QuickBooks Online vs Square Invoices
We give QuickBooks Online a 2.4 GPA and Square Invoices a 2.8, out of 4.0. QuickBooks Online grades higher on value for money and features. Square Invoices grades higher on the free plan 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
Square Invoices
Free invoicing, estimates and contracts inside Square's payment plans
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAQuickBooks OnlineFair | 2.8GPASquare InvoicesGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | DPlus is $49 a location a month, where the dearest tenth of accounting tools starts. For invoicing it mostly buys a lower card fee, 2.9% instead of 3.3%, plus batch invoices and payment schedules. That fee cut only pays for itself past about $12,000 a month in card payments. |
| 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. | AUnlimited invoices, recurring invoices, deposits, reminders, estimates and contracts cost nothing a month, with no cap. You pay per payment instead: 3.3% + 30¢ on an online card, and 1% on a bank transfer. |
| 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. | CInvoices on any schedule, deposits, auto-pay, estimates, e-signed contracts, a project workspace and cards, Cash App Pay, ACH or Afterpay. It does invoicing fully, but that's the smaller job: it keeps no books and takes one currency only. |
| 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. | A4.8 from 93,229 App Store ratings, the top band in this category. If you already take payments with Square, invoices sit in the same account. |
| 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, Afterpay, Cash App Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay. There's no desktop app, which keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | US businesses that share the books with an accountant | free invoicing for businesses already on Square |
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 Square Invoices. 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. Square Invoices starts at $49 a month and scores 3.0.
Square Invoices scores higher, and starts $11 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 3 score higher than Square Invoices 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. Square Invoices starts at $49 per location / month, billed monthly.
- QuickBooks Online also covers bookkeeping, expense tracking and payroll.
At a glance
| QuickBooks Online | Square Invoices | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $38 per month, billed monthly | $49 per location / month, 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. | Square Free: unlimited invoices, recurring invoices, deposits, reminders, estimates, contracts and projects. Online card payments cost 3.3% + 30¢. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial on paid plans, taken instead of the 3-month discount | 30-day free trial of Square Plus or Square Premium |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Intuit Inc. | Block, Inc. |
| Price read from | quickbooks.intuit.com | squareup.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 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
Square Invoices
- Service businesses that want to send invoices without a monthly fee
- Businesses already taking in-person payments with Square
- Contractors who send estimates and contracts before billing
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.
Square Invoices
- Invoices come with Square's general plans, which also cover point of sale and bookings; Plus and Premium are charged per location.
- Each payment has a fee: invoice card payments are 3.3% + 30¢ on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus or Premium, ACH 1% ($1 minimum).
- It does not keep books: Square sends payments to QuickBooks Online or Xero, and it accepts one currency only.
- Square Payroll is a separate product, from $35 a month plus $6 per person paid.
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.
Square Invoices
- Invoices and recurring billing
- Send unlimited invoices by email, text or link, on daily to yearly schedules, with deposits, automatic reminders and auto-pay from a saved card.
- Ways to pay
- Customers pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App Pay, ACH bank transfer or Afterpay, online or in person.
- Estimates and contracts
- Send estimates and e-signature contracts built from reusable templates. Plus adds multi-package estimates and automatic conversion to invoices.
- Project workspace
- Keep each job's invoices, estimates, contracts and notes in one place and track what is paid, unpaid or overdue.
- Payment schedules and batch invoices
- Square Plus splits one invoice into milestone payments and sends one invoice to many customers at once.
- Fast access to funds
- Transfers to your bank arrive the next business day for free, or instantly for a fee, or land at once in a Square Checking account.
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.
Square Invoices
Square Free$0
Unlimited and recurring invoices, deposits, reminders, estimates, contracts with e-signature and a project workspace. You pay only processing fees.
Square Plus$49
per location / month, billed monthly
Adds batch invoices, milestone payment schedules, custom templates and fields, multi-package estimates, lower online card fees and a $10 ACH fee cap.
Square Premium$149
per location / month, billed monthly
Everything in Plus, with the lowest in-person card fees and 24/7 phone support.
Square ProCustom
For businesses processing over $250,000 a year: custom pricing and processing fees, onboarding help and account management.
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.
Square Invoices
No public discounts listed.
