Avalara AvaTax vs Drake Tax
No clear leader: Avalara AvaTax (50.8) and Drake Tax (50.6) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.
Capabilities
Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for tax software. “-” means undocumented, not absent.
What each one is
The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.
Avalara AvaTax
A cloud-based platform that automatically calculates sales tax based on location and jurisdiction rules, then automates returns preparation, filing, and remittance across multiple states and countries. Handles billions of transactions annually with 99.99% uptime.
Drake Tax
A professional tax return preparation platform that provides automated calculations, compliance checks, multi-state filing, and electronic filing capabilities. Includes practice management features and optional add-ons for document management, workflow tracking, e-signatures, and client communication.
Pricing
List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.
Avalara AvaTax
Core package starting at $699 with volume-based pricing; ancillary services $119–$403
- Tax Calculation and Returns Compliance PackageContact sales
- Tax calculations
- Returns and reporting
- Multi-state compliance
- Business LicensesFrom $119
- License guidance
- Sales Tax Registration$403 per location
- Sales tax registration assistance
Drake Tax
Annual subscription with multiple tiers: unlimited returns, 250 returns, unlimited 1040s, or pay-per-return model. Additional returns $49.99 (individual) or $74.99 (business) each. Optional add-ons available. Free trial available; no monthly billing.
- Drake Tax Pro 250250 returns included; additional individual returns $49.99 each, business returns $74.99 each
- Drake Tax Pro UnlimitedUnlimited returns
- Drake Tax 1040Unlimited individual returns; business returns $74.99 each
- Drake Tax Pay-Per-Return10 individual returns included; $49.99 per additional individual return, $74.99 per business return
Platform & deployment
Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.
Integrations
What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.
Avalara AvaTax
- Shopify
- Salesforce Commerce Cloud
- Magento
- SAP Hybris Commerce
- SAP C4C
- SAP Hybris Marketing
- Intershop
- Drupal Commerce
- Zuora
- Spree
- Solidus
- iPaaS.com
- QuickBooks
- NetSuite
- Salesforce
- Stripe
Drake Tax
- Drake Portals
- Drake Workflow
- Drake E-Sign
- Drake Pay
- Drake Accounting
- Kotapay
- Rightworks
Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.