Pilot review (2026): is it worth $99 a month?
Done-for-you bookkeeping, tax and CFO services for small companies
Black Friday: is there a Pilot sale?
Pilot report card
Weak · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for done-for-you bookkeeping for small companies
Pilot is a done-for-you bookkeeping, tax and CFO service, from $99 a month for cash-basis books on up to $100,000 of monthly expenses. Core, with a US-based bookkeeper and accrual books, is $299 and rises with spending, tax filing starts at $1,000 a year and must be bought with bookkeeping, and you hand over your books.
Who Pilot is for
- 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
Who Pilot is not for
- 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
Why Pilot gets a 1.8
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- DValue for money$99 a month for Essentials and $299 for Core on annual billing ($399 monthly), against $26 in the middle. It's a service, but that's still the dearest tenth.
- DFree plan and trialThe site header mentions a free trial, but the pricing page doesn't say how long it lasts or what it covers. No free plan.
- CFeaturesAI-assisted bookkeeping, tax filing, CFO services and reports. Essentials is cash-basis only, accrual needs Core, and tax has to be bought with bookkeeping.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. You hand over bank and card data and the work is done for you.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, with Bill.com, Stripe, Shopify, Mercury, Chargebee, Recurly, Melio and Airtable.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Pilot's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/pilot#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/pilot.svg" alt="Pilot: 1.8 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Pilot stands among accounting and invoicing tools
Pilot's GPA of 1.8 is higher than 7 of the 65 other accounting and invoicing tools we grade, and level with 3.
It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 13 of 65) and worst on value for money (D, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $99 a month, against a middle price of $18.09 for the category: 52 of the 54 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 16 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 66 accounting and invoicing tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Pilot’s own letter is outlined.
- DValue for moneyAbove 0 of 65, level with 12
- DFree plan and trialAbove 11 of 65, level with 3
- CFeaturesAbove 4 of 65, level with 46
- CEase of useAbove 1 of 65, level with 56
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 13 of 65, level with 46
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 58 accounting and invoicing tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Pilot, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Pilot you would be making live feeds from your bank, which take an agreement with each bank or a service that has them. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 55 of the 65 other accounting and invoicing tools grade higher. It costs $1,188 a year.
What you could make
- Reports: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- Live feeds from your bank, which take an agreement with each bank or a service that has them.
- Connections that pull numbers from dozens of other services.
- It plugs into other products, Bill.com, Stripe and Shopify among them.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
What this rests on. Pilot’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Pilot?
Pilot is a bookkeeping service rather than software you run yourself. It combines AI categorization with human bookkeepers who keep a company's books, and it sells tax filing and part-time CFO advice as separate services. Plans are priced by the company's monthly expenses.
Worth knowing
- 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.
Key features
- 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.
Pilot pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, Pilot is a paid product, starting at $99 per month for up to $100,000 in monthly expenses.
- Starts at
- $99 per month for up to $100,000 in monthly expenses
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $99per 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 | $299per 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. |
| Custom | Custom | For larger or more complex companies: existing QuickBooks file, AR, AP, payroll administration and CFO advisory. Sold through sales. |
Read from pilot.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Pilot before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Other savingsDiscount on Core for pre-revenue startups
Pilot says startups that are still pre-revenue can contact it for a discount on the Core plan.
Stated on pilot.com
Works with
Pilot alternatives
- Pilot vs Bench
From $199/mo
- Pilot vs QuickBooks Online
Free plan · from $38/mo
- Pilot vs Puzzle
Free trial · from $25/mo
- Pilot vs Found
Free plan · from $35/mo
- Pilot vs Xero
Free trial · from $27/mo
Common questions
Does Pilot have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Pilot is listed for Web.
Does Pilot have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Pilot is listed for Web.
Is Pilot open source?
Pilot is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.