The best QuickBooks hosting provider should offer essential cloud hosting features and benefits, such as guaranteed high uptimes and automatic backups, security and reliability of data, and excellent performance and speed of its information technology (IT) services. As a bonus, some providers offer additional benefits, such as free trials and money-back guarantees.
Here are our seven best Quickbooks cloud hosting service providers:
- Ace Cloud Hosting: Best overall QuickBooks hosting provider
- Quick Cloud Hosting: Best value for a QuickBooks hosting provider
- Rightworks: Best for users seeking an Elite QuickBooks solution provider
- Apps4Rent: Best for users who want Microsoft 365 along with QuickBooks
- Summit Hosting: Best for QuickBooks users who manage intensive workloads and many integrated apps
- MyVAO: Best for those without a QuickBooks Desktop license yet
- Cetrom: Best for accounting and certified public accounting (CPA) firms
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Best QuickBooks Hosting Providers Compared
QuickBooks Hosting Provider Quiz
Which QuickBooks hosting provider is best for you?
Ace Cloud Hosting: Best Overall QuickBooks Hosting Provider
Pros
- 99.999% guaranteed uptime
- Pay-as-you-go plans
- 24/7 customer support
- Free daily data backups with 45 days of rolling data backup
- 10-day free trial
- Able to purchase QuickBooks Desktop licenses at discounted rates
Cons
- Expensive for QuickBooks Enterprise hosting
- No money-back guarantee
Ace Cloud Hosting offers a choice of standard or dedicated hosting, with three service levels: Essentials, Business, or Enterprise.
Standard
- Essentials: $50 per user, per month
- Business: $60 per user, per month
- Enterprise: Quote-based
Dedicated
- Essentials: $74.99 per month for one user
- Business: $79.99 per month for one user
- Enterprise: Quote-based
We selected Ace Cloud Hosting as the overall best QuickBooks hosting service provider because it offers an excellent selection of hosting services and benefits for a variety of industries. While all the providers on this list offer high levels of availability, a 99.999% uptime guarantee is likely to provide more peace of mind, especially for organizations with complex workflows requiring extremely reliable service.
Ace Cloud Hosting also takes security very seriously, implementing multiple security measures to protect customers’ data. In addition to secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption, two-factor authentication (2FA), and firewalls, it offers free DDoS protection to detect and mitigate DDoS attacks.
For businesses using multiple resource-intensive business applications, Ace Cloud Hosting provides dedicated servers to help you run all your apps simultaneously in a secure computing environment efficiently. It also hosts tax software, such as Drake Software and Sage software solutions.
- Deciding Factors
- Best For
- Intuit-authorized Commercial Hosting Provider
- Shared hosting
- Dedicated hosting
- Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solutions
- Remote desktop services
- Application virtualization
Supported Users | QuickBooks users who need a highly reliable dedicated server |
Free Trial | 10 days |
Main Selling Points | 99.999% uptime guarantee, 24/7 technical support, and money-back guarantee |
Customer Support | Phone and email support, live chat, and self-help resources, like blogs, webinars, and case studies |
User Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 on Capterra[1] |
- QuickBooks users who need a highly reliable server: Ace Cloud Hosting has a 99.999% uptime guarantee, which means servers ideally have a higher percentage of availability and reliability than most other providers.
- Businesses that require industry-specific solutions: The provider offers custom-made solutions for different industry types, including retail, manufacturing, construction, and nonprofit.
Quick Cloud Hosting: Best for Affordability
Pros
- Most affordable among the best QuickBooks hosting providers we reviewed
- Has multiple data centers to protect clients’ physical and virtual information
- 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Free data backup and migration
- Free 24/7 customer service
- Free trial for seven days
- Can join its affiliate program to earn a commission
Cons
- No money-back guarantee
- Doesn’t sell or lease QuickBooks license – you must already have a license to use their service
- Limited free trial availability (seven days only)
Read our Quick Cloud Hosting review
Read our Quick Cloud Hosting review
Quick Cloud Hosting offers pricing for both standard and dedicated hosting:
- Standard: $25 per user, per month on all available QuickBooks Desktop, Sage, and tax software products
- Dedicated: $38 per user, per month on all available QuickBooks Desktop, Sage, and tax software products
You can try Quick Cloud hosting for seven days for free.
Quick Cloud Hosting, a QuickBooks-focused hosting provider, offers standard hosting services for as little as $25 per user, per month, on all QuickBooks Desktop programs and other products. Other similar providers offer standard QuickBooks hosting services for over $50 per user, per month, which is double the price of Quick Cloud Hosting.
