QuickBooks Online Is Raising Prices August 1 — Plan Costs & What to Do
QUICK SUMMARY: QuickBooks Online is raising prices effective August 1, 2026. QBO Plus goes from $99 to $140/month. Advanced goes from $200 to $340/month — a 70% increase. Simple Start sees a minor $3 bump. This guide covers every plan's new price, what you actually get for the increase, and a decision framework for QBO Plus and Advanced users on what to do next. Written for U.S.-based small and mid-size business owners in 2026.
QuickBooks Online is raising prices, and the increases are meaningful. Effective August 1, 2026, QBO Plus jumps from $99 to $140 per month, that’s a 41% increase. QuickBooks Online Advanced goes from $200 to $340 per month, a 70% increase. These are the list prices Intuit has published for the upcoming billing cycle, and they affect both new subscribers and existing customers at their next renewal.
We're an Elite Intuit Partner and top 5% QuickBooks ProAdvisor. We've been fielding calls from clients asking what this means for them. This guide gives you the straight answer: what changed, what you get, and how to decide whether to stay, upgrade, or look at alternatives.
This guide is written for U.S.-based businesses on QuickBooks Online evaluating their options in summer 2026.
New QuickBooks Subscribers: Your Price Is Locked for Six Months
If you are a new QuickBooks Online subscriber, the August 2026 price increase does not take effect until your seventh invoice. Intuit is protecting the introductory price for the first six months of new subscriptions. This means signing up now — before or shortly after August 1 — gives you six months at the current rate before the new pricing kicks in. If you have been on the fence about starting with QuickBooks Online, now is a practical window to get in before the full increase applies. Talk to us about getting started →
The New QuickBooks Online Prices — Effective August 1, 2026
Here is the complete pricing change by plan:
NOTE ON NONPROFIT AND PARTNER PRICING
These are standard list prices. QuickBooks nonprofit pricing, accountant-billed subscriptions, and partner-discounted pricing may differ. If you are purchasing through a ProAdvisor like Certum Solutions, pricing may vary. Contact us for current partner pricing before deciding based on list prices alone.
What's Actually Changing — And What You're Getting for the Increase
The price changes are not uniform in their justification. Simple Start's $3 increase is minor. Essentials' jump from $60 to $85 is notable but the plan's features are largely unchanged. The real story is in Plus and Advanced.
QuickBooks Online Plus: $99 → $140 per month
QBO Plus users are paying 41% more for the same plan they had before. There are no new features being added to Plus to justify this increase specifically. What Plus continues to include: 5 users, project profitability tracking, inventory tracking, budgeting, and class and location tracking. If Plus currently does what you need, the question is whether $140 per month is worth staying or whether Advanced's new features at $340 justify the bigger jump.
QuickBooks Online Advanced: $200 → $340 per month
Advanced has the largest price increase at 70%, but it is also adding meaningful functionality effective August 2026. These are the additions that change the value calculation:
Workforce Elite included: QuickBooks Workforce Elite — previously an add-on cost that varied by employee count — is now included in Advanced at no additional subscription fee. For businesses currently paying for QBO payroll separately, run your actual monthly total before assuming the price increase is a net loss.
Continuously Clean Books: AI monitors your books throughout the month, automatically categorizing and matching transactions with Intuit expert verification. This reduces month-end cleanup significantly for high-volume businesses. One operational note for accountant-managed accounts: if your QuickBooks subscription is billed through your accounting firm rather than directly, you will need to coordinate with your accountant to enable Continuously Clean Books. It does not activate automatically on firm-billed subscriptions. If Certum manages your QuickBooks account and you want to explore whether Continuously Clean Books is right for your setup, reach out directly and we will walk you through the eligibility and activation process. Contact Certum Solutions →
Invoicing on Autopilot: Create invoices in bulk from uploaded documents. Use natural language prompts to update payment terms across batches. Automated reminders follow up on unpaid invoices automatically.
Conversational Business Intelligence: Get insights, run scenario analyses, and build cash flow plans using plain English questions rather than pulling reports manually.
