Puzzle sells accounting software in four plans that differ by seats, AI credits and features, and sells bookkeeping on top of it: Expert Reviewed for small, simple companies, and Full Service once monthly expenses pass $10K. Puzzle customers who start comparing have usually reached one of those edges. Expenses grew past $10K a month, the company started invoicing or paying bills, the team outgrew its seats, or the AI credits ran low. This guide prices each of those moments on Puzzle and on the alternatives.
We make Numbrr, one of the alternatives, so weigh this page with that in mind. Puzzle’s software costs less than Numbrr’s for comparable features, and the tables below show it. Every Puzzle figure here was read on Puzzle’s own site on October 4, 2026.
Puzzle’s plans and prices
On Puzzle’s pricing page on October 4, 2026, the software came in four plans. Each includes Puzzle’s AI Suite (Chat, Cowork and Close), and every plan keeps cash and accrual books.
| Plan | Price | Seats | AI credits | What the plan adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $30/mo | 1 | 25 for the life of the account | AI categorization, auto-drafted financial statements, unlimited connections, a one-click tax report |
| Core | $72/mo | 5 | 25 for the life of the account | Cash, burn, runway and margin insights; variance analysis; a custom chart of accounts; advanced reporting |
| Complete | $120/mo | Unlimited | 100 a month | Revenue recognition; classes, departments and projects; AI accuracy review and reconciliations; categorizing from your inbox |
| Scale | $360/mo | Unlimited | 300 a month | Subledgers; no transaction or integration limits; backup and restore; dedicated onboarding |
Bookkeeping services run on top of a Puzzle subscription and cannot be bought on their own. The estimator on the pricing page gives one monthly price for software and service together, set by monthly expenses:
| Monthly expenses | Plan and service | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $10K | Core + Expert Reviewed | $171/mo |
| Up to $10K | Complete + Expert Reviewed | $219/mo |
| $10K–$50K | Complete + Full Service | $619/mo |
| $50K–$100K | Complete + Full Service | $819/mo |
| $100K–$150K | Complete + Full Service | $919/mo |
| $150K–$200K | Complete + Full Service | $1,019/mo |
| $200K+ | Complete + Full Service | Custom |
Expert Reviewed is a bookkeeper who checks the AI’s work and closes the books each month: transactions corrected where needed, bank and card reconciliations checked, and up to three bookkeeping questions a month. Full Service is a named bookkeeper who runs the whole close, accruals and prepaids included, with unlimited questions by email and a month-end summary. Puzzle also prices one-off work: $149 to migrate each system into Puzzle, catch-up bookkeeping from $300 per month of books, and tax filing through a partner firm from $1,250 a year plus $250 for each state.
What Puzzle does well
- Low prices for accrual software. Cash and accrual books on every plan, and revenue recognition on Complete at $120/mo with unlimited seats.
- Cash and accrual side by side. Puzzle’s accrual automation page describes one ledger producing both views, with prepaid, fixed asset and revenue schedules drafted inside it and approved before they post.
- Revenue recognition fed by Stripe. Its revenue recognition page describes Stripe subscriptions, refunds and disputes mapped to deferred revenue schedules, with BILL, Mercury and CSV uploads as other sources, and each schedule linked to the event behind it.
- Published prices for a bookkeeper, from $171/mo, at every expense level up to $200K a month.
- A close-time guarantee. Puzzle offers to refund its subscription fees if your month-end close does not get at least 50% faster, on terms set out on the pricing page: one entity, supported live integrations, and a full close cycle in Puzzle.
Where a Puzzle plan stops fitting
These are the four points where a Puzzle bill changes shape, with what each change costs.
Monthly expenses pass $10K
Expert Reviewed covers companies with up to $10K a month in expenses, at $171/mo with Core or $219/mo with Complete. Above $10K the estimator moves to Complete with Full Service: $619/mo from $10K to $50K in monthly expenses, then $819, $919 and $1,019 for each step up to $200K. A company that crosses $10K goes from $171 to $619 a month for software and a bookkeeper. The service does more for that price, since a named bookkeeper runs the full close.
You start invoicing, paying bills or running payroll
Expert Reviewed has an eligibility list beyond the expense limit: one entity and one accounting basis; no payroll processing, accounts payable or receivable, or inventory; bank and card feeds connected and reconciling; and answers to bookkeeping questions within a few business days. A company under $10K can fall outside those terms the month it starts tracking customer invoices or vendor bills. The estimator shows Full Service prices from $10K in expenses up, so a smaller company in that spot should ask Puzzle for a price.
The team outgrows its seats
Starter includes one seat and Core five. Complete and Scale have unlimited seats, so a team that needs a sixth seat can move to Complete at $120/mo, which adds revenue recognition and classes as well. That step is small. Numbrr counts users too: 2 active users on Starter, 5 on Numbrr One and unlimited on Pro, with unlimited viewers on every plan and extra seats at $49/mo. On seats alone, Puzzle Complete is the less expensive way to give a whole team access.
