AI tax preparation software
AI tax preparation software helps prepare returns or research tax questions: reading documents, filling forms and answering questions with sources.
- Tools compared
- 17
- Publish a price
- 10
- Free plan or trial
- 6
About half of the AI tax tools listed publish a price, with flat plans from $29 a month (CPA Pilot).
Where should you start?
If price decides it: CPA Pilot, from $29 per month, is the cheapest flat plan of the 17 compared. If you are a solo preparer who wants AI help without paying per seat, CPA Pilot bills by messages, and every plan includes every workflow. The 7-day free trial comes with 20 messages. The catch: CPA Pilot 20, at $29 a month, includes 20 AI messages, which tax season can use up fast. For research alone, Bizora's Essential plan is $29.99 a month.
For a small business: Inkle, from $30 per month, is the cheapest flat plan among the 2 whose vendors name small business. Suits a founder who would rather hand the books and the tax filing to one provider. Inkle says AI handles about 90% of categorization, and it claims SOC 2 Type II. The catch: no price is stated for the tax filing by licensed tax experts, and no free trial is stated. The tax software Instead, built for CPA firms, has a free platform, and its AI agent starts at $30 per credit, with an annual agreement required.
How much does an AI tax tool cost?
Flat monthly starting prices for AI tax tools run from $29 (CPA Pilot) to $397 (TaxPlanIQ). Four price per user, minute or other unit instead. Six sell only through sales or a demo. Prices are as each vendor states them, never converted; the table below gives each tool's.
Compare them on price, trials, security and integrations
Filter the list, or tick up to 5 tools to compare them side by side.
Tools mainly for this job first, then those with a stated starting price (lowest monthly price first), then the most recently checked. No vendor pays for a place. How we order tools.
Filter by price, free plan or trial, who it's built for, compliance or integrations
17 tools
No tool matches all of these filters.
| Tool | Price as stated | Free plan or trial | Compliance it states | Checked | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPA PilotCPA Pilot · Vendor site | From $29 per month | Free trial (7 days) | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| BizoraBizora · Vendor site | From $29.99 per month | Not stated | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| Hive Tax AIHive Tax · Vendor site | From $79 per month | Free trial (5 days) | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| TaxPlanIQTaxPlanIQ · Vendor site | From $397 per month | Not stated | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| Drake SmartExtractDrake Software · Vendor site | From $299.99 per year | Not stated | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| InsteadInstead · Vendor site | From $30 per credit, billed annually | Free plan | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| Avalara Agentic Tax and ComplianceAvalara · Vendor site | From $69 per state per month | Not stated | SOC 2 (type not stated), ISO 27001 | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| KintsugiKintsugi · Vendor site | From $75 per action | Free plan | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| Intuit ProConnect TaxIntuit · Vendor site | From $109.95 per individual return | Free trial | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| AI AssistantBloomberg Tax · Vendor site | Contact sales | Not stated | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| Blue JBlue J · Vendor site | No price shown on its pages | Not stated | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| FiledFiled · Vendor site | Demo only | Not stated | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| Tax AutopilotBlack Ore · Vendor site | Contact sales | Not stated | SOC 2 Type II | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| SorabanSoraban · Vendor site | Demo only | Not stated | SOC 2 Type II | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| TaxGPTTaxGPT · Vendor site | Demo only | Not stated | SOC 2 Type II | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| InkleInkle · Vendor site | From $30 per month | Free plan | SOC 2 Type II | Oct 17, 2026 | |
| BasisBasis · Vendor site | Demo only | Not stated | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Your picks side by side
Tick up to 5 tools in the comparison list to see them side by side.
