QuickBooks Solopreneur Alternatives for 1099 Contractors: 7 Picks

QuickBooks Solopreneur’s paid Lite plan costs $20 a month, or $240 a year, and tax filing through Intuit is extra. A 1099 contractor can replace most of it for nothing: Found’s free business account, Zoho Books’ free plan and Wave’s Starter plan all cost $0, and Everlance’s free tier logs 30 drives a month automatically. If filing the return is the real job, Keeper’s $199-a-year Standard plan bundles deduction tracking with a federal return. Below are seven alternatives, free options first, with prices taken from each vendor’s own pricing page in October 2026. We have not tested these products.

Why 1099 Contractors Look Past QuickBooks Solopreneur

Intuit built Solopreneur for one-person businesses that file Schedule C, and it covers the basics: separating business and personal spending, invoices, automatic mileage tracking and tax estimates. According to NerdWallet’s QuickBooks pricing guide, updated October 19, 2026, the free plan allows 2 invoices a month, 1 connected bank account, 5 tracked trips and 2 receipt uploads a month. Lite, at $20 a month, adds unlimited invoicing, mileage and receipts, a second bank connection and phone support.

Three complaints come up. The product uses fixed categories instead of a customizable chart of accounts, which NerdWallet flags as a gap. The free plan’s limits run out quickly for anyone with more than a couple of clients. And filing is separate: Intuit’s product page prices QuickBooks Live Tax from $169, paid when you file. A contractor who pays for Lite and Live Tax spends at least $409 in a year.

QuickBooks Solopreneur Alternatives Compared

Prices in USD as of October 2026, before tax. *Everlance’s pricing page shows two price sets for Starter without saying which applies, so check at checkout. Bonsai prices are per user.

The Seven Alternatives

1. Found: Free Banking That Does the Bookkeeping

Found replaces the bank account and the bookkeeping app in one move. Its free plan, per Found’s pricing page, includes a business Mastercard debit card, expense categorization, receipt scanning, a profit and loss view, real-time tax estimates with automatic set-asides, unlimited invoicing, and 1099 e-filing for contractors you pay. Found Plus ($35 a month or $315 a year) adds imports from other banks and cards and lets Schedule C filers pay quarterly federal estimates in the app. The catch: Found’s own comparison page says its reports are cash-basis only, it has no dedicated sales tax features, and it does not file returns. Found gets a full write-up in our Found Pro review.

2. Zoho Books Free: Real Accounting at No Cost

Contractors who want fuller accounting than a categorized transaction list should start with Zoho Books. The US pricing page says the free plan stays free while yearly revenue is under $50,000. It covers one user plus an accountant, up to 1,000 invoices a year, 50 receipt autoscans a month, bank reconciliation and mileage tracking. Automatic bank feeds sit on Standard, which costs $20 a month or $15 a month billed annually.

3. Wave: Free Invoicing, Paid Automation

Wave’s Starter plan is $0 for unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records, according to Wave’s pricing page. Pro, at $19 a month or $190 a year, adds automatic bank imports through Plaid, auto-categorization, unlimited receipt capture, late-payment reminders and extra users. Card payments cost 2.9% plus $0.60 on Starter; Pro waives the $0.60 on the first 10 transactions a month. Wave’s page does not list mileage tracking, so drivers will need a second app.

4. Everlance: For Contractors Who Drive

Rideshare drivers, delivery couriers and field technicians lose more to unlogged miles than to anything else. Everlance’s free Basic plan detects 30 trips a month automatically, with unlimited manual trips, a digital mileage log and mileage and expense reports. Starter adds unlimited automatic tracking and custom IRS-compliant reports. Professional adds automatic expense tracking, a deduction finder, 1099 tax filing and $1 million audit defense. The page lists Professional at both $99.99 and $119.99 a year. Each paid plan has a 7-day trial that needs a card.

5. Lili: A Bank Account That Sets Tax Money Aside

Lili is another fintech account, with banking services from Sunrise Banks, Member FDIC, according to Lili’s plans page. Basic is free. Pro, at $15 a month, adds automatic tax savings and sorts spending into tax categories. Premium, at $55 a month, produces pre-filled Schedule C, 1065 and 1120-S reports. The same page lists the middle Smart tier at both $35 and $20 a month, so verify before you pick it.