You use more AI than the plan includes
Starter and Core include 25 AI credits for the life of the account; Complete includes 100 a month and Scale 300. Puzzle’s help center says credits power AI Close, AI Chat and AI Cowork, and that you can buy more without changing plans: 40 credits for $25, 100 for $50 or 250 for $100. Bought credits never expire. Neither page says how many credits a month-end close uses, so ask Puzzle before you plan around the allowance.
Numbrr includes credits for the Analyst, its AI chat, and for search: 50 a month on Starter, 100 on Numbrr One and 250 on Pro, one credit per message. Categorization and document reading don’t use credits. Numbrr’s packs cost more per credit than Puzzle’s: 25 for $39, 50 for $49, 100 for $79 or 250 for $149.
The alternatives at a glance
| Software from | A person on the books | Accrual books | Income tax filing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numbrr | $99/mo, by monthly expenses | Dedicated Controller, $200/mo at every expense tier | Every plan; revenue recognition from Numbrr One ($399/mo) | No; 1099 e-filing |
| Puzzle | $30/mo, by plan, seats and AI credits | Expert Reviewed $171–$219/mo to $10K in expenses; Full Service $619–$1,019/mo to $200K | Every plan; revenue recognition from Complete ($120/mo) | Partner firm, from $1,250/yr plus $250 per state |
| Digits | $65/mo per entity | Partner accounting firms | Cash or accrual; automated schedules on Core ($100/mo) | No |
| Pilot | $99/mo (Essentials, to $100K in expenses) | Core: a US-based bookkeeper, price from sales | Essentials: cash basis. Core: cash or accrual | Add-on, from $1,000/yr |
| A bookkeeper on QuickBooks Online | The QuickBooks Online subscription | The bookkeeper you hire, commonly $500–$1,500/mo | The bookkeeper’s choice | Through your CPA |
Numbrr: AI bookkeeping with an optional controller
Numbrr keeps the books on a double-entry general ledger. Bank and card accounts connect through Plaid, the AI assigns each transaction to an account, and anything it is unsure of waits in a review queue as a plain-English question. Every plan is accrual basis. On Numbrr One and up, the accrual work lives in the product: invoices your customers can pay online through your Stripe account, recurring billing, scanned bills and vendor pay runs, prepaid and depreciation schedules, ASC 606 revenue recognition, manual journal entries and a monthly reporting pack. The platform page walks through the product on a sample company.
Software plus a person, by monthly expenses
The Dedicated Controller add-on is $200/mo with a monthly plan ($2,000/yr with an annual one), on Starter, Numbrr One or Pro, at every expense tier. Your controller reviews the books each month, works through what the AI flagged, checks the monthly reports before they reach you, and handles the move from Puzzle with you. Here is that pairing next to Puzzle’s bookkeeping service:
| Monthly expenses | Puzzle with a bookkeeper | Numbrr Starter + controller | Numbrr One + controller |
|---|---|---|---|
| $8K | $171 (Core + Expert Reviewed, if eligible) | $299 | $599 |
| $20K | $619 (Complete + Full Service) | $299 | $599 |
| $40K | $619 | $399 | $699 |
| $75K | $819 | $599 | $899 |
| $125K | $919 | $799 | $1,099 |
| $175K | $1,019 | $799 | $1,099 |
| $250K | Custom | $799 | $1,099 |
Read the columns as two different services: Puzzle’s Full Service bookkeeper runs your close, and Numbrr’s software keeps the books while the controller reviews them. Above $10K in monthly expenses, Numbrr Starter with a controller costs less than Puzzle Full Service at every level Puzzle prices. Starter leaves out invoicing, bills and revenue recognition, which a company that qualified for Expert Reviewed may not need yet. Numbrr One with a controller is $599/mo below $25K in expenses and costs more than Puzzle Full Service from $25K to $200K.
What it does well
- A flat price for a person. The Dedicated Controller is $200/mo at every expense tier, on any of the three plans.
- Catch-up included. Bookkeeping catch-up is part of every plan, so months you never closed are covered by your subscription. Puzzle prices its catch-up service from $300 per month of books.
- Accrual work in the software on Numbrr One, from invoices and bills to revenue recognition and fixed assets, priced by your monthly expenses.
- Statements that tie, and closed months that stay closed. Numbrr checks the profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow statement against each other every month, and a correction to a closed month posts as a reversal in an open one.
- 1099 e-filing. Included on Pro (10 forms a year, then $5 each) and a $99/yr add-on on Starter and Numbrr One.
Where it falls down
- Higher software prices. Numbrr One starts at $399/mo, and Puzzle Complete, with revenue recognition, is $120/mo. Numbrr Starter is $99/mo against Puzzle Starter’s $30.
- No income tax filing. Numbrr produces the books your tax preparer files from and e-files 1099s. Puzzle sells business tax filing through a partner firm.
- No payroll. Run payroll elsewhere. Payroll integration is on Numbrr’s coming-soon list.
