Righto vs Zoho Books: a Free Alternative for Mac

Righto, a free accounting app for Mac, next to Zoho Books, the cloud accounting service whose free plan stops at $50,000 of yearly revenue.

Which is better, Righto or Zoho Books?

For most freelancers and small businesses on a Mac, Righto is the better pick. Zoho Books has a free plan, but it ends when revenue goes over $50,000 a year and it limits you to one user plus your accountant. Righto has no revenue limit and no paid plan, and your books stay in a file on your own computer. Zoho Books fits better if you want to send invoices, take online payments, or connect it to other Zoho apps.

Why choose Righto over Zoho Books

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.
No revenue limit. As of October 2026, Zoho Books’ free plan is for businesses with less than $50,000 of revenue in the financial year, with up to 1,000 invoices and 1,000 expenses a year. Righto is free at any size.
Your books are a file on your Mac. No login, no account, 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.
It never needs your bank login. You import statement files, so Righto never holds a connection to your bank.

Righto and Zoho Books side by side

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

	Righto	Zoho Books
Price	Free, every feature	Free under $50,000 revenue a year, then paid plans
Users on the free plan	You	1 user plus 1 accountant
Where your books are kept	A file on your Mac	Zoho’s servers
Platform	Mac	Web and apps
Account required	No	Yes
Works without internet	Yes	No
Import bank statement files	Yes	Yes
Bank reconciliation	Yes	Yes
Cash-basis reports	Yes	Yes
Bills	Yes	Yes
Send invoices	No	Yes
AI agent access (CLI and MCP)	Yes	No

When Zoho Books is the better fit

Zoho Books makes sense if you send many invoices and want customers to pay online, if a team needs to work in the books, or if you already use Zoho’s CRM and other apps.

Moving over from Zoho Books

You can bring over your chart of accounts, contacts, balances and open items. Then import your bank statements. The switching guide has the steps, and your agent can help with them.

Sources

Zoho Books: US pricing page and free plan announcement, read October 20, 2026.
Righto: the help center, what Righto does not do and the FAQ.

Zoho is a trademark of Zoho Corporation. Righto is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Zoho.