Both are Intuit products, but they target different users: QuickBooks Online is full small-business accounting that scales with employees, inventory, and an accountant, while QuickBooks Solopreneur is a streamlined plan for one-person businesses focused on income, expenses, and taxes. Pick Solopreneur if you're a true solo operator; step up to QuickBooks Online when you need full books and room to grow.
Intuit
The default for SMBs working with a CPA — deepest CPA-side workflow on the market.
Pros
Intuit
Schedule C-optimized for sole props and 1099 contractors — lighter and cheaper than QBO.
Pros
| Spec | QuickBooks Online | QuickBooks Solopreneur |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Most U.S. SMBs working with a CPA. Default for retail, e-commerce, contractors, professional services when you don't have a specific reason to choose something else. | Sole proprietors, single-member LLCs filing on Schedule C, side-hustle operators, and 1099 contractors who want business/personal separation and mileage tracking. |
◈ marks the stronger option for that row.
Pick QuickBooks Online if: Most U.S. SMBs working with a CPA. Default for retail, e-commerce, contractors, professional services when you don't have a specific reason to choose something else.
Pick QuickBooks Solopreneur if: Sole proprietors, single-member LLCs filing on Schedule C, side-hustle operators, and 1099 contractors who want business/personal separation and mileage tracking.
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No — QuickBooks Solopreneur is designed for one-person businesses and does not support adding employees, running payroll, or managing multiple users. If you hire your first employee or contractor and need payroll, you'll need to upgrade to QuickBooks Online Simple Start or higher, which integrates with QuickBooks Payroll. Solopreneur does support tracking contractor payments for 1099 purposes. If growth means you need working capital rather than staff, it helps to know how sole proprietors qualify for business financing before you outgrow a solo setup. (Source: Intuit.com QuickBooks Solopreneur product page.)
Yes — QuickBooks Solopreneur is specifically designed around Schedule C filers (sole proprietors and single-member LLCs). It automatically categorizes expenses into IRS Schedule C lines and provides a built-in tax summary to simplify self-employment tax filing. QuickBooks Online is designed for business-entity accounting (S-corps, C-corps, partnerships, LLCs with separate books) and integrates with TurboTax Business, not specifically optimized for Schedule C. Clean Schedule C categorization throughout the year also matters if you're ever audited — see the most common IRS audit red flags for self-employed business owners. (Source: Intuit.com.)
QuickBooks Solopreneur is priced below QuickBooks Online Simple Start — check Intuit.com for current promotional pricing, which changes frequently. QuickBooks Online Simple Start is the entry-level full accounting plan; it supports one user plus an accountant, income and expense tracking, invoicing, and reporting. Solopreneur's lower price reflects its narrower scope (no accounts payable, no full balance sheet, limited integrations). For the current prices of both, see Intuit.com. (Source: Intuit.com.)
QuickBooks Solopreneur includes basic time tracking so sole proprietors can log hours worked, which is particularly useful for freelancers who bill clients by the hour or need to track time for project costing. QuickBooks Online (Simple Start and above) also offers time tracking, and higher-tier plans include more advanced time and project management features. If you need team time tracking across multiple employees or contractors, QuickBooks Online with its payroll and time integrations is the right tier. (Source: Intuit.com QuickBooks Solopreneur product page.)
Yes — QuickBooks Solopreneur includes invoicing so you can send professional invoices to clients and accept payments online. However, Solopreneur's invoicing is more basic than QuickBooks Online's, which supports estimates, progress invoicing, and more customizable invoice templates. If you need to send estimates that convert to invoices or manage retainers and deposits, QuickBooks Online Simple Start or higher provides a more complete invoicing workflow. (Source: Intuit.com.)
QuickBooks Self-Employed was Intuit's original product for freelancers and gig workers; it has been replaced by QuickBooks Solopreneur, which Intuit launched as an expanded version with additional features like invoicing, cash flow insights, and a broader set of Schedule C categories. Intuit migrated existing Self-Employed users to Solopreneur. Both are purpose-built for sole proprietors and single-member LLCs, not for business entities with employees or complex accounting needs. If you currently use Self-Employed, check Intuit.com for the current Solopreneur feature set to see what's changed. (Source: Intuit.com.)
Intuit allows migration from QuickBooks Solopreneur to QuickBooks Online, but the process is not a seamless one-click upgrade — transaction history, categorizations, and reports do not automatically transfer in full. Intuit provides migration guidance at Intuit.com. Most accountants recommend timing a switch to the start of a new fiscal or tax year to keep historical records clean in each system. If you anticipate outgrowing Solopreneur within a year, factor in migration effort when choosing where to start. (Source: Intuit.com QuickBooks support documentation.)
QuickBooks Online Simple Start is the natural first step — it adds full double-entry accounting, accounts payable, bank reconciliation, and support for one user plus an accountant. Move to Plus when you need class and location tracking for multiple business segments, project profitability, or inventory management. For most businesses graduating from Solopreneur, Simple Start covers the immediate needs; re-evaluate at Plus if reporting requirements grow. (Source: Intuit.com QuickBooks Online plan comparison.)
QuickBooks Solopreneur includes bank connection and transaction import so you can categorize and match transactions, but it does not include a formal bank reconciliation workflow — the step-by-step process of comparing your book balance to a bank statement and clearing transactions. Full bank reconciliation is a feature of QuickBooks Online (Simple Start and above). For Schedule C filers, Solopreneur's transaction categorization is typically sufficient for tax prep; if you need a complete reconciliation for bookkeeping accuracy, upgrade to QuickBooks Online. (Source: Intuit.com.)
QuickBooks Solopreneur is specifically designed for Schedule C filers and includes built-in mileage tracking (GPS-based via the mobile app) and the ability to categorize home office expenses into the appropriate IRS Schedule C lines. QuickBooks Online does not include native mileage tracking — mileage must be logged separately and entered as an expense. For a sole proprietor who needs automatic mileage logging, Solopreneur's mobile tracker is a meaningful advantage that QuickBooks Online Simple Start does not replicate. (Source: Intuit.com QuickBooks Solopreneur product page.)
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