The main alternatives to Xero in Australia are MYOB and QuickBooks Online, a spreadsheet plus an accountant, and a newer group of AI bookkeepers. The right one depends on the jobs you need done: if you run payroll with Single Touch Payroll, hold stock, have many users, or your accountant already works in Xero, Xero is often the right call, and the reasons to look elsewhere are usually price, a simpler business, or wanting less manual work.
Prices and features below are as at October 2026, taken from each vendor’s own Australian pages (linked at the end). They change often and most vendors run introductory offers, so treat the table as a guide and check the page before you buy.
Start with the jobs, not the brand
Most small businesses need some mix of these:
- Keep the books: record bank lines and bills, categorise them, reconcile.
- Get the BAS done: GST tracking and a BAS ready to lodge.
- Invoice and get paid.
- Pay staff: payroll, super and Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting to the ATO.
- Track stock.
- Work with other people: staff, a bookkeeper, an accountant.
- Connect other tools: point of sale, e-commerce, job management.
Ask about cost once you know which of these jobs you actually have.
The comparison
| Xero | MYOB | QuickBooks Online | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans shown | Ignite, Grow, Comprehensive, Ultimate 10, 20, 50 and 100, Ultra | Solo, Business Lite, Business Pro, AccountRight Plus (and Premier) | Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, Advanced |
| Price after any introductory offer | Ignite $37, Grow $78, Comprehensive $107, Ultimate $143 to $300, Ultra $500, all per month (AUD, GST included) | Solo $99 per year; Lite $315 per year; Pro $70 per month; AccountRight Plus $165 per month | Not shown on the page as at October 2026: see the QuickBooks pricing page |
| Introductory offer shown | 90% off the first 3 months for new customers (offer ends 2 November 2026) | Solo $12 for the first 12 months; Lite, Pro and Plus 50% to 70% off for the first 3 to 12 months, depending on the plan; MYOB’s offers end 15 January 2027 | ”70% off QuickBooks for 6 months” |
| GST and BAS | Track GST and lodge BAS on every plan | Solo tracks GST only; Lite, Pro and Plus track GST and lodge BAS | ”GST tracking & e-lodge BAS” on every plan |
| Payroll and STP | Included: from 1 person (Ignite) to 100 (Ultimate 100), depending on plan; Xero says it handles STP Phase 2 | Lite: a fee per employee paid, up to 2; Pro: a fee per employee paid; MYOB’s payroll fee is $3 per employee paid per month (GST included), rising to $5 from 1 November 2026; Plus: unlimited payroll at no extra cost; MYOB lists STP | Payroll (powered by Employment Hero) can be added to any plan, and additional fees apply |
| Inventory | Has an inventory feature; check which plan includes it | Order management on Lite, Pro and Plus; unlimited inventory is a $22 per month add-on on Lite and Pro and included in Plus | Inventory tracking on Plus and Advanced |
| Users | No per-user licence fees | Solo is one user; other plans list unlimited user profiles | 1, 3, 5 and 25 users by plan, plus access for your accountant |
| Other tools | Says it connects with 1,000+ apps | Connects with other business tools (bank accounts: up to 2 on Solo and Lite, unlimited on Pro and Plus) | See the page |
Xero says all its prices are in AUD and include GST. MYOB marks some prices as including GST (the Solo offer and the payroll fee) but doesn’t label its plan prices either way, so check before comparing the two columns dollar for dollar.
A rough example. A cafe with three staff on payroll and one owner using the software. Xero’s Grow plan covers payroll for 2 people, so three staff needs Comprehensive, which includes payroll for up to 5: $107 × 12 = $1,284 a year. On MYOB Business Pro, $70 × 12 = $840 plus payroll at the new $5 × 3 staff × 12 = $180 comes to $1,020 a year, on list prices and before introductory offers. The plans also differ in what else they include, such as Xero’s 90-day cash flow forecast and multi-currency on Comprehensive, and Lite, Pro and Plus also differ from each other, so the cheaper line is not automatically the better fit.
