Is QuickBooks Free in 2026? Free Plan, Trial and Promo
QuickBooks Free costs $0 for 1 user, 2 invoices a month and 1 bank account, with no accountant access. The 30-day trial and 50% promo apply to the paid plans.
Partly. QuickBooks Free is a permanent free plan with hard caps: one user, two invoices a month, one bank account and no accountant login. The four paid Online plans have no free tier. Their only no-cost period is a 30-day trial, and the 50% discount for three months needs a purchase, not a trial.
We read Intuit's own pages and three free-tier rivals on October 10, 2026. All prices are in US dollars.
Toolradar data: we track 268 accounting tools as of October 10, 2026, and 26% of them are free, freemium or open source. That share describes Toolradar's list, so the count says nothing about what QuickBooks includes. The limits below do.
What QuickBooks Free includes
Intuit sells QuickBooks Free as a no-charge plan that needs no credit card to start, and its FAQ says you can keep using it for as long as you like. Intuit's free plan page and its pricing page list the caps. The table turns each one into a buying decision.
| Limit on QuickBooks Free | What it means for a buyer |
|---|---|
| One user, no accountant access | No second login, and an outside accountant cannot be added to the file. |
| Two invoices a month | The third invoice in a month forces a choice. Intuit says setting up QuickBooks Payments removes the invoice cap. |
| One bank account connected | A business with a checking account and a card account has to pick one for automatic sync. |
| Three reports: profit and loss, balance sheet, account quick report | Enough to read a month. Any other report sits outside the plan. |
| No mobile app, no third-party integrations | Third-party apps that connect to QuickBooks are not available on the free tier. |
| Two manual receipt uploads a month, one 1099 contractor, five business trips a month | Small allowances that a freelancer who logs more trips or pays more contractors will outgrow. |
Read the table as a ceiling, not a trial run. Each row is the first place a growing business hits a wall, and that first wall is the moment to change plans. The cheapest paid step is Simple Start, which lists at $38 a month for one billable user and includes two accountant-firm users. Intuit's usage-limits article lists no invoice cap for any paid plan, so the two-invoice limit is the clearest reason to pay. If the single bank connection is the tighter limit, our best business bank accounts list covers the options.
The free tier is a start rather than a dead end. Intuit's free page says you can move to a paid plan and keep everything you built in QuickBooks Free, so the records you enter on the free tier carry over.
The 30-day trial sits on the paid plans
Intuit's free page says the 30-day trial gives full access to any paid plan, from Simple Start through Advanced, for 30 days. The trial is for paid plans, not for QuickBooks Free. The trial and the promo are separate offers, and two details decide what a trial is worth to you.
The discount page describes the trial as applying to the monthly base price for the first 30 days of a new subscription, so per-employee payroll fees and add-ons sit outside it. Price those lines yourself before you start.
Free trials are not eligible for the 50% discount, and offers for the same product cannot be combined. The trial and the promo therefore cannot be used together. A trial is a way to test the software, not a cheaper way to buy it.
The 50% promo needs a purchase, and no end date is printed
The promo, set out in Intuit's discount terms, cuts the base price of each paid plan in half for three months, for new customers only. Intuit says you get the discount only if you buy QuickBooks, so a trial does not qualify. After the three months, you are billed the then-current monthly price until you cancel. Intuit can change or end the offer at any time, and the discount page prints no end date.
| Paid plan | List price per month | Promo price per month | Saved over the three promo months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Start | $38 | $19 | $57 |
| Essentials | $85 | $42.50 | $127.50 |
| Plus | $140 | $70 | $210 |
| Advanced | $340 | $170 | $510 |
The savings are our arithmetic: list price minus promo price, times three. The discount does not reach per-employee fees, per-contractor fees, state tax filing fees for QuickBooks Workforce, or other add-ons. A payroll line on the same invoice stays at full price. Plan detail, including what the user caps mean for a team, sits in our QuickBooks Online pricing guide.
If the software call sits next to a bigger cash decision, the Finpresso daily brief covers both.