The provider’s affordable hosting services are particularly beneficial for startups, small businesses, and individuals with limited budgets or those who don’t need extensive configurations and high bandwidth.
Additionally, as your business scales up, hires more employees, and manages a larger amount of data, you can purchase dedicated servers for as low as $38 per user, per month. You can also save time and money on setup, installation, and migration, as Quick Cloud Hosting will handle them for you for free.
- Deciding Factors
- Best For
- Standard hosting for QuickBooks Desktop products
- Dedicated hosting for QuickBooks Desktop products
- Sage hosting
- Tax software hosting, including Lacerte and Drake Tax
- 24/7 technical support
- Disaster recovery
Supported Users | Individuals and small and medium-sized organizations needing affordable QuickBooks hosting |
Free Trial | 7 days |
Main Selling Points | 24/7 technical support, 99.99% uptime guarantee |
Customer Support | Phone support, live chat, online ticket, remote sessions through Zoho Assist, and self-help resources |
User Reviews | 4.9 out of 5 based on nearly 20 reviews on Serchen[2] |
- Users on a budget: Quick Cloud Hosting offers budget-friendly hosting services than most competitors. Its hosting services start at $25 per user monthly as opposed to other providers that charge around $50 to $60 per user monthly.
- Businesses with a QuickBooks Desktop license: You should already have a QuickBooks Desktop license before using Quick Cloud. It doesn’t offer any QuickBooks Desktop licenses for sale or lease.
Rightworks: Best for Users Seeking an Elite QuickBooks Provider
Pros
- Hosting option is purchased directly through Intuit
- 24/7 tech support
- Free data migration
- Product testing performed with Intuit before product launches
- 99.995% uptimes
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- More expensive than other alternatives
- No free trial
Rightworks offers three subscription options:
- QuickBooks Desktop Cloud: $68 per user, per month
- QuickBooks Business Cloud: $80 per user, per month
- QuickBooks Application Cloud: $90 per user, per month
Although all of these QuickBooks hosting providers are certified by Intuit, Rightworks has the designation of being an elite QuickBooks Solution Provider (QSP). Plus, Intuit promotes the company on its website.
As an elite QSP, Rightworks completed a more advanced certification process and has demonstrated a higher level of expertise in QuickBooks products and services. This also means Rightworks has a long-standing relationship with Intuit, allowing it to provide genuine and well-tested products and excellent customer support.
Rightworks also has a wider range of support offerings than other providers, such as more specialized training, custom integrations, and advanced troubleshooting. It even has access to higher levels of technical support from Intuit, making it better equipped to handle larger and more complex businesses with more specialized needs.
Additionally, since Rightworks works directly with Intuit and its distribution partners, you can purchase QuickBooks Desktop licenses from them if needed.
- Deciding Factors
- Best For
- Shared QuickBooks hosting directly through Intuit
- Tax application hosting
- Firm IT outsourcing
- 90-day automatic data backups
- Access to all firm resources from one secure portal
- Productivity application hosting including Microsoft 365
Supported Users | Small and medium-sized organizations looking for an Elite QuickBooks Solution Provider |
Free Trial | N/A |
Main Selling Points | Purchase on QuickBooks website, 99.999% uptime guarantee, 24/7 support, and a 30-day money-back guarantee |
Customer Support | Phone and email, live chat, and self-help guides, like blogs and webinars |
User Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 based on over 100 reviews on G2.com[3] |
- Businesses that want an Elite QuickBooks hosting provider: Rightworks is one of a few Elite QuickBooks Solution providers, which is a guarantee of genuine products and exceptional customer support.
- QuickBooks Desktop users who want to improve productivity using Microsoft tools: Rightworks is a certified Microsoft Partner, meaning the team is well-versed in deploying and managing all Microsoft software, including Outlook, OneDrive, Excel, and SharePoint.
Apps4Rent: Best for Users Who Want Microsoft 365 Apps Along With QuickBooks
Pros
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Bank-level security features
- Automatic daily data backups
- 24/7 customer support
- 99% uptime guarantee
- Can add multiple users for $21 per month
Cons
- No free trial
- Session-based plans are unavailable for all QuickBooks editions and versions
- You cannot change the industry in session-based plans
Apps4Rent has four plans available to choose from, which vary in price depending on the amount of storage and applications required:
- Session-based QuickBooks: From $29.95 per month for one user; includes 5 GB solid-state drive (SSD) disk space and Microsoft 365 or Excel
- Dedicated QuickBooks Bronze: From $34.95 per month for one user; includes 40 GB SSD disk space and custom applications
- Dedicated QuickBooks Silver*: From $44.95 per month for up to five users; includes 5 0 GB SSD disk space and custom applications
- Dedicated QuickBooks Gold*: From $79.95 per month for six or more users; includes 65 GB SSD disk space and custom applications
*Only one seat is included in the base price of Dedicated QuickBooks Silver and Dedicated QuickBooks Gold. Each additional user costs $21 per month.
