Quicken Review (2023): Features, Pricing & More (2024)

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At a Glance

Where Quicken excels is its ease of use. It’s easy to generate all kinds of reports about your business, from banking to spending to net worth. It also lets you split receipts across multiple spending categories—so if you did some personal and business shopping on the same trip, you can separate these expenses easily. These features can help keep your cash flow organized so you can see where your money is going.

While Quicken offers four different subscription packages for users, the Home & Business package is likely to be the one most relevant for entrepreneurs. Most of the others focus solely on personal finances.

Unlike some other accounting software, you pay for Quicken on an annual basis. Here’s how the fees for Quicken break down, including the 10% discount on some packages for the first year:

  • Quicken Starter: $41.88 per year
  • Quicken Deluxe: $44.88 for the first year, then $59.88 afterward
  • Quicken Premier: $71.88 for the first year, then $83.88 afterward
  • Quicken Home & Business: $107.88 for the first year, then $119.88 afterward

Bill tracking is included in all packages, but you’ll just have access to bill pay in the Premier and Business & Home packages. This connects you to more than 11,500 digital network billers, helping you save time and hassle. If you like the sound of paying all of your bills in one place, you can upgrade for $9.95 a month with one of the other two packages.

The Home & Business package also includes some interesting business and rental property features, which make it easy to invest in properties and track tenants. This package also has robust tax planning features that can help you with Schedules A, B, C and E.

Other Benefits

One other type of plan Quicken offers is a subscription to its personal finance app, Simplifi. This app started back in 2020 and is intended to provide users with insights into their financial habits. However, it’s not cheap. A yearly subscription is $47.88, although you do have the option to pay $3.99 per month instead. Overall, it’s not a very valuable asset for a business owner as it’s intended for individuals tracking their spending.

You can also add a backup disc to any package for $4.99. This is just a CD copy of the Quicken software, so it’s not at all necessary to buy since you can just download the program from the web.

Fine Print

One big issue is that the Home & Business package is only available for Windows. If you’re on a Mac, Chromebook or Linux system, you’re out of luck.

Additionally, the Deluxe, Premier and Home & Business packages all come with in-depth investing features. While this sounds nice, unless your business has its own 401(k), this will likely be unnecessary to play with.

Finally, because Quicken lacks any sort of customer portal, time tracking or payroll capabilities, it’s not the best choice for companies that have several employees or deal with a lot of customers.

How Quicken Stacks Up

QuickenNeatBooksFreshBooks
Starting Price$41.88 per year$24 per month with annual billing$5 per month ($2.50 per month for the first four months)
Free Trial30 days15 days30 days
Accounting
Expense TrackingX
Time TrackingXX
Financial Document Management✓ - Includes unlimited storageX
Invoicing
Automatic Payment RemindersXX
Recurring InvoicesXX
Customer PortalX
Customer SupportLive chat, phone and community forumLive chat and support ticketsLive chat

Quicken falls in the middle when it comes to pricing compared to NeatBooks and FreshBooks, which charge $24 per month and $4 per month (after four months at $2.50), respectively. For what NeatBooks charges, it doesn’t offer many expanded features except unlimited cloud document storage, which could be a plus if you deal with many receipts.

What sets FreshBooks apart is its ability to track time, which is crucial if you’re a service-based business that charges by the hour. Along with NeatBooks, it also comes with a customer-facing portal that lends an air of credibility to your company—and makes it easier for customers to pay bills or place an order.

Learn more about how FreshBooks and NeatBooks stack up against Quicken in our reviews.

Is Quicken Right for You or Your Business?

Quicken is the best choice for your business if you’re on the smaller side, don’t have additional employees and want robust expense tracking. If you have a larger team or work primarily on a non-Windows computer, check out our best accounting software picks to find an alternative service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need accounting software for my small business?

If you want to save time and money, then yes. Accounting software can automate many of the tedious tasks associated with bookkeeping, such as invoicing, tracking payments and preparing reports. This frees up your time so you can focus on running your business. Plus, software can help keep your books in compliance.

Is Quicken free?

No. Quicken doesn’t offer any free plans. Plans start at $3.49 a month, although most businesses will want to spend more for the Home & Business plan at $8.99 per month.

Does Quicken offer cloud storage?

