MotionOps vs. QuickBooks Online
Four questions. One honest answer.
Looking for a QuickBooks Online alternative? For your books, you probably don't need one. For running crews, you might. Answer four questions and see whether QuickBooks Online alone covers your work, or whether MotionOps should run the field side.
Skip to the feature comparisonSee MotionOps in action
Click through the real product at your own pace. No sign-up, no sales call.
One runs the money. One runs the jobs.
QuickBooks Online keeps your books. MotionOps runs the work in the field.
The question is: what runs your crews, your schedule, and your job sites?
Keep QuickBooks Online for the books. Add MotionOps for everything that happens before the invoice.
MotionOps
Runs the field side. Syncs to your books.
- Drag-and-drop scheduling with multi-day jobs and several crews per job.
- Change orders with customer signatures, digital contracts, and liability waivers.
- GPS-stamped clock in, timesheet approval, and overtime tracking for payroll prep.
- Job costing per job, built from approved timesheets and material expenses.
- Job photos you can draw on, on-site assessments, and a customer portal.
- Syncs clients, invoices, and payments to QuickBooks Online, on your schedule.
QuickBooks Online
The books. Not built to run crews.
- Full accounting: bank feeds, reconciliation, tax tools, and accountant access.
- Connects with 800+ business apps.
- Advanced ($340/mo) adds AIA-style progress billing, change orders, and WIP reporting.
- No scheduler. Scheduling and mobile clock-in take QuickBooks Time, from $20/mo plus $10 per user.
- Project profitability starts on the Plus plan at $140/mo.
- No skills tracking, no job photo log, and no customer job portal.
Side-by-side feature breakdown
An honest look at what each platform delivers, and where the gaps are for growing teams.
| Features | MotionOpsFor Growing Contractor Teams | QuickBooks OnlineFor Small Business Accounting |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduling & Dispatch | ||
| Job scheduling | QuickBooks Time add-on, $20/mo + $10/user | |
| Multi-crew color-coded dispatch board | Color-coded shift calendar in Time add-on | |
| Multi-day project scheduling | ||
| Drag-and-drop schedule editor | In QuickBooks Time add-on | |
| Crew assignment & role tracking | Assign staff to shifts in Time add-on; no roles | |
| GPS crew tracking | Time add-on; GPS only while clocked in | |
| Route optimization | ||
| Job & Work Order Management | ||
| Work orders & job management | No native work orders | |
| Job photos & site documentation | File attachments; photo notes in Time add-on | |
| On-site assessment tools | ||
| Draw & annotate on photos | ||
| Change orders with digital signature | Advanced plan; email approval, no e-signature | |
| Customer-facing job portal | ||
| Job status tracking (field to office) | ||
| Estimating & Invoicing | ||
| Estimates & quotes | Limited on Free plan | |
| Invoice creation | ||
| Online payment collection | QuickBooks Payments, 2.99% per card | |
| Deposit collection | Deposit on estimates; needs QuickBooks Payments | |
| Cost plus materials (auto-markup) | Markup on billable expenses, Plus plan and up | |
| AIA-style progress billing | Advanced plan, $340/mo | |
| Recurring billing | Essentials plan and up | |
| Job Costing & Financial Reporting | ||
| Job costing & profitability per job | Plus plan and up, $140/mo | |
| Real-time profit & loss | ||
| Expense tracking | ||
| Payroll export / payroll prep | Paid add-on; bundle from $88/mo + $6.50/employee | |
| QuickBooks Online sync | Native integration | Is QuickBooks Online |
| Class & project tracking | Plus plan and up, $140/mo | |
| HR & Team Management | ||
| HR document storage | Via Intuit payroll bundles | |
| Employee onboarding docs | Payroll Premium bundle | |
| Skills & certifications tracking | ||
| Days-off & leave management | QuickBooks Time or payroll Premium | |