6. Keeper: Write-Offs and the Return in One Bill

Keeper tracks expenses, finds deductions and, on its filing plans, prepares the return. On its QuickBooks comparison page, updated August 28, 2026, Keeper lists a Deductions-only plan at $20 a month with no filing, Standard at $199 a year with a federal return and up to two state returns, and Premium at $399 a year for three or more states, amendments and tax pro consultations. There is a 14-day free trial. The page is inconsistent on whether quarterly estimated payment support sits in Standard or only Premium. Keeper is not an invoicing or bookkeeping tool, so pair it with Wave or Zoho Books if you bill clients.

7. Bonsai: When the Paperwork Is the Problem

Designers, developers and consultants often need contracts and proposals more than a ledger. Bonsai’s pricing page puts invoices, payments, proposals, contracts, a client portal, scheduling and income and expense tracking in Essentials, at $25 a month or $19 billed annually per user. Premium ($39, or $29 annually) adds profit reports and integrations including QuickBooks and Xero. Bonsai’s page does not mention tax estimates, so it works best alongside an accounting app.

What Mileage Tracking Is Worth in 2026

The IRS set the 2026 business rate at 72.5 cents a mile from January 1, then raised it to 76 cents for costs incurred from July 1, 2026, citing fuel costs, as CPA Practice Advisor reported (Announcement 2026-11). Two rates in one year make a dated log more important than usual.

A courier driving 6,000 business miles, split evenly across the year, could deduct $4,455 under the standard mileage method. Against that, Everlance Starter costs $69.99 to $89.99 a year and QuickBooks Solopreneur Lite costs $240. Even a free plan works if you log the extra trips by hand; the risk is the trips you forget. Content creators juggling sponsorship income, a common 1099 setup covered in our piece on how YouTubers make money, face the same record-keeping problem with equipment and travel.

Which Alternative Fits Which Contractor

• Brand-new freelancer, low income: Found free for banking and tax set-asides, plus Wave Starter if clients expect formal invoices.
• Growing contractor who wants clean books for an accountant: Zoho Books Free until revenue passes $50,000.
• Gig drivers and couriers: Everlance, free or Starter, alongside any bank account.
• Anyone who dreads filing: Keeper Standard at $199 a year, which costs less than Lite plus Intuit’s $169 filing.
• Agency-style freelancers with contracts and retainers: Bonsai Essentials, paired with an accounting app.

More software comparisons sit in our Tools section. If you are still setting up, our state guides walk through launching a pressure washing business in Florida, a mobile coffee trailer in Texas and a mobile dog grooming business in North Carolina.

This article is for information and education only and is not investment, tax or financial advice. Figures were checked on October 28, 2026; confirm current details with the official source or a registered adviser before acting.

FAQ

Is QuickBooks Solopreneur Free?

There is a free plan with tight limits: 2 invoices and 2 receipt uploads a month, 5 tracked trips and one bank connection. Lite costs $20 a month.

What Is the Best Free Alternative to QuickBooks Solopreneur?

For bookkeeping, Zoho Books Free if revenue is under $50,000. For a bank account that tracks expenses and taxes, Found’s free plan. For invoicing alone, Wave Starter.

Do 1099 Contractors Need Accounting Software?

Not legally, but you need records of income and deductible expenses for Schedule C and quarterly estimates. Software makes those records easier to keep and defend.

What Is the 2026 IRS Mileage Rate for Business?

72.5 cents a mile for January 1 to June 30, 2026, and 76 cents a mile from July 1, 2026, after a mid-year increase.

Can Keeper Replace QuickBooks Solopreneur?

For tracking write-offs and filing, yes. It does not handle invoicing, so contractors who bill clients usually pair it with an invoicing tool.

Sources

• NerdWallet: QuickBooks pricing (updated October 19, 2026)
• Intuit: QuickBooks Solopreneur product update
• Found: Pricing
• Found: Found vs QuickBooks
• Zoho Books: US pricing
• Wave: Pricing
• Everlance: Pricing
• Lili: Business banking plans
• Keeper: Keeper vs QuickBooks (updated August 28, 2026)
• Bonsai: Pricing
• IRS: 2026 business standard mileage rate set at 72.5 cents (IR-2025-128)
• CPA Practice Advisor: IRS raises standard mileage rates for rest of 2026