Bench is a managed, human-led bookkeeping service where a bookkeeper keeps your books in Bench’s own platform. After an abrupt shutdown in December 2024, Bench was acquired by Employer.com and now operates under the Mainstreet brand; published plans start around $199/month.
HelloBooks is self-serve AI bookkeeping software you operate yourself — a full double-entry ledger you own and can export, with 95%+ AI categorization, Plaid bank feeds, and every feature on every plan. Free to start, Pro at $9.99/month.
Choose Bench if you want a person to keep your books for you and prefer a hands-off monthly service. Choose HelloBooks if you want to own and control your books in AI software at a fraction of the cost — with no platform lock-in.
Where a value is shown as “—”, the feature was not verified at review time. See Bench's site for the latest specifics.
| Feature | HelloBooks | Bench |
|---|---|---|
| Product model | Self-serve AI bookkeeping software you operate | Managed human bookkeeping service + proprietary platform |
| Who keeps the books | You (with AI doing the work); invite your accountant free | A Bench bookkeeper, on a monthly cadence |
| Starting price | Free plan + Pro from $9.99/mo (USD) | From ~$199/mo (annual); higher for monthly + tax — verify on bench.co |
| Free plan | Yes — free forever, 500 AI credits/mo, all 154 features | No — free trial / one free prior month only |
| You own & export the ledger | Yes — full double-entry GL, exportable anytime | Books live in Bench’s platform; clean QuickBooks/Xero export is limited |
| Accounting basis | Cash and accrual | Cash-basis focused |
| Update cadence | Real-time — you work in the books daily | Monthly service cadence |
| AP / AR / invoicing | Full AP, AR, invoicing, POs, 3-way matching | Bookkeeping & reporting; not an AP/AR operations tool |
| Bank feeds | 11,000+ US banks via Plaid, real-time read-only feeds | Bank-feed connections reviewed by your bookkeeper |
| Tax filing | Tax-ready books; invite your accountant or CPA partner | Optional bundled tax filing on higher tiers |
| Continuity | Self-serve software you control | Operated under new owner (Mainstreet) after Dec 2024 disruption |
If you want to keep the done-for-you service model, Bench (now part of Mainstreet) and Pilot are the closest matches. If you are open to owning your books in software — at a fraction of the cost — HelloBooks is a strong alternative: AI does the categorization and reconciliation, and you keep a full ledger you control, free to start with Pro at $9.99/month.
Yes. Bench abruptly shut down in late December 2024 and was acquired by Employer.com within days; it resumed operations and now runs under the Mainstreet brand. It is operational today, though the disruption left customers temporarily without access to their data — a continuity consideration when choosing a managed service. Verify current status and pricing on bench.co.
Yes. With HelloBooks you own a complete double-entry general ledger that lives in your account and can be exported anytime. That contrasts with a managed service, where your books are maintained inside the provider’s platform and may not export cleanly to standard accounting software.
Yes. Bench is a human service priced from roughly $199/month (annual) up to several hundred per month with tax. HelloBooks has a free plan and Pro at $9.99/month, because AI — not a person — does the recurring bookkeeping. Verify Bench’s current tiers on bench.co before deciding.
HelloBooks keeps tax-ready books with full audit trails and lets you invite your own accountant or a vetted CPA/CA partner at no extra cost to handle filing. Bench bundles tax filing into higher tiers. The HelloBooks model keeps you in control of the books while still giving you professional tax help.
Yes — HelloBooks supports both cash and accrual basis. Several reviews note Bench is cash-basis focused, so if you need accrual financials, that is a point in HelloBooks’ favor.
HelloBooks supports CSV import for chart of accounts, customers, vendors, items, invoices, and bills. For QuickBooks Online, we offer a built-in two-way sync. For other platforms, our migration team can assist with a structured cutover.
AI bookkeeping software
How AI keeps your books without a managed service.
HelloBooks pricing
Free plan + Pro $9.99/mo, you own the ledger.
Bookkeeping clean-up
Catch up behind books with AI-assisted clean-up.
Find an accountant
Invite a vetted CPA/CA to handle tax filing.
Bank reconciliation software
Automated reconciliation with Plaid bank feeds.
Contact sales
Moving off a managed bookkeeping service?