Xero’s Premium plan costs S$95 a month and is the only tier that includes multiple currencies. QuickBooks Online’s Plus plan costs S$79 a month and includes multiple currencies two tiers earlier, from its S$57 Essentials plan. For a Singapore seller who invoices or gets paid in more than one currency, that gap changes which plan you actually need to buy, not just which platform.
What each plan actually costs
Both prices below are list price, before either provider’s introductory discount, since promotional pricing expires and list price is what you pay from month four onward.
| Tier | Xero | QuickBooks Online |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Starter, S$39/mo | Simple Start, S$31/mo |
| Mid | Standard, S$70/mo | Essentials, S$57/mo |
| Higher | Premium, S$95/mo | Plus, S$79/mo |
| Top | Not applicable, Premium is Xero’s top SG tier | Advanced, S$124/mo |
QuickBooks is cheaper at every comparable tier. Xero’s Starter plan also caps invoicing at 20 invoices and 5 bills a month, a limit QuickBooks does not apply at its equivalent Simple Start tier.
Where the tiers actually differ
Multi-currency is the clearest split. Xero holds it back for Premium, its most expensive plan. QuickBooks includes it from Essentials, its second-cheapest plan. A seller collecting payouts in USD from one marketplace and SGD from another needs Xero Premium at S$95 a month, or QuickBooks Essentials at S$57 a month, for the same core capability.
User seats work the other way. Xero does not publish a seat cap on any SG plan, standard SaaS practice for accounting software aimed at small teams. QuickBooks caps seats by tier, 1 on Simple Start, 3 on Essentials, 5 on Plus, 25 on Advanced. A five-person finance team on QuickBooks needs the S$79 Plus plan just to get enough logins, on top of needing that tier anyway if they also use inventory tracking, which is not available before Plus.
GST filing and InvoiceNow
This is the sharpest difference for a GST-registered seller specifically. Xero submits GST F5 returns straight to IRAS in one click, according to Xero’s own product page. It also automatically populates the F5 form from transaction data. QuickBooks Singapore’s pricing page lists InvoiceNow e-invoicing as “coming soon,” through an upcoming Fonoa integration. That integration has not shipped yet.
Singapore’s GST InvoiceNow mandate is being phased in for GST-registered businesses. A seller who needs to be compliant on that timeline should weight this fact heavily. Xero has a working, direct-to-IRAS submission path today. QuickBooks does not yet, based on what its own site currently states.
The plain answer
QuickBooks Essentials is the cheaper way to get multi-currency support, at S$57 a month versus Xero Premium’s S$95. QuickBooks’ per-tier pricing also beats Xero’s equivalent tier across the board. Xero is the stronger choice specifically for GST InvoiceNow compliance today, since it already files GST F5 returns directly to IRAS while QuickBooks’ e-invoicing integration is still listed as coming soon. A seller with no InvoiceNow deadline pressure and multiple currencies to manage saves money on QuickBooks. A seller who needs InvoiceNow working now should not wait on QuickBooks’ Fonoa integration to ship.
Research Ledger (8 claims)
| Entity | Claim | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xero | Starter S$39/mo, Standard S$70/mo, Premium S$95/mo (list price) | xero.com/sg/pricing-plans/, checked directly 2 August 2026 | VERIFIED |
| Xero | Multi-currency available only on Premium plan | xero.com/sg/pricing-plans/, checked directly 2 August 2026 | VERIFIED |
| Xero | Starter plan capped at 20 invoices and 5 bills entered per month | xero.com/sg/pricing-plans/, checked directly 2 August 2026 | VERIFIED |
| Xero | Submits GST F5 returns directly to IRAS, one click | xero.com/sg/accounting-software/submit-gst-returns/, checked directly 2 August 2026 | VERIFIED |
| QuickBooks Online | Simple Start S$31/mo, Essentials S$57/mo, Plus S$79/mo, Advanced S$124/mo (list price) | quickbooks.intuit.com/sg/pricing/, checked directly 2 August 2026 | VERIFIED |
| QuickBooks Online | Multi-currency available from Essentials plan | quickbooks.intuit.com/sg/pricing/, checked directly 2 August 2026 | VERIFIED |
| QuickBooks Online | User seat caps: 1, 3, 5, 25 across the four tiers | quickbooks.intuit.com/sg/pricing/, checked directly 2 August 2026 | VERIFIED |
| QuickBooks Online | InvoiceNow e-invoicing listed as “coming soon” via a Fonoa integration | quickbooks.intuit.com/sg/pricing/, checked directly 2 August 2026 | VERIFIED |
Both providers run introductory discounts that expire after three to six months. Confirm current promotional pricing and plan inclusions directly before switching, since list price is what determines the real ongoing cost.