QuickBooks Alternatives for Contractors
QuickBooks wins on accountant trust and ecosystem depth, Xero on unlimited users, and FreshBooks on the simplest invoicing — but all three are books-only, so Stairkey fits the contractor who wants estimates, jobs, job-costing, and HST/GST accounting in one record.
QuickBooks, Xero, and FreshBooks are all excellent accounting platforms, and any of them will keep a clean set of books with native GST/HST tracking for a Canadian contractor. The real question for a trades business isn't whether the ledger is good — it's how much else lives in a separate app. With a pure accounting tool, your estimates, your schedule, your job-costing, and your customer approvals all happen somewhere else, and you re-key the numbers into the books later.
This page is written by Stairkey, an all-in-one workspace that competes with these tools, so we'll be straight about where each genuinely wins. If you want a best-in-class general ledger your accountant already knows, QuickBooks is hard to beat. If you add users constantly, Xero's unlimited-seat pricing is the value play. If you mostly send invoices and hate accounting screens, FreshBooks is the friendliest. Stairkey's pitch is narrower: it puts the trade work AND real double-entry books in one tool — useful only if you actually want both in the same place.
At a glance
- QuickBooks
- $38/mo (Simple Start)
- Xero
- $20/mo (Starter)
- FreshBooks
- $19/mo (Lite, monthly)
- Stairkey
- $20/mo core, $100 cap
- QuickBooks
- Published, 5 tiers
- Xero
- Published, 3 tiers
- FreshBooks
- Published + quote-only Select
- Stairkey
- Published, flat + capped
- QuickBooks
- Yes, all tiers
- Xero
- Yes, all tiers
- FreshBooks
- Plus $38+ only (not Lite)
- Stairkey
- Yes, +$20 add-on
- QuickBooks
- Native AST + Canadian GST/HST
- Xero
- Native GST/HST
- FreshBooks
- Manual GST/HST fields
- Stairkey
- Native HST/GST built in
- QuickBooks
- Estimates
- Xero
- Quotes
- FreshBooks
- Estimates
- Stairkey
- Estimates + takeoff builder
- QuickBooks
- Plus $115+
- Xero
- Established only
- FreshBooks
- Project billing
- Stairkey
- Built-in, posts to books
- QuickBooks
- Limited
- Xero
- Not a focus
- FreshBooks
- Client view
- Stairkey
- Yes
- QuickBooks
- No
- Xero
- No
- FreshBooks
- No
- Stairkey
- Yes, offline-capable
- QuickBooks
- No
- Xero
- No
- FreshBooks
- No
- Stairkey
- Yes
- QuickBooks
- No
- Xero
- No
- FreshBooks
- No
- Stairkey
- Yes
- QuickBooks
- ~750+ apps
- Xero
- 1,000+ apps
- FreshBooks
- 100+ apps
- Stairkey
- Smaller marketplace + MCP
Who each one is for
You want the de-facto accounting standard your accountant or bookkeeper already uses, the deepest reporting and inventory, and the largest app ecosystem — and you're fine running estimates and field work in separate tools.
You add accountants, partners, or staff often and want unlimited users on every plan with no per-seat fees, plus clean bank reconciliation and native Canadian GST/HST.
You're a freelancer or small service business who lives in invoices, time tracking, and expenses, wants a friendly non-accountant UI and phone support, and doesn't need deep ledger features (remember double-entry needs Plus $38+).
You want estimates, scheduling, job-costing, a phone-first crew portal, AND real double-entry books with HST/GST in one shared record — and you'd rather not stitch a field tool onto a separate accounting app. Best fit for small contractors (and realtors) in Canada/US.
Pricing
Prices verified June 18, 2026. Quote-gated vendors change pricing without notice — confirm before you buy.
Essentials $75, Plus $115, Advanced $275; payroll and payments are separately priced add-ons and frequent 50%-off-3-months intro promos apply.
Standard $47, Premium $80; the Starter tier caps usage at 20 invoices and 5 bills/month, so most real users land on Standard or higher.
Plus $38, Premium $65, Select quote-only; double-entry accounting starts at Plus, and extra team members are an extra per-user fee.
Usage is capped at $100/mo so there are no surprise bills; the optional accounting add-on is +$20/mo (=$40/mo) for double-entry books and extra allowance, and the first month is free with no credit card.
Where the others win
Each rival genuinely beats Stairkey at its core job. QuickBooks has the most trusted, accountant-ready general ledger, the deepest reporting and inventory, automated US sales tax across 11,000+ jurisdictions, and ~750+ integrations plus first-party payroll and payments. Xero offers unlimited users on every plan and a polished reconciliation experience with 1,000+ apps. FreshBooks is simply the easiest invoicing and expense tool with phone support. And Stairkey's own limits are real: it's a newer, younger product with a smaller brand and a much smaller third-party integration marketplace; it has no built-in telephony, automated SMS dispatch, or AI phone agent; no aerial roofing measurement; it is NOT a full payroll system (it does contractor tax slips/year-end and mileage, but does not run payroll); and it focuses on North America, strongest on Canadian HST/GST. If your only need is the books and a big app ecosystem, an incumbent is the safer pick.
Common questions
Can QuickBooks do contractor estimates and job costing, or do I need another tool?
QuickBooks can create estimates and, on its Plus tier ($115/mo) and up, do project/class tracking and job costing. But it's an accounting product, so detailed field workflows — measured takeoff, customer approval flows, change orders, and a phone-first crew portal — typically live in a separate app you reconcile back to the books. Stairkey keeps estimates, takeoff, jobs, and the double-entry books in one record, while QuickBooks remains the stronger standalone ledger.
Which of these handles Canadian HST/GST best?
All four handle HST/GST natively. QuickBooks Online Canada tracks GST/HST/PST and preps returns; Xero carries correct GST/HST codes through to returns; FreshBooks (a Canadian company) has native GST/HST tax fields but no automated jurisdiction engine; Stairkey has HST/GST built into its accounting add-on and posts tax straight from the job records. For pure multi-jurisdiction US sales tax, QuickBooks' automated engine is the most advanced.
Is Stairkey a real accounting system or just invoicing?
Stairkey's optional accounting add-on (+$20/mo, total $40/mo) is real double-entry accounting — trial balance, bank reconciliation, and reports — with invoices, expenses, vendor bills, mileage, and change orders posting from the job records, plus year-end packages and Canadian contractor tax-slip workflows. It is not a full payroll system. If you need the deepest reporting, inventory, or a ledger your accountant already knows inside-out, QuickBooks or Xero still go deeper.