Pilot vs Puzzle
Pilot
pilot.com
Puzzle
puzzle.ioSide by side
| Figure | Pilot | Puzzle |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $62.50/mo | $30/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 11 | 12 |
| Spec score · AI Accounting Software | 8.6 (#8) | 8.5 (#10) |
| Funding | Pilot’s About page says it has raised more than $150 million from investors including Sequoia, Index Ventures, Stripe, Bezos Expeditions, and Whale Rock. | General Catalyst announced a $15 million Series A for Puzzle in February 2023 and said total funding then reached $20 million. |
| Integrations | Pilot says it connects with more than 10,000 banks, payment processors, payroll systems, and business tools. | Supported connections include Stripe, Mercury, Brex, Ramp, Gusto, Rippling, Deel, Central, Bill.com, Plaid and Joiin. |
| Rating on Trustpilot | 2.9 out of 5 from 20 reviews. | 3.2 out of 5 from 1 review |
| Support | Pilot says plan support is included and that it aims to respond to inquiries within one business day. | The pricing page lists priority support on Complete and Scale, and dedicated onboarding and support on Scale. |
| What it does | Pilot combines bookkeeping software and finance professionals to provide bookkeeping, tax, and advisory services for startups and small businesses. | Puzzle is an AI-native accounting platform that maintains real-time financials and startup metrics from connected financial data. |
Plans
Pilot
- Essentials$99 a month
- CoreFree
- CustomPrice not published
- Essentials (bookkeeping)$99 a month
- Starter (tax)$750 a year
- Basic (CFO)$1,750 a month
- Essentials (tax)$2,450 a year
- Essentials (CFO)$3,150 a month
- Standard (tax)$5,400 a year
- Core (bookkeeping)Priced on request
Puzzle
- R&D Study$1.50, paid once
- Starter$30 a month
- Core$72 a month
- Complete$120 a month
- Migration$149, paid once
- Migration add-on$149, paid once
- Core + Expert Reviewed Bookkeeping$171 a month
- Expert Reviewed service$171 a month
- Catch-up bookkeeping$300 a month
- Catch-up bookkeeping add-on$300 a month
In their own words
Pilot
Pilot is web-based accounting software with bank feeds, automated reconciliation, and accountant access. It does not provide inventory tracking, and web is the only listed platform. The free Core plan is listed at free, billed annually, with $0 in monthly expenses and up to 10 vendor bills per month. Essentials costs $99 a month, billed monthly, and supports up to $100,000 in monthly expenses. A Custom plan has no listed price and is described for complex business structures, custom workflows and reporting, full accounts receivable, full accounts payable, payroll administration, and CFO advisory. Pilot’s pricing note states that a 15-day trial is available and paid plans start from $99/mo. The maker is Pilot, founded in 2017, with headquarters in San Francisco, California, and Nashville, Tennessee. Access is through a browser rather than a listed mobile application.
Puzzle
Puzzle is AI-powered accounting software built around a general ledger and real-time financials. It supports cash and accrual accounting from the same underlying ledger. Puzzle Chat answers business questions in plain English, while Cowork can match invoices to payments and find subscriptions for review. AI agents can categorize transactions, reconcile accounts, and flag exceptions; users can review and edit these actions before financial statements are finalized. The listed integrations include Stripe, Ramp, Brex, Mercury, Gusto, Rippling, Deel, Meow, Causal, Runway, Bill.com, Central, MyRunwayHealth, and Joiin. Puzzle says integrations are read-only, data is encrypted using AES 256-bit encryption, and customers own their data. The company also states it is SOC 2 compliant, with role-based access, encryption in transit and at rest, and audit traceability for user activity and approvals. Puzzle is designed for startups and small and medium businesses, with services described as scaling from pre-seed to Series B. Customers can buy software alone or pair it with bookkeeping services. Starter costs $30 a month; there is no free plan, and a 14-day trial is listed.