Known as the industry standard for small-business accounting software, QuickBooks offers two core types of products — the cloud-based QuickBooks Online and the locally hosted QuickBooks Desktop.

With four plans, robust features and a user-friendly interface, QuickBooks Online will be the ideal choice for most small businesses. QuickBooks Desktop, on the other hand, is best for businesses that prefer a desktop solution, or those that need its advanced inventory tracking, job costing or reporting tools.

Here's a breakdown of QuickBooks Cloud vs Desktop, including how they compare on accounting software features.

How are QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop different?
Accessibility
QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based software that can be accessed anywhere you have an internet connection.

Depending on which package you choose, the software includes access to all product and feature updates, automatic data backups, as well as the ability to restore company data from backups.

Additionally, because QuickBooks Online is web-based, you can automatically download bank transactions and work with your accountant in real time.

You also can download the QuickBooks mobile app for free to manage your account on the go.

With QuickBooks Desktop, on the other hand, you have to download the software to your computer and can use it on that computer only.

To use QuickBooks Desktop on multiple computers, you have to purchase additional licenses.

With its 2022 release, QuickBooks shifted all Desktop offerings to annual subscription-based plans that allow you to download bank transactions and receive product updates.

All Desktop plans, including QuickBooks Pro Plus and Premier Plus, include automatic data backup and recovery, and mobile receipt management.

For QuickBooks Enterprise, you can pay extra for cloud access to use your account from any device.

Mileage tracking
Automatic mileage tracking is included with all versions of QuickBooks Online, but isn't offered with any versions of QuickBooks Desktop.

With QuickBooks Online, you can use your smartphone’s GPS to track mileage and transfer the trip to your QuickBooks account. Then, you can categorize trips as "business" or "personal" to help maximize your tax deductions. You also can add trips to your account manually, as well as run mileage reports and share them with your accountant. Mileage tracking is included in all versions of QuickBooks Self-Employed as well.

QuickBooks Desktop allows you to add mileage manually to your account, or integrate with a third-party service for mileage tracking — this software doesn't, however, offer automatic tracking within its system.

Inventory management
Both QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced include inventory tracking; however, QuickBooks Desktop offers more in-depth tools, especially with Premier Plus and Enterprise.

QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced and QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus have many of the same inventory features:

Track stock levels and receive notifications when inventory is low.
Create purchase orders.
Generate inventory reports to identify top selling items, total sales and taxes.
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