For more information, see our review of QuickBooks Online. Key takeaway: QuickBooks Online is superior for all business types because it is less expensive and has more features than QuickBooks Pro, the program's desktop version.

This is especially true because QuickBooks' desktop versions are being steadily phased out, with older versions not receiving any critical security updates since June 2021. Unless your business or industry has stringent security and compliance requirements necessitating local data storage, choosing QuickBooks Online over QuickBooks Pro is a no-brainer. It's no wonder why Intuit itself pushes customers away from its on-premise solutions. QuickBooks Pro is not only significantly more expensive, but it also lacks the functionality, integrations, flexibility, add-ons and enterprise-grade security features that come with QuickBooks Online. We haven't covered the desktop software in this guide because QuickBooks Online is the obvious choice for businesses of all sizes.

This article is for small business owners trying to decide what version of QuickBooks to use.ĭespite the popularity of its cloud-based services, QuickBooks continues to update and support QuickBooks Pro, its desktop solution.

A version for self-employed individuals is available, called QuickBooks Self-Employed.

QuickBooks Online offers several plan options.

QuickBooks Online is cheaper and comes with more features than QuickBooks Pro, the desktop version.

Quickbooks vs quicken home and business