| Timesheet collection (field) | Basic timesheets Essentials+; mobile via Time add-on | |
| Timesheet approval workflow | QuickBooks Time add-on | |
| Overtime tracking | Overtime alerts in QuickBooks Time add-on | |
| Multi-location / timezone support | Location tracking, Plus plan and up | |
| Customer & CRM | ||
| Customer profiles & history | ||
| Automated follow-up & reminders | Automatic invoice reminders | |
| Online booking / request portal | Customer portal shows jobs and invoices | Website lead forms; no job booking |
| Plans & Pricing | ||
| Transparent published pricing | ||
| Entry plan | $39/mo (annual) | $38/moSimple Start; a limited Free plan is $0 |
| Mid plan | $119/mo (annual) | $85/moEssentials, 3 users |
| Full-featured plan | $199/mo (annual) | $340/moAdvanced, 25 users; Plus is $140/mo |
| Free trial available | 14-day free trial | 30 days, new customers on monthly plans |
| Per-user pricing | Flat team pricing | Users capped by plan: 1, 3, 5, 25 |
IncludedPartial or add-onNot available
What MotionOps adds as your business grows
MotionOps covers the same quoting and invoicing basics as QuickBooks Online. What sets it apart is what's already
built in for when your business needs more, no upgrade to a different platform required.
Crews on a real schedule
Drag-and-drop scheduling, multi-day jobs, and several crews per job, all built in.
No scheduler. QuickBooks Time adds a shift calendar from $20/mo plus $10 per user, with no multi-day project schedule.
Change orders your customer signs
Change orders with customer signatures, digital contracts, and liability waivers, from day one.
Change orders only on Advanced at $340/mo, accepted by email with no e-signature.
Job costing from the field
Job costing per job from approved timesheets and material expenses, on Go and up.
Project profitability starts on Plus at $140/mo, and field hours need the QuickBooks Time add-on.
HR tools for the crew
Store employee IDs, certs, and agreements. Track skills, day-off requests, and overtime.
No skills or certification tracking. Employee documents and onboarding come with Intuit payroll bundles.
The job site, documented
Job photos with markup, on-site assessments, job status tracking, and a customer portal.
File attachments on estimates and invoices. No job photo log, no photo markup, no customer job portal.
Your books stay in QuickBooks Online
Syncs clients, invoices, and payments to QuickBooks Online on your schedule, so nobody retypes them.
Stays your books: bank feeds, reconciliation, tax tools, and accountant access.
QuickBooks Online pricing vs MotionOps: What you actually pay
Both tools publish their prices. QuickBooks Online runs $38 to $340/mo, and scheduling crews takes QuickBooks Time on top.
MotionOps doesn't replace your accounting. It adds the field side and syncs to your QuickBooks Online plan.
Up to 5 people: QuickBooks Online Plus tracks project profitability, but scheduling crews takes QuickBooks Time, $70/mo more. MotionOps Go includes scheduling and job costing, and syncs to your QuickBooks Online.
MotionOps
Solo
$39 / mo (annual) · 1 user
CRM, proposals, scheduling, invoicing, digital contracts, QuickBooks Online
Go
Most Popular$119 / mo (annual) · 1–5 users incl.
Everything in Solo + job costing, overtime tracking, HR docs, AI expense tracking. Additional users $29/mo.
Scale
$199 / mo (annual) · 5 users incl.
Everything in Go + multiple locations & service areas, multi-timezone scheduling, team skills & grades, time-off management, job costing reports, white glove onboarding.
QuickBooks Online
Simple Start
$38 / mo (billed monthly) · 1 user
Unlimited estimates and invoices, expenses, reports. No recurring billing, no time tracking, no projects.
Scheduling: QuickBooks Time, $30/mo for 1 user.
Essentials
$85 / mo (billed monthly) · 3 users
Recurring billing, basic time tracking, bill management. No projects or job profitability.
Scheduling: QuickBooks Time, $50/mo for 3 users.
