Mercury Books alternative
Books for every company you own, with full history.
Mercury Books is a good ledger for a single company that banks only with Mercury. Accountable is for founders with more than one company or bank, and it moves your full history in for free.
Accountable and Mercury Books, side by side
Facts and list prices checked Sep 2026.
Price for 1 company
Accountable: $0 on Free (100 transactions categorized automatically a month), or $149 a month on Pro.
Mercury Books: $0 for all of 2026, then $35 a month from 2027. A Mercury account is required.
Price for 3 companies
Accountable: $198 a month on Pro: $149 covers 2 companies, and the third costs $49.
Mercury Books: Books covers one company. It has no company switcher, company filter or combined view.
AI agent access (MCP)
Accountable: Read-only on Free. Read and write on Pro: every write shows a preview, is logged and can be undone, and big changes wait for a person to approve them.
Mercury Books: Mercury's MCP server is read-only and in beta. It cannot categorize or post entries.
In-app AI
Accountable: The AI accountant answers with links to the transactions behind each number and drafts changes for your approval.
Mercury Books: Command answers questions, drafts journal entries and bulk-recategorizes. It asks you to confirm every action.
History
Accountable: Your full history, moved in by the agent and tied to the cent at every month-end.
Mercury Books: Starts on January 1 of the current year. Books imports no history from QuickBooks Online, Xero or NetSuite, and rules do not carry over.
Reconciliation
Accountable: Every account at every bank is reconciled to its statement each month, with the statement attached.
Mercury Books: Mercury accounts reconcile automatically. Other banks, cards, Stripe and payroll are connected by hand.
Moving your books in
Accountable: Free for everyone. The agent moves your full history and ties every month-end to the cent, then sends you a tie-out report.
Mercury Books: A cutover: you import a chart of accounts as CSV and post opening balances as one manual journal entry.
Support
Accountable: The AI accountant answers in seconds. On Pro, a person replies the same business day. There are no sales calls.
Mercury Books: Mercury support will not make accounting decisions and does not review or certify books. Accountant seats are unlimited and free.
Free plan or trial
Accountable: Free plan for 1 company, with 100 transactions categorized automatically a month. A 14-day Pro trial needs no card.
Mercury Books: Free for all of 2026.
Choose Accountable if
- You run more than one company. Accountable gives you one login, a switcher that keeps your page and period, an all-companies view and one bill.
- You want your full history, not only this year. The agent moves every past month in for free and ties each month-end to the cent.
- You want your own agent to keep the books. On Pro, Claude or ChatGPT can write through Accountable's MCP, with your approval for big changes.
- You bank in more than one place. Every account at Mercury, Brex, Ramp, Stripe and other banks is reconciled to its statement each month.
Choose Mercury Books if
- You run one company and bank only with Mercury. Books is free for all of 2026 and costs $35 a month after that.
- You want your books inside your bank, with no new login. Mercury builds them in minutes from your Mercury accounts.
- You want an assistant that already reads your ledger and shows its steps. Mercury's Command does both today.
Moving from Mercury takes 3 steps.
Connect Mercury and your other banks. The agent moves your full history. Approve once and add your other companies.
42 of 42 months tie to the cent
Checked against Mercury's own month-end numbers and every bank and card statement.
Questions about switching from Mercury Books
Can I use Accountable and Mercury together?
Yes. Accountable reads your Mercury accounts directly with read-only access, and it never moves money.
What happens when Mercury Books starts charging?
Books costs $35 a month from 2027. Accountable's free plan covers 1 company and categorizes 100 transactions a month automatically, and Pro costs $149 a month for 2 companies.
Can I bring in books from before this year?
Yes. The agent moves your full history from Digits, QuickBooks, Xero, Puzzle, Kick or a spreadsheet, for free.
Competitor facts and list prices checked Sep 2026. Sources:
Close your next month by the 1st.
Free for one company. 14 days of Pro with no card. Moving your books is free. No sales calls.