TL;DR
QuickBooks wins for US founders needing payroll and tax features. Xero is best for UK/EU and multi-currency. Wave is free and sufficient for solo founders under $50K revenue.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | QuickBooks | Xero | Wave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $30-90/mo | $15-78/mo | Free |
| Best region | US | UK/EU/Global | US/Canada |
| Payroll | Built-in | Add-on | No |
| Invoicing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bank feeds | Excellent | Excellent | Good |
| MTD (UK) | Yes | Yes | No |
1. QuickBooks Online
Intuit's flagship product dominates the US market. Best-in-class payroll integration, tax reporting, and accountant ecosystem. 750+ app integrations. Choose if you're US-based and plan to hire employees.
2. Xero
New Zealand-born, globally loved. Beautiful interface, unlimited users on all plans, and strong multi-currency support. The UK founder's default choice with full Making Tax Digital compliance.
3. Wave
The only free accounting software worth using. Invoicing, receipt scanning, and basic reports at zero cost. Revenue from payment processing. Perfect for pre-revenue and early-stage solo founders.
How We Chose These Tools
We compared features, pricing, regional compliance, integrations, and real founder experiences across all three platforms.
Key Takeaways
- US solo founder, pre-revenue: Wave.
- US founder with employees: QuickBooks.
- UK/EU founder: Xero.