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Compare QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Online 
At a Glance
Market Segments
Small-Business (81.4% of reviews)
Small-Business (82.5% of reviews)
Entry-Level Pricing
$499.95
$20 per month
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
Star Rating
(1,726)4.3 out of 5
Market Segments
Small-Business (81.4% of reviews)
Entry-Level Pricing
$499.95
Browse all 5 pricing plansQuickBooks Online
Star Rating
(3,449)4.0 out of 5
Market Segments
Small-Business (82.5% of reviews)
Entry-Level Pricing
$20 per month
Browse all 4 pricing plansSummary
AI Generated Summary
AI-generated. Powered by real user reviews.
- Users report that QuickBooks Online offers superior accessibility with its cloud-based platform, allowing for seamless access from any device, while QuickBooks Desktop Pro is limited to local installations, which can hinder remote work capabilities.
- Reviewers mention that QuickBooks Online's mobile application is user-friendly and provides essential features like invoicing and expense tracking on-the-go, whereas users of QuickBooks Desktop Pro often express frustration over the lack of a robust mobile solution.
- G2 users highlight that QuickBooks Online excels in its integration capabilities, particularly with third-party applications, making it easier to connect with eCommerce platforms and payment processors, while QuickBooks Desktop Pro has more limited integration options.
- Users say that the recurring billing feature in QuickBooks Online is highly praised for its automation and ease of use, whereas QuickBooks Desktop Pro's billing features, while functional, do not offer the same level of automation and customization.
- Reviewers mention that QuickBooks Desktop Pro shines in its reporting capabilities, with more advanced financial reporting options that cater to users needing detailed insights, while QuickBooks Online's reporting features are seen as more basic and less customizable.
- Users on G2 report that QuickBooks Online's customer support is generally perceived as less responsive compared to QuickBooks Desktop Pro, which has received higher ratings for its support quality, indicating a potential advantage for users who prioritize customer service.
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Pricing
Entry-Level Pricing
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Premier 2017
$499.95
Skip the high cost networking with QuickBooks Plus Hosting Service powered by Right Networks.
- One-time payment
- 60-day money-back guarantee
QuickBooks Online
Simple Start
$20
per month
- Customize and send invoices
- Track income and expenses
- Create and manage estimates
Free Trial
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
Free Trial is available
QuickBooks Online
Free Trial is available
Ratings
Meets Requirements
8.9
1,476
8.3
2,857
Ease of Use
8.6
1,481
8.2
2,893
Ease of Setup
8.3
618
7.9
1,427
Ease of Admin
8.6
619
8.1
1,346
Quality of Support
7.7
1,306
7.5
2,576
Has the product been a good partner in doing business?
8.2
602
7.8
1,311
Product Direction (% positive)
7.5
1,467
7.5
2,803
Features by Category
General Ledger
8.7
937
|
Verified
8.0
814
8.3
600
|
Verified
7.9
1247
|
Verified
8.5
754
|
Verified
8.1
1355
|
Verified
Accounts Receivable
8.6
930
|
Verified
8.1
1503
|
Verified
8.4
720
|
Verified
8.0
1217
|
Verified
8.1
589
|
Verified
7.7
1050
|
Verified
Accounts Payable
8.6
745
|
Verified
7.6
642
8.8
841
|
Verified
8.3
1367
|
Verified
8.6
649
|
Verified
8.1
1036
|
Verified
Other Functionality
8.3
444
|
Verified
7.7
820
|
Verified
8.3
465
|
Verified
7.7
846
|
Verified
8.4
452
|
Verified
7.7
820
|
Verified
8.3
570
|
Verified
7.7
1027
|
Verified
8.2
570
|
Verified
7.8
1197
|
Verified
8.9
900
|
Verified
8.4
1542
|
Verified
8.8
639
|
Verified
8.2
1059
|
Verified
8.7
638
8.1
1105
|
Verified
Reporting & Analytics
9.0
989
|
Verified
8.6
1705
|
Verified
8.7
960
|
Verified
8.1
1659
|
Verified
8.4
730
|
Verified
7.9
1293
|
Verified
8.6
864
|
Verified
8.2
1644
|
Verified
Platform
8.0
814
|
Verified
7.5
1436
|
Verified
Feature Not Available
7.7
1287
|
Verified
8.5
875
|
Verified
8.3
1537
|
Verified
8.5
521
7.9
947
|
Verified
8.6
943
|
Verified
8.3
1638
|
Verified
8.6
854
|
Verified
8.1
1445
|
Verified
Integration
8.2
826
|
Verified
7.9
1472
|
