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Equated vs Kick

Kick is the closest thing we have to a direct competitor — AI-native, agent-accessible, priced honestly. We agree on the premise and split on where the work is allowed to stop.

Most pages in this comparison set argue with a product built on a different premise. This one does not.

Kick is AI-native bookkeeping with real automation, a genuinely free tier, and MCP and CLI access from the $40 plan. They are building for a world where an agent reads the ledger. So are we. On the premise, we agree.

Credit where it is due

The free tier is not a trial. Two hundred and fifty transactions a year, one entity, auto categorisation, receipt matching, a profit and loss statement. For a consultancy or a holding company that is a complete product at zero, and very few companies in this category are willing to give that away.

The MCP support matters more than it looks. Exposing the ledger to an agent as a first-class interface is a bet that the reader of your books will increasingly be software. It is the same bet we made, and it is rare enough that we would rather point at it than pretend it is not there.

Where we split

Two places, and both are about where the work is allowed to end.

The accrual ledger sits at $100 a month. Below that you are on cash basis. That is a defensible line for a small business, and it becomes a problem at exactly one moment: the first time an investor, a lender, or an acquirer asks for accrual statements and the answer is that your books were never kept that way. Restating a year of cash-basis books is not a plan change.

Tax filing is not offered at any tier, and Kick says so plainly — partner with a local accountant. That is honest scoping rather than a gap they are hiding. It also means the hardest part of the year is a handoff you arrange yourself, to someone who was not in the books while the decisions were being made.

We carry it through instead. Filing is a $649 flat add-on and the reviewer is looking at entries an agent prepared with the documents already attached, not at a folder that arrives in March.

The part neither pricing page settles

Both products categorise transactions automatically. The question underneath is what happens between the software proposing something and it becoming true in the ledger.

Our answer is that every posting waits in a draft state until a person confirms it, and the evidence binds to the posting rather than sitting beside the transaction. We cannot tell you from published material how Kick handles that step, so we are not going to characterise it. If you are evaluating both, it is the thing worth asking them directly.

Side by side

CapabilityEquatedKick
Free tierNo250 transactions per year, one entity
Accrual ledgerYesPlus plan, $100/month
Agent access over MCPYesBasic plan and up
Multi-entityNoPlus plan — extra entities $50/month after 250 transactions
Transaction limitsNone250/year on Free, unlimited on paid
CPA-reviewed year-end filing$649 flat, optional add-onNot offered — they recommend a local accountant
Canadian tax and filingYesNot offered

Choose Kick if

  • You have fewer than 250 transactions a year and want real bookkeeping automation for nothing.
  • You run several entities and want them in one product without paying enterprise prices for the privilege.
  • You already have an accountant you trust for the return, and you only want the categorisation handled.
  • Cash-basis books are enough for you and you would rather not pay for accrual you will not use.

Questions

Is Kick actually free?

For up to 250 transactions a year on one entity, yes — auto categorisation, receipt matching, and a P&L. That is a real product at zero, and for a side business or a holding company it may be all you ever need.

When do I need to pay Kick?

Unlimited transactions start at $40 a month on Basic. The accrual ledger, multi-entity support, classes, and AR/AP automation start at $100 a month on Plus. Additional entities are $50 a month each after their first 250 transactions.

Does Kick file my taxes?

No, at any tier. Kick's own recommendation is to partner with a local accountant for the return. That is an honest scope decision, and it means the year-end handoff is yours to arrange.

Does Kick work for agents?

Yes, and they deserve credit for it — MCP and CLI access are on the Basic plan and up. They are one of very few products in this category building for the case where software, not a person, is the thing reading the ledger.

Claims about Kick last verified August 25, 2026