By default, Quicken stores your files locally on your computer. However, if you opt into syncing through the Quicken Mobile app or Quicken on the Web, your data is added to the cloud.

How do you buy the Quicken software?

Quicken has changed its service to a subscription model, meaning that you can’t just buy the software anymore. Instead, you’ll pay an annual fee to keep accessing the program.

What features should I look for in accounting software?

The best accounting software programs all provide similar features, so when considering which one is best for your business, you need to consider which features are the most important to your situation. This will help you decide which accounting software meets your needs best. Certain software is best for actions like accounts payable (A/P) and banking and cash management while others are geared more for retail companies, offering cost tracking, inventory management and collecting and submitting sales tax. Other features you may want to consider include whether the software has a mobile app, how good its customer service is and how well it does with accounts receivable (A/R) and financial reporting.

Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circ*mstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by our partners.

Quicken Review (2023): Features, Pricing & More (2024)

FAQs

Do I need to pay for Quicken every year? ›

Q: Do i have to buy this every year? A: Yes, all Quicken products are an annual subscription.

Is Quicken any good anymore? ›

What is this? If you're looking for personal finance software that can help you track your spending, save money, and manage your investments, Quicken is a great option. Overall, Quicken is a great program for personal finance that can help you keep track of your budget, bills, and investments.

How much does Quicken cost per year? ›

The four versions and their prices are: Quicken Starter for $41.88 per year. Quicken Deluxe for $59.88 per year. Quicken Premier for $83.88 per year.

Is Quicken being discontinued? ›

A lot has changed with Quicken—for better or for worse—but there's no current plan to permanently close its services. While some versions and functionalities have been discontinued, Quicken is still releasing new features and tools.

Can I keep using Quicken without subscription? ›

The Quicken Data Access Guarantee means that whether you renew your subscription or not, you'll always have full access to and ownership of your data. You can view, edit, export, and manually enter transactions and accounts for Deluxe and higher versions, even after your subscription ends.

How much does Quicken cost 2023? ›

The premier plan is priced at $70.19 per year that simplifies tax calculations, provides premier customer support, and free online bill payments. An additional Home & Business plan can be purchased for windows systems for $93.95 per year that categorizes business and personal expenses. Does Quicken have an app?

What happens if I don't renew Quicken subscription? ›

After your Quicken Membership expires, you will no longer receive updates to the Quicken application. However, you may continue to use the version of Quicken you had at the time your Membership expired to open your data files and, for Quicken Deluxe and above, continue to use Quicken in a manual mode.

How many years should you keep in Quicken? ›

For most people, it is best to keep only a year to two years of data in the current file, so that Quicken can work with the data quickly and efficiently.

What is an alternative to Quicken? ›

Top Quicken Alternatives
  • Personal Capital (Empower)– Editor's Choice. ...
  • Tiller Money– Best Spreadsheet Budget Tool. ...
  • Monarch Money–Best for Couples. ...
  • You Need a Budget (YNAB)– Best for Basic Budgeting. ...
  • PocketSmith– Best for Calendar Budgeting. ...
  • CountAbout– Imports from Quicken or Mint. ...
  • Moneydance– Traditional Budgeting Software.
Mar 28, 2023

Should you start a new Quicken file every year? ›

One can never have too many backups! But you don't need to separate your Quicken data file each year to safely back up your data.

What is the renewal fee for Quicken? ›

Quicken Starter: $41.88 per year. Quicken Deluxe: $44.88 for the first year, then $59.88 afterward.

Should I get Quicken Deluxe or Premier? ›

Quicken Premier is our best value and most comprehensive solution if you are looking to manage your finances and maximize your investments. It offers you all the tracking and planning tools plus advanced features for maximizing your investments, paying your bills, and premium customer support.

How many people still use Quicken? ›

Quicken is the best-selling personal finance software in the U.S. For over 35 years, more than 20 million customers have relied on Quicken to help them take control of their finances.

What is the most current version of Quicken? ›

Release R45. 11 (US Versions, November 2022)
  • An issue in which manually entered transactions may not match a downloaded transaction when using the Quicken companion apps.
  • For some customers, Quicken incorrectly updated the opening balance transaction automatically when an existing account was reconnected.
5 days ago

Does Quicken expire? ›

For Quicken Subscription, you can see your membership expiration date at any time in Quicken or online on Quicken.com.