Verified
Feature Not Available
7.6
596
Feature Not Available
7.9
1101
Cash Flow
9.0
115
|
Verified
8.3
536
|
Verified
9.1
131
|
Verified
8.7
606
|
Verified
8.9
122
|
Verified
8.4
559
|
Verified
Budgeting & Forecasting
8.4
730
|
Verified
7.9
1293
|
Verified
8.5
106
|
Verified
8.1
498
|
Verified
8.5
81
|
Verified
7.9
415
|
Verified
8.9
106
|
Verified
8.2
523
|
Verified
Revenue
8.9
113
|
Verified
8.4
524
|
Verified
8.9
96
|
Verified
8.4
493
|
Verified
8.7
82
8.0
425
Payroll
8.9
87
8.4
443
|
Verified
8.9
99
8.2
435
|
Verified
8.9
98
|
Verified
8.2
464
|
Verified
9.0
112
|
Verified
8.4
513
|
Verified
AI
7.4
7
7.4
88
6.4
7
7.5
89
6.7
7
7.5
88
6.4
7
7.2
87
7.1
7
7.5
88
5.5
7
6.6
87
7.9
7
8.0
91
6.9
7
7.7
89
6.4
7
7.2
86
6.4
7
7.1
86
Mobile Applications - Accounting
Not enough data
8.0
36
Not enough data
7.7
34
Not enough data
7.9
35
Not enough data
6.6
35
Not enough data
8.1
36
Not enough data
8.3
36
General Ledger
8.7
937
|
Verified
8.0
814
8.3
600
|
Verified
7.9
1247
|
Verified
8.5
754
|
Verified
8.1
1355
|
Verified
Accounts Receivable
8.6
930
|
Verified
8.1
1503
|
Verified
8.4
720
|
Verified
8.0
1217
|
Verified
8.1
589
|
Verified
7.7
1050
|
Verified
Accounts Payable
8.6
745
|
Verified
7.6
642
8.8
841
|
Verified
8.3
1367
|
Verified
8.6
649
|
Verified
8.1
1036
|
Verified
Employee Self Service
8.4
227
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.4
190
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.2
167
|
Verified
Not enough data
Administration
9.0
459
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.5
330
|
Verified
Not enough data
9.0
328
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.7
350
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.7
383
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.7
307
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.8
273
|
Verified
Not enough data
9.2
412
|
Verified
Not enough data
9.0
341
|
Verified
Not enough data
Taxes
9.1
427
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.9
111
Not enough data
8.8
332
|
Verified
Not enough data
Integration
8.4
252
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.2
86
Not enough data
8.6
290
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.5
69
Not enough data
Platform
8.7
442
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.9
434
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.7
461
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.7
408
|
Verified
Not enough data
Multichannel inventory management
Not enough data
8.6
76
Not enough data
8.7
77
Not enough data
8.6
73
3PL inventory management
Not enough data
8.9
89
Not enough data
8.8
79
Not enough data
8.6
81
Inventory Management
Not enough data
9.0
87
Not enough data
9.0
86
Not enough data
8.8
82
Not enough data
8.8
82
Not enough data
8.8
89
Inventory Management Platform Features
Not enough data
8.9
109
Not enough data
8.8
106
Not enough data
8.6
108
Not enough data
8.4
99
Not enough data
8.2
102
Not enough data
8.8
95
Not enough data
8.3
101
Not enough data
8.7
103
Not enough data
8.9
106
Not enough data
8.8
110
Order Entry
Not enough data
8.7
102
Not enough data
9.0
96
Not enough data
8.6
100
Order Tracking
Not enough data
8.2
85
Not enough data
8.1
87
Not enough data
8.1
82
Inventory Management
Not enough data
8.3
84
Not enough data
8.2
82
Not enough data
8.1
78
Customer Management
Not enough data
8.4
86
Not enough data
8.5
94
Not enough data
8.5
96
Subscription Management
Not enough data
8.7
99
Not enough data
8.4
94
Not enough data
8.5
101
Not enough data
8.5
90
Bill Generation
8.9
78
Not enough data
9.4
69
Not enough data
9.2
65
Not enough data
Bill Processing
8.8
65
Not enough data
8.8
69
Not enough data
9.2
75
Not enough data
Integration
9.0
84
Not enough data
9.1
80
Not enough data
9.0
56
Not enough data
Revenue Recognition
Not enough data
8.4
130
Not enough data
8.3
138
Not enough data
8.3
146
Categories
Categories
Shared Categories
QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Online are categorized as Accounting
Unique Categories
QuickBooks Online is categorized as Nonprofit Accounting, Vendor Management, Inventory Control, and Order Management
Reviews
Reviewers' Company Size
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
QuickBooks Online
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
Small-Business
(50 or fewer emp.)
