Found vs Keeper Comparison 2026
Found is a business bank account with bookkeeping and a running tax estimate built in, free with no minimum balance, or $35 a month for Plus once imported transactions and unlimited categorisation rules are needed. Keeper does not bank anything; it connects to accounts already in use, scans them for freelance deductions, and files the actual return once a year for $199 Standard or $399 Premium, reviewed and signed by a tax professional. Found is where the money lives and the books get kept all year. Keeper is the once-a-year filing that turns those books into a return.
Banking, bookkeeping and tax in one account
Tax filing that hunts for freelance write-offs
At a glance
- Found starts cheaper, at $35.
- Only Found has a free tier.
Side by side
Found | Keeper | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $35 | From $199 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | One-time purchase |
| Free tier (they differ) | Yes | No |
| Billing (they differ) | Monthly or annual | One-time purchase |
| Free trial | 30 days | Not stated |
| API |
Found
Banking, bookkeeping and tax in one account
Found is a business account for self-employed people with the bookkeeping and the tax set-aside built into it, so expenses categorise themselves as they land and the quarterly estimate is on screen rather than in April. It invoices, pays contractors and files 1099s. The free plan has no monthly fee and no minimum balance, which is the reason to look at it before a bank.
Our note
Wave is free and does the books without touching the banking, so Found only makes sense if you want the account itself to do the categorising. Anybody happy with their existing bank should stay with Wave and keep the $35.
Keeper
Tax filing that hunts for freelance write-offs
Keeper connects to the accounts a freelancer actually spends from and proposes deductions transaction by transaction, then files the return at the end of it. A tax professional reviews and signs what gets sent. The pricing is per filing rather than per month, so it is bought once a year and the deduction hunting is what you are paying for in between.
Our note
Why people weigh these two
- Keeper instead of Found
- Keeper at $199 hunts freelance write-offs and files the return, doing the tax side once a year rather than holding the banking all year.
- Found instead of Keeper
- Found puts banking, bookkeeping and tax in the same account with a free tier and plans from $35, folding what Keeper does at filing time into the account transactions run through all year.
Which one should you pick
Pick Found to replace a personal account being used for business, with categorisation, invoicing, contractor payments and 1099 filing built in at no monthly cost. Plus at $35 a month adds imported transactions from other banks and unlimited categorisation rules once the free plan's automatic sorting is not enough. It estimates the quarterly tax payment as the year runs, but it does not file the actual annual return.
Pick Keeper specifically to file the Schedule C return once a year, with connected accounts scanned line by line for write-offs and a tax professional reviewing what gets sent. Standard is $199 per filing, not per month, covering federal e-filing and up to two state returns. It is a poor fit for anybody who also needs the books kept in between filings; that is Found's job, not Keeper's.
Common questions
- Do Found and Keeper do the same job?
- No. Found is a business bank account with bookkeeping and a running tax estimate, used all year. Keeper is a once-a-year tax filing service that scans connected accounts for deductions and files the return, reviewed by a tax professional.
- Is Keeper cheaper than Found?
- They charge on different bases, so there is no single answer. Found's core account is free with no monthly fee at all. Keeper charges $199 or $399 per filing, once a year, rather than a recurring subscription.
- Does Found file my annual tax return the way Keeper does?
- Found sets aside money and shows a real-time quarterly estimate, and it files 1099s for contractors paid through it, but it does not file the freelancer's own annual return. That specific job, reviewed and signed by a tax professional, is what Keeper is built for.
- Could a freelancer reasonably use both?
- Plausibly, since they cover different parts of the year: Found for the account and ongoing bookkeeping, Keeper for the annual filing itself. Keeper's own guidance says it is priced per filing and is poor value for anybody who also needs books kept in between, which is a different purchase.
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