Express Accounts vs GnuCash
Express Accounts
nchsoftware.com
GnuCash
gnucash.orgSide by side
| Figure | Express Accounts | GnuCash |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $49.14/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 2 |
| Spec score · Salon Accounting Software | 9.1 (#5) | 8.8 (#12) |
| Documentation | The online manual covers chart of accounts, taxes, invoicing, purchasing, payroll, reports, CSV import, backups, multiple currencies, mail merge and Inventoria integration. | The project publishes a reference Manual, an in-depth Tutorial and Concepts Guide, community wiki material, mailing lists and IRC help. |
| License | The EULA reserves copyright to NCH and other listed owners, making the software proprietary rather than open source. | The software is freely licensed under the GNU GPL and is available free of charge. |
| Purpose | Express Accounts tracks business cash flow, including sales, receipts, payments and purchases. | GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software for tracking bank accounts, stocks, income, and expenses. |
| Rating on Apple App Store | No rating overview because the app has not received enough ratings or reviews | 2.7 out of 5 from 13 ratings |
| Rating on Capterra | 3.9 out of 5 from 7 reviews | 4.5 out of 5 from 53 reviews |
| Rating on G2 | 4.0 out of 5 from 1 review | 4.2 out of 5 from 23 reviews |
| Rating on Trustpilot | 4.3 out of 5 from 1,597 reviews for NCH Software overall | 3.7 out of 5 from 1 review |
| Reports | Produces more than 20 reports, including profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, tax, accounts payable, accounts receivable and inventory reports. | It includes customizable reports such as balance sheets, profit and loss, and portfolio valuation, plus charts. |
| Support | NCH publishes tutorials, how-to articles, a forum, bug reporting, feature suggestions and technical-contact links. | The project points users to public mailing lists, IRC, a wiki, documentation, and bug reports for help. |
| System requirements | Current requirements list Windows 7–11 and macOS 10.5 or later. | The 5.17 build requirements include GTK+ 3.22.30, Guile 2.0.9, Boost 1.67, WebKitGTK 2.4, GoogleTest 1.8.0, CMake 3.14.5 and SWIG 3.0.12. |
| What it does | Desktop accounting software for small businesses that records sales, receipts, payments, purchases and cash flow. | GnuCash is free accounting software for personal and small-business finances, including bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. |
Plans
Express Accounts
- Free (non-commercial use)Free
- Free versionFree
- Free version for small businessesFree
- Express Accounts Plus Quarterly Plan$49.14 a month
- Express Accounts Basic$159, paid once
- Express Accounts Plus$249, paid once
In their own words
Express Accounts
Express Accounts is accounting software for tracking business cash flow across sales, receipts, payments and purchases. It creates quotes, sales orders and invoices, including recurring orders and invoices, and handles accounts payable with purchase orders and checks. More than 20 financial reports are available, including income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements; sales tax tools are included. One installation can manage multiple businesses and currencies. The software imports transactions and business records from CSV files and can reconcile OFX bank statements. It integrates with Inventoria for inventory data, though both programs must be installed on the same machine for synchronization; Express Invoice can also connect when recording customer payments. Downloadable desktop use supports offline accounting. Express Accounts runs on Windows, macOS and the web, with a free non-commercial plan and a separate free version for businesses with fewer than five employees. The desktop version does not require a password; Web Access does.
GnuCash
GnuCash is free personal and small-business accounting software for tracking bank accounts, stocks, income, and expenses. Its double-entry accounting requires every transaction’s debits and credits to balance. Small-business tools cover customers, vendors, jobs, invoicing, bill payment, tax and billing terms, and budgeting. Users can create customizable balance sheets, profit and loss, and portfolio valuation reports, as well as charts. GnuCash imports QIF and OFX files with transaction matching; German users can use HBCI to download statements and initiate transfers and direct debits. Data is stored in XML by default. Support for SQLite3, MySQL, and PostgreSQL databases is experimental, and some reported corner cases can cause data loss. The GNU GPL-licensed software has installation options for Linux and installers for macOS and Windows. The main application is unavailable for iOS and iPadOS, while the separate Android app appears abandoned according to the project FAQ. The project is maintained, documented, and translated by volunteers.