Editor Sebastiaan Smits ·
Published November 3, 2026 · Updated November 4, 2026
Filers look past TurboTax when the Free Edition does not cover their return, when the final price depends on forms and add-on fees, or when they file outside the United States. US filers compare TaxAct, Cash App Taxes and Jackson Hewitt Online; Canadian, UK and German filers need a product built for their own tax authority.
Short answer: The closest replacements for TurboTax in our tax preparation software ranking are GoSimpleTax, Taxman and smartsteuer. Choose GoSimpleTax if you are a UK sole trader or landlord who files Self Assessment. All 11 alternatives below are ranked products from Best Tax Preparation Software in 2026, and each says where it differs from TurboTax and when TurboTax is still the better choice.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. The first three alternatives go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the established names follow in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure · editorial process.
TurboTax says its Free Edition is $0 federal, $0 state and $0 to file for simple Form 1040 returns, roughly 37% of taxpayers. Itemized deductions, unemployment income, 1099-NEC self-employment, stock or crypto sales and rental income fall outside it, so those filers move up a tier.
TurboTax sells Do It Yourself, Expert Assist and Expert Full Service, with pay-when-you-file pricing tied to the tax situation and the filing date. Expert Full Service is shown as a starting price for one W-2 and one Form 1040. We could not read dollar amounts on the pricing page.
The pricing page names a $40 service fee that may apply when paying from a refund, plus charges for state e-filing on Desktop, live advice on Desktop and Audit Defense. It states no total. Buyers who want one visible number before filing compare vendors that print it.
Closest replacement first. The last column is our place in the full 12-product ranking.
| # | Alternative | Headquarters | Pricing | Key difference | Switch if | Our rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  GoSimpleTax | United Kingdom | Per year; free trial | UK Self Assessment for sole traders and landlords | you are a UK sole trader or landlord who files Self Assessment | #3 |
| 2 |  Taxman | Germany | Per license; none | Local German tax return software with ELSTER filing | you file a German return and prefer software that stores data locally | #5 |
| 3 |  smartsteuer | Germany | Per return, on submission; free trial | Browser-based German income tax return, paid on submission | you file in Germany and want to pay only on submission | #2 |
| 4 |  TaxCalc | United Kingdom | One-off per tax year; none | One-off UK Self Assessment software for families | you file UK Self Assessment returns and want to submit straight to HMRC | #4 |
| 5 |  UFile | Canada | Free tier, paid on terms not shown; free plan | Canadian tax filing with slip auto-fill | you file a Canadian return and want free filing with phone support | #7 |
| 6 |  Taxfix | Germany | Subscription, two tiers; free trial | Phone-first tax return app with an expert tier | you file a German return from your phone and want an expert tier | #6 |
| 7 |  WISO Steuer | Germany | Annual or single purchase; free trial | German tax software for browser, desktop and phone | you file in Germany and want one license across browser, desktop and phone | #11 |
| 8 |  Cash App Taxes | United States | Free; free plan | Free US federal and state filing inside Cash App | you file a US return with 1099 income or stock sales and want no fee | #10 |
| 9 |  Jackson Hewitt Online | United States | Per return; none | US online tax filing with a flat headline price | you want a US return with a low headline price to test first | #8 |
| 10 |  TaxAct | United States | Per return, tiered; free plan | US federal ladder from $0 to $109.99 | you want the same federal tier structure from another US vendor | #9 |
| 11 |  Wealthsimple Tax | Canada | Pay what you want / tiered; free plan | Pay-what-you-want Canadian tax filing | you file a Canadian return and want to choose what to pay | #1 |
A UK Self Assessment service that submits to HMRC and is recognised by it. Plans start at GBP 69.99 per year, billed annually. It names sole traders, landlords, overseas taxpayers and contractors as filer groups. It does not file US federal or state returns at all.
Switch from TurboTax if you are a UK sole trader or landlord who files Self Assessment.
Pricing: Plans start at £69.99 per year, with a free trial that needs no credit card. (free trial)
German return software kept on a local workstation, with an ELSTER view for filing. A private single-workstation license covers five returns and starts from EUR 34.90. Tax years 2022 to 2025 appear in the order form. It targets German private filers and landlords, not US ones.
Switch from TurboTax if you file a German return and prefer software that stores data locally.
Pricing: From €34.90 for a private single-workstation license that covers five tax returns. (none)
A browser-based German return at EUR 39.99, payable only when the return goes to the tax office. Starting is free and a trial shows the refund before any payment. The page lists income tax, VAT and trade tax returns, and a transfer of receipts from Lexware Office.
Switch from TurboTax if you file in Germany and want to pay only on submission.
Pricing: €39.99 payable only when you submit; starting and testing are free, according to the homepage. (free trial)
Personal software for filing an individual UK Self Assessment return directly to HMRC. Add-ons include a planner, a dividend database and a batch filer. We read no prices, trial or returns allowance on the homepage, so cost must be checked on the vendor's shop page.
Switch from TurboTax if you file UK Self Assessment returns and want to submit straight to HMRC.
Pricing: TaxCalc 2026 Individual 6 is £42.00 for up to six SA100 returns for 2025-26, with add-ons from £8.40. (none)
Canadian filing that sends returns electronically to the CRA and Revenu Quebec. The vendor advertises free filing for more Canadians than any other leading program and offers free telephone support. The page shows no paid-tier price and no list of provinces, so check both before you commit.
Switch from TurboTax if you file a Canadian return and want free filing with phone support.
