Aplos vs QuickBooks Cost for Churches and Nonprofits
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Aplos is the better pick for a church or nonprofit that needs true fund accounting and built-in giving statements, and it costs $79 a month for Lite or $129 for Core. QuickBooks Online Plus is the better pick when your organization qualifies for TechSoup, because Plus then costs an $80 admin fee a year instead of $140 a month, and nearly every CPA already works in it. Without TechSoup, Aplos Lite is cheaper than QuickBooks Plus.
The Aplos prices are from aplos.com/pricing, which also runs a 50 percent off offer for the first three months with code FALL26 for new customers through October 31. The QuickBooks figures come from Intuit's church accounting page and the TechSoup fee from TechSoup's QuickBooks Online for Nonprofits page. This comparison is for a treasurer, finance committee or executive director who has to pick one and pay for it this budget cycle.
| Point of comparison | Aplos | QuickBooks Online Plus |
|---|---|---|
| List price | Lite $79, Core $129, Advanced from $229 a month | $140 a month |
| Intro offer | 50% off 3 months (Lite and Core, to Oct 31) | 50% off 3 months ($70) |
| Nonprofit donation route | None published | TechSoup, $80 admin fee a year |
| Free trial | 15 days, no credit card | 30 days (not combined with the offer) |
| Users included | 2 on Lite and Core, 3 on Advanced | 5 plus 2 accountants |
| Fund accounting | Native: balance sheet and income statement by fund | Classes, 40 classes and locations combined |
| Budgets | Core and up; by fund or grant on Advanced | Included in Plus |
| Accounts payable | Core and up | Included |
| Donor giving statements | Built in, by individual or household | Built from a sales by customer report or a giving app |
| Payroll | Through a Gusto partnership | QuickBooks Workforce add-on |
| Board reporting | Board portal on every plan | Emailed or shared reports |
| Importing past transactions | Register import from a spreadsheet template | Bank feeds, CSV or QBO Web Connect files |
Is Aplos better than QuickBooks?
Aplos is better than QuickBooks for a church or nonprofit whose main reporting problem is restricted funds, because it keeps fund balances natively and prints statements by fund without workarounds. QuickBooks is better when you want a mainstream ledger your CPA already knows, five users for one price, and the TechSoup donation that drops the yearly cost to $80.
Aplos says as much in its own comparison: QuickBooks "requires workarounds using classes or liability accounts to simulate restricted funds." That is fair. It is also true that a congregation with three or four designated funds rarely feels that pain, and that a general ledger every accountant in town can open has real value when your volunteer treasurer changes every two years.
How much does Aplos cost?
Aplos costs $79 a month for Lite, $129 a month for Core and from $229 a month for Advanced, with custom pricing for organizations above $1 million in annual revenue. Lite and Core include two users and Advanced three. New customers can take 50 percent off the first three months of Lite or Core with code FALL26 through October 31, and every plan has a 15-day trial.
The jump that catches people is users. A church with a treasurer, a financial secretary and a pastor who wants to look at reports needs three seats, which on the published list means Advanced at $229. QuickBooks Plus includes five users and two accountant logins in its $140 price.
Which is cheaper, Aplos or QuickBooks?
QuickBooks is cheaper for any organization that qualifies for TechSoup, at $80 a year for Plus. Without TechSoup, Aplos Lite is cheaper: about $4,622 over five years with the current intro offer, against $8,190 for QuickBooks Plus at Intuit's prices. Aplos Core lands in between at about $7,547.
| Plan | Year one | Each later year | Five-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Online Plus via TechSoup | $80 | $80 | $400 |
| Aplos Lite (with FALL26 offer) | $829.50 | $948 | $4,621.50 |
| Aplos Core (with FALL26 offer) | $1,354.50 | $1,548 | $7,546.50 |
| QuickBooks Online Plus, direct (with intro offer) | $1,470 | $1,680 | $8,190 |
| Aplos Advanced | $2,748 | $2,748 | $13,740 |
The totals assume today's list prices hold, which they rarely do: Intuit raised QuickBooks Online prices on August 1, 2026. Payroll, payment processing and add-on apps are extra on both sides. Our QuickBooks Online Plus pricing page lists every discount route on the QuickBooks side.
Can you use QuickBooks for fund accounting?
Yes, you can use QuickBooks for fund accounting by assigning a class to each fund and running reports by class, but only on QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced. It shows each fund's income and spending well. What it does not do natively is carry restricted fund balances forward, so year-end needs journal entries or an accountant who sets up equity accounts per fund.
Intuit's own church page confirms the class limit: fund tracking by class is "available only in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced." Simple Start and Essentials are cheaper, and they are the plans churches most often buy by mistake. Our QuickBooks for churches page walks through the plan choice and setup in order.
Is Aplos good for small churches?
Aplos is good for small churches that track several designated funds and want giving statements without building reports, and Lite at $79 a month fits a church with two people in the books. It is a weaker fit for a very small church with one fund and no TechSoup barrier, where QuickBooks Plus at $80 a year costs far less.
The other small-church question is who will keep the books in five years. Aplos is purpose-built and easier for a volunteer to learn; QuickBooks is what the next treasurer has probably seen at work. Neither answer is wrong, but it should be a conscious choice.
Does Aplos do giving statements?
Yes. Aplos tracks online gifts by donor and purpose and prepares monthly, quarterly or annual giving statements by individual or household, according to its pricing page. QuickBooks has no dedicated giving statement, so churches on QuickBooks record donors as customers and send a sales by customer report, or connect a giving app that builds the statements.
One caution from Aplos's own help center: transactions imported straight into a register are not tracked by donor, so historical gifts brought in that way will not appear on giving statements. Import past donations through the donor side if you need them on this year's letters.
Does Aplos do payroll?
Aplos handles payroll through a partnership with Gusto rather than its own payroll engine, so payroll is a separate subscription with Gusto's pricing. QuickBooks sells payroll as the Workforce add-on, listed at $203 a month plus $10 per employee when bundled with Plus. Either way, clergy housing allowances need careful setup with your CPA.
Can I switch from QuickBooks to Aplos?
Yes. Aplos publishes a QuickBooks migration path that starts with exporting data from QuickBooks, and its register import takes past transactions from a spreadsheet template with date, payee, check number, account, memo and fund columns. Set up the chart of accounts and funds in Aplos first, because the template only accepts accounts that already exist.
How do I move Quicken records into Aplos or QuickBooks?
Export each Quicken account as a QIF file, then convert it to the format your new system takes. For QuickBooks Online, convert the QIF to a QBO Web Connect file and upload it to the matching bank account; QuickBooks rejects QIF directly. For Aplos, convert the QIF to a spreadsheet and paste the rows into Aplos's import template.
The converter at the top of this page does both from one upload. For QuickBooks, use QIF to QuickBooks Online; for Aplos, the QIF to Excel converter gives you dated, signed rows ready for the template. If the decision is really whether your organization has outgrown Quicken, our Quicken for nonprofits guide covers that first.
Which should a church or nonprofit buy?
Buy QuickBooks Online Plus if you qualify for TechSoup, have more than two people in the books, or want your CPA working in a system they already use; read the TechSoup steps in TechSoup QuickBooks for nonprofits first. Buy Aplos if restricted funds and giving statements are the daily job and two users are enough.
If you go with QuickBooks and want board-ready budget-to-actual reporting on top of your QuickBooks books, that is a separate tool you can add later. Start with the ledger, the fund list and clean history; everything else depends on those.
Related reading: QuickBooks for churches pricing and setup, QuickBooks Online Advanced pricing, QuickBooks Online discounts and convert Quicken to QuickBooks.