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Compare QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Online

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At a Glance
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
Star Rating
(1,747)4.3 out of 5
Market Segments
Small-Business (81.3% of reviews)
Information
Pros & Cons
Entry-Level Pricing
$499.95
Browse all 5 pricing plans
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online
Star Rating
(3,669)4.0 out of 5
Market Segments
Small-Business (82.2% of reviews)
Information
Pros & Cons
Entry-Level Pricing
$38.00 Per Month
Browse all 4 pricing plans
AI Generated Summary
AI-generated. Powered by real user reviews.
  • G2 reviewers report that QuickBooks Online excels in ease of access, allowing users to run payroll effortlessly and providing live access for both clients and accountants. This feature is particularly appreciated for its convenience and real-time collaboration capabilities.
  • Users say QuickBooks Desktop Pro stands out for its robust accounting features and reliability, especially when handling large company files. Reviewers highlight its detailed reporting options and the speed at which it operates without needing constant internet access, making it a solid choice for those who prefer local data management.
  • According to verified reviews, QuickBooks Online is praised for its intuitive setup process, with many users finding the onboarding wizard straightforward and user-friendly. This contrasts with some experiences in QuickBooks Desktop Pro, where users have noted a steeper learning curve for new users.
  • Reviewers mention that QuickBooks Desktop Pro offers a higher level of control over accounting data, as everything runs locally. This aspect is often seen as more secure and faster compared to cloud-based solutions, appealing to users who prioritize data security and performance.
  • G2 reviewers highlight QuickBooks Online's ability to integrate seamlessly with other platforms, making it easier to generate reports and search for specific transactions. This integration capability is a significant advantage for users looking for a more connected financial management experience.
  • Users report that while QuickBooks Online has a slightly lower satisfaction score, it still provides valuable features like project tracking, which allows users to monitor invoicing and profit margins effectively. In contrast, QuickBooks Desktop Pro, while highly rated, may not offer the same level of project management tools, which could be a deciding factor for some users.
Pricing
Entry-Level Pricing
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Premier 2017
$499.95
Browse all 5 pricing plans
QuickBooks Online
Simple Start
$38.00
Per Month
Browse all 4 pricing plans
Free Trial
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
Free Trial is available
QuickBooks Online
Free Trial is available
Ratings
Meets Requirements
8.9
1,487
8.3
3,036
Ease of Use
8.6
1,495
8.2
3,086
Ease of Setup
8.3
631
8.0
1,613
Ease of Admin
8.6
623
8.1
1,412
Quality of Support
7.7
1,316
7.5
2,745
Has the product been a good partner in doing business?
8.2
606
7.8
1,377
Product Direction (% positive)
7.5
1,477
7.5
2,980
Features by Category
8.0
1,129
7.7
2,092
General Ledger
8.7
946
|
Verified
8.1
944
8.3
609
|
Verified
7.9
1370
|
Verified
8.5
763
|
Verified
8.1
1478
|
Verified
Accounts Receivable
8.6
939
|
Verified
8.1
1627
|
Verified
8.4
729
|
Verified
7.9
1336
|
Verified
8.1
598
|
Verified
7.7
1164
|
Verified
Accounts Payable
8.6
754
|
Verified
7.6
761
8.7
851
|
Verified
8.3
1490
|
Verified
8.6
658
|
Verified
8.0
1153
|
Verified
Other Functionality
8.2
453
|
Verified
7.6
934
|
Verified
8.2
474
|
Verified
7.6
955
|
Verified
8.3
461
|
Verified
7.6
930
|
Verified
8.3
579
|
Verified
7.6
1139
|
Verified
8.2
579
|
Verified
7.8
1305
|
Verified
8.9
909
|
Verified
8.3
1666
|
Verified
8.8
650
|
Verified
8.1
1181
|
Verified
8.7
648
8.0
1214
|
Verified
Reporting & Analytics
9.0
999
|
Verified
8.6
1837
|
Verified
8.7
969
|
Verified
8.1
1783
|
Verified
8.4
740
|
Verified
7.9
1406
|
Verified
8.5
873
|
Verified
8.2
1759
|
Verified
Platform
8.0
823
|
Verified
7.5
1548
|
Verified
Feature Not Available
7.7
1390
|
Verified
8.5
884
|
Verified
8.3
1649
|
Verified
8.5
530
7.9
1050
|
Verified
8.6
953
|
Verified
8.3
1763
|
Verified
8.6
862
|
Verified
8.1
1547
|
Verified
Integration
8.2
835
|
Verified
7.9
1582
|
Verified
Feature Not Available
7.6
705
Feature Not Available
7.9
1206
Cash Flow
8.9
126
|
Verified
8.3
643
|
Verified
9.1
141
|
Verified
8.7
719
|
Verified
8.9
131
|
Verified
8.4
667
|
Verified
Budgeting & Forecasting
8.4
740
|
Verified
7.9
1406
|
Verified
8.4
115
|
Verified
8.0
599
|
Verified
8.3
90
|
Verified
7.7
511
|
Verified
8.7
115
|
Verified
8.1
625
|
Verified
Revenue
8.9
122
|
Verified
8.3
625
|
Verified
8.8
105
|
Verified
8.3
589
|
Verified
8.6
91
7.9
522
Payroll
8.7
96
8.3
543
|
Verified
8.8
108
8.0
535
|
Verified
8.7
108
|
Verified
8.1
566
|
Verified
8.9
121
|
Verified
8.2
610
|
Verified
AI
6.1
15
6.8
184
7.0
15
7.1
180
6.4
15
6.9
179
6.6
15
6.6
178
6.7
15
6.9
179
5.3
15
6.3
179
8.2
15
7.5
185
7.9
15
7.2
181
7.1
15
6.8
176
7.3
15
6.8
176
Mobile Applications - Accounting
7.9
11
7.4
136
7.5
10
7.1
122
7.8
10
7.0
131
5.0
11
6.0
123
6.3
10
7.4
127
7.3
10
7.6
128
Agentic AI - Accounting
4.6
8
5.7
85
Nonprofit AccountingHide 9 FeaturesShow 9 Features
Not enough data
8.4
