QuickBooks Online vs Shoeboxed
We give QuickBooks Online a 2.4 GPA and Shoeboxed a 2.0, out of 4.0. QuickBooks Online grades higher on the free plan and features. Shoeboxed grades higher on value for money and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
QuickBooks Online
Cloud accounting from Intuit, from a free plan to 25-user Advanced
Shoeboxed
Receipt scanning by app or mail-in envelope, with mileage tracking
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAQuickBooks OnlineFair | 2.0GPAShoeboxedFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CSimple Start is $38 a month for 1 user, above the dearer quarter of accounting tools at $31.10 but short of the dearest tenth at $49. Three users is $85, and inventory and budgets need Plus at $140. The 50% off lasts only 3 months. | BGraded against its own alternatives, since it captures receipts rather than keeping books. Starter is $8.08 a month billed yearly ($9 monthly) for up to 3 users, a third of Dext's $25.21. But that's 50 digital scans and no QuickBooks or Xero sync, which needs Pro at $24.75. |
| Free plan and trial | CThere's a free plan, but it's 2 invoices a month, 3 reports and 1 bank account, with no accountant access or mobile app. You'll hit that fast. Paid plans have a 30-day trial instead of the discount. | FNothing free. There's no free plan or trial, and the card is charged at sign-up. The 30-day money-back guarantee isn't a trial, and it ends once a Magic Envelope has been shipped. |
| Features | BBank feeds that learn your categories, invoices and payments, bill pay by ACH, reports, budgets, project profit, inventory, classes, AI that reconciles and flags oddities, and payroll as an add-on. That's the whole job. | DNext to its alternatives it does one slice of the job, and does it fully: receipts by app, email, upload or mailed envelope, checked by staff and sorted into tax categories, plus GPS mileage. But it keeps no books, so you'll still want accounting software. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Its bank feeds learn how you categorize and copy you, which helps, but there are accounts to connect and reports to learn before it runs itself. | B4.52 from 1,821 App Store ratings. Snap a receipt, or stuff the paper ones in an envelope and post it, and staff check what was read. There's not much to learn. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with PayPal, Square, Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Gusto and QuickBooks Time. No desktop app is listed, and the free plan gets no mobile app or third-party apps. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with QuickBooks Online, Xero, Gmail, Wave, Evernote and Dropbox, though the QuickBooks, Xero and Gmail links need Pro. There's no desktop app, which keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | US businesses that share the books with an accountant | posting off paper receipts instead of scanning them |
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: QuickBooks Online and Shoeboxed. How we grade
Price against what you get
QuickBooks Online starts at $38 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Shoeboxed starts at $8.08 a month and scores 2.3.
QuickBooks Online scores higher, and starts $29.92 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 QuickBooks Online for less, and 2 score higher than Shoeboxed 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
- QuickBooks Online starts at $38 per month, billed monthly. Shoeboxed starts at $8.08 per month, billed annually at $97 ($9 billed monthly).
- QuickBooks Online has a free plan. Shoeboxed does not.
- QuickBooks Online also covers invoicing and payroll.
At a glance
| QuickBooks Online | Shoeboxed | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $38 per month, billed monthly | $8.08 per month, billed annually at $97 ($9 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 1 user, income and expense tracking, 2 invoices a month, 3 reports and 1 connected bank. No accountant access, mobile app or third-party apps. | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial on paid plans, taken instead of the 3-month discount | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Intuit Inc. | Shoeboxed, Inc. |
| Price read from | quickbooks.intuit.com | shoeboxed.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
QuickBooks Online
- US small businesses that want their accountant working in the same books
- Businesses that expect to add payroll, inventory or project tracking later
- Sole traders who only need to track income and send a few invoices
Shoeboxed
- Self-employed people who keep paper receipts and would rather mail them than scan them
- Freelancers and drivers who want mileage and receipts in one record for tax time
- Bookkeepers collecting paper receipts from small business clients
Worth knowing
QuickBooks Online
- The advertised prices are a 50% discount for the first 3 months; the plan then renews at $38, $85, $140 or $340 a month.
- Each plan caps users: 1 on Simple Start, 3 on Essentials, 5 on Plus and 25 on Advanced.
- Payroll costs extra: Workforce Payroll alone is $50 a month plus $7 per employee, and Premium is $88 plus $13 per employee.
- These are US prices and plans; Intuit runs separate country sites for Canada, the UK, Australia, India and others.
