Leaving QuickBooks? Here’s the difference.
QuickBooks raises its price on its own schedule, and getting your data back out is its own project. LineLedger is built the opposite way: free software you install yourself, so there is no invoice to ratchet, a portable ZIP export so you can leave anytime, and source you can read under the AGPLv3 — with your QuickBooks history imported on the way in.
Comparison as of October 2026.
What will QuickBooks cost you in 5 years?
QuickBooks charges per company and raises it over time. Pick your plan and company count — LineLedger stays at $0, however many sets of books you keep.
Both LineLedger and QuickBooks charge per company.
Check your latest Intuit invoice.
Our default assumption — adjust it to your own experience.
QuickBooks, 5 yrs
LineLedger, 5 yrs
You keep
| Year | QuickBooks | LineLedger |
|---|
Projection assumes your QuickBooks price rises each year by the rate above and compounds over
5 years, across every company you selected. LineLedger
is $0 because it is AGPLv3 software you install and run yourself — there is no subscription
to raise, and no per-company charge.
Your own server is still your cost, and we won’t pretend otherwise: a small VPS runs
about £8–15 a month, and hardware you already own costs nothing extra.
QuickBooks list prices shown are standard monthly pricing as of October 2026; the annual-increase rate is an assumption you can change.
What you actually pay
LineLedger is one flat price that doesn't ratchet. QuickBooks stacks tiers, add-ons, and user caps on top of bookkeeping — and raises the price over time.
LineLedger
Everything on. No tiers, no caps, no per-seat math.
- Unlimited invoices, bills, and users
- Full multi-currency included
- Inventory, budgets, classes & locations
- Portable ZIP export — leave anytime
- Fund accounting for charities and clubs included
QuickBooks Online
£10–£123/mo by tier, excluding VAT
Billed monthly, with add-ons and tier upgrades on top.
- Sole Trader Plus £10: one user, and no VAT submission to HMRC
- Simple Start £16: one user, no multi-currency
- Essentials £38: three users, multi-currency included
- Plus £56: five users; Advanced £123: 25 users
- Payroll is a separate add-on, from £5/mo plus £1.50 per employee
| Same books | LineLedger | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| One person, VAT registered | £0 | £16/mo Sole Trader Plus can’t submit VAT → Simple Start |
| Three people on the books | £0 | £38/mo Simple Start is single-user → Essentials |
| Invoicing in euros and dollars | £0 | £38/mo multi-currency starts at Essentials |
QuickBooks figures are current UK list pricing from Intuit’s own GB offer data, excluding VAT and promotional discounts as of October 2026. Source.
Feature for feature
Where each one is ahead — including the things QuickBooks does that we don’t yet.
| Capability | LineLedger | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | £0 — you run it | £10–£123/mo by tier, ex-VAT |
| Users included | Unlimited | 1 / 1 / 3 / 5 / 25 by tier |
| Runs on your own server | Yes | No |
| Open source — audit, patch, or fork (AGPLv3) | Yes | No |
| Get your data out | Portable ZIP export, anytime | Limited / manual export |
| Import your QuickBooks history | Chart of accounts + full GL replay | — |
| Full multi-currency | Included | Essentials and up |
| VAT return worked out from the books | All nine boxes | Yes |
| Submits the VAT return to HMRC LineLedger prepares the nine boxes and stops there — you file them through Making Tax Digital software. QuickBooks submits for you from Simple Start up. | No | Yes |
| UK payroll (PAYE & RTI) QuickBooks payroll is a separate subscription, from £5/mo plus £1.50 per employee. LineLedger does no UK payroll at all: post your provider’s pay run as a journal entry. | No | Paid add-on |
| Inventory, budgets, classes & locations | Yes | Plus tier |
| Automatic bank feeds | On roadmap | Yes |
What it costs
Users included
Runs on your own server
Open source — audit, patch, or fork (AGPLv3)
Get your data out
Import your QuickBooks history
Full multi-currency
VAT return worked out from the books
Submits the VAT return to HMRC
LineLedger prepares the nine boxes and stops there — you file them through Making Tax Digital software. QuickBooks submits for you from Simple Start up.
UK payroll (PAYE & RTI)
QuickBooks payroll is a separate subscription, from £5/mo plus £1.50 per employee. LineLedger does no UK payroll at all: post your provider’s pay run as a journal entry.
Inventory, budgets, classes & locations
Automatic bank feeds
A real double-entry core
Not a single-entry chequebook with a dashboard — a proper ledger that always ties out, with full multi-currency for cross-border work.
Read the code
LineLedger is open source under the AGPLv3. Audit exactly how your books are calculated — or run your own build.
No price at all
Every feature on, unlimited users, as many companies as you like. No tiers to climb, no seats to count, and no invoice from us — ever.
Bring your QuickBooks history
Bring your history with you — no fresh start required.
- Import a QuickBooks chart of accounts
- Multi-file, full-history general ledger replay
- Maps accounts, links contacts & tracks refund cheques
Common questions
- Does LineLedger replace QuickBooks for a UK business?
- For the bookkeeping core, yes: general ledger, invoicing and bills, VAT at HMRC’s rates with a nine-box VAT Return, full multi-currency, fixed assets, inventory, and drill-through reports. Submitting the return through Making Tax Digital, and UK payroll, are not ours to do — you keep MTD software for the first and your payroll provider for the second.
- Can I bring my QuickBooks data over?
- Yes. Import your QuickBooks chart of accounts and replay your full general-ledger history across multiple files — accounts mapped, contacts linked, and refund cheques tracked.
- Will my price go up every year?
- There is no price to raise. LineLedger is free software you install on your own server, with every feature on and nothing metered as you add users. It is published under the AGPLv3, so the copy you are running stays yours.
- Can I get my data back out if I leave?
- Anytime. Export your whole company to a portable ZIP, plus CSV and XLSX from every report. No export tiers, no retrieval fees — your books are yours.
Weighing other options?
See how LineLedger stacks up elsewhere — or start from the full roundup.
See the difference on your own books.
Install it with Docker in about five minutes and every feature is on. No account, no subscription, no per-company charge — just your own server and the AGPLv3.
QuickBooks and Intuit are trademarks of Intuit Inc., used here for identification and comparison only. LineLedger is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Intuit Inc. Comparison based on publicly available information as of October 2026; pricing and features may have changed — see the source.