prep.tax vs Keeper vs QuickBooks Self-Employed
An honest, side-by-side look at the three tools most often mentioned by self-employed filers. Pulled from public pricing and product pages — accurate as of June 2026.
| Feature | prep.tax | Keeper | QuickBooks SE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built specifically for 1099 / Schedule C filers | |||
| 108+ gig & freelance niches with preset deductions | |||
| Automatic mileage tracker with offline queue | |||
| AI receipt + 1099 form OCR | |||
| Bank linking via Plaid (read-only) | |||
| Quarterly estimated tax reminders | |||
| Live Schedule C PDF export | |||
| Federal e-file included | |||
| Resellers / COGS module | |||
| No upsell to a human CPA you don't want | |||
| Starts at | $9/mo | $20/mo | $20/mo |
Other brands belong to their respective owners. We use their names solely for fair comparison.
What customers say
"Tracked every mile in the background and gave me my biggest refund yet. The mileage alone paid for it 10x over."
"I stopped dreading Q4. The deduction prompts caught $3,200 I would've missed on my Schedule C."
"The COGS add-on is the only one I've seen that actually understands resale margins. Game changer at tax time."