Advanced for Construction (new): Industry-specific tools for construction and project-based businesses including phased budget structure and change order management.
Reporting and AI Forecasting: Full financial reporting suite plus AI-powered 13-week cash flow and P&L forecasting built directly into the platform.
KPIs and Dashboards: Previously only available in Advanced — are now included in QBO Essentials and Plus. This means lower-tier subscribers are getting meaningful new Business Intelligence access with the August update, not just Advanced users. If you are on Essentials or Plus and have not explored the KPI scorecard or pre-built cash flow, P&L, and balance sheet dashboards, those are now available in your current plan.
QuickBooks Advanced for Professional Services — New in August 2026
Professional services businesses — consulting firms, architecture practices, creative agencies, and other project-based operations — now have their own industry solution inside QBO Advanced. This includes cost tracking by project phase, integrated change order management, and milestone-based progressive billing, all connected to your financial data without a separate tool. If you are currently tracking project costs in spreadsheets alongside QuickBooks, this is the feature that eliminates that workflow.
Enhanced Inventory — Now Available in Plus and Advanced
QuickBooks Plus and Advanced now include Item Receipt, Moving Average Cost valuation, and Sales Order to Purchase Order linking natively inside QuickBooks. This is also available as a $40/month add-on for Simple Start and Essentials subscribers. For product businesses managing inventory alongside their books, this reduces reliance on third-party inventory tools for standard inventory workflows. Note: for businesses with multi-location inventory, multi-channel sales, or landed cost requirements, dedicated inventory platforms like Cin7 still handle complexity that QBO inventory cannot — but for straightforward product businesses, this is a meaningful addition.
THE NET COST CALCULATION FOR ADVANCED
If you are currently paying $200/month for QBO Advanced plus a separate QuickBooks Payroll subscription, your combined monthly cost may already exceed $340. The new QBO Advanced at $340/month — with Workforce Elite included — may represent a net cost reduction depending on your payroll tier and employee count. Run the math on your specific payroll bill before assuming the price increase is a net loss.
Intuit values Bill Pay Elite at $540 per year and the new industry solutions for construction and professional services at $900 per year — a combined $1,440 in features now included in Advanced at no additional subscription cost. For subscribers who actively use both, that closes most of the gap on the $1,680 annual price increase ($140/month × 12). For subscribers who do not use those features, the math does not work in their favor.
Source: Intuit partner communications and official Intuit product release, June 2026. Prices shown are monthly list prices before partner, promotional, or nonprofit discounts.
What Should You Do? A Decision Framework
The right answer depends entirely on your business situation. Here is a plain-language framework:
| QuickBooks Online | QuickBooks Online Advanced | Intuit Enterprise Suite (IES) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–5 users, simple bookkeeping | ✅ Stay | — | — |
| 5+ users, growing billing volume | — | ✅ Upgrade | — |
| Need payroll included | — | ✅ Workforce Elite now included | — |
| Multi-entity or consolidation | — | — | ✅ IES is the answer |
| Price is the primary concern | ✅ Or look at Zoho Books | — | ✅ Zoho / Xero alternatives |
| Heavy automation needs | — | ✅ Autopilot invoicing, workflows | — |
| Construction or project costing | — | ✅ New Advanced features | ✅ IES has deeper tools |
When QuickBooks Online Is Not the Answer Anymore
The August 2026 price increase is a natural moment to evaluate whether QuickBooks Online is still the right platform for your business, not just whether the price is right.
The businesses that have genuinely outgrown QuickBooks Online typically run into one or more of these walls: multiple legal entities or subsidiaries that need consolidated reporting, job costing requirements that go beyond what QBO project tracking handles, inventory complexity across multiple warehouses or channels, or reporting needs that require custom dimensions and FP&A-level analysis.
Intuit Enterprise Suite (IES) addresses all of these within the Intuit ecosystem. It handles multi-entity consolidation, advanced job costing, custom dimensions, intercompany transactions, and a full reporting suite — without requiring a migration to a completely different platform. For businesses between $3M and $50M in revenue hitting these specific walls, IES is frequently the correct answer.