Pricing: The page advertises free filing and shows no price; the paid tier price could not be confirmed from the vendor page. (free plan)
A phone-first app developed in Berlin. Basic starts at EUR 39.99 as a subscription when you prepare the return yourself, and Expert starts at EUR 99.99. The refund estimate is free, and transmission to the tax office runs through an ELSTER interface. Payment timing and renewal are not shown.
Switch from TurboTax if you file a German return from your phone and want an expert tier.
Pricing: Basic is free to see the estimated refund and from €39.99 as a subscription; Expert starts at €99.99. (free trial)
German software by Buhl for browser, Windows, macOS and phone apps. An annual subscription is EUR 35.99 and a single tax-year purchase is EUR 45.99, with one license covering five returns. Buhl says data stays on its servers in Germany with AES-256 encryption.
Switch from TurboTax if you file in Germany and want one license across browser, desktop and phone.
Pricing: Test version at €0 with payment on submission, an annual subscription at €35.99 and a single purchase at €45.99. (free trial)
Free for federal and state returns, including deductions, credits, 1099 income and stock or bitcoin sales, which sit outside TurboTax's Free Edition. Filing needs the Cash App and a verified phone number. The page lists no supported states and no data export.
Switch from TurboTax if you file a US return with 1099 income or stock sales and want no fee.
Pricing: Free for federal and state returns, with no fee for deductions, credits, 1099 income or stock and bitcoin sales, per the vendor page. (free plan)
Full review: #10 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Cash App Taxes →
A US online filing product whose homepage headlines a $25 price to file online. We read no tier breakdown or state fees in this check, so the headline cannot be compared with TurboTax's tiers until you see the final price at checkout. Treat it as a lead to test.
Switch from TurboTax if you want a US return with a low headline price to test first.
Pricing: The homepage says to file online for $25; tiers and state fees were not shown on the pages we could read. (none)
Full review: #8 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Jackson Hewitt Online →
The closest like-for-like US ladder. Federal starts at $0 (Free), $59.99 (Deluxe), $99.99 (Premier) and $109.99 (Self-Employed), with state returns extra. Expert help is listed at $45 in one place and $60 in the FAQ, and the page says nothing about data export.
Switch from TurboTax if you want the same federal tier structure from another US vendor.
Pricing: Free is $0, Deluxe $59.99, Premier $99.99 and Self-Employed $109.99 for federal, with state returns charged additionally. (free plan)
A Canadian product with a pay-what-you-want Basic plan, including $0, for 2 returns. Plus is $40 plus tax for 8 returns with audit protection, and Pro is $80 plus tax. Pro is unavailable to Quebec residents and in French. It handles Canadian slips and capital gains, not US returns.
Switch from TurboTax if you file a Canadian return and want to choose what to pay.
Pricing: Basic is pay what you want including $0, Plus is $40 plus tax and Pro is $80 plus tax, per the 2025 tax year page. (free plan)
Full review: #1 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Wealthsimple Tax →
TurboTax is the sensible choice when the return is a simple US Form 1040 that the Free Edition covers, since $0 federal, $0 state and $0 to file is hard to beat. It also fits filers who want one vendor from self-service to Expert Full Service, and who accept that the final price is shown once their forms are known.
The Intuit privacy statement says users can download, update and delete their data from their Intuit Account without phoning or emailing Intuit. It gives no data-retention period for tax-return data. Download prior-year returns before you close anything, and confirm the format on a help page we did not read.
Most tools on this list serve one country: HMRC, the CRA, ELSTER or the IRS. A US filer leaving TurboTax has three US options here, while Canadian, UK and German filers choose by authority first and price second. Confirm the tax year you need is offered before you start.
Run each candidate to the checkout screen with your real forms and write down the total with state filing and any support fee. TurboTax ties price to forms and the e-file date, and several rivals list state returns separately, so the headline numbers are not comparable until you do.
Yes, Cash App Taxes is listed as free for federal and state returns, including 1099 income and stock sales. TaxAct has a $0 Free federal tier too. TurboTax's own Free Edition is $0 but limited to simple Form 1040 returns. Check each vendor's checkout for state and add-on fees.
Yes, the Intuit privacy statement says you can download your data from your Intuit Account. We did not read a TurboTax help page, so the file formats are not confirmed here. Save prior-year returns as PDFs yourself and check the format your next tool imports.
The pricing page we read shows no dollar amounts, only that price depends on the product tier, the tax situation and the e-file or print date. The Free Edition is $0 for simple returns. Expert Full Service is shown as a starting price for one W-2 and one Form 1040.
GoSimpleTax and TaxCalc serve UK Self Assessment, UFile and Wealthsimple Tax serve Canada, and smartsteuer, Taxman, Taxfix and WISO Steuer serve Germany. TurboTax is aimed at US returns, so a non-US filer needs a tool that files with their own tax authority.
Often yes. TaxAct lists state returns as an extra on its federal prices, while Cash App Taxes says state is free. TurboTax shows $0 state only for the Free Edition. Compare the total at checkout, since a low federal price can sit beside a separate state charge.
The Intuit privacy statement does not say in which countries customer data is stored or processed. We found no statement of retention time for tax-return data either. Ask Intuit support in writing if location matters to you. WISO Steuer, by comparison, says its data stays in Germany.
Prices, plan limits and product facts about TurboTax on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on November 3, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.
Sebastiaan Smits, Founder, wrote, edited and fact-checked this page.
Founder of The Interregnum and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page here; research and drafting are AI-assisted. Last reviewed November 3, 2026.
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