Botkeeper vs Kick (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Kick grades higher than Botkeeper: 2.2 against 1.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Kick grades higher on value for money, the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on 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
Kick
AI bookkeeping ledger for businesses and 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 Kick if
- Fits if you are a new business with few transactions
- Works for sole proprietors who want the free P&L and balance sheet
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you pass 250 categorised transactions a year, the end of the free plan
- Pricey if you need an accrual ledger: Plus is $100 a month
- Skip it if you need consolidation, which is Advanced at $300 a month
- Watch out: the page shows one billing term per plan, so monthly Basic and Plus prices aren't listed
How we grade them
| 1.4GPABotkeeperWeak | 2.2GPAKickFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CBasic is $40 a month on yearly billing, at the edge of what the category's dearer quarter charges. Accrual and multi-entity sit on Plus at $100. |
| 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. | CA free plan with 250 categorised transactions a year. That cap is easy to reach, and the P&L and balance sheet come with it. |
| Features | CCategorization, bank reconciliation, journal entries and a close tracker. The licenses are software only, and extra services are bought separately. | CAI categorisation, reconciliation, statement sync, invoicing and bill pay. Multi-entity, classes and an accrual ledger are held back for Plus, so the core ledger work has a gap on cheaper plans. |
| 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, and you connect bank and card accounts first. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, and no integrations are listed on the pages we read. | BWeb only, with Stripe, PayPal, Mercury, Plaid, Ramp, Gusto, Claude and ChatGPT. |
| Best for | accounting firms automating client bookkeeping | a small business that wants AI to categorise transactions |
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 Kick. 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. Kick starts at $40 a month and scores 2.3.
Kick scores higher and starts $13 a month lower. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 69 score higher than Botkeeper for less, and 26 score higher than Kick 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
- Kick also covers invoicing and bill pay.
At a glance
| Botkeeper | Kick | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $53 per license / month at 25+ licenses, billed annually ($59 billed monthly) | $40 per month, billed annually ($480) |
| Free plan | None | Auto categorization limited to 250 transactions a year, receipt matching, profit and loss and balance sheet. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Botkeeper | Kick |
| Price read from | botkeeper.com | kick.co |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 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.
Kick
- The free plan stops at 250 categorized transactions a year.
- Multi-entity, classes and an accrual ledger need Plus, and consolidation needs Advanced.
- The page shows one billing term per plan, so monthly-billed prices for Basic and Plus are not listed.
- Firm pricing is separate and charged per client, with 10% off for 1 to 19 clients and 50% off for 20 or more.
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.
Kick
- AI categorization
- Categorizes transactions automatically and matches receipts. The free plan caps categorization at 250 transactions a year.
- Reconciliation and statement sync
- Reconciles accounts and syncs statements from Basic upward, with a universal importer for existing data.
- Multi-entity and consolidation
- Plus adds multi-entity and classes; Advanced adds consolidated reporting across entities and revenue recognition.
- Invoicing and bill pay
- The product menu includes invoicing and bill pay, with AR/AP automation listed from the Plus plan.
- Connections and AI assistants
- Connects to Stripe, PayPal, Mercury, Plaid, Ramp and Gusto, and works with ChatGPT, Claude and Cursor through MCP or the command line.
- Accountant tools
- Firms get a free firm account, per-client pricing, task and review workflows, and chart of accounts templates.
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.
Kick
Free$0
For new businesses and sole proprietors; 250 categorized transactions a year.
Basic$40
per month, billed annually ($480)
Unlimited categorization, reconciliation, statement sync, a universal importer and MCP/CLI access.
Plus$100
per month, billed quarterly ($300)
Adds multi-entity support, classes, AR/AP automation and an accrual ledger.
Advanced$300
per month, billed monthly
Adds consolidation and revenue recognition; prepaid and accrued and multi-book are in beta.
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.
Kick
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Botkeeper or Kick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Botkeeper starts at $53 per license / month at 25+ licenses, billed annually ($59 billed monthly), and Kick starts at $40 per month, billed annually ($480). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Botkeeper or Kick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Kick has a free plan. Botkeeper does not.
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.