Compare
The accounting is never the upsell.
The clearest difference between Summely and the software most small businesses use is not a feature. It is which features you have to pay more to reach.
Capability, by plan.
We do not print competitors' prices here — they change, and a stale number is worse than none. Check QuickBooks pricing and FreshBooks pricing yourself; what matters below is which tier a capability arrives in.
| Capability | Summely | QuickBooks Online | FreshBooks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double-entry ledger | Every plan | Every plan | Not on the entry plan |
| Bank reconciliation | Every plan | Every plan | Higher plans |
| Inventory with FIFO costing | Every plan | Higher plans | Not offered |
| Fixed assets and depreciation | Every plan | Top plan | Not offered |
| Projects and job costing | Every plan | Higher plans | Higher plans |
| Multi-currency | Every plan | Higher plans | Limited |
| Budgets versus actuals | Every plan | Higher plans | Not offered |
| Custom report builder | Every plan | Higher plans | Not offered |
| Client or customer limit | None | None | Capped on lower plans |
| Payroll | No | Paid add-on | Through a partner |
| Card and ACH processing | No | Yes, per transaction | Yes, per transaction |
| Accountant network | No | Large | Yes |
| Track record | New | Two decades | Two decades |
Tiering reflects each vendor's published plan documentation. Verify against their own pages before you decide — and tell us if you find this table out of date.
Where they are stronger.
Payroll and payments.
If you want one bill for books, payroll and card processing, the incumbents do that and we do not.
Your accountant knows them.
QuickBooks in particular has an enormous professional network. Ask yours before you move.
Twenty years of edge cases.
They have seen situations we have not. We are new, and we would rather you knew that from us.