- A review queue. Without the Dedicated Controller, someone at your company answers Numbrr’s questions.
- US and USD only. Every company is in US dollars.
Digits
Digits is the closest software-only match to Puzzle on this page. Its pricing page on October 3, 2026 listed Essentials at $65/mo and Core at $100/mo, each billed per business entity, with invoicing and bill pay on both and automated schedules plus department and location tracking on Core. A Pro plan at $250/mo, adding budget vs. actuals and custom reports, was marked coming soon. Digits works with partner accounting firms when you want a person, and it does not file taxes.
- Strength: invoicing and bill pay from the first plan, with payroll connections and a 30-day free trial.
- Strength: automated schedules on Core at $100/mo, with cash or accrual accounting.
- Weakness: a person is a separate engagement with a partner firm, at that firm’s price.
- Weakness: a second company is a second subscription, since Digits bills per entity.
Our Digits alternatives guide compares Digits with the other AI bookkeeping tools.
Pilot
Pilot is the option for a Puzzle customer who wants a firm. On October 3, 2026 its pricing page listed Essentials at $99/mo for up to $100K in monthly expenses: AI bookkeeping on the cash basis with a standard chart of accounts. Core adds a US-based bookkeeper, cash or accrual books, a custom chart of accounts and bill management, at a price the page did not show. Tax plans start at $1,000 a year and CFO plans at $1,750 a month, billed annually.
- Strength: bookkeeping, tax and CFO work from one firm.
- Strength: monthly reports by the 10th business day on Core, per the pricing page.
- Weakness: Essentials is cash basis, so a Puzzle customer on accrual books would start on Core.
- Weakness: Core’s price comes from a sales call.
Our Pilot alternatives guide puts Essentials and Core side by side.
A bookkeeper on QuickBooks Online
If the part of Puzzle you value most is the bookkeeper, the long-standing alternative is a bookkeeper or small firm working in a QuickBooks Online file that your company owns. Almost any US accountant can open that file, which makes changing bookkeepers later straightforward. The cost is the bookkeeper’s time on top of the QuickBooks subscription, commonly $500 to $1,500 a month for a small business, and the quality depends on who you hire. Our QuickBooks alternatives guide covers the software side.
Which one fits
- Under $10K a month in expenses, one entity, no payroll processing, payables or receivables
- Stay with Puzzle Core and Expert Reviewed. No other option on this page lists a lower price for software and a person than its $171/mo.
- Past $10K, and you want a bookkeeper to run the whole close
- Puzzle Full Service, Pilot Core, or a bookkeeper working in QuickBooks Online.
- Simple books, past Expert Reviewed’s limits
- Numbrr Starter with the Dedicated Controller: $299/mo up to $25K in monthly expenses and $399/mo up to $50K.
- Invoicing, bills and revenue recognition in the software, with a person checking it
- Numbrr One with the Dedicated Controller, or Puzzle Complete with Full Service. The table above prices both at your expense level.
- You run the books yourself and want the lowest price
- Puzzle Starter or Core, or Digits Essentials.
- Income tax filing from the same company
- Puzzle’s partner-firm tax filing, or Pilot’s tax plans.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Puzzle cost?
On October 4, 2026, Puzzle’s pricing page listed Starter at $30/mo with one seat, Core at $72/mo with five, and Complete at $120/mo and Scale at $360/mo with unlimited seats. Yearly billing takes 20% off. With a bookkeeper, Core plus Expert Reviewed was $171/mo for up to $10K in monthly expenses, and Complete plus Full Service ran from $619/mo ($10K–$50K) to $1,019/mo ($150K–$200K), with custom pricing above that.
Who qualifies for Puzzle Expert Reviewed?
Puzzle lists the criteria on its pricing page: up to $10K in monthly expenses; one entity and one accounting basis; no payroll processing, accounts payable or receivable, or inventory; bank and card feeds connected and reconciling; and someone able to answer bookkeeping questions within a few business days.
What are Puzzle AI credits?
According to Puzzle’s help center, credits power its AI Close, AI Chat and AI Cowork. Starter and Core include 25 for the life of the account, Complete 100 a month and Scale 300 a month. Extra credits come in packs of 40 for $25, 100 for $50 and 250 for $100, and bought credits never expire.
Is Numbrr cheaper than Puzzle?
For software, no. Puzzle Complete includes revenue recognition at $120/mo, and Numbrr One starts at $399/mo. With a person on the books, it depends on your size and needs. Above $10K in monthly expenses, Numbrr Starter with the Dedicated Controller (from $299/mo) costs less than Puzzle Full Service (from $619/mo), and Numbrr One with the controller costs more than Full Service between $25K and $200K.
Does Numbrr file taxes the way Puzzle does?
Numbrr e-files 1099s for your contractors and produces the books your tax preparer files from. It does not prepare or file income tax returns. Puzzle offers business tax filing through a partner firm, from $1,250 a year plus $250 per state.