Where Xero is the right call
Xero is a strong choice, and often the default, when:
- You run payroll. Its plans include payroll for 1 to 100 people, depending on the plan, and Xero says it reports to the ATO every payday through STP.
- You hold stock. It has inventory features, and its app store lists specialist inventory apps for more complex stock.
- You have many people using it. It charges no per-user licence fees, though some features have user limits.
- Your accountant works in it. Xero says its partner program has 250,000 accountants and bookkeepers. If your accountant prefers Xero, that usually outweighs a small price difference.
- You need integrations. Xero says it connects with 1,000+ apps.
If most of these apply, the question is which Xero plan, not whether to leave.
When MYOB or QuickBooks Online make sense
MYOB offers a range from Solo (a mobile app for sole traders) up to AccountRight Plus and Premier for more complex businesses, with payroll priced per employee on the smaller plans. It can suit a business that already has MYOB data, an accountant who uses MYOB, or a sole trader who wants a plan sized to one person.
QuickBooks Online is sold by the number of users (1, 3, 5 or 25) rather than by payroll headcount, and its page lists access for your accountant on every plan. It can suit a business that wants a set number of users, or whose accountant prefers it. Payroll is an add-on with extra fees.
Spreadsheet plus an accountant
A spreadsheet costs almost nothing and gives you complete control, which is why many sole traders start there. The trade-off is that you do the bookkeeping, reconciliation and BAS working yourself, nothing checks your GST, and the accountant has more to untangle at year end. It tends to suit a business with few transactions and one entity. It gets harder as you add bank accounts, entities or staff, and you still need to keep the records the ATO requires.
AI bookkeepers
A growing group of tools use AI to categorise bank lines, match receipts and prepare the BAS, with a person approving. The established vendors are also adding AI: Xero’s page describes its JAX assistant, which “automatically categorises and matches high-confidence bank transactions”, and MYOB lists “AI BAS” as a beta add-on. Questions worth asking of any of them:
- Does it keep a real set of books you can hand to an accountant, or only a report?
- Who decides when it is unsure, and does it ask you or guess?
- Can it handle more than one entity, and keep personal and business money apart?
- Does the BAS wait for your approval before anything is lodged?
- How does it connect to your bank: through the Consumer Data Right, or by asking for your banking password?
What to look for in 2027
- Match the plan to your jobs: payroll, stock and users drive the price more than BAS does.
- Check price on the vendor’s page on the day, including GST and what the introductory offer rolls to.
- Ask your accountant what they work in; it can save more than a subscription costs.
- Check how your bank feed connects.
- Prefer a tool you can export your data from.
Questions
Is Xero the best accounting software in Australia?
It is the right call for many businesses, particularly those with payroll, stock, many users or an accountant who works in it. “Best” depends on the jobs you need done and what you’ll pay.
Is there a free alternative to Xero?
A spreadsheet is the free option, but you do the reconciliation and BAS work yourself and keep the records. As at October 2026, the Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks pricing pages list paid plans with introductory offers or trials, not a permanent free plan.
Can I switch from Xero to another tool?
Yes, but plan it for the start of a BAS period or financial year, and ask your accountant first. Moving mid-quarter can split your records across two systems.
Where Beans fits
Beans is built for small businesses, including the ones whose books span more than one entity with personal money mixed in. It keeps the books as you go: bank lines and receipts are recorded in the right entity’s books as they arrive, receipts can be emailed in, and it only asks when the call is yours to make, such as whether something is the business’s or personal. It works up the BAS from books that are already done, and the BAS waits for your yes. It also flags a purchase that’s still missing a tax invoice, so you can chase the supplier before the BAS.
Sources (vendor pages for vendor facts, checked 15 October 2026): Xero pricing plans, Xero payroll, Xero inventory, MYOB plans and pricing, MYOB pricing update, QuickBooks Online pricing.
General information, not tax advice.