Mid-Market
(51-1000 emp.)
Enterprise
(> 1000 emp.)
Reviewers' Industry
Accounting
16.9%
Construction
6.9%
Non-Profit Organization Management
5.5%
Marketing and Advertising
3.4%
Information Technology and Services
3.1%
Other
64.2%
Accounting
17.0%
Marketing and Advertising
5.4%
Construction
5.1%
Non-Profit Organization Management
4.4%
Information Technology and Services
4.3%
Other
63.7%
Most Helpful Reviews
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
Most Helpful Favorable Review
Taylor H.
Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education
Full-featured. We do all of our bookkeeping, invoicing, and even payroll through QB. For a very small business like ours, it is really handy, and makes doing our taxes, getting payments, and basically everything on the financial end simple and consolidated.
Most Helpful Critical Review
Rusty P.
Verified User in Medical Devices
As I said, it's a little slow and not very scalable, although it does have some integration touch-points.
QuickBooks Online
Most Helpful Favorable Review
Verified User in Computer Software
The cloud deployment of QB online allowed me as a business user to start implementing on a weekend with no IT support required. I was able to load our chart of accounts and set up the integrations to our bank and credit card accounts immediately. In...
Most Helpful Critical Review
Kim E.
Verified User in Internet
Everything else is a nightmare. The navigation is not intuitive at all especially if you are a seasoned Quickbooks user, a financial professional. Many of the short-cuts I used to use when doing my data entry now do not work since QB now creates a large...
Taylor H.
Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education
Full-featured. We do all of our bookkeeping, invoicing, and even payroll through QB. For a very small business like ours, it is really handy, and makes doing our taxes, getting payments, and basically everything on the financial end simple and consolidated.
Verified User in Computer Software
The cloud deployment of QB online allowed me as a business user to start implementing on a weekend with no IT support required. I was able to load our chart of accounts and set up the integrations to our bank and credit card accounts immediately. In...
Rusty P.
Verified User in Medical Devices
As I said, it's a little slow and not very scalable, although it does have some integration touch-points.
Kim E.
Verified User in Internet
Everything else is a nightmare. The navigation is not intuitive at all especially if you are a seasoned Quickbooks user, a financial professional. Many of the short-cuts I used to use when doing my data entry now do not work since QB now creates a large...
Discussions
Does Quickbooks allow you to charge customers on a recurring basis?
I know that quickbooks is kind of the gold standard when it comes to accounting software, but does it have an online payment gateway?
2 comments
EM
It can be set up in a few easy steps. Check out this guide: http://www.qbexpress.com/how-to-setup-recurring-charges-for-customers-in-quickbooks/Read more
Best unique feature ?
2 comments
MA
User interface is simply fantastic. It has got a beautiful interface with excel. Like anything and everything in software can be exported and imported...Read more
What plans are there to migrate the features from quick books online?
2 comments
BL
My understanding is that QuickBooks Desktop is more in "Maintenance Mode" right now. I would not expect big new features added to desktop.
As an example,...Read more
What phone app works if you are using Quick books V15.0.5R6
7 comments
JH
You are correct, you can only use the Invoicing app if you have the online version of Quickbooks. Hope this helps!Read more
What can you do with QuickBooks online?
3 comments
CV
It would be great to see QBO have the ability to send monthly statements via email, not the generic intuit email, but a selectable email that is by the...Read more
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