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Quicken and QuickBooks are two popular financial management tools, each with a unique focus. QuickBooks is highly reputable for business finances, while Quicken can be great for managing personal businesses.
We’ll compare and examine these two tools’ key features, usability, pricing, integrations, scalability, and third-party reviews to help you determine which one is best for you.
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Quicken vs. QuickBooks Compared
The table below shows a complete and brief overview of how Quicken and QuickBooks compare.
| Quicken | QuickBooks | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $3.99/month, billed annually
(50% off for the first year) |
$30/month
(50% off for the first 3 months) |
| Free Plan | No, but a 30-day money-back guarantee | 30-day free trial |
| Number of Users | 1 user | From 1 user on the cheapest plan to up to 25 users plus 2 accountants on the most advanced plan |
| Inventory Management | No | Yes |
| Budgeting Tools | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Limited, only integrates with PayPal, Dropbox, and Zillow Zestimate | Over 750 apps, PayPal, Square, Etsy, Amazon, etc. |
| General HR | Tax report, bill reconciliation, bill tracking | Inventory management, cash flow, project profitability, tax preparation, mileage tracking, QuickBooks payroll |
| Customer Support | Live chat, community forum, phone, email | Live chat, email, phone, community forums |
Quicken vs. QuickBooks Pricing Compared
Knowing the cost of software can help you make better decisions. The table below summarizes the Quicken and QuickBooks pricing plans.
| Pricing Plans | Quicken | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Free Version | 30-day money-back guarantee | 30-day free trial |
| Tier 1 | Quicken Simplifi – $3.99/month, billed annually (50% off the first year) | Simple Start – $30/month (50% off for the first 3 months) |
| Tier 2 | Quicken Classic Deluxe – $5.99/monthly, billed annually (25% off the first year) | Essentials – $60/month (50% off for the first 3 months) |
| Tier 3 | Quicken Classic Premier- $7.99/monthly, billed annually (25% off the first year) | Plus – $90month (50% off for the first 3 months) |
| Tier 4 | Quicken Classic Business & Personal – $10.99/month, billed annually (9% off the first year) | Advanced – $200/month (50% off for the first 3 months) |
Quicken provides outstanding value for money and is ideal for both personal and home use. Its Simplifi, Classic Premiere, and Deluxe plans, which are geared for personal use, are exceptional and provide excellent value. It helps you to keep track of your business income and expenses, pay taxes, and create a budget.
Quicken’s Classic Business & Personal plan is an excellent choice for small business owners, rental property owners, and those who need to track business and personal transactions. It provides basic accounting services like taxation, invoicing, and property management documentation at a reasonable cost.
However, for companies that need comprehensive accounting functions, QuickBooks is the best choice. Its 30-day free trial allows you to explore the software and decide if it’s right for you. You can also take advantage of its 50% discount for the first three months to fully explore the software.
QuickBooks provides comprehensive accounting features for businesses at higher prices, while Quicken offers affordable financing for personal and solo businesses.
Quicken vs QuickBooks Ease of Use
Quicken is simple to use, given that it only provides basic accounting features. These features are presented in an easy-to-understand and usable format, even for those without a financial background. In contrast, QuickBooks offers advanced accounting features to businesses while also having a user-friendly interface. However, its extensive list of complex accounting features may become challenging for a novice to quickly understand.
Quicken specializes in personal finance features like budgeting, expense tracking, and investment management while also offering tools to manage rental properties. This makes it ideal for beginners in personal finance and small-scale landlords.
On the other hand, QuickBooks is best suited for experienced users who need a double-entry accounting solution, which makes it a perfect choice for business managers and accountants.
Quicken vs. QuickBooks Key Features
QuickBooks outperforms Quicken in this category due to a number of features, including complex accounting functions and other elements that we will discuss briefly. As previously mentioned, Quicken is personal finance software, which makes scalability a concern for businesses.
To provide a more comprehensive understanding of why and how QuickBooks is preferred, we will compare the two software based on invoicing, automations, modifications, and cost tracking.
Quicken vs. QuickBooks Integrations
QuickBooks integrates with a large number of external applications such as CRM tools, payment processors, e-commerce platforms, accounting, marketing, and more. Some of the applications include popular apps like Shopify, PayPal, Square, BigTime, Gusto, Stripe, Salesforce, etc.
While Quicken may not have the same level of extensive third-party integration as QuickBooks, it still offers a range of features to help users manage their personal and business finances. Quicken integrates with banks and brokerage accounts making it easier to maintain a comprehensive financial overview. Additionally, Quicken’s integration with PayPal enables users to accept online credit card payments from customers, while its Dropbox integration provides flexibility for users who prefer alternative storage methods for their financial documents.
