ZipBooks vs Patriot Accounting

Two accounting tools side by side. Prices are the starting plan a small business would pick, in USD.

Compare	ZipBooksZipBooks	Patriot AccountingPatriot Software
In one line	Free invoicing and books, with paid plans for small teams	Plain US bookkeeping from $20 a month, with payroll from the same company
Starting price	Free for 1 user	From $20/mo
Six-person team	$0/mo	$20/mo
Plans	Starter free (unlimited invoices, 1 bank account); Smarter $15/mo (5 team members, recurring invoices, time tracking); Sophisticated $35/mo (unlimited users, reconciliation); billed monthly	Accounting Basic $20/mo (unlimited users); Accounting Premium $30/mo (estimates, recurring invoices, user permissions); 50% off the first 3 months; 30 days free
Pricing model	Free tier	Free trial
Free trial	30 days	30 days
Users	1 on Starter; 5 on Smarter	Unlimited
Both connect to	Stripe Invoicing
Also connects to	Square POS, Gusto, PayPal Invoicing	Patriot Payroll
Team size	Just me · 2–10 people	Just me · 2–10 people
Available in	US · UK · CA · AU	US
Phone support	None listed	Every plan
Live chat	Plans not stated	Every plan
Support hours	Live chat: Mon-Fri 8am-4pm MT	Phone: 9a.m. - 7p.m. ET, Monday - Friday
Incidents posted	We found no public status page for ZipBooks.	2 incidents posted on Patriot Software's status page, which covers all Patriot Software products and regions, in the 90 days to Oct 27, 2026; 2 marked major or critical by Patriot Software. Status page
Capterra score	4.5 / 5 from 115 reviews	4.8 / 5 from 3,966 reviews
Trustpilot score	3.5 / 5 from 3 reviews (few reviews)	Not listed
Fit: Retail shop	55	60
Fit: Restaurant or café	45	55
Fit: Service business	85	82
Fit: Agency or studio	75	70
Fit: Trades or contractor	72	80
Fit: Online store	45	45
Why people pick it	Free plan with unlimited invoices 30-day trial without a card	Low price with US phone support Pairs with Patriot Payroll
Where it falls short	Reconciliation only on the $35 plan No inventory tracking	US only No inventory or multi-currency
	Visit ZipBooks ↗	Visit Patriot Accounting ↗

Six-person prices are what a team of six would pay on the published plans; "Not listed" means those plans don't cover six. How we calculate prices