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Compare · prices checked 21 Oct 2026

Hesafi vs QuickBooks Online: Pay once, or pay every month.

QuickBooks is a mature cloud system with bank feeds and a big accountant network, billed every month. Hesafi is paid once in shillings, keeps your books on your own device and reads your M-PESA statement.

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Cost over time

One payment on this side. Thirty-six on that side.

QuickBooks bills every month. We show its US list price, because prices in Kenya come from resellers and vary. Hesafi is paid once in shillings, with optional yearly Care after the first year.

Time span
fig. 02A beam balance with one large coin in the left pan and monthly coins dropping into the right pan one by one, until their weight tips the beam toward them.

After 3 years: QuickBooks Online Simple Start, 36 payments (US$1,368). Hesafi Standard, 3 payments (KES 7,500), keeping Hesafi Care for two more years.

OptionPriceBillingAfter 3 yearsPaymentsSource
QuickBooks Online Simple StartUS$38 a monthMonthlyUS$1,36836nerdwallet.com (QuickBooks pricing), checked 21 Oct 2026
Hesafi StandardKES 3,500 once, 1 year of Hesafi Care included; then KES 2,000 a year, optionalOnce + 2 years of CareKES 7,5003Our pricing

QuickBooks: nerdwallet.com (QuickBooks pricing), checked 21 Oct 2026. Shown as payments because the prices are in different currencies. Check quickbooks.intuit.com for the price you'd pay. Standard includes 12 months of Hesafi Care. After that your version keeps working without it; Care brings new versions and tax tables.

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Side by side

Where each one is stronger

QuickBooks' strengths come first.

Where QuickBooks is stronger, where Hesafi is stronger, and where it's close. Sources are listed under the table.
ComparedHesafiStandard, KES 3,500 onceQuickBooks OnlineSimple Start, US$38 a month
Where QuickBooks is stronger
Bank feedsNo: import a statement fileYes, where your bank is supported
Accountants and apps that already use itSmall: reports export to ExcelLarge
Your books from any computerOnly on devices that hold your booksYes, in the cloud
Several people in the booksNo: one main device, up to 3 devices per licenceYes, on larger plans; Simple Start is 1 user
Where Hesafi is stronger
Cost over 3 yearsKES 3,500, or KES 7,500 with Care for years 2 and 3US$1,368 (US$38 a month, US list price)
Pay onceYesNo: monthly
Books on your own deviceYesNo: in the cloud
Works offlineYesNo: it needs an internet connection
M-PESA statement PDF importYes, StandardNot built in: a third-party app adds it, for a monthly fee
Supplier PIN and eTIMS number on every purchaseYes, StandardNot built in, as far as we know
Where it's close
Issues eTIMS invoicesNo: use KRA's free eTIMS toolsNo direct integration, Intuit says
InvoicesYes, FreeYes
Profit and loss, balance sheetYes, FreeYes
Export to ExcelYesYes

QuickBooks: nerdwallet.com (QuickBooks pricing), checked 21 Oct 2026. Users: quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing, checked 22 Oct 2026. Offline: QuickBooks support, checked 22 Oct 2026. M-PESA: mypesabooks.com, checked 22 Oct 2026. eTIMS: QuickBooks community, checked 22 Oct 2026. Regular prices, not promotions. Features change: check each product's site before you decide. We make Hesafi, so we've put the other product's strengths first. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

Feeds or files

No bank feed. A statement file instead.

A feed brings your bank lines in by itself. With Hesafi you download the statement from Safaricom or your bank and import the file.

QuickBooks

Your bank
bank feed
QuickBooks, in the cloud

Hesafi

Safaricom or your bank
you download
M-PESA PDF, CSV, Excel or OFX
import
Hesafi, on your device
Nothing about your bank login ever touches Hesafi.

Which fits

QuickBooks or Hesafi? It depends how your money moves.

Moving over

Moving from QuickBooks takes a start date and a statement.

Hesafi can't open QuickBooks files. You start fresh from a date with your balances, and keep your QuickBooks reports as your history.

  1. Save your historyExport the QuickBooks reports you want to keep, like profit and loss and the balance sheet, as PDF or Excel.
  2. Pick a start dateThe 1st of a month is easiest. Statement lines from before it are left out when you import, so nothing is counted twice.
  3. Enter what you hadHesafi asks how much was in the bank and cash at the end of the day before. If you import your M-PESA statement, its balance is used.
  4. Import from that dateYour M-PESA statement PDF and your bank's CSV, Excel or OFX export.
  5. Check one monthCompare the first month's profit with QuickBooks. Stop the subscription when you're sure.

Importing statements is part of Standard, KES 3,500 once.

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Questions

Questions before you switch

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Keep reading

Your books, paid for once in shillings.

Invoices and basic books are free forever. Statement import and tax workings are Standard: KES 3,500 once, with a 30-day money-back promise.

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