning categorizes transactions and posts to the ledger only when confidence is high; lower-confidence items go to a review queue.
- Automated bank reconciliation
- Fetches statements, reconciles accounts and flags exceptions so the preparer reviews only what does not match.
- Journal entry automation
- Drafts journal entries and runs an end-of-month review with anomaly detection to support a faster close.
- Firm dashboard and close tracker
- Firm Insights and Close Tracker show automation performance and close status across all clients or for a single client.
- Client collaboration tools
- An Activity Hub, task and workflow tools, document storage and a password manager keep client requests in one place.
Karbon
- Shared email triage
- Team members can share, assign and comment on client emails, with comments and @mentions on emails, tasks and notes.
- Workflow templates
- Work is created from templates with statuses and types. Limits rise by plan: 35, 50 or unlimited statuses and 40, 75 or unlimited templates.
- Client requests and portal
- Clients get requests, file uploads and comments through a portal. Automatic client reminders need the Business plan.
- Time, budgets and billing
- Track time against budgets, then bill and collect payment from inside the same workflow.
- Integrations and API
- Connects with Gmail, Google Drive, Ignition and QuickBooks Online Accountant, and has a public API for contacts, work items and timesheets.
Plans
Botkeeper
1 - 4 Licenses$134
per license / month, billed annually ($149 billed monthly)
Software-only entity licenses for firms with a few clients; one license covers one client.
5 - 9 Licenses$98
per license / month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly)
Same features as every tier at a lower per-license rate.
10 - 24 Licenses$71
per license / month, billed annually ($79 billed monthly)
The tier the pricing page marks as most popular.
25+ Licenses$53
per license / month, billed annually ($59 billed monthly)
Lowest per-license rate, for firms that onboard 25 or more client entities.
Karbon
Team$59
per user / month, billed yearly ($79 billed monthly)
Integrated email, workflow and to-do lists, time tracking and budgets, billing, payments and engagements. Monthly billing needs 4+ users.
Business$89
per user / month, billed yearly ($99 billed monthly)
Team features plus automatic client reminders, task automation and industry integrations. Monthly billing needs 4+ users.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds an enterprise platform, a dedicated Karbon contact, customization and unlimited usage limits.
Ways to pay less
Botkeeper
- Annual discount
Save 10% with annual billing
The pricing page shows annual billing at 10% below the monthly per-license rate and gives volume tiers up to 25+ licenses.
Karbon
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Botkeeper or Karbon?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Botkeeper is cheaper to start with: $53 a month for each person, against $59 a month for each person for Karbon. Botkeeper starts at $53 per license / month at 25+ licenses, billed annually ($59 billed monthly), and Karbon starts at $59 per user / month, billed yearly ($79 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Botkeeper or Karbon?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Botkeeper nor Karbon has a free plan.
Which platforms do Botkeeper and Karbon run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Karbon 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.