COMPARISON

Melorex vs QuickBooks Solopreneur: which fits a freelancer?

Name: Melorex
Brand: Melorex

If you've searched for QuickBooks Self-Employed recently, you may have noticed it's gone. Intuit discontinued QuickBooks Self-Employed and replaced it with QuickBooks Solopreneur for new users. So the real question in 2026 is Melorex vs QuickBooks Solopreneur.

Both target one-person businesses, but they take very different approaches. Here's an honest comparison from the team building Melorex, including where QuickBooks is the better pick.

The short version

Choose Melorex if you want to run your finances by typing a sentence, keep 100% of your invoice payments, get automatic tax set-aside and a daily AI briefing, and export your data freely whenever you want.

Choose QuickBooks Solopreneur if you're deep in the Intuit ecosystem, want tight TurboTax integration for Schedule C filing, or need GPS mileage tracking as a core feature.

Pricing compared

QuickBooks Solopreneur now spans three tiers. Here's how the standard monthly prices compare to Melorex's single Pro plan.

	Melorex	QuickBooks Solopreneur
Free plan	Yes, free forever (5 invoices/mo, 3 clients)	Limited free tier (2 invoices/mo, 1 contractor, 5 mileage trips/mo)
Entry paid tier	$19/mo Pro (unlimited invoices, all AI features)	Lite: $20/mo — unlimited invoices, 3 contractors, TurboTax-assisted tax
Higher paid tier	Not applicable — one Pro plan covers everything	Simple Start: $38/mo — adds accountant access, reports, in-person payments
Payment cut from the tool	0% — your own Stripe, clients pay you directly	Card processing fees via QuickBooks Payments
Data export	One-tap accountant PDF + CSV, anytime	CSV export, but users report you cannot transfer receipts/invoices and only one year of transactions when migrating

A note on the price: Intuit periodically runs introductory promotional pricing on its paid tiers (recently, discounted rates for the first few months) that changes over time, so treat any promo price as temporary. QuickBooks also offers annual billing; check quickbooks.intuit.com for the current rate. Prices above reflect Intuit's standard monthly pricing as of July 2026.

See full pricing for the exact numbers on the Melorex side.

Feature comparison

Feature	Melorex	QuickBooks Solopreneur
Send invoices	Yes, by typing a sentence	Yes, branded invoices
AI command palette (type what you need, action happens)	Yes — the primary way you use the product	No — QuickBooks' AI ("Intuit Intelligence") assists within traditional forms, doesn't replace them
AI statement import + auto-categorization	Yes	Auto-categorization from connected bank
Deduction finder	Yes	Expense categorization for Schedule C
Automatic tax set-aside	Yes	Estimated quarterly tax calculations; Expert Assisted Tax (TurboTax) on paid tiers
Daily plain-English AI briefing	Yes	No
GPS mileage tracking	No	Yes (a core QuickBooks feature)
TurboTax / Schedule C filing integration	No	Yes (Live Tax, powered by TurboTax)
Contracts + e-signature	Yes	No
Multi-currency invoicing	Yes (6 currencies)	Limited
Client portal, no login	Yes	Payment via invoice
Double-entry accounting	No	No (Solopreneur is not full double-entry either)

Where QuickBooks Solopreneur is the better choice

QuickBooks Solopreneur is a stronger fit than Melorex if:

You want integrated TurboTax and Schedule C filing. QuickBooks Live Tax, powered by TurboTax, connects your bookkeeping directly to your tax filing.

GPS mileage tracking is a must-have. QuickBooks tracks mileage automatically from your phone, a core feature Melorex doesn't currently offer.

You're already in the Intuit ecosystem. If you use QuickBooks Checking, QuickBooks Payments, or other Intuit products, Solopreneur keeps everything under one login.

Where Melorex fits better

AI-first, not form-first. The AI command palette is the primary way you run Melorex, not an assistive layer added on top of traditional forms — type what you need, and it happens.

Keep 100% of your payments. Invoices go through your own Stripe account. Melorex never takes a cut of what your clients pay you.

Data portability. Export everything, anytime, as a clean accountant-ready PDF or CSV — a deliberate contrast to the migration difficulty some freelancers reported moving from QuickBooks Self-Employed to Solopreneur.

Tax set-aside and a daily briefing, built in. Melorex automatically sets aside a share of every payment for tax and gives you a daily plain-English AI summary of where your business stands.

A genuinely free plan. Not a time-limited trial — a free plan that stays free.

A note on the QuickBooks Self-Employed shutdown

Intuit discontinued QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE) for new signups in March 2024, replacing it with QuickBooks Solopreneur. Existing QBSE subscribers could keep their old plan, but anyone signing up fresh was routed to Solopreneur instead.

The transition frustrated a number of long-time users, particularly around migrating historical data. Some freelancers reported that receipts and invoices didn't transfer cleanly, and that only a single year of transactions carried over when they moved. If you're searching for QuickBooks Self-Employed today, this is why you're landing on Solopreneur instead. It's also part of why Melorex's export is built around portability from day one — your invoices, clients, expenses, and contracts should be yours to take with you, in full, whenever you want.

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Frequently asked questions

No. Intuit discontinued QuickBooks Self-Employed for new users in 2024 and replaced it with QuickBooks Solopreneur. Existing subscribers can continue, but new signups go to Solopreneur.

Melorex Pro is $19/month and covers every AI feature. QuickBooks Solopreneur's entry paid tier (Lite) is $20/month, with a pricier $38/month Simple Start tier if you need accountant access or in-person payments. Intuit also runs introductory promotional pricing from time to time, so check their current offer. At the entry tier, prices are close — the decision usually comes down to features: Melorex for an AI-first workflow and a 0% payment cut, QuickBooks for TurboTax filing and GPS mileage.

Melorex automatically sets aside a share of your income for tax and produces an accountant-ready export, but it does not file your taxes for you the way QuickBooks + TurboTax's Expert Assisted Tax does. If integrated filing is essential, QuickBooks has the edge there.

Not currently. If GPS mileage tracking is a must-have, QuickBooks Solopreneur is stronger on that specific feature.

Yes, anytime, as a clean accountant PDF or full CSV. Portability is a core principle — unlike the reported experience of some freelancers migrating off QuickBooks Self-Employed.