Xero and QuickBooks Online are both global cloud ledgers, and they price the same job in opposite ways. Pick QuickBooks if you are a sole trader who wants Self Assessment handled inside the ledger, if your team fits inside its per-user seat tiers, or if you want inventory and project tracking without a top plan. Pick Xero if you want everyone on the ledger without counting seats, send a healthy volume of invoices once past the entry plan, or would rather have payroll built into the ledger than bolted on. Both are built for Making Tax Digital, so compliance will not separate them; what you pay for as you grow will.
Plans and pricing checked October 2026, and every figure below is read live from our pricing database, the same data as the table and calculator above.
Xero vs QuickBooks pricing: how the plans compare
Both bill monthly with no contract. Xero's entry plan is £18/mo (Ignite) against QuickBooks' £16/mo (Simple Start). The middle plans are £39/mo (Grow) for Xero and £38/mo (Essentials) for QuickBooks, and the top plans are £70/mo (Ultimate) for Xero against £123/mo (Advanced) for QuickBooks. The two ladders do not line up rung for rung, so compare the plan that has the features you need rather than the cheapest one on each side.
The sticker hides the shape. QuickBooks sells seats, so more people on the books means a higher plan. Xero gives every plan unlimited users, but its entry plan caps invoicing, with unlimited invoicing from Grow. Both also sell a cheaper plan for businesses not registered for VAT, which the table does not show as the entry price because it cannot file VAT returns: Xero's Simple plan, and QuickBooks' single-user Sole Trader Plus. The calculator above folds your invoice count, users and employee headcount into one estimated monthly figure for each.
- Users included: Xero Unlimited, QuickBooks 1 (Simple Start)
- Invoicing: Xero 20/mo (Ignite), QuickBooks Yes (unlimited)
Who should pick Xero, and who should pick QuickBooks?
QuickBooks suits the owner with a small team and a simple tax life: a sole trader, or a director with a bookkeeper on the books. Self Assessment and CIS are on every plan, and multi-currency, inventory and project tracking unlock as you move up its ladder. It also offers phone support, which matters to an owner who would rather ring someone than type.
Xero suits the owner who expects more people to touch the books over time, whether staff raising invoices or a bookkeeper and accountant both in the file, because none of them changes the price. It also fits if you want payroll inside the ledger from day one. Its support is online rather than by phone, so you will not be phoning anyone, but you will not be waiting for office hours either.
- Support: Xero 24/7 online, QuickBooks Phone + chat
Which cap will you hit first: seats or invoices?
On QuickBooks the cap is people: one more login than your plan allows puts you on the next rung, whatever your turnover. On Xero the cap is paperwork, and only on the entry plan: the invoice limit pushes a business that bills often up to Grow early, after which the only reason to climb is a feature.
Those features are the other side of the ledger. Xero keeps multi-currency and project tracking on its upper plans and offers basic inventory; QuickBooks unlocks multi-currency from Essentials and both inventory and project tracking from Plus. If you sell in euros, hold stock or cost jobs, compare the two plans that give you that feature, not the entry plans.
- Multi-currency: Xero Yes (Comprehensive), QuickBooks Yes (Essentials)
- Inventory: Xero Limited, QuickBooks Yes (Plus)
- Project tracking: Xero Yes (Ultimate), QuickBooks Yes (Plus)
Do both handle Making Tax Digital and Self Assessment?
Both are built for MTD for VAT and submit VAT returns to HMRC from inside the ledger, on every VAT-capable plan. Both are also MTD for Income Tax ready on every plan, which covers the quarterly updates sole traders and landlords are moving onto.
The Self Assessment return itself is the difference. QuickBooks lists Self Assessment preparation on every plan. Xero does not list a Self Assessment return feature on its pricing page, though it does sell an optional annual add-on for company accounts and tax. On CIS, Xero handles CIS calculations and reports on every plan and sells submission of the contractor return as an optional monthly add-on, so a subcontractor may need nothing extra; QuickBooks calculates and submits CIS on every plan.
- Self Assessment: Xero No, QuickBooks Yes
- CIS: Xero Yes (filing add-on), QuickBooks Yes
Xero vs QuickBooks payroll: what it costs
Read the shape rather than the word "included". Xero's payroll is built in: PAYE and RTI run inside the ledger, the entry plan charges for each person you pay, the higher plans each include a number of people that rises with the plan, and beyond that a per-person charge applies, at a lower rate on the top plan. A small team on a higher plan may pay nothing extra for payroll at all. QuickBooks sells payroll as an add-on on every plan, with a base fee plus a per-employee charge on top of the plan price. Which lands lower depends on your plan and headcount, so put your real headcount into the calculator above.
- Payroll cost: Xero £1.50/emp/mo (£1 Ultimate), QuickBooks £5/mo + £1.50/emp
Can you connect an AI assistant to either?
Both ship a native assistant and both expose a Model Context Protocol route for outside agents, which is what lets a tool like Claude or ChatGPT read your books with your permission.
- AI assistant: Xero Native (JAX), QuickBooks Native (Intuit Assist)
- Agent access: Xero Native MCP (official), QuickBooks Native MCP (Intuit, early preview)
Pros and cons for this matchup
Xero wins on unlimited users at every plan, payroll built into the ledger with people included on its higher plans, round-the-clock online support and a cheaper plan for businesses outside VAT. Its weak spots are the invoice cap on the entry plan, contractor CIS submission as an add-on, basic inventory, and multi-currency and project tracking that sit on its upper plans.
QuickBooks wins on Self Assessment and CIS on every plan, inventory and project tracking from the middle of its ladder, phone support and its own cheaper plan for sole traders outside VAT. Its weak spots are seats counted per plan, so growth in people means growth in price, and payroll sold as a separate add-on with its own base fee.
The verdict
For a sole trader or a small team that wants Self Assessment handled inside the ledger and will stay within a plan's seat count, QuickBooks is the pick: it carries the tax work on every plan, unlocks stock and job tracking mid-ladder, and gives you a phone number. For a business that expects more people in the books, bills a lot and wants payroll native to the ledger, Xero is the pick. Both clear MTD for VAT and MTD for Income Tax without fuss, so decide on the cap you will hit first, seats or invoices, and on whether a Self Assessment return inside the software is something you need or something your accountant already does.