How we score
Every one of the 8 stacks we rate, and every tool inside them, goes through the same eight questions, the same weights and the same arithmetic. Nothing is hand-placed, and nobody can pay to move.
- ratings, each from 1 to 5
- 8
- lenses to rank by
- 4
- countries, Global included
- 6
- stacks rated
- 8
- tools rated
- 8
Business types, categories, stacks and tools
Four words do most of the work on this site.
- Business type
- Who a ranking is for, like freelancers and consultants. Each has its own rankings, because a sole trader and an online shop need different things.
- Category
- One piece of admin work, like accounting or taking payments. One tool can do several categories — that's what makes a stack all-in-one.
- Stack
- The tools a business uses together to cover its categories. Stacks are what we rank for each business type.
- Tool
- One product you sign up for, like Xero or Stripe. Tools carry the prices and the catches, and each category has its own tool ranking.
The categories
- AccountingKeeping your books, tracking tax and seeing where the money went.
- InvoicingSending invoices and chasing the ones that are late.
- Taking paymentsGetting paid by card or bank transfer, and what each payment costs you.
- Expenses and receiptsCapturing receipts and sorting what you spend.
- Contracts and e-signaturesSending proposals and contracts, and getting them signed.
One piece of arithmetic
Score = weighted average of the eight ratings × 20
Every stack and tool is rated from 1 to 5 on the same eight things. 5 is always good. The score out of 100 is the weighted average of those eight ratings, times 20.
A lens decides how much each rating counts.
Local fit is a deal-breaker everywhere: a stack that rates 2 or less on it in your country is capped at 60 and can't be our pick there. Some lenses add a deal-breaker of their own.
Local fit is the one rating that changes by country. Each tool is rated for the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and for Global, which means working across borders. A stack's Local fit is its weakest tool's.
Momentum shows which way a stack is heading. It's there for context and never changes a score. Prices are what it really costs to get started, not just the advertised price, and every stack carries the catches of the tools it's built from.
Money never changes a score or a ranking.
The eight ratings
- Price to start
- 5 means cheap or free for a small business today
- Price as you grow
- 5 means the bill barely moves as you add clients, staff or sales
- Quick to set up
- 5 means someone who isn’t an expert has it running in an afternoon
- Easy day to day
- 5 means routine work is quick and pleasant
- Works with the rest
- 5 means connects cleanly to your bank and your other tools
- Local fit
- 5 means handles this country’s tax, currency and bank feeds without workarounds
- Help when stuck
- 5 means a real person answers quickly
- Easy to leave
- 5 means your data exports cleanly and you can switch away
The lenses
- Best all-rounder
- Counts all eight equally. Deal-breaker: Local fit.
- Best on a budget
- Counts Price to start and Price as you grow more. Deal-breaker: Local fit and Price to start.
- Easiest to start
- Counts Quick to set up and Easy day to day more. Deal-breaker: Local fit and Quick to set up.
- Best as you grow
- Counts Price as you grow, Works with the rest and Easy to leave more. Deal-breaker: Local fit and Price as you grow.
What each business type weighs
- Freelancers and consultants
- Price to start ×1.5 and Quick to set up ×1.5
What a score can and can't tell you
A score answers one question: how well does this stack suit this priority, for this kind of business, in this country? Read it down a single ranking, where every stack was asked the same question.
Don't read it across lenses. The same stack can score 62 under one lens and 90 under another, because the two are measuring different things. The ratings out of 5 are the part that stays still: those are the same numbers whichever lens you're looking through.
Two stacks a point or two apart are a tie, not a ranking. When that happens, the eight ratings and the real cost will tell you more than the total does.
Product names and logos are the property of their owners, and are used here only to identify the tools we rate. Their appearance isn't an endorsement or a partnership, in either direction. Intuit and QuickBooks are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc.