If a "best tools for freelancers" post still recommends QuickBooks Self-Employed, it's out of date. Intuit pulled it from the App Store and Google Play on March 24, 2024, cut off new signups, and stopped building new features, pointing all new customers to QuickBooks Solopreneur at $20 a month instead (source: freelancerprofit.com, QuickBooks Self-Employed alternatives, 2026). If you're choosing a tax and expense tracker for gig income today, that name is off the table for anyone starting fresh.
Why this correction matters
Search "best expense tracker for freelancers" and QuickBooks Self-Employed still shows up in plenty of results, some clearly written before March 2024 and never updated. Existing subscribers can keep using their accounts, but there's no new-user path, no new features, and Intuit's own migration guidance warns that automatic transfers to Solopreneur have documented failure cases, receipts specifically don't carry over with the transaction export (source: freelancerprofit.com, 2026). If you're planning to migrate off an old account, export your CSV transaction history and receipts separately, by year, before you start.
What each current option actually costs
QuickBooks Solopreneur ($20/mo). The direct successor to QBSE, with a 30-day free trial and built-in GPS mileage tracking, one of only two tools in this list that has it natively (source: freelancerprofit.com, 2026).
Keeper ($199/year). Works out to roughly $16.60 a month, and that price includes actual federal and state tax return filing, not just expense categorization (source: freelancerprofit.com, 2026). If you were going to pay a preparer or software separately at filing time anyway, this folds that cost in.
FlyFin ($192/year, Standard). Close to Keeper's price, also with CPA-assisted filing included (source: freelancerprofit.com, 2026). Worth comparing directly against Keeper since they're solving the same problem at almost the same price.
FreshBooks (~$23/mo, Lite plan). The other tool with built-in GPS mileage tracking, but the Lite plan caps you at 5 billable clients, a real constraint if you're juggling more gigs than that (source: freelancerprofit.com, 2026).
Wave (free Starter, $19/mo Pro). Free for basic invoicing and expense tracking, useful if your main need is organizing income and expenses rather than mileage tracking or built-in filing.
Zoho Invoice (free). Free up to 500 invoices a year, but invoicing-focused rather than a full tax and expense tracker; pair it with a separate tool if you need mileage logs or filing support (source: freelancerprofit.com, 2026).
Comparison
| Tool | Annual cost | Includes filing? | GPS mileage tracking |
|---|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Solopreneur | $240/yr | No | Yes |
| Keeper | $199/yr | Yes (federal + state) | No |
| FlyFin (Standard) | $192/yr | Yes (CPA-assisted) | No |
| FreshBooks (Lite) | ~$276/yr | No | Yes |
| Wave | Free (Pro: $228/yr) | No | No |
The decision that actually matters
Two questions before picking, not the brand name you recognize:
- Do you want your tax return actually filed as part of the subscription, or are you handling filing separately? Keeper and FlyFin build filing in for less than Solopreneur's price without it.
- Do you drive for gig work and need automatic mileage logging? Only Solopreneur and FreshBooks have that built in among this group.
If you need both filing and mileage tracking in one tool, none of these five currently combine them, so you're picking which gap you'd rather fill separately.
FAQ
Can I still use QuickBooks Self-Employed if I already have an account?
Yes, existing subscriptions continue, but there are no new features being added and no path for new users to sign up. Plan your eventual move to Solopreneur or another tool before Intuit forces the migration.
Is Keeper actually cheaper than QuickBooks Solopreneur?
At $199 a year versus $240 a year, yes, and Keeper's price includes actual tax filing while Solopreneur's doesn't, making the gap larger than the sticker prices suggest.
Which tool should I use if I drive for gig work and need mileage logs?
QuickBooks Solopreneur or FreshBooks, the only two in this comparison with built-in GPS mileage tracking. Everything else requires a separate mileage app.
What should I do before migrating off QuickBooks Self-Employed?
Export your transaction history as CSV files for every tax year, and download your receipts separately, since Intuit's own guidance notes receipts don't transfer with the transaction export.
If you take one thing from this: check whether the "best tool" a post recommends still accepts new signups before you build a workflow around it. QuickBooks Self-Employed is the clearest example right now of a name that outlived its own product.
Comments