Kick vs Pilot (2026): which should you pick?

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

Pick Pilot if

• Fits if you're a small company that wants someone else to do the books and file the tax
• Makes sense if you run on Stripe, Shopify or Mercury

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if your spending grows: Core rises with monthly expenses, $499 a month at $30,000
• Not for you if you want to keep your own books, as it's a service
• Skip it if you want accrual books on the cheapest plan, as Essentials is cash-basis
• Watch out: tax filing starts at $1,000 or more a year for a single-member LLC and must be bought with bookkeeping
• Watch out: companies above $200,000 a month in expenses get a custom plan

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.

Pilot

• It is a service, not self-serve software: you hand the books to Pilot instead of keeping them yourself.
• Tax filing starts at $1,000+ a year for a single-member LLC and must be bought with Pilot bookkeeping.
• Core pricing climbs with monthly expenses, and companies above $200,000 a month get a custom plan.
• The pricing page does not say how long the free trial offered in the site header lasts.

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.

Pilot

AI-assisted bookkeeping

Transactions from bank and credit card feeds are categorized by AI, reconciled and closed each month; Core adds a human bookkeeper.

Tax filing

Federal and state returns for LLCs, partnerships, S-corps and C-corps, sold as a yearly service on top of Pilot bookkeeping.

CFO services

Monthly, bi-weekly or weekly calls with a finance lead, plus a budget and forecast model, from $1,750 a month on the Basic tier.

Reports and dashboards

Financial reports delivered on the 10th business day on Core, or the 6th on Custom, with dashboards and AI answers about past transactions.

Operations services

Bill payments, invoicing and payroll work can be added, priced from an estimate based on monthly volume.

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.

Pilot

• Essentials$99

  per month, for up to $100,000 in monthly expenses

  Cash-basis books from bank and card data, monthly close, year-end package for your tax preparer and in-app support.

• Core$299

  per month, up to $15,000 expenses, billed annually ($399 monthly)

  Adds a US-based bookkeeper, accrual or cash basis and a custom chart of accounts. Price rises with expenses: $499 a month at $30,000.

• CustomCustom

  For larger or more complex companies: existing QuickBooks file, AR, AP, payroll administration and CFO advisory. Sold through sales.

Kick

No public discounts listed.

Pilot

• Other savings

  Discount on Core for pre-revenue startups

  Pilot says startups that are still pre-revenue can contact it for a discount on the Core plan.