Tillage vs QuickBooksThe accounting and invoicing alternative
Updated . Every QuickBooks fact links to its source.
Tillage
QuickBooks
Monthly price
$0, unlimited users, quotes and invoices
$38–$340/mo by plan and user cap; a limited free plan launched Sep 2026
Online payment fees
Your client can cover them
Cards 2.99% on invoices; ACH 1%
Margin on quotes
Variance buffer and profit margin on every line
No markup or margin controls on estimates found
The short answer
QuickBooks Online is the standard small-business accounting system, with invoicing, estimates and payments as one part of a full ledger. Plans run $38 to $340 a month with user caps. Tillage is free invoicing for agencies that works alongside QuickBooks, so you keep the books your accountant knows and quote, contract and bill in a tool built for agency projects. For most agencies, the answer isn’t Tillage or QuickBooks. It’s both.
Choose Tillage if
- YesYou want agency quoting with variance and profit margin
- YesYou want contracts generated from approved quotes
- YesYou want to quote, contract and bill for free, and keep QuickBooks for the books
Choose QuickBooks if
- YesYou need full bookkeeping, reconciliation and sales tax
- YesYour accountant works in QuickBooks
- YesYou need payroll, inventory or bill pay in the same system
Tillage vs QuickBooks, feature by feature
| Feature | Tillage | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | Yes$0, unlimited users, quotes and invoices | Partly$38–$340/mo by plan and user cap; a limited free plan launched Sep 2026 |
| Online payment fees | YesStripe 2.9% + 30¢ (cards) or 0.8% capped at $5 (ACH), plus 1% capped at $50 per invoice | PartlyCards 2.99% on invoices; ACH 1% |
| Pass fees to clients | YesBoth Stripe and platform fees, set team-wide | YesSurcharging for cards and ACH, rolling out; fixed rates, restricted in some states |
| Quotes and estimates | YesHours × rate, or itemized with units and sections | YesEstimates and proposals |
| Variance and profit margin on quotes | YesVariance buffer and profit margin on every line | NoNo markup or margin controls on estimates found |
| Contracts with e-signatures | YesGenerated from approved quotes | YesContract upload and e-signatures |
| Deposits and milestone payment schedules | YesPercentages triggered by signing, dates or milestones | YesDeposits on estimates and progress invoicing |
| Recurring invoices and retainers | YesWeekly, monthly, quarterly, every six months or yearly | YesAll plans |
| Client pages with no login | YesSecure links to approve, sign and pay | PartlyClients view, approve and pay in a portal |
| Time tracking | NoNot a time tracker | PartlyBasic time entry on Essentials and up; timesheets are QuickBooks Time |
| Full accounting and bookkeeping | NoUse alongside your accounting software | YesThe core product |
| QuickBooks or Xero sync | NoComing soon: QuickBooks Online, Xero, Mercury and Puzzle | PartlyNot needed: it is QuickBooks |
| AI quote drafting | YesDrafts line items, hours and rates with your OpenAI or Claude key | YesIntuit Intelligence across plans |
| Claude and ChatGPT through MCP | YesQuotes, contracts and invoices | YesOfficial open-source MCP server you run yourself |
QuickBooks pricing
Flat price per plan with a user cap; more users means a higher plan. 30-day trial. Introductory discounts often appear on the pricing page.
- Simple Start
- $38/mo1 user, plus 2 accountant seats
- Essentials
- $85/mo3 users; adds time entry and bill pay
- Plus
- $140/mo5 users; adds projects and inventory
- Advanced
- $340/mo25 users, plus 3 accountant seats
- QuickBooks Free
- $01 user, 2 invoices and 1 estimate a month (third-party report)
- Tillage, for comparison
- $0/month with unlimited users1% when paid online, capped at $50 per invoice. Your client can cover it. See pricing
Where QuickBooks is better
No tool is right for everyone. Here is where it may suit you better.
Full bookkeeping
The ledger most accountants already use, with reconciliation, sales tax and accountant seats included.
Fee pass-through and progress billing
Surcharging for cards and ACH, plus deposits on estimates and progress invoices from one estimate.
AI and ecosystem
AI across invoicing, payments and accounting, and a very large app marketplace.
Scale
Up to 25 users, inventory and advanced reporting on higher plans.
Where Tillage is better for agencies
Use it with QuickBooks, not instead of it
Keep QuickBooks for the books, and quote, contract and bill in Tillage for free. Sync with QuickBooks Online is coming soon.
Margin on every quote
QuickBooks estimates price what you enter. Tillage builds hours × rate quotes with your variance buffer and profit margin on every line.
No per-plan user caps
QuickBooks caps users by plan, from 1 on Simple Start to 25 on Advanced. Everyone on your team can use Tillage for free.
Flexible fee pass-through
QuickBooks surcharging uses fixed rates and blocks some card types. Tillage passes the actual Stripe and platform fees to your clients.
Recent QuickBooks changes
Aug 1, 2026
Prices rose on Essentials, Plus and Advanced at renewal. Current list prices are $85, $140 and $340 a month.
Aug 2026
QuickBooks began rolling out percentage-based surcharging for card and ACH invoice payments.
Sep 2026
QuickBooks launched a free plan limited to 1 user, 2 invoices and 1 estimate a month, according to TechRepublic.
Switching from QuickBooks
- 1
Import past invoices from a QuickBooks IIF export, matched to your clients.
- 2
Add your clients in Tillage, or import them from a CSV file.
- 3
Recreate your products and services in Tillage with variance and margin.
- 4
Send new quotes, contracts and invoices from Tillage, and keep reconciling in QuickBooks.
Related guides and tools
Invoicing software for agencies
Quotes, contracts and payment schedules in one free tool.
Quoting software with margin
Hours × rate quotes with your margin built in.
Billing schedules
Deposits, milestones and retainers without copying invoices.
Stripe fee calculator
See what Stripe takes from an invoice, and what to charge to cover it.
Sources
Checked Oct 7, 2026. Pricing and features change, so if something here is out of date, email support@tillage.ai and we will fix it.
Tillage vs QuickBooks questions
Does Tillage replace QuickBooks?
No. Tillage is invoicing, not accounting, so many agencies use both. Sync with QuickBooks Online is coming soon.
Why not just invoice from QuickBooks?
You can. Tillage adds agency quoting with variance and margin, contracts from approved quotes and payment schedules, at no cost and with no user caps.
Can QuickBooks pass fees to clients?
Yes. QuickBooks is rolling out surcharging for card and ACH invoice payments, at fixed rates, with restrictions by state and card type. Tillage passes the actual fees to your clients.
Does Tillage sync with QuickBooks?
Not yet. Sync with QuickBooks Online is coming soon. Today you can import past invoices from a QuickBooks IIF file.