If your business relies heavily on financial data and collaboration, Apps4Rent can host QuickBooks and add Microsoft 365 apps, such as Word, Excel, Outlook, Publisher, and Teams. One example where businesses prefer to use QuickBooks and Microsoft together is when they want to improve their reporting process. You can use Excel to create custom reports and dashboards that include your financial data from QuickBooks.
Apps4Rent has a variety of hosting solutions available, including session-based plans where computing resources are optimized to manage QuickBooks and a few essential apps, such as Microsoft 365. Session-based servers are easier to set up than dedicated servers as most of the resources are shared. If you only need to use QuickBooks and Microsoft 365 and don’t need to install any other third-party accounting apps, then Apps4Rent is a great choice.
- Deciding Factors
- Best For
- Intuit-authorized host
- QuickBooks cloud hosting
- SharePoint hosting
- Virtual desktop
- Microsoft Project server
- Virtual server
- Microsoft Azure services
- Microsoft 365 hosting
- Hosted exchange
- On-premise infrastructure management and licensing
Supported Users | Organizations intending to use only QuickBooks and Office software in the cloud |
Free Trial | N/A |
Main Selling Points | 99.99% uptime guarantee, 24/7 support, and 30-day money-back guarantee |
Customer Support | Phone and email, chat support, online forms, blogs, and frequently asked questions (FAQs) |
User Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 based on nearly 50 reviews on Serchen[4] |
- Users who don’t need to install many apps: Apps4Rent’s session-based plans are a budget-friendly option for individuals and businesses that don’t use third-party accounting apps aside from Microsoft 365.
- More than five users who manage third-party apps along with QuickBooks: The Dedicated QuickBooks Gold plan is ideal for large enterprises with six or more users and need to install custom applications.
Summit Hosting: Best for QuickBooks Users Managing Intensive Workloads & Many Integrated Apps
Pros
- Dedicated servers fully customized to your needs
- Can build your own quote for a fully personalized plan 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Nightly cloud server backups
- Compatible with any platform
- Offers a free 14-day trial
Cons
- No option for shared hosting
- More expensive than similar providers
Summit Hosting’s cloud hosting services for QuickBooks start at $55 per user, per month. This includes 24/7 customer support, nightly data backups, and additional security options like multilevel logins.
If you use QuickBooks to perform resource-intensive tasks, such as generating complex reports or running large batches of invoices, Summit Hosting offers customizable dedicated servers to help you complete these tasks quickly. Additionally, the provider can set up a wide range of QuickBooks-integrated apps to help you improve your productivity, including FishBowl, ActiveBooks, BILL, Lacerte, ZedSystems, and ShipRush.
Summit Hosting also provides a fully personalized QuickBooks hosting plan by allowing you to build your own quote. This means you can select and pay only for the specific features and resources that your organization requires, rather than paying for a prepackaged plan that may include unnecessary features or resources. For instance, you can add multifactor authentication (MFA) to some or all of your users and have other apps aside from QuickBooks installed on the server.
- Deciding Factors
- Best For
- 24/7 access to live chat
- Nightly backups retained for 15 days
- SSAE 18-certified servers
- Can provide a virtual private network (VPN) if needed
- Sage cloud hosting
- Multiuser capability
- Remote backups for disaster recovery
Supported Users | Medium-sized and large enterprises needing extensive configuration and bandwidth |
Free Trial | 14 days |
Main Selling Points | 99.99% uptime guarantee and 24/7 customer support |
Customer Support | Phone support, online ticket, and self-help resources like user guides |
User Reviews | 2.0 out of 5 based on around 15 reviews on Trustpilot[5] |
- Midsized to large enterprises that need a fully customizable plan: When building your own quote, you can indicate all the kinds of applications you need and how many users you have, so you can completely customize your plan based on your needs.
- Users who want an extra layer of login security: In addition to 24/7 monitoring, data centers, and advanced encryption technology, Summit Hosting provides MFA through TruGrid—an RDP solution that simplifies access and data security for organizations—to ensure all crucial data is safe.
