# Bench vs FreshBooks

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** FreshBooks

| Attribute | Bench | FreshBooks |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 46 (59% (medium)) | 70.8 (73% (medium)) |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Bench is an online bookkeeping service that combines automated software with dedicated professional bookkeeping experts to provide monthly books, financial reporting, and tax preparation for small businesses. It is indexed under Accounting Software.","source":"https://bench.co","question":"What is Bench?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Bench is a paid product; published pricing starts at $55 per hour. It is sold across 4 plans (Bookkeeping Grow, Bookkeeping Core, Bookkeeping Core + Tax and QBO Certified Bookkeeper). There is no free tier. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.bench.co/pricing","question":"How much does Bench cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Bench. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.bench.co/pricing","question":"What platforms does Bench support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Bench, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://www.bench.co/pricing","question":"Can Bench be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 16 integrations for Bench, including Plaid, Square, QuickBooks Online, Drake, FileThis, Stripe, Salesforce and AWS, plus 8 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.bench.co/pricing","question":"What does Bench integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 for Bench. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Bench not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://bench.co/security","question":"What security certifications does Bench have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Bench is available in the United States. Its primary market is the United States.","source":"https://www.bench.co/pricing","question":"Where is Bench available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"A web-based accounting platform that streamlines invoicing, payment collection, expense tracking, and financial reporting for small businesses and independent professionals. It is indexed under Accounting Software.","source":"https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing","question":"What is FreshBooks?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"FreshBooks is a paid product; published pricing starts at $2.30 per month. It is sold across 3 plans (Lite, Plus and Premium). There is no free tier. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing","question":"How much does FreshBooks cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to FreshBooks. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing","question":"What platforms does FreshBooks support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for FreshBooks, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing","question":"Can FreshBooks be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 9 integrations for FreshBooks, including Pidj, NiceJob, Acuity Scheduling, ReviewNudger, EasyCSV, AvaTax, Trophy Jar and Paystorm: Chase Late Payments, plus 1 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.freshbooks.com","question":"What does FreshBooks integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed GDPR for FreshBooks. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as FreshBooks not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.freshbooks.com/policies/security-safeguards","question":"What security certifications does FreshBooks have?","confidence":0.7}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | Bench pairs dedicated bookkeeping professionals with financial management software, offering plans ranging from basic bookkeeping to comprehensive packages including tax preparation and advisory services. | A comprehensive accounting solution for small businesses and freelancers offering invoicing, expense tracking, time logging, and online payment acceptance combined with double-entry bookkeeping and project profitability analysis. |
| features.capabilities | `{"bank_feeds":"aggregator","deployment":"cloud","tax_compliance":"Federal income tax filing","payments_capture":true,"accountant_collab":true}` | `{"api_access":"full","bank_feeds":"manual_import","deployment":"cloud","ar_invoicing":true,"tax_compliance":"Automatic tax calculation on invoices and payroll","double_entry_gl":true,"payments_capture":true,"accountant_collab":true,"project_accounting":true}` |
| integrations.count | 16 | 100 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Plaid"},{"name":"Square"},{"name":"QuickBooks Online"},{"name":"Drake"},{"name":"FileThis"},{"name":"Stripe"},{"name":"Salesforce"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"Azure OpenAI"},{"name":"Mailchimp"},{"name":"Marketo"},{"name":"Stream Chat"},{"name":"Appcues"},{"name":"DataDog"},{"name":"Rollbar"},{"name":"Retool"}]` | `[{"name":"Pidj"},{"name":"NiceJob"},{"name":"Acuity Scheduling"},{"name":"ReviewNudger"},{"name":"EasyCSV"},{"name":"AvaTax"},{"name":"Trophy Jar"},{"name":"Paystorm: Chase Late Payments"},{"name":"InvoiceSherpa"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"ios":true,"web":true,"android":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Bookkeeping Light","summary":"$199/mo or $1,910/yr","features":["Accurate books","Year-end tax-ready financials"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":199,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"fixed","amount":1910,"period":"year","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Bookkeeping for small businesses with annual revenue under $250,000","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Bookkeeping","summary":"$399/mo or $3,830/yr","features":["Accurate books","Year-end tax-ready financials","Unlimited bookkeeper access via phone/message/video"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":399,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"fixed","amount":3830,"period":"year","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Full bookkeeping service with dedicated bookkeeper access","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Bookkeeping + Tax","summary":"$649/mo or $6,230/yr","features":["Accurate books","Year-end tax-ready financials","Licensed tax professionals","Up to four tax advisory calls annually","End-to-end business tax filing"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":649,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"fixed","amount":6230,"period":"year","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Bookkeeping plus tax preparation and advisory services","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Full-service tax","summary":"$300/mo or $2,880/yr","features":["Tax filing","Year-round tax advisory","Up to four advisory calls annually"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":300,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"fixed","amount":2880,"period":"year","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Tax preparation and year-round advisory services","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Fractional Bookkeeper","summary":"$55/hr plus $1,200 one-time onboarding","features":["QuickBooks-native expert support","Dedicated bookkeeper access","Flexible scope of work"],"components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"hour","amount":55,"currency":"USD"},{"kind":"one_time","amount":1200,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Hourly expert bookkeeping support for businesses using QuickBooks","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Returning Customer tax filing","summary":"$1,200/yr","features":["Tax filing"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":1200,"period":"year","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Lower-cost tax preparation for existing Bench customers","contactSales":false}],"addOns":[{"name":"Advisory on demand","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":250,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"From $199/mo. No free tier.","currency":"USD","freeTier":false,"sourceUrl":"https://www.bench.co/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-09-18T12:30:12.760Z","startingPrice":{"amount":199,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Lite","summary":"$2.30/mo (promotional: 90% off for 3 months, regular $23.00/mo)","features":["Track and organize client info","5 billable clients","Automated recurring invoices"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":2.3,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"billable_clients":"5"}},{"free":false,"name":"Plus","summary":"$4.30/mo (regular price $43.00/mo)","features":["Track and organize client info","50 billable clients","Automated recurring invoices","Client payment options","Email receipts to account"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":4.3,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Most Popular","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"billable_clients":"50"}},{"free":false,"name":"Premium","summary":"$7.00/mo (regular price $70.00/mo)","features":["Track and organize client info","Unlimited billable clients","Automated recurring invoices","Client payment options","Email receipts to account"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":7,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"billable_clients":"Unlimited"}}],"summary":"From $2.30/mo (introductory) or $23.00/mo (regular). Free 30-day trial.","currency":"USD","freeTier":false,"sourceUrl":"https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-09-04T13:24:37.903Z","freeTrialDays":30,"startingPrice":{"amount":2.3,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | no | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | high | low |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":199,"currency":"USD"}` | `{"amount":2.3,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.pci | - | yes |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |

## Capabilities (Accounting Software)

| Capability | Bench | FreshBooks |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Double-entry GL | - | ✓ |
| Multi-entity | - | - |
| Multi-currency | - | - |
| Bank feeds | Aggregator | Manual import |
| **Modules** |  |  |
| AP automation | - | - |
| AR / invoicing | - | ✓ |
| Inventory | - | - |
| Fixed assets | - | - |
| Project accounting | - | ✓ |
| **Compliance** |  |  |
| Tax compliance | Federal income tax filing | Automatic tax calculation on invoices and payroll |
| **Workflow** |  |  |
| Accountant collaboration | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Payments** |  |  |
| Payments capture | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| API access | - | Full |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-17T02:27:20.923Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*