2,008
General Ledger
8.7
946
|
Verified
8.1
944
8.3
609
|
Verified
7.9
1370
|
Verified
8.5
763
|
Verified
8.1
1478
|
Verified
Accounts Receivable
8.6
939
|
Verified
8.1
1627
|
Verified
8.4
729
|
Verified
7.9
1336
|
Verified
8.1
598
|
Verified
7.7
1164
|
Verified
Accounts Payable
8.6
754
|
Verified
7.6
761
8.7
851
|
Verified
8.3
1490
|
Verified
8.6
658
|
Verified
8.0
1153
|
Verified
8.7
519
Not enough data
Employee Self Service
8.4
230
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.4
193
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.2
170
|
Verified
Not enough data
Administration
9.0
462
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.5
333
|
Verified
Not enough data
9.0
331
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.7
353
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.7
386
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.7
310
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.8
276
|
Verified
Not enough data
9.1
415
|
Verified
Not enough data
9.0
344
|
Verified
Not enough data
Taxes
9.1
430
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.9
114
Not enough data
8.8
335
|
Verified
Not enough data
Integration
8.4
255
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.2
89
Not enough data
8.6
293
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.3
72
Not enough data
Platform
8.7
445
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.9
437
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.7
464
|
Verified
Not enough data
8.7
410
|
Verified
Not enough data
Not enough data
8.5
142
Multichannel inventory management
Not enough data
8.4
85
Not enough data
8.4
86
Not enough data
8.4
82
3PL inventory management
Not enough data
8.7
98
Not enough data
8.6
88
Not enough data
8.4
90
Inventory Management
Not enough data
8.8
97
Not enough data
8.8
95
Not enough data
8.6
91
Not enough data
8.6
91
Not enough data
8.6
98
Inventory Management Platform Features
Not enough data
8.7
118
Not enough data
8.7
114
Not enough data
8.5
117
Not enough data
8.3
108
Not enough data
8.1
111
Not enough data
8.7
105
Not enough data
8.2
112
Not enough data
8.5
113
Not enough data
8.8
115
Not enough data
8.6
119
Not enough data
7.9
126
Order Entry
Not enough data
8.6
113
Not enough data
8.8
107
Not enough data
8.5
111
Order Tracking
Not enough data
8.0
96
Not enough data
7.9
98
Not enough data
7.9
93
Inventory Management
Not enough data
8.1
95
Not enough data
8.0
93
Not enough data
7.9
89
Customer Management
Not enough data
8.2
98
Not enough data
8.4
107
Not enough data
8.4
109
Subscription Management
Not enough data
8.6
110
Not enough data
8.3
106
Not enough data
8.5
114
Not enough data
8.3
101
Agentic AI - Order Management
Not enough data
4.5
11
Not enough data
5.0
11
8.4
105
Not enough data
Bill Generation
8.9
84
Not enough data
9.2
75
Not enough data
9.1
71
Not enough data
Bill Processing
8.7
70
Not enough data
8.8
74
Not enough data
9.1
80
Not enough data
Integration
9.0
89
Not enough data
9.0
85
Not enough data
8.6
61
Not enough data
Agentic AI - Billing
4.0
5
Not enough data
Accounting & FinanceHide 1 FeatureShow 1 Feature
Not enough data
Not enough data
Agentic AI - Accounting & Finance
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
7.6
193
Agentic AI - Vendor Management
Not enough data
5.6
13
Revenue Recognition
Not enough data
8.4
147
Not enough data
8.2
154
Not enough data
8.3
163
Categories
Categories
Shared Categories
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Online are categorized as Accounting
Unique Categories
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Desktop Pro is categorized as Payroll and Billing
Reviews
Reviewers' Company Size
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
81.3%
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
15.0%
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
3.6%
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
82.2%
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
14.6%
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
3.1%
Reviewers' Industry
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
Accounting
17.0%
Construction
6.9%
Non-Profit Organization Management
5.5%
Marketing and Advertising
3.3%
Information Technology and Services
3.2%
Other
64.2%
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online
Accounting
17.9%
Marketing and Advertising
5.3%
Construction
5.2%
Non-Profit Organization Management
4.4%
Information Technology and Services
4.2%
Other
63.0%
Alternatives
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Desktop Pro Alternatives
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QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online Alternatives
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NetSuite
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Discussions
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Desktop Pro 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
Eric M.
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
Mohammed Haseeb A.
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
Brian L.
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
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online Discussions
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
Can you put quickbooks on a mac?
4 Comments
william r.
WR
Yes you can use quickbooks on a MacRead 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