MyVAO: Best for Those Without a QuickBooks Desktop License Yet
Pros
- Prices include QuickBooks Desktop license
- 30-day free trial available
- 99% uptime guarantee
- Daily and weekly data backups
- Up to five QuickBooks company files per user
Cons
- No option for users with a QuickBooks license
- Only offers QuickBooks hosting
There are four plans, and all include the QuickBooks license:
- Pro: $64.95 per user, per month, for up to three concurrent users
- Premier: $74.95 per user, per month, for up to five concurrent users
- Accountant: $89.95 per user, per month, for up to five concurrent users
- Enterprise: $114.95 per user, per month, for up to 30 concurrent users
Read our QuickBooks Desktop versions comparison to see which license fits your needs.
MyVAO is the best choice if you haven’t purchased a QuickBooks license and would like to pay one fee for license rental and QuickBooks hosting. We recommend it for individuals or organizations that do not want to invest in the upfront cost of purchasing QuickBooks or those that require temporary access to the program.
When you purchase a Desktop license from QuickBooks, there’s no free trial, and you must pay the license fee annually. With MyVAO, you can try QuickBooks Desktop for free for 30 days and then pay for your license on a monthly subscription.
- Deciding Factors
- Best For
- Intuit-authorized host
- QuickBooks commercial hosting
- 128-bit encryption
- Data backed up twice daily
- 24/7 customer support
- AIS SAS 70 Type-II-compliant data center
- Add-ons, such as Tax1099, Bill.com, and Expensify
Supported Users | Individuals and businesses that haven’t used QuickBooks Desktop yet |
Free Trial | 30 days |
Main Selling Points | 99% uptime guarantee and 24/7 customer support |
Customer Support | Phone support, online ticket, live demos, and blogs |
User Reviews | N/A |
- Organizations that want to try QuickBooks Desktop before hosting it: If you’re still unsure of QuickBooks Desktop, you don’t have to purchase a license to see how it works with cloud hosting. Instead of buying a new license, a good alternative is to rent one from MyVAO for a significantly lower price along with the hosting fee.
- Organizations working with contractors: MyVAO offers several add-ons, including the Tax1099 platform that allows users to report nonsalary income on 1099 forms.
Cetrom: Best QuickBooks Hosting Provider for Accounting & CPA Firms
Pros
- 99.99% uptime rate
- Data backups are performed daily
- Six-month, no-hassle guarantee
- Enterprise-level security
- Firms can host their clients’ QuickBooks files
Cons
- Pricing is not transparent
- No free trial
Pricing is quote-based and dependent on the services and hosting desired. You can purchase only the hosting option or add additional services, like hosted email services.
Cetrom offers QuickBooks hosting services specifically tailored to the needs of accountants and CPA firms. It offers fully managed hosting solutions, including 24/7 support, data backup, disaster recovery, and advanced security features. The team also offers specialized support services to help accountants and CPA firms manage their clients’ financial data effectively.
Upon enrollment, Cetrom will handle the entire data migration process, ensuring your system is set up correctly. With it, you can establish a program to manage, host, and support your accounting software, back-office apps, reporting or analytics programs, client portals, and your email on the cloud. This flexibility, along with excellent customer support, makes it an ideal option for those in the accounting field.
In addition to QuickBooks hosting, Cetrom offers a range of other cloud hosting solutions, including Microsoft Office 365, custom application hosting, and virtual desktop hosting.
- Deciding Factors
- Best For
- Intuit-certified host
- Shared hosting
- Hosted email services
- Virtual desktop services
- Managed CPA cloud computing services
- Senior-level IT support available 24/7
Supported Users | Small and medium-sized accounting firms |
Free Trial | N/A |
Main Selling Points | 99.99% uptime guarantee and 24/7 customer support |
Customer Support | Phone support, online forms, and self-help resources, including videos, blogs, and case studies |
User Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 based on 10 reviews on Cloudtango[6] |
- CPAs and accounting firms: With a strong focus on accounting, Cetrom is designed primarily to host popular apps used by accounting and tax professionals, such as QuickBooks, Sage, and Lacerte.
- IT firms looking to improve their processes: Cetrom provides IT consulting, planning, and strategy services, where a virtual chief information officer (CIO) will be assigned to support your IT needs.
