Best Xero Alternatives in Australia after More Xero Price Rises

Update May 2025: this article was originally written in May 2024. But Xero have done it again, so we've updated it with the latest price rises coming in July 2025.

In the last few years, Xero have increased their prices by more than 40%.

And today they've announced yet more price rises from 1st July, which will mean their most popular plans have increased by 50% since January 2021.

Why are Xero Increasing Prices?

It's a common tactic with software companies: start with unsustainably low prices, use your investment money to subsidise those prices while you build a big customer base and then ramp up prices once everybody has committed to your product.

Are Xero doing this? We can't say for sure, but take a look at the pricing for various Xero packages since January 2021 which have seen 40% - 54% increases:

Source: Way Back Machine, Xero Pricing Plans. 

Xero have also completely removed their Payroll Only plan, which means the cheapest payroll option for 1 employee is now $70/month and for 5 employees it's a whopping $90/month.

In comparison, Easy Payslip is just $9.95/month for 1-4 employees. (For the sake of transparency, we've had one price rise since we launched in 2018: 10% in October of 2023.)

Xero's approach is basically the opposite of our approach here at Easy Business App.

We believe in sustainably building affordable, easy-to-use, well-supported, mobile software for Australian small businesses and their bookkeepers and accountants. When you win, we win!

Xero now expect the average small business in Australia with a handful of employees to pay more than $1,000 per year for their software.

What's the Best Xero Alternative?

Most people think of "the big 3" when it comes to their accounting software: Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online.

But there are better and more affordable alternatives. Companies that are based in Australia, with great local support (in Sydney) where you can pick up the phone and talk to a real person. Companies that offer affordable software built specifically for micro and small business.

Here's why Easy Business App may be a better fit:

• Only pay for what you need. Xero's bundles mean that adding one employee can double the cost of your plan overnight. This is crazy. With Easy Business App you subscribe per module. Don't need invoicing at all, but need unlimited payroll? Great. Don't need payroll, but need invoicing? Great. Only need bank feeds and expenses? Great. We get it. That's how small businesses actually work — no two are the same.
  
  
• Affordable. From July 1 2025, a small business with 4 employees will be paying at least $1,200 per year with Xero. A comparable Easy Business App plan would cost:
  • $9.95/month for Easy Payslip
  • $9.95/month for Easy Invoicing (unlimited invoicing)
  • $9.95/month for Easy Cashflow (bank feeds)
  • Total: $29.85/month = $358.20 per year. 

For the typical Aussie small business, Xero is 3x more expensive than Easy Business App.

• Australia-based support. Having a problem with Xero? Unlucky. They don't even have a telephone number you can call. We do. And we have live chat and email support, too. It's one of the reasons why our Trustpilot ratings are so high:
  
• Easy-to-use. We're focused specifically on micro and small businesses here in Australia, so we build our software with you in mind. We have 10,000+ users across the breadth of Australia, who've processed more than $2 billion payroll since we were founded in 2017.  See our 1,000+ reviews across the app stores, too. The most common word in those reviews? "Easy"
  
  
• Works on any device (incl. mobile). Xero don't even offer the best user-experience. Not by a mile. You can't do many key activities on your phone and users often complain their software is sluggish —  just google "Why is Xero slow?" to see how wide-spread that opinion is.

Click through to see a more detailed comparison of Easy Business App vs Xero.

Moving Away from Xero

Now is a great time to move!

Get started with Easy Business App today and you'll be ready to start the new financial year on July 1st and save yourself a tonne of money. No credit card required!

Sign Up Today for Free