For businesses where price is the primary concern, Zoho Books offers comparable core bookkeeping functionality at a lower monthly cost and integrates with the broader Zoho One ecosystem if your business ever needs CRM, inventory, or HR capabilities connected to your accounting. Xero is the other strong alternative, particularly for businesses with international operations or multi-currency needs.
We are certified partners for QuickBooks, Zoho Books, & Xero. Our recommendation on which platform fits your business is based on your actual.
NOT SURE WHICH DIRECTION IS RIGHT FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
We review your current QuickBooks setup, understand how your business actually uses it, and give you a straight recommendation; including whether staying on QBO, upgrading to Advanced, migrating to IES, or moving to a different platform altogether makes the most sense. 30 minutes, no obligation.
QuickBooks Discounts and Partner Pricing
If you are purchasing QuickBooks through a ProAdvisor or Intuit partner, the list prices above may not be what you pay. ProAdvisor preferred pricing is available through certified partners for accountant-billed subscriptions. Additionally, Intuit is currently offering 50% off for 3 months for any existing QBO clients who upgrade to Advanced — check with your ProAdvisor or contact us, an elite QuickBooks ProAdvisor today for our current partner offers.
Nonprofit organizations should ask specifically about QuickBooks nonprofit pricing, which provides discounted access to QBO Essentials and Plus for qualifying 501(c)(3) organizations.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is QuickBooks Online going up in price in 2026?
QuickBooks Online prices are increasing August 1, 2026. Simple Start goes from $35 to $38 per month. Essentials goes from $60 to $85. Plus goes from $99 to $140 — a 41% increase. Advanced goes from $200 to $340 — a 70% increase. These are monthly list prices before any partner or promotional discounts.
Why is QuickBooks raising prices in 2026?
Intuit is raising QuickBooks Online prices effective August 1, 2026, citing the addition of AI-powered features including Continuously Clean Books, Invoicing on Autopilot, Conversational Business Intelligence, and the inclusion of QuickBooks Workforce Elite in Advanced. The QBO Advanced price increase is the largest at 70%, but the plan now includes payroll functionality that previously cost extra.
Is QuickBooks Online Advanced worth the new $340 price?
QuickBooks Online Advanced at $340 per month includes Workforce Elite (payroll), which previously cost $160–250 per month as an add-on, plus new AI features like Continuously Clean Books, Invoicing on Autopilot, and Conversational BI. For businesses already paying for payroll separately, the net cost increase may be modest. For businesses that do not need payroll, the 70% price jump is significant and warrants evaluating alternatives.
What should QuickBooks Plus users do about the price increase?
QuickBooks Plus users have three options: stay on Plus at the new $140 per month if the current features meet their needs; upgrade to Advanced at $340 to gain AI features, payroll inclusion, and automation tools; or evaluate alternatives like Zoho Books or Xero if the price increase is a primary concern. Businesses with multi-entity or complex job costing needs should also evaluate Intuit Enterprise Suite.
Is there a QuickBooks nonprofit discount on the new prices?
QuickBooks offers nonprofit pricing through its QuickBooks for Nonprofits program, providing discounted rates compared to standard list prices. Nonprofits should contact a certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor or Intuit partner to access nonprofit pricing. Certum Solutions is an Elite Intuit Partner and can help nonprofits access correct pricing and set up QuickBooks properly for fund accounting. Visit certumsolutions.com/quickbooks-for-nonprofits for more information.
What is a good alternative to QuickBooks Online after the price increase?
The best QuickBooks alternative depends on your business needs. Zoho Books offers comparable core bookkeeping at a lower monthly cost. Xero is strong for multi-currency and accountant collaboration. Intuit Enterprise Suite is the right move if you need multi-entity or advanced job costing within the Intuit ecosystem. Certum Solutions is a certified partner for all of these platforms and can assess which fits your business without vendor bias — certumsolutions.com/find-my-software.