How We Evaluated the Best QuickBooks Hosting Providers
To determine the best QuickBooks hosting providers, we looked into several factors, including the price, level of security, scalability of services, and customer support:
- Price: Each service provider’s pricing plans vary based on the different available features. To understand what you’re paying for, you should ask for an itemization of all fees to be charged. We looked at the types of service plans and what they included to determine the best value.
- Security: The security and reliability of data are critical when selecting a hosting provider. We evaluated the type of security measures taken to protect this data and also the level of security, with the expectation that it’ll be at par with bank security or any company handling sensitive information.
- Customer support: Calls to support teams can translate to hours of frustration, especially when it’s an urgent issue that demands immediate attention. We looked at each provider’s availability—how and when you can reach customer support and their level of responsiveness. Ideally, the best QuickBooks hosting provider offers 24/7 customer support.
- Scalability: While some QuickBooks hosting providers were more limited than others in terms of their additional service offerings, we considered the potential for scalability and options available to support business growth.
- Performance and speed: A company’s productivity relies on the performance and speed of the IT services that it uses. Hosting providers can offer extremely high uptimes and automatic backups. We looked at uptime rates and backup frequency to help determine the best options.
- License included: Some hosting plans include QuickBooks licenses while others don’t, so we looked at the available offerings for each.
Intuit has endorsed a select number of hosting providers as Authorized Partners. All our best QuickBooks cloud hosting providers are endorsed by Intuit, and they’ll support the updates you need as you grow your business. These providers also have the ability to onboard customers with existing licensed copies of QuickBooks software, provide subscription services for new QuickBooks licenses, and provide customers with early access to QuickBooks updates.
Intuit’s Authorized Hosting Providers are divided into two different types:
- Commercial: This rents out QuickBooks licenses on a month-by-month basis. Many also provide standard hosting services for companies that already have the licenses they need.
- Standard: This is for businesses that already have their QuickBooks licenses. If you decide to add a new user and require a new license, you’ll need to deal directly with Intuit to obtain it.
In terms of user access and control, there are three types of hosting:
- Dedicated hosting: Dedicated hosting allows the user complete control over the physical server, with the ability to customize it according to their need for performance, stability, scalability, and security.
- Shared hosting: With shared hosting, a single physical server hosts multiple user sites, apps, or accounting software. Each user gains access to a server segment and the data in that segment. A shared server can host hundreds of different users.
- Virtual private server (VPS) hosting: A VPS is a virtual machine or container, so essentially there isn’t a physical, dedicated server. Each virtual server runs its own operating system and hosts its own databases, files, and settings.
QuickBooks Desktop, one of our best small business accounting software, becomes more powerful when hosted. Below are some of the main reasons why you should consider using a QuickBooks hosting provider:
- Enables remote access: The most compelling reason to use a QuickBooks cloud hosting provider is the ability to access your QuickBooks Desktop program from anywhere with an internet connection.
- Offers data security: With QuickBooks cloud hosting, safety, and security measures are followed to ensure that your data is safe and only you have access to it. The hosting company will back up and secure your data for you instead of you having to do it in your office.
- Allows collaboration: QuickBooks cloud hosting is ideal for businesses with multiple users because the software won’t have to be installed on multiple computers, and users won’t be limited to how they can access it. Cloud hosting also makes it easy to share your data with an outside accountant when help is needed or it’s time to prepare your tax return.
FAQs
QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based software that’s readily accessible online and doesn’t need to be hosted. Meanwhile, QuickBooks hosting is necessary for you to access your QuickBooks Desktop files from anywhere and on any internet-enabled device.
The important factors to consider when hiring a QuickBooks hosting provider are security, scalability, excellent customer support, high uptime percentage, and affordable pricing.
It depends on your needs and the complexity of your QuickBooks workflows. If you want a simple QuickBooks hosting solution with Microsoft 365 integration, you can go with Apps4Rent. If you need a fully customizable server, consider Ace Cloud Hosting or Summit Hosting.
Prices for QuickBooks hosting usually range from around $25 to over $50 per user, per month, for standard hosting and around $40 to over $100 per user, per month, for dedicated hosting.
Bottom Line
QuickBooks hosting allows you to harness the power of QuickBooks Desktop software combined with the accessibility of QuickBooks Online. Whether your priority is seamless data migration, a low-cost solution, or more options for customizations and flexibility, you can find the right one from our top recommendations.
User review references:
[1]Capterra | Ace Cloud Hosting
[2]Serchen | Quick Cloud Hosting
[3]G2.com | Rightworks
[4]Serchen | Apps4Rent
[5]Trustpilot | Summit Hosting
[6]Cloudtango | Cetrom
