Home / Compare / Solas vs QuickBooks

Solas vs QuickBooks

QuickBooks’ Sole Trader plan strips out VAT, AI, recurring invoices, and multi-currency. Then they raised prices 29–50% in January 2026. Solas gives you everything they charge for — free.

Solas

£0

Free forever

QB Sole Trader

£10/mo

No VAT, no AI, no recurring

QB Simple Start

£16/mo

VAT + AI, 1 user

QB Essentials

£33/mo

Recurring invoices, multi-currency

What Solas gives free that QuickBooks strips from its cheapest plan

VAT Returns & HMRC Filing

Full VAT scheme setup, return calculation, and direct HMRC submission.

Solas: Free
QuickBooks: £16/mo (Simple Start)

AI Receipt Classification

Agentic AI categorises receipts by reasoning through HMRC rules.

Solas: Free
QuickBooks: £16/mo (no AI on Sole Trader)

Multi-Currency Invoicing

Invoice clients in GBP, USD, or EUR without upgrading your plan.

Solas: Free
QuickBooks: £33/mo (Essentials)

Balance Sheet & Trial Balance

Full double-entry bookkeeping with proper financial statements.

Solas: Free
QuickBooks: £16/mo (not on Sole Trader)

Real-Time Tax Estimates

See your estimated Income Tax and NIC liability updated in real time.

Solas: Free
QuickBooks: £10/mo (basic only)

Mobile HMRC Filing

Submit quarterly ITSA updates, VAT returns, and year-end declarations from your phone.

Solas: Free
QuickBooks: Desktop only

Full feature-by-feature comparison

Every feature, side by side. Green means included free. Red means missing entirely.

Unlimited invoicing

SolasFree
Competitor£10/mo (Sole Trader)

Quotes with one-tap convert to invoice

SolasFree
Competitor£33/mo (Essentials)

Quote portal (client accept/decline)

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

Multi-currency invoicing

SolasFree (GBP, USD, EUR)
Competitor£33/mo (Essentials)

Recurring invoices

SolasN/A
Competitor£33/mo (Essentials) ✓

Client portal + view tracking

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

Receipt OCR (unlimited)

SolasFree
Competitor£10/mo (Sole Trader)

AI receipt categorisation

SolasFree
Competitor£16/mo (Simple Start)

Agentic classification (LLM)

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

VAT returns + HMRC filing

SolasFree
Competitor£16/mo (Simple Start)

MTD for Income Tax (quarterly)

SolasFree
Competitor£10/mo (Sole Trader)

MTD for VAT

SolasFree
Competitor£16/mo (Simple Start)

BSAS adjustments via HMRC API

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

Loss claims via HMRC API

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

Year-end guided wizard

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

File taxes from mobile

SolasFree
CompetitorNot available — desktop only

Real-time tax estimates (IT + NIC)

SolasFree
Competitor£10/mo (basic)

Capital allowances (AIA)

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

Loss carry-forward management

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

Equipment tracking wizard

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

Mileage tracking (HMRC rates)

SolasFree
Competitor£10/mo (Sole Trader)

Intelligent mileage logging

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

WFH deduction calculator

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

AI tax assistant (legislation search)

SolasFree (10/mo)
Competitor£16/mo (Simple Start)

Double-entry bookkeeping

SolasFree
Competitor£10/mo (Sole Trader)

Balance Sheet

SolasFree
Competitor£16/mo (Simple Start)

Trial balance

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

Bank sync (Open Banking)

SolasFree
Competitor£10/mo (Sole Trader)

Biometric app lock

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

Offline mode

SolasFree
CompetitorN/A

Payroll add-on

SolasN/A
Competitor£16/mo + £5/mo ✓

Inventory tracking

SolasN/A
Competitor£47/mo (Plus) ✓

Project tracking

SolasN/A
Competitor£47/mo (Plus) ✓

QuickBooks just raised prices 29–50%. Solas is free.

The Sole Trader plan strips VAT, AI, and recurring invoices. Solas includes all of them — plus features QuickBooks doesn’t offer at any price.

Download on the App Store