Each software integrates based on its purpose of usage. QuickBooks, which is designed for business use, offers more flexibility with its integration of external tools. On the other hand, Quicken’s usage purpose makes it a straightforward platform to track income and expenses with budgeting and investment.
Quicken vs. QuickBooks Scalability
In terms of scalability with a company, QuickBooks wins in this category. Firstly, its features are designed to accommodate businesses at any level. It’s versatile with the ability to handle different business needs with its features, starting from reporting features to ecommerce, number of users, multi-currency support, inventory, and workflow automation.
Also, QuickBooks’ several price plans (Self-Employed, Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, Advanced) cater to different stages of business growth. This allows businesses to start with a basic version and upgrade as their needs become more complex. In terms of the number of users, QuickBooks allows users to add more team members up to the last tier, which supports 25 users.
Because Quicken focuses solely on personal finance management, it’s not designed to scale significantly beyond personal finances and very small business use. Therefore, Quicken is best for individuals or households with financial management needs. At the same time, QuickBooks online is designed to scale with small to medium-sized businesses, having a wide range of accounting and financial management features.
Quicken vs. QuickBooks Customer Reviews
Many customers commended Quicken for its excellent tax expense tracking and overall excellent financial assistance. One of their customers stated that they have been a member since 1994 and appreciate having their financial information at their fingertips, which makes tax preparation easier.
Based on customer reviews, it’s evident that most Quicken customers chose it for their personal finance, investment, taxing, and financial data reporting.
Likewise, QuickBooks users value its exhaustiveness and admire how QuickBooks customer support came to their aid.
Conclusion – Quicken vs. QuickBooks: Which One Wins?
| Quicken | QuickBooks | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Winner | ❌ |
| Ease of Use | Winner | ❌ |
| Features | ❌ | Winner |
| Integrations | ❌ | Winner |
| Scalability | ❌ | Winner |
| Customer Reviews | ❌ | Winner |
| Overall | ❌ | Winner |
Overall, QuickBooks exceeds Quicken in terms of features, integrations, scalability, and client satisfaction. Given its feature set, it’s advanced accounting software appropriate for most business needs.
Quicken, on the other hand, is quite cost-effective, making it an excellent choice for personal or home financial use. This is because its basic accounting features are excellent, and it also works well for small business financial management needs.
While both accounting software functions exceptionally for their intended use, QuickBooks is the overall winner in terms of business usage.
How We Review and Test Accounting Products
To provide our readers with accurate and well-informed recommendations, we test the most popular accounting products on the market to find the best options for you. Our methodology consists of the following criteria:
- Features: We examine the features of each accounting software to determine what capabilities are offered- such as creating, editing, and deleting transactions.
- Compliance: We evaluate accounting software based on whether it offers local compliance when it comes to payroll, taxes, documentation, and more.
- Bank Reconciliation: We test the reconciliation process to ensure transactions match bank statements accurately.
- Multi-Currency Support: We verify the accuracy of currency conversions and transactions in multi-currency environments.
- User Experience: We get hands-on with each product and act as a new user, testing each platform to gain understanding if the platform is easy to use or not.
- Reporting and Documentation: We verify the accuracy of financial reports generated by the software such as balance sheets and income statements.
- Integrations: We evaluate the integrations of each piece of software to determine how well it fits in with other key pieces in a business’s software stack, and whether its functionality can be expanded as required.
- Audit Trails: We ensure the software maintains comprehensive audit trails for tracking changes made to financial data.
How to Choose the Best Accounting Software
Are you seeking the best accounting software but stuck at choosing the right one for your needs? Follow the guide below when choosing accounting software.
Understand your budgets for accounting software. Compare all software plans and choose the one that best aligns with your financial capacity. Also, ensure the plan meets your functionality needs.
Assess the software’s ease of use. This is vital to ensure that you do not incur additional costs for setup or training.
When selecting software, consider its compatibility with mobile apps. You may need software that works on your mobile devices while on the go. Also, ensure that this feature is not only available on higher-tier plans.
What are your current key features as a company? Determine whether the accounting functions you need are within your budget.
As your business needs grow, you may need accounting software that scales. Understand the cost of scaling and whether the additional functionality you’ll need is available with the provider.
Examine the software’s customer support hours, help channels, and method of service. Consider what other users have said about them to help you choose trustworthy software.