Free alternatives when QuickBooks Free is too small
Four free tiers answer the same question, and each one fails at a different point. The table lists the caps on each free tier and the cheapest paid step that lifts them. Each cap comes from the vendor's own pricing page: Zoho Books, Wave and Invoice Ninja.
| Tool | Free tier | Limits on the free tier | Cheapest paid step |
|---|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Free | Free | 1 user, no accountant access, 2 invoices a month, 1 bank account | Simple Start, $38 a month at list |
| Zoho Books Free | Free while financial-year revenue stays at or under $50,000 | 1 user plus 1 accountant, 1,000 invoices a year, 50 receipt scans a month, email support only | Standard, $20 a month or $15 a month billed annually, 3 users |
| Wave Starter | Free | Unlimited invoices and bookkeeping records, manual bank import | Pro, $19 a month or $190 a year per business, adds automatic bank import |
| Invoice Ninja | Free | 5 clients, unlimited invoicing | Pro, $14 a month or $140 a year |
Zoho Books is the only free tier here that includes an accountant login, which is the gap QuickBooks Free leaves open. Its free status depends on revenue, not time. The plan stays free while financial-year revenue does not exceed $50,000, and past that line Standard is the next step.
Wave Starter keeps invoices and bookkeeping records unlimited, so invoice volume never forces an upgrade on this tier. The catch is the bank. Bank import is manual on Starter, automatic import starts at Pro, and Pro is priced per business, so each business on the account needs its own subscription.
Invoice Ninja's free plan caps clients rather than invoices. Five clients is the ceiling, and the next step is a $14 monthly plan. Check the feature list before you move the books onto it. Our free accounting software ranking covers GnuCash, Odoo and other options beyond these four, and the Wave review and Zoho Books review cover those two products in depth.
Which free route fits which business
- One owner with two or fewer invoices a month, one bank account and no accountant login: QuickBooks Free is the honest answer, and it stays free while those limits hold. Intuit says QuickBooks Payments lifts the invoice cap, so a business that bills steadily can try that route before it pays for a plan.
- An outside accountant must log in: Zoho Books Free while revenue stays under its cap, or Simple Start, which includes two accountant-firm users on the paid plan. QuickBooks Free gives an accountant no access at all. The Xero review covers a paid option for teams.
- Invoicing is the main job and the bank feed is light: Wave Starter, with manual bank import, or Invoice Ninja's free five clients. If the bank feed has to sync on its own, Wave Starter is the wrong free tier until you pay for Pro. Our best invoicing software for freelancers ranks the invoicing side of the choice.
For the broader comparison of free and paid accounting software, see our QuickBooks vs Xero head to head and the cheaper QuickBooks alternatives guide for a five-person firm.
Frequently asked questions
Is QuickBooks Online free in 2026?
Partly. QuickBooks Free costs nothing a month, with one user, two invoices a month, one bank account and three reports. It has no accountant access and no mobile app or third-party integrations. The four paid Online plans have no free tier, so the 30-day trial and the 50% promo are the only no-cost or reduced-cost routes. Intuit's pricing page lists each paid plan.
Does QuickBooks have a free trial?
Yes, on the paid plans. Intuit's free plan page says the 30-day trial gives full access to any plan from Simple Start through Advanced for 30 days. QuickBooks Free itself has no trial. The trial cannot be combined with the 50% promo.
Can I get the 50% QuickBooks discount during a free trial?
No. Intuit's discount terms say free trials are not eligible, and the discount requires buying QuickBooks. The promo is three months at half the base price, for new customers only.
How long does the QuickBooks 50% promo last?
Three months at half the base price, for new customers only. Intuit prints no end date for the offer and says it can change or end the offer at any time. Confirm the price at checkout, and check the post-promo rate, which is the then-current monthly price.
Can an accountant use QuickBooks Free?
No. QuickBooks Free includes one user and no accountant access. The lowest paid plan that includes accountant access is Simple Start, which lists two accountant-firm users on Intuit's pricing page. Zoho Books Free is the free option that includes an accountant login, while revenue stays under its cap.
What is the best free alternative to QuickBooks?
For a business that needs an accountant to log in, Zoho Books Free, while financial-year revenue stays under its cap. For invoicing with a manual bank feed, Wave Starter. Our best free accounting software ranking covers the full set.
How we checked this
We read Intuit's pricing page, free plan page, discount terms and usage-limits article on October 10, 2026, along with Zoho Books' US pricing page, Wave's pricing page and Invoice Ninja's pricing pages the same day. The Toolradar count is the accounting ranking as of October 10, 2026, and the tool profiles are QuickBooks, Zoho Books and Wave. Savings and promo totals are our arithmetic on the list prices. Louis Corneloup, founder of Toolradar and Dupple, is the named author of this page. Intuit can change a price without a new article, so check the checkout before you subscribe.
This page is general information, not personalized financial advice.
Cite this: Finpresso, "Is QuickBooks Free in 2026? Free Plan, Trial and Promo", October 2026.
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