Shoeboxed
- There is no free plan or free trial: the card is charged at sign-up, with a 30-day money-back guarantee that ends once a Magic Envelope has been shipped.
- Scans past a plan's allowance cost extra, from $0.07 to $0.19 per digital scan and $0.77 to $2 per paper scan, and extra envelopes are $9 each.
- QuickBooks Online, Xero and Gmail sync need Pro or higher, and Starter keeps digital scans for 3 years rather than for as long as the account is active.
- It captures receipts and mileage but does not keep books; cancelling means calling the billing team rather than doing it in the account.
Key features
QuickBooks Online
- Bank feeds and automatic categorizing
- Connect bank and card accounts and QuickBooks learns how you categorize transactions, then matches and records new ones the same way.
- Invoices and online payments
- Send invoices and estimates, take card and bank payments through QuickBooks Payments, and get status updates and reminders.
- Bills and accounts payable
- Organize and pay bills by ACH from paid plans. Standard ACH payments beyond the monthly allotment cost $0.50 each.
- Reports, budgets and projects
- Profit and loss and sales reports on every paid plan. Budgets, project profitability, inventory and class tracking start on Plus.
- Intuit Intelligence
- AI tools that categorize expenses, reconcile books and flag anomalies, with more of them unlocked on Plus and Advanced.
- Payroll through QuickBooks Workforce
- A separate subscription that runs full-service payroll, files payroll taxes and e-files 1099s, added from the same checkout.
Shoeboxed
- Magic Envelope mail-in scanning
- Mail paper receipts and documents in a postage-paid envelope; staff in Durham scan and categorize them, then shred them or send them back, as you choose.
- Several ways to send receipts
- Snap receipts in the iOS and Android app, forward them to an account email address, drag them in from a computer, or import e-receipts with Gmail sync on Pro and up.
- Human-checked data extraction
- OCR pulls the vendor, total, date, sales tax and payment type, and Shoeboxed staff check the result before it lands in the account.
- Tax categories and expense reports
- Receipts are sorted into 15 standard tax categories or your own, and reports with the receipt images attached can be exported, shared or printed.
- Automatic mileage tracking
- The mobile app logs business trips by GPS in the background and sends a daily summary to confirm. It is included on every plan.
- Accounting software sync
- Pro and higher connect to QuickBooks Online and Xero; every plan exports CSV, and receipts can also go to Wave, Evernote and Dropbox.
Plans
QuickBooks Online
Free$0
1 user, 2 invoices a month, profit and loss, balance sheet and account quick report, and 1 connected bank account.
Simple Start$38
per month for 1 user, billed monthly
Advertised at $19 a month for the first 3 months. Automated bookkeeping, invoicing with online payments, bill pay and access for 2 accountants.
Essentials$85
per month for up to 3 users, billed monthly
Advertised at $42.50 a month for the first 3 months. Adds enhanced reports, employee time on invoices and web lead forms.
Plus$140
per month for up to 5 users, billed monthly
Advertised at $70 a month for the first 3 months. Adds budgets, project profitability, inventory and up to 40 classes and locations.
Advanced$340
per month for up to 25 users, billed monthly
Advertised at $170 a month for the first 3 months. Adds custom roles, workflow automation, Excel sync, batch invoices and priority support.
Shoeboxed
Starter$8.08
per month for up to 3 users, billed annually ($9 billed monthly)
50 digital scans a month, 20 paper scans a year, 1 Magic Envelope a year and 3 years of scan storage. Billed as $97 a year.
Pro$24.75
per month for up to 5 users, billed annually ($29 billed monthly)
250 digital and 50 paper scans a month, an envelope each quarter, Gmail receipt sync, QuickBooks Online and Xero, and phone support.
Plus$66.42
per month for up to 10 users, billed annually ($79 billed monthly)
1,000 digital and 150 paper scans a month, a Magic Envelope every month and priority support. Billed as $797 a year.
Paper Plus$166.42
per month for up to 10 users, billed annually ($179 billed monthly)
For heavy paper volume: 5,000 digital and 300 paper scans a month and 2 Magic Envelopes a month. Billed as $1,997 a year.
Ways to pay less
QuickBooks Online
- Other savings
50% off the first 3 months
New customers on a monthly plan pay half the base price for the first 3 months, then the regular price. It does not apply to per-employee fees.
Shoeboxed
- Annual discount
Save 11% to 19% with yearly billing
Starter is $97 a year against $9 a month, Pro $297 against $29 and Plus $797 against $79; the pricing page gives the saving as 11%, 17% and 19%.