Can I go back to an older version of Quicken? ›

You cannot go back to Quicken 2013 with the existing data file. If you want to go back to Quicken 2013 you will have to find a backup of that file before you converted to the subscription and load that one after of course uninstalling Quicken subscription and reinstalling Quicken 2013.

Can you close out a year on Quicken? ›

Choose File menu → Copy or Backup File. On the Backup or Copy File screen, under Advanced Options, select Create a year-end archive. Select Next. The Year-end-copy screen will appear.

How do I use Quicken for a budget? ›

Select Automatic Budget. Click OK to create your automatic budget. Quicken creates the budget based on your top five spending categories.
...
Click OK to create your advanced budget.
  1. The type of budget created. ...
  2. The date range used. ...
  3. The budgeting method used. ...
  4. The rounding used. ...
  5. The accounts and categories used.
Feb 28, 2022

What is Quicken average cost basis? ›

If you decide to use the average cost method, Quicken calculates your cost by multiplying the number of shares sold by the average price paid for all shares prior to the date of the sell transaction. Shares sold are considered to come from the oldest shares first using Explicit FIFO.

How do I copy a budget to next year in Quicken? ›

The first time you view a prior year's budget in a new year, Quicken asks you if you want to extend it to the new year. Just click OK and Quicken creates a new budget for you automatically, copying all of your current budget categories and budget values to the new budget.

How do I transfer Quicken to a new computer? ›

Moving a file once
  1. Step 1: Install Quicken on your new computer. Install Quicken on the new computer. ...
  2. Step 2: Put a copy of your Quicken file on an external disk. On your old computer, open Quicken and select File > Copy or Backup File. ...
  3. Step 3: Restore your Quicken file on the new computer.
Apr 24, 2023

How do I delete old budgets from Quicken? ›

How do I delete a budget?
  1. Click the Planning tab.
  2. Click the Budgets button.
  3. If you have more than one budget, choose the budget you want to delete from the drop down menu at the top of the window.
  4. Choose Budget Actions > Delete this budget.
  5. In the confirmation dialog, click Delete.
Aug 3, 2020

Can you use Quicken without Internet? ›

However, you can also run the Quicken application when you don't have a connection (i.e. offline) you just won't be able to download data again (or update the application) until you are once again connected.

Does Quicken store my data in the cloud? ›

When you use Quicken Mobile or Quicken on the Web, the Quicken Cloud will store any changes you make to your transactions; be sure to sync your cloud data on Quicken Desktop (Windows or Mac) before making changes on the desktop software, otherwise, changes you've made on web or mobile may be overwritten in your desktop ...

How many Quicken backups should I keep? ›

You can keep as many as 99 backups, but that can take up a lot of space. Most people find that between 5 and 20 backups is sufficient. Select this option to have Quicken periodically remind you to make a backup copy of your file.

How do I install Quicken after my subscription expires? ›

Find your Membership expiration date (you can see this by signing into My Account and going to the Subscriptions section).
  1. Go to quicken.com/download to download and install Quicken for Windows.
  2. From the list below, download the patch that was released before your expiration date.

How big is too big for Quicken file? ›

Dollar amount - A Quicken file cannot have an entry that is larger than 99,999,999.99. This includes number of positions (shares) as well as amount of dollars.

Can mint replace Quicken? ›

With Mint, you can track expenses, set bill reminders, create a budget, track investments, and set savings goals. You can even check your credit score for free. Quicken offers the same features but also offers a debt reduction planner, reporting, and other features to help you get your finances in order.

Can I use Excel instead of Quicken? ›

Money in Excel vs Quicken - Key Differences

On the one hand, Quicken duplicates the most common and secure methods of tracking accounts, deposits, and debits, and suggests budgeting from your data. Excel requires more setup but allows much more flexibility in your accounting.

Which is better Simplifi vs Quicken? ›

Simplifi does not offer any business or rental property tracking abilities. With Quicken Home, Business & Rental Property, you can track your rental property income and expenses, create invoices for your business, and much more.

How many times can I install Quicken? ›

You can install Quicken on multiple computers, as per our End User License Agreement.

How many files can I have in Quicken? ›

The accounts are excluded from reports and net worth totals until you unhide them. Quicken can display up to 50 data files in one folder.

