QuickBooks vs Quicken

Diffen › Technology › Computers › Software

While Quickbooks is intended for small business owners, Quicken is for use by individuals. Quickbooks is preferable if you run a small business with multiple accounts, need to handle sales or payrolls, or are based in countries where Quicken is unavailable, such as the UK. Quicken is preferable if you are looking for a cheaper option that will help you handle personal finance issues such as checkbook accounting and retirement planning. Both Quicken and Quickbooks are developed by Intuit, Inc.

Comparison chart

QuickBooks versus Quicken comparison chart
	QuickBooks	Quicken
	current rating is 2.9/5 1 2 3 4 5 (83 ratings)	current rating is 2.86/5 1 2 3 4 5 (117 ratings)

Intended for	Small business accounting	Individuals
Cost	$180-$480, depending on version.	$40-$120, depending on version.
Developer	Intuit, Inc.	Intuit, Inc.
Create budget reports and graphs	Yes	Yes
Automatically pay bills online	Yes	Yes
Retirement Planning	No	Yes
Tax Deductions	Yes	Yes
Create Invoices	Yes	Yes
Business Planning	Yes	No
Manage payroll and sales	Yes	No
Time Tracking	Yes	No
Integrate with Word, Excel and Outlook	Yes	No
Multiple users	Yes	No
Remote Access	Yes	No
Checkbook Accounting	No	Yes
Track Investments	No	Yes
College Planning	No	Yes
Household Inventory	No	Yes
Compatibility	Windows. Mac version available in US only.	Windows, Mac, online.
Versions	Quickbooks Pro, Quickbooks Premier, Quickbooks Enterprise Solutions	Quicken New User, Quicken Basic, Quicken deluxe, Quicken Rental Property Manager, Quicken Premier, Quicken Home and Business, Quicken Personal, and Quicken Personal Plus.
Availability	US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore.	Designed for US, Canada, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore.

Quickbooks and Quicken by Intuit Inc.

Functions

Quickbooks online version

Budget Reports

Both Quickbooks and Quicken allow the user to create budget reports and graphs.

Online Banking

Both Quickbooks and Quicken allow the user to pay bills and make transfers online.

Retirement Planning

Quickbooks, as a small business finance program, does not help the user to plan for retirement.

Quicken has 401k-vs-Roth-401k|retirement planning]] built into its software.

Tax Deductions

Both Quickbooks and Quicken allow the user to find tax deductions.

Invoices

Both Quickbooks and Quicken allow the user to create invoices. However, only Quickbooks is able to monitor unpaid invoices.

Business Features

Quickbooks allows the user to develop a business plan, track business sales tax, track sales invoices and inventories, manage payrolls and track expenses. It can integrate with Word, Excel and Outlook and can handle multiple users.

Quicken does not have any of these features.

Remote Access

Quickbooks can be accessed remotely. Quicken cannot be accessed remotely.

Tracking Investments

Quickbooks does not allow the user to track investments.

Quicken, on the other hand, allows the user to track the cost basis and current market value of stocks, bonds and mutual funds.

Household Inventory

Quicken allows the user to maintain an inventory of household possessions, for use in emergencies such as fire.

Quickbooks does not have this feature.

Compatibility

Quickbooks is compatible with Windows PCs. A Mac-compatible version is available in the US only. An online version is also available.

Quicken is compatible with both Macs and Windows PCs, and also has an online version.

Availability

Quickbooks is adapted for use in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

Quicken is mainly used by customers in North America, but localized versions are available in Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore. The UK version was discontinued in 2005.

Price

Quickbooks Pro costs $183.96, while Quicbooks Premier costs $319.96. Quickbooks Enterprise solutions cost $480 per user.

Quicken Essentials costs $39.99, while Quicken Deluxe costs $49.99, Quicken Premier costs $69.99, and Quicken Home & Business costs $79.99. The Quicken Rental Property Manager costs $119.99.

References

About the Author

Nick Jasuja has over 15 years of technology industry experience, including at Amazon in Seattle. He is an expert at building websites, developing software programs in PHP and JavaScript, maintaining MySQL and PostgreSQL databases, and running Linux servers for serving high-traffic websites. He has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science & Engineering.