Plus / Advanced
$140–$340 / mo (billed monthly) · 5 or 25 users
Plus adds project profitability and billable expense markup. Advanced adds AIA-style billing, change orders, and WIP.
Neither schedules crews without QuickBooks Time ($70/mo for 5 users).
MotionOps prices are annual. QuickBooks Online prices were checked on 2026-10-26 and are its regular monthly rates, not the 3-month intro discount; no annual price is published. Striped bars: QuickBooks Time Premium, $20/mo plus $10 per user.
See all MotionOps plans and features“Before MotionOps, we needed to be present on every job site, every day. Huge change for us was being able to monitor our projects remotely. This gave us time to focus on growth.”
Make the switch if you recognize yourself here
MotionOps is ideal for contractors who keep their books in QuickBooks Online and need a real system for the work in the field. Tap the ones that sound like you.
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Book a demoFAQ
Is MotionOps a good alternative to QuickBooks Online?
For running jobs, yes. For your books, keep QuickBooks Online. MotionOps doesn't replace accounting. It handles what QuickBooks Online doesn't: scheduling crews, multi-day jobs, change orders with customer signatures, timesheets, and job costing. Then it syncs clients, invoices, and payments to QuickBooks Online, so your accountant keeps working where they do today.
Does MotionOps work with QuickBooks Online?
Yes, on every plan. MotionOps syncs clients, products and services, invoices, and payments to QuickBooks Online, one way. You choose what syncs and when, so drafts stay out of your books. You need your own QuickBooks Online subscription. How it works: QuickBooks Online integration for contractors.
Can QuickBooks Online schedule jobs and crews?
Not on its own. QuickBooks Online has no scheduler. Scheduling, mobile clock-in, and GPS take QuickBooks Time, from $20/mo plus $10 per user, and it schedules shifts, not multi-day projects. MotionOps includes drag-and-drop scheduling, multi-day jobs, and several crews per job.
How much does MotionOps cost compared to QuickBooks Online?
They do different jobs, so you'd run both. QuickBooks Online costs $38 to $340/mo at its regular monthly rates. MotionOps Solo is $39/mo billed annually, Go is $119/mo for up to 5 users with job costing, and Scale is $199/mo. Card fees: MotionOps from 2.9% + $0.30, QuickBooks Payments 2.99% per invoiced card. ACH is 1% on both; MotionOps drops to 0.5% over $20k.
Does QuickBooks Online do job costing?
Yes, from the Plus plan at $140/mo, which tracks project profitability. Advanced at $340/mo adds construction financials. In MotionOps, job costing comes with Go at $119/mo and builds each job's profit from approved timesheets and material expenses.
Does QuickBooks Online handle change orders?
Only on Advanced, at $340/mo. Customers accept or decline the change order from an email, with no e-signature. MotionOps includes change orders with customer signatures from Solo up, plus digital contract signing.
Who should stick with QuickBooks Online alone?
If you work solo, keep the schedule in your head, and mostly need invoices and clean books, QuickBooks Online covers it. If you bill AIA-style progress payments, QuickBooks Online Advanced does that and MotionOps doesn't. Once you run crews, multi-day jobs, or frequent scope changes, add MotionOps for the field side and keep QuickBooks Online for the books.
Is it hard to set up MotionOps with QuickBooks Online?
No. Connect your QuickBooks Online company from Settings, then Integrations, and choose what syncs. Every account gets a free onboarding session and phone support with real people, and larger teams get white-glove onboarding plus a customer success program. You can try it first with a 14-day free trial.
Does MotionOps offer a free trial?
Yes, a 14-day free trial. QuickBooks Online offers 30 days to new customers on monthly plans. You can also book a demo first to see how MotionOps handles your crews, your jobs, and the sync to QuickBooks Online.
Ready to run your business with real structure?
Join contractor teams that use MotionOps to manage crews, projects, finances, and growth, all from one platform. It will be worth it, we promise.
Book a demo14-day free trial. Plans from $39/month.