Should I archive my Quicken data? ›

Quicken doesn't require that you archive or close out your data file at the end of the year. In fact, not archiving your data at the end of the year lets you run comparison reports on income and expenses from previous years. However, if you want to start the new year with a new data file, use Create a new year file.

Why do I have a $1 charge Quicken? ›

This charge is a verification of the credit card on file with your Quicken.com account. Quicken will perform a pre-authorization transaction to ensure the credit card on your account is up-to-date, so your subscription can be easily renewed. This typically happens within 15 days of your subscription renewal date.

When did Quicken start charging an annual fee? ›

Quicken 2018 is now available for Windows and Mac computers. The most notable new feature is the price: Quicken has become a subscription product with an annual fee.

What is the difference between Quicken Standard and Classic menus? ›

Classic Menus has a much more comprehensive list of menu options than standard menus, and many users prefer to have Classic Menus. You can also choose to show or hide many navigation elements, such as the Account Bar, the Quicken toolbar, and the Dock Sidebar.

Why did Quicken stop working? ›

The anti-virus and/or firewall on your system could be blocking Quicken from running properly. They will need to be disabled or have the settings updated to include Quicken as a safe program. If you do not know how to update these settings, please contact your anti-virus/firewall provider.

Why is new Quicken so slow? ›

If Quicken runs slowly when backing up or closing

If Quicken runs slowly when backing up your data file or when closing the program, you may need to make a copy of your data file without attachments. To do this: Choose File menu > Copy or Backup File. Select Create a copy or template and click Next.

Can I have two versions of Quicken on my computer? ›

Answers. No. First off it isn't possible to run two different versions of Quicken on the same machine. And second off you can't pick and choose what will be upgraded, it is the whole data file.

What's happening with Quicken? ›

Intuit sold Quicken to H.I.G. Capital in 2016, and H.I.G. sold Quicken to Aquiline Capital Partners in 2021.

Do I need to renew my Quicken subscription every year? ›

At the end of the membership period, membership will automatically renew every year and you will be charged the then-current price (prices subject to change). You may cancel before renewal date. For full details, consult the Quicken Membership Agreement. You can manage your subscription at your My Account page.

Should I close accounts in Quicken? ›

You should delete an account only if it was added in error, or if you're sure you will never need the account data in Quicken again. Consider hiding the account (see help topic above) instead of deleting if it's a valid account that is closed or infrequently used.

Does Quicken subscription automatically renew? ›

Your Quicken membership is set to auto-renew when it expires, so you don't experience any disruption in your Quicken services. If you're signed up for auto-renew, you don't need to take any action; you will be notified of the auto-renewal, and your credit card on file will be charged on your expiration date.

How to get Quicken for free? ›

Is Quicken available without a subscription? Sadly, no. Like so many other software packages and apps, Quicken is now only available as a subscription. As a result, you must pay for Quicken every year.

What year did Quicken become a subscription? ›

Beginning with Quicken 2018, Quicken became a subscription service. Annual memberships can be purchased directly from Quicken.com.

What is difference between online balance and ending balance on Quicken? ›

The ending balance is the balance of all transactions entered in the account register, including future-dated transactions such as postdated checks and online payments that have been sent but not yet processed. The current balance is the balance of all transactions entered as of today.

How to make a budget on Quicken? ›

If you need more flexibility or prefer to work using a spreadsheet format, take look at Quicken's advanced budgeting capabilities.
  1. Click the Planning tab.
  2. Click the Budgets button.
  3. Choose Budget Actions > Create a new budget.
  4. Type a budget name.
  5. Select Advanced Budget.
  6. Click OK to create your advanced budget.
Feb 28, 2022

Can I use Quicken without a desktop? ›

You can access Quicken on the Web directly through app.quicken.com/login or go to Quicken.com > Sign In > Quicken on the Web.

What is Quicken called now? ›

QuickBooks and Quicken are two of the most widely used financial management tools in the world. Both programs were part of Intuit (INTU), but Quicken was sold to H.I.G. Capital in 2016.

Can you buy standalone Quicken? ›

Upgrading Your Plan

You can upgrade from any Quicken plan to any other except for Simplifi by Quicken, which is a standalone product.

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