An honest QuickBooks Self-Employed alternative — free
For freelancers leaving QuickBooks Self-Employed (now retired) or weighing Solopreneur.
Businessily is the closest free replacement for QuickBooks Self-Employed: it does invoices, expenses, mileage and US tax prep (Schedule C, quarterly estimates, 1099-NEC) in one app, at $0, without asking for your bank login. QuickBooks retired Self-Employed and now points people to Solopreneur, which starts at ~$20/mo and has raised prices over time.
Pricing reflects publicly listed plans as of 2026 and changes often — check intuit.com before deciding.
Businessily vs QuickBooks Solopreneur
| Businessily | QuickBooks Solopreneur | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ✓ $0, no tier | ✗ Starts ~$20/mo |
| Free forever (not a trial) | ✓ | ✗ Trial only |
| No bank login / no Plaid | ✓ Import a file | ✗ Bank feeds |
| On-device data option | ✓ Apple apps | ✗ Cloud only |
| Data not shared across a giant | ✓ | ~ Shared across Intuit (QuickBooks/TurboTax/Credit Karma) |
| Mileage tracking | ✓ Free | ~ In app |
| Schedule C / quarterly estimates | ✓ Free | ~ Estimates |
| 1099-NEC for contractors you hire | ✓ Built in | ~ Higher tiers |
| POS & scheduling / booking | ✓ Included | ✗ |
| Native Mac app | ✓ Only one in category | ✗ Web/phone |
| One-tap export, no lock-in | ✓ | ~ Migration can drop old data |
| Established accountant network | ✗ Not yet | ✓ Large |
✓ = yes · ~ = partial/with a catch · ✗ = no. Summarized from publicly listed plans; verify with Intuit. Last reviewed June 2026.
When QuickBooks is the better choice
If your bookkeeper already works in the QuickBooks ecosystem, handing them a QBO file is the path of least resistance.
QuickBooks auto-pulls transactions through bank connections. We chose statement-import over linking a login, which is a little more manual.
Intuit offers capital products and has long-standing compliance attestations we don't have yet.
If you're adding employees and full double-entry accounting, a mature platform may carry you further.
What's different about Businessily
No Plaid, ever
We never ask for your bank password. You import a statement file (CSV/OFX/QFX), parsed on your device — not a login routed through a third party.
We never hold your money
Payments go straight to your own account. We're not a bank or processor, so there's no balance for us to freeze.
Your data stays yours
On Apple it's on-device; on Android and web it sits in a private, account-locked row. Your SSN and contractor Tax IDs never touch our cloud.
Compare the others
FreshBooks alternative
~$23–70/mo, Lite caps 5 clients.
Read →Wave alternative
Owned by H&R Block; bank import now paid.
Read →Hurdlr / Everlance alternative
Mileage apps with paywalled auto-tracking.
Read →The full comparison hub
All eight tools, side by side.
Read →See the mechanics on How it works, or what we store on Security.
Get it free — really.
Every feature, every platform, $0. No card. Nothing to cancel.