Puzzle alternative
A Puzzle alternative for owners
with more than one business.
Puzzle is inexpensive, AI-assisted accounting built for startups. Puzzle says it "does not expressly support multi-entity." Here is how the two compare, including where Puzzle is the better choice.
PORTFOLIO $199/MO · 5 ENTITIES · FREE PLAN IS ONE MANUAL ENTITY
What Puzzle is
A fair description first.
Puzzle is accounting software for startups and small businesses, optimized in its own words for software companies. It keeps cash and accrual books from one ledger, connects natively to the startup fintech stack, and offers bookkeeping through partner firms.
Puzzle says it "does not expressly support multi-entity." Each company is its own Puzzle account, linked by adding your email to each, and consolidation runs through Joiin, a third-party service with its own subscription.
What it does well
LOW, PUBLISHED PRICING
Self-serve plans from $30 a month with a free trial.
CASH AND ACCRUAL AT ONCE
Cash and accrual books from one ledger, with prepaid, accrual, and fixed-asset schedules built in.
THE STARTUP STACK
Native connections to Stripe, Mercury, Ramp, Brex, Gusto, Rippling, and Deel, plus optional partner bookkeeping.
Price
What each costs.
Puzzle prices as published on its own site on September 21, 2026. Partner-delivered bookkeeping is extra, from $171 a month.
| PLAN | PRICE | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Puzzle Starter | $30/mo ($24 annually) | 1 seat. |
| Puzzle Core | $72/mo ($58 annually) | 5 seats. Multi-entity through an integration. |
| Puzzle Complete | $120/mo ($96 annually) | Unlimited seats. Revenue recognition, classes, AI reconciliations. |
| Puzzle Scale | $360/mo ($288 annually) | Unlimited seats. Subledgers. |
| VisiBooks Free | $0 | One manual entity, no live bank feeds. Enough to see the ledger, not the multi-entity view. |
| VisiBooks Operator | $79/mo ($67 billed annually) | One live business: bank feeds, reconciliation, invoices, bills, close controls. |
| VisiBooks Portfolio | $199/mo ($169 billed annually) | Five live entities included, +$29 per additional entity, up to five users, cross-entity monitoring. |
Side by side
Puzzle and VisiBooks, for an owner with several businesses.
| PUZZLE | VISIBOOKS | |
|---|---|---|
| SEVERAL BUSINESSES | Each company is its own account; Puzzle does not publish multi-company pricing | $199/mo on Portfolio ($169/mo billed annually), five entities on one subscription |
| CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS | Through Joiin, a third-party service | Create a workspace and add your companies first, then view their P&L and balance sheet in the desktop app or API. Tagged intercompany pairs are eliminated only when both sides balance; mismatches remain visible and the report is labelled combined. No web consolidation view, consolidated cash-flow statement, or currency conversion yet. |
| AI | Deterministic in-house agents; third-party MCP is read-only and in alpha | Bring your own MCP agent. It can operate the books under scoped authority, with review, pause, and revoke. No per-token charge. |
| BUILT FOR | Startups, especially software companies | Owners running several businesses |
With several businesses
Where it gets harder.
No express multi-entity support
Each company is a separate account; consolidation needs Joiin.
One bank login per institution
Puzzle documents that connecting a bank account to one company and then another disconnects the earlier connection — a problem when one card or account serves several businesses.
Single-entity guarantees
Puzzle's faster-close guarantee and its expert-reviewed bookkeeping are limited to single-entity structures.
Portfolio runs up to five companies on one subscription, each with its own ledger, chart of accounts, bank connections and statements, with cross-entity monitoring across all of them. Additional entities are $29 a month each.
Stay with Puzzle if
When Puzzle is the better choice.
- You run one venture-backed software or service startup on Mercury, Stripe, Ramp, or Brex.
- You want burn and runway reporting and low-cost self-serve books.
- You want cash and accrual views of the same ledger side by side.
Questions
Before you switch.
Is Puzzle cheaper than VisiBooks?
For one business, yes: Puzzle Core is $58–$72 a month against $79 for VisiBooks Operator. With several businesses, each is its own Puzzle account and consolidation needs Joiin; VisiBooks Portfolio covers five entities for $199.
Can I manage several companies in Puzzle?
Yes, as separate accounts linked to your email. Puzzle says it does not expressly support multi-entity, and consolidation runs through the Joiin integration.
Can my AI agent write to the books?
In Puzzle, third-party AI such as Claude gets read-only access, and the MCP is in alpha. In VisiBooks, your agent can operate the books under the authority you scope per entity, and you can review, pause, or revoke it.
Does VisiBooks produce consolidated statements?
Create a workspace and add your companies first, then view their P&L and balance sheet in the desktop app or API. Tagged intercompany pairs are eliminated only when both sides balance; mismatches remain visible and the report is labelled combined. No web consolidation view, consolidated cash-flow statement, or currency conversion yet.
Run every company from one system.
Portfolio is $199 a month for five entities. The free plan is a single manual ledger — useful for seeing how VisiBooks works, not for running several businesses — so look at Portfolio if more than one company is why you are here.
SOURCES · PUZZLE FACTS CHECKED SEPTEMBER 21, 2026
Also compared: Xero · Zoho Books · Sage 50 · Digits · Rillet · QuickBooks
Puzzle is a trademark of Puzzle Financial, Inc.. VisiBooks is not affiliated with Puzzle Financial, Inc..