Indy vs Zoho Books (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Zoho Books: it is first in our ranking of accounting and invoicing tools, and it grades higher too, 3.4 against 2.6.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Zoho Books grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Indy
French bookkeeping and tax filing for freelancers and small firms
Zoho Books
Online accounting from Zoho, with a free plan and six paid tiers
Which one is for you
Pick Indy if
- Fits if you are a French freelancer or micro-entrepreneur who wants invoices and books in one place
- Works for people who want to start on a free plan and move up when they need filings
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you work outside France, as the product and pages are built around French tax forms
- Skip it if you do not read French, because the pages we read are French only
- Too light for tax filings on Essentiel, since filings and the tax guarantee start at Autonomie
- Watch out: prices exclude VAT and depend on your legal form, and the lower figure needs annual billing
- Watch out: chat support starts at Plus
Pick Zoho Books if
- Fits if your business turns over less than $50K a year and you want to pay $0
- Works for businesses already running other Zoho apps
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if your team grows, since plans cap users at 3, 5, 10 or 15 and more cost $3 each a month
- Pricey if you need warehouses or Amazon and eBay channels, which start on Elite at $120 a month
- Not for you if you're past $50K revenue and hoping to stay free
- Tight if you bill a lot: invoices are capped at 1,000 a year on Free, 5,000 on Standard and 25,000 on Premium
- Watch out: automatic bank feeds need Standard, and the free plan can't take paid add-ons other than autoscans
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAIndyGood | 3.4GPAZoho BooksVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPlus is €9 a month excluding VAT on annual billing, a little under where the cheaper quarter of accounting tools starts at $14. The plans that file your taxes start at €15. | 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 | BEssentiel is €0 with e-invoicing, automated bookkeeping, unlimited quotes and invoices and a business account. Support there is email only. | 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 | CBank sync, quotes, invoices and receipts are covered, but tax filings start at Autonomie and certified accounts at Sérénité. It is built around French tax forms. | 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 connect your bank and set up your activity before it does the books. | 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, iOS and Android; no integrations on record. | 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 | a French freelancer doing books and tax filing | a free plan for businesses under $50K a year |
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: Indy and Zoho Books. How we grade
Price against what you get
Indy starts at about $10.05 a month 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 $4.95 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 5 score higher than Indy 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
- Zoho Books also covers reports.
At a glance
| Indy | Zoho Books | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | €9 per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€12 billed monthly) | $15 per organization / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | Essentiel is €0: e-invoicing, automated bookkeeping, unlimited quotes and invoices and a business account with IBAN and card, with support by email. | 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 | None listed | 14-day free trial of the paid plans |
| Web | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Indy | Zoho |
| Price read from | indy.fr | zoho.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Indy
- Aimed at French businesses and French tax forms; the pages read are in French only.
- Prices are excl. VAT and depend on the legal form; the cheaper figure assumes annual billing.
- The Essentiel plan has email support only; chat support starts at Plus.
- Tax guarantee and filings such as the balance sheet start at Autonomie, and certified accounts need Sérénité.
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
Indy
- Bank sync and auto-categorization
- Transactions are pulled from bank accounts and sorted into accounting categories; the page says the AI classifies more than 90% of them.
- Quotes and e-invoices
- Unlimited quotes and invoices with a layout editor. The page says Indy is a registered approved e-invoicing platform (Plateforme Agréée) with the French tax authority.
- Tax filings
- Depending on the plan and legal form: VAT, URSSAF, CFE, 2035, 2065 and 2033 returns, sent electronically from the app.
- Receipts and expenses
- Photograph receipts or add PDFs and Indy attaches them to transactions; Plus certifies and stores them for tax inspections.
- Business account
- A business account with an IBAN and card is part of every plan, with 3 sub-accounts from Plus.
- Accountant-led plans
- On Sérénité a partner accountant checks transactions, handles filings and certifies the accounts.
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
Indy
Essentiel€0
Free for every legal form shown. Support by email only.
Plus€9
per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€12 billed monthly)
Adds recurring invoices, automatic payment reminders, quote e-signature and a business account with 3 sub-accounts, plus chat support.
Autonomie (micro-entreprise)€15
per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€19 billed monthly)
Automated URSSAF, VAT, CFE and DAS2 filings, filed electronically, with a receipts ledger and unlimited advice by chat and email.
Autonomie (sole proprietor)€22
per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€28 billed monthly)
Entreprise individuelle: VAT, 2035 return and electronic filing to the tax authorities. Sole proprietors taxed as a company (EI à l'IS) pay €49 (€588 a year or €59 monthly).
Autonomie (company)€49
per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€59 billed monthly)
For SAS, SASU, SARL and EURL: automated balance sheet, income statement, VAT and CFE, annual accounts filing, tax guarantee and unlimited specialist advice.
Sérénité€63
per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€81 billed monthly)
A partner accountant handles filings and certifies accounts. €63 is the SCI / LMNP rate; sole proprietors pay €71, companies €99 (€149 for Exclusivité).
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
Indy
- Annual discount
Annual billing is cheaper than monthly
Each paid plan lists a yearly price against a higher monthly one, for example Plus at €108 a year or €12 a month.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Indy or Zoho Books?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Indy is cheaper to start with: about $10.05 a month, against $15 a month for Zoho Books. Indy starts at €9 per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€12 billed monthly), and Zoho Books starts at $15 per organization / month, billed annually.
Which has a free plan, Indy or Zoho Books?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Indy and Zoho Books have a free plan.
Which platforms do Indy and Zoho Books run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Zoho Books lists a Windows app. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. 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.