Xero alternative
A Xero alternative for owners
with more than one business.
Xero is a good accounting system for one business. With several, each is its own subscription, and from October 2026 the multi-organization discount begins to be phased out. Here is how the two compare, including where Xero is the better choice.
PORTFOLIO $199/MO · 5 ENTITIES · FREE PLAN IS ONE MANUAL ENTITY
What Xero is
A fair description first.
Xero is cloud accounting software for small businesses, widely used by outside accountants. Every plan includes unlimited users, and payroll across all 50 states is an add-on powered by Gusto.
Each organization is its own Xero subscription. One login lists every organization in My Xero, with your role, unreconciled statement lines, and plan for each. Consolidated reporting is not built in: asked in July 2025, Xero said the work is "not currently planned" and pointed owners to app partners.
What it does well
UNLIMITED USERS
Every plan includes unlimited users with no per-user license fees — useful when an accountant, a bookkeeper, and staff all need access.
PAYROLL INSIDE THE BOOKS
Xero Payroll, powered by Gusto, covers all 50 states for $36 a month plus $6 per employee or contractor.
AI YOU CAN SEE AND SWITCH OFF
JAX auto-reconciliation shows which method it used, matches only when highly confident, and can be turned off per bank account. Claude and ChatGPT integrations shipped in September 2026.
Price
What each costs.
Xero prices as published on its own site on September 21, 2026. Xero raises US prices for new and existing subscribers on October 1, 2026, so both figures are shown. Billing is monthly. A 90%-off offer for the first six months runs to September 30 and applies only to a first organization.
| PLAN | PRICE | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Xero Early | $25/mo → $27 from Oct 1 | 20 invoices and 5 bills. Manual bank reconciliation. |
| Xero Growing | $55/mo → $59 from Oct 1 | Unlimited invoices and bills. JAX auto-reconciliation. |
| Xero Established | $90/mo → $97 from Oct 1 | Adds multiple currencies, projects, and expense claims. |
| 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
Xero and VisiBooks, for an owner with several businesses.
| XERO | VISIBOOKS | |
|---|---|---|
| FIVE BUSINESSES | $295/mo on Growing from Oct 1 — five subscriptions | $199/mo on Portfolio ($169/mo billed annually), five entities on one subscription |
| ONE LOGIN | Yes — My Xero lists every organization | Yes |
| ACROSS ENTITIES | My Xero shows role, unreconciled lines, and plan per organization | An owner workspace showing every entity's health, blockers, unreconciled lines, and close queues |
| CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS | Not built in; "not currently planned"; available through app partners | 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 | JAX chat on every plan; auto-reconciliation from Growing; Claude connector read-only at launch | Bring your own MCP agent. It can operate the books under scoped authority, with review, pause, and revoke. No per-token charge. |
| USERS | Unlimited, no per-user fees | 1 on Operator, up to 5 on Portfolio |
| PAYROLL | Gusto-powered, $36/mo + $6 per person | Optional: $35/mo + $6 per employee on Operator; Portfolio includes one entity and its first five employees |
With several businesses
Where it gets harder.
A subscription per organization
Five businesses on Growing is five subscriptions — $295 a month from October 1 — and the multi-organization discount begins to be phased out that day.
No consolidated statements
Combining organizations means a third-party app. Xero says native consolidation is "not currently planned."
One organization at a time for AI
The Claude connector works in one chosen organization and is read-only at launch.
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 Xero if
When Xero is the better choice.
- You run one business, and your accountant already works in Xero.
- You need many people in the books and want no per-user fees.
- You want payroll run inside your accounting system rather than connected to it.
Questions
Before you switch.
Is Xero cheaper than VisiBooks?
For one business, yes: Xero Growing is $55 a month ($59 from October 1, 2026) against $79 for VisiBooks Operator. With five businesses the order reverses: five Growing subscriptions are $295 a month from October 1, while VisiBooks Portfolio covers five entities for $199.
Can Xero consolidate several organizations?
Not natively. In July 2025 Xero said developing consolidated reporting is "not currently planned" and pointed owners to apps in the Xero App Store.
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.
How do I move from Xero?
Export your chart of accounts and journal history from Xero, then import them into VisiBooks from CSV, reviewing each account before it is created. Most owners switch at the start of a month or year.
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 · XERO FACTS CHECKED SEPTEMBER 21, 2026
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Xero is a trademark of Xero Limited. VisiBooks is not affiliated with Xero Limited.