Righto vs Xero: a Free Alternative for Mac

Righto, a free accounting app for Mac, next to Xero, the cloud accounting service with plans from $27 to $97 a month.

Which is better, Righto or Xero?

For most freelancers and small businesses on a Mac, Righto is the better pick. It is free with every feature and no monthly caps, your books stay in a file on your own computer, and it does what most small businesses need: import bank statements, sort them with rules, reconcile, track bills and hand your accountant clean cash-basis reports. Your own AI agent can help too. Xero fits better if you need live bank feeds, invoices and quotes, multiple currencies, payroll, or a team working in the books at once.

Why choose Righto over Xero

Easy to use. Righto is made for business owners, not bookkeepers. It uses plain words, puts a short answer behind a “?” next to each idea, and sets itself up from a year of bank statements. Most accounting apps assume you already know accounting.
It costs nothing, and nothing is capped. As of October 2026, Xero’s Early plan is $27 a month and lets you send 20 invoices and enter 5 bills. Righto has no plans and no limits like that.
Your books are a file on your Mac. No login, no subscription to keep your records reachable, no server in the middle. You can copy the file, back it up and open it years from now.
It works offline. Nothing about your books needs an internet connection.
Your own AI agent can help. Give Claude Code, Codex or another agent access to a business through the Righto command line or MCP, and choose what it may do. Every change it makes shows in Activity and can be undone.
Everything is in the box. Reconciliation, rules, cash-basis reports and a clean P&L for your accountant, with no add-ons to buy.
It never needs your bank login. You import statement files, so Righto never holds a connection to your bank.

Righto and Xero side by side

Facts about Xero are as of October 2026, from Xero’s US pricing page.

	Righto	Xero
Price per month	Free	$27 to $97
Where your books are kept	A file on your Mac	Xero’s servers
Platform	Mac	Web and apps
Account required	No	Yes
Works without internet	Yes	No
Import bank statement files	Yes	Yes
Live bank feeds	No	Yes
Bank reconciliation	Yes	Yes
Cash-basis reports	Yes	Yes
Bills	Yes, no limit	Yes, 5 a month on Early
Send invoices and quotes	No	Yes, 20 invoices on Early
Multiple currencies	No	Established plan
Payroll	No	Paid add-on
Several users	No	Yes
AI agent access (CLI and MCP)	Yes, built in	Through Xero’s MCP server, after developer setup

Xero plans

As of October 2026, these are Xero’s US list prices, without the introductory discount.

Plan	Price per month	Limits
Early	$27	20 invoices and 5 bills a month
Growing	$59	No invoice or bill cap listed
Established	$97	Adds multiple currencies

Automatic reconciliation costs an extra $5 a month on Early. Payroll, powered by Gusto, is an add-on on every plan: $36 a month plus $6 for each employee or contractor.

When Xero is the better fit

Xero makes sense for a business that wants live bank feeds, sends a lot of invoices, works in several currencies, or has a team and an accountant in the books together. It has no per-user fees and a large marketplace of add-on apps.

Moving over from Xero

You can bring over your chart of accounts, contacts, balances and open items. Then import your bank statements. Righto does not import the full transaction history. The switching guide has the steps, and your agent can help with them.

Sources

Xero: US pricing plans, read October 19, 2026.
Righto: the help center, what Righto does not do and the FAQ.

Xero is a trademark of Xero Limited. Righto is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Xero.