| CPA Pilot | Bizora | Hive Tax AI | TaxPlanIQ | Drake SmartExtract | Instead | Avalara Agentic Tax and Compliance | Kintsugi | Intuit ProConnect Tax | AI Assistant | Blue J | Filed | Tax Autopilot | Soraban | TaxGPT | Inkle | Basis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | From $29 per month, billed monthly (CPA Pilot 20 plan). | From $29.99 per month (Essential plan). | From $79 per month, billed monthly (Sole Practitioners plan). | From $397 per month (Basic plan). | From $299.99 per year (Drake Tax Online plan). | From $30 per credit, billed annually (Instead Agent plan). | From $69 per state per month, billed monthly (Core Compliance + SST Services plan). | From $75 per action (Starter plan). | From $109.95 per individual return (Pay-per-return plan). | Contact sales | No price shown on its pages | Demo only | Contact sales | Demo only | Demo only | From $30 per month, billed monthly (Standard plan). | Demo only |
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Not stated by Bizora | Not stated by Hive Tax | Flat fee | Not stated by Drake Software | Usage-based | Not stated by Avalara | Usage-based, Flat fee | Usage-based | Not stated by Bloomberg Tax | Not stated by Blue J | Flat fee | Not stated by Black Ore | Usage-based | Not stated by TaxGPT | Not stated by Inkle | Not stated by Basis |
| Free plan | Not stated by CPA Pilot | Not stated by Bizora | Not stated by Hive Tax | Not stated by TaxPlanIQ | Not stated by Drake Software | Yes | Not stated by Avalara | Yes | Not stated by Intuit | Not stated by Bloomberg Tax | Not stated by Blue J | Not stated by Filed | Not stated by Black Ore | Not stated by Soraban | Not stated by TaxGPT | Yes | Not stated by Basis |
| Free trial | Yes, 7 days | Not stated by Bizora | Yes, 5 days | Not stated by TaxPlanIQ | Not stated by Drake Software | Not stated by Instead | Not stated by Avalara | Not stated by Kintsugi | Yes | Not stated by Bloomberg Tax | Not stated by Blue J | Not stated by Filed | Not stated by Black Ore | Not stated by Soraban | Not stated by TaxGPT | Not stated by Inkle | Not stated by Basis |
| Built for | Accounting and bookkeeping | Not stated by Bizora | Accounting and bookkeeping | Accounting and bookkeeping | Not stated by Drake Software | Accounting and bookkeeping | Small business | Not stated by Kintsugi | Accounting and bookkeeping | Not stated by Bloomberg Tax | Not stated by Blue J | Accounting and bookkeeping | Accounting and bookkeeping | Accounting and bookkeeping | Accounting and bookkeeping | Small business | Accounting and bookkeeping |
| Compliance the vendor states | Not stated by CPA Pilot | Not stated by Bizora | Not stated by Hive Tax | Not stated by TaxPlanIQ | Not stated by Drake Software | Not stated by Instead | SOC 2 (type not stated), ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR | Not stated by Intuit | Not stated by Bloomberg Tax | Not stated by Blue J | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR | SOC 2 Type II | SOC 2 Type II | SOC 2 Type II | SOC 2 Type II | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 |
| Integrations it names | Not stated by CPA Pilot | Not stated by Bizora | Not stated by Hive Tax | Not stated by TaxPlanIQ | Not stated by Drake Software | Not stated by Instead | QuickBooks | QuickBooks | Not stated by Intuit | Not stated by Bloomberg Tax | Not stated by Blue J | QuickBooks, Google Calendar | Not stated by Black Ore | Not stated by Soraban | Not stated by TaxGPT | Not stated by Inkle | Not stated by Basis |
Questions people ask
Can AI prepare a tax return?
AI tools can read tax documents, fill in much of a return and answer tax questions, but a person still reviews and signs it. AI tax tools are made for businesses or for tax professionals, and some cover sales tax rather than income tax.
Is there a free AI tax tool?
Yes: Instead, Kintsugi and Inkle have a free plan. Three offer a free trial, so you can test one on your own documents first.
What is the best AI tax tool for a small business?
No single AI tax tool is best for every business: it comes down to the job and the budget. If price decides it, CPA Pilot has the lowest flat monthly price listed, $29 a month. To try one free, Instead, Kintsugi and Inkle have a free plan. No vendor pays to be listed.