QuickBooks App: Windows, Mac and Mobile Downloads Explained
The QuickBooks app you are looking for is free and already in your subscription. QuickBooks Online has a desktop app for Windows and Mac, and a mobile app for iPhone and Android. Both are real downloads. Neither costs extra on a paid plan. The thing you cannot download anymore is QuickBooks Desktop, the installed accounting software, which Intuit stopped selling to new US subscribers after September 30, 2024.
Which QuickBooks app do you actually mean
Four products share the name. Sort out which one you want before you go hunting for a download link, because two of them are free, one costs thousands a year, and one is not for sale.
| What you asked for | What it is | Where you get it |
|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks app on your phone | QuickBooks Online mobile app | App Store or Google Play, search QuickBooks Online |
| QuickBooks app for Windows | QuickBooks Online desktop app | Download for Windows link on Intuit’s help article |
| QuickBooks app for Mac | Same desktop app, Apple Silicon or Intel build | Settings, then Get the desktop app, inside QuickBooks Online |
| QuickBooks Desktop download | Installed accounting software | Enterprise only for new US buyers |
The first three are all the same account. The desktop app and the mobile app are windows onto one QuickBooks Online company file, not separate copies of your books. QuickBooks Desktop is the odd one out. It is a different product with a different file, and its story is at the bottom of this page.
The QuickBooks desktop app, and how to install it
Intuit calls it the QuickBooks Online desktop app. It runs on Windows and on Mac, and it is not in the Microsoft Store or the Mac App Store. On a Mac, Intuit’s instructions route you through the product: open Settings, select Get the desktop app, then Download for Mac. Intuit’s general download article also puts Download for Windows and Mac links on the help page itself, so the in-product route is not the only way in.
Mac has two builds. Pick the Apple Silicon one if About This Mac shows a Chip line, and the Intel one if it shows Processor. Check that before you download rather than after.
What the app adds over a browser tab:
It keeps you signed in for up to six months. You stay signed in until you manually sign out. Multiple companies open as separate tab groups, so bookkeepers stop juggling browser profiles. There is a split screen so you can run two tasks side by side. And it takes keyboard shortcuts, which is the part people migrating off QuickBooks Desktop actually miss.
If you do not want the app at all, sign in at qbo.intuit.com in any browser. Same data. Intuit’s own instructions say exactly this.
The QuickBooks mobile app, and the one plan it does not work on
Open the App Store or Google Play, search QuickBooks Online, install it, and sign in with the same user ID and password you use on the web. You may be asked for a one-time code to confirm your identity. Intuit documents it running on iPhone, and on Android phones and Android tablets.
Now the part that catches people out. Mobile app access is included on paid plans and is not available on QuickBooks Free. Intuit states it plainly in the pricing page footnotes: “Mobile app access and third-party integrations not currently available with QuickBooks Free.” If you are on the free tier and the app will not let you in, that is why.
| Plan | Monthly | Users | Mobile app |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 | No |
| Simple Start | $38 | 1 | Yes |
| Essentials | $75 | 3 | Yes |
| Plus | $115 | 5 | Yes |
| Advanced | $275 | 25 | Yes |
Those are the standard list prices. At signup Intuit makes you choose one of two offers, 90% off for three months or a 30 day free trial, and you cannot have both.
One more asterisk worth knowing before you plan a workflow around it. Taking in-person card payments inside the QuickBooks mobile app is iOS only. Intuit notes it on the mobile app page. Android users get the rest of the app, just not that.
Why you cannot download QuickBooks Desktop anymore
This is the search that ends in frustration. There is no new-customer download link for QuickBooks Desktop in the US, and there has not been one for nearly two years.
After September 30, 2024, Intuit stopped selling new subscriptions of QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus, Premier Plus, Mac Plus and Desktop Enhanced Payroll to US customers. Intuit also stopped selling QuickBooks Desktop software online entirely. If a site is selling you a boxed copy today, Intuit asks you to call 1-800-4INTUIT so they can act against it.
Existing subscribers were not cut off. They can keep renewing, and Intuit continues to ship security updates, product updates and support. This was a change to new purchases, not a sunset of your file.
| Product | New US subscribers | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop Pro Plus | Closed since 9/30/2024 | Windows |
| Desktop Premier Plus | Closed since 9/30/2024 | Windows |
| Desktop Mac Plus | Closed since 9/30/2024 | Mac |
| Desktop Enterprise | Still sold | Windows only |
Enterprise is the one installed QuickBooks still on sale. Intuit displays three tiers on its Enterprise pricing page, Gold at $2,210 a year, Platinum at $2,717 and Diamond at $5,363, though the terms on that same page also reference a Silver tier, so treat Gold as the cheapest tier shown rather than the cheapest tier that exists. It requires Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit. Windows 8.1, Windows 10 in S mode, Windows 11 IoT and Linux are not supported, and there is no macOS version at all.
So if you are on a Mac and you want installed QuickBooks, that door is shut. Mac Plus is closed to new subscribers and Enterprise does not run on macOS. Your Mac options are the QuickBooks Online desktop app or the browser.
Enterprise does come with a mobile companion. Intuit’s specs say QuickBooks Desktop App access is included with Desktop subscriptions and must be installed on a camera-enabled mobile device running Android 6.0 or iOS 14 or later.
The QuickBooks app nobody ships
You have now installed two apps that track money and one that does not exist anymore. Not one of them asks your customer for a Google review. Trophy Jar does. It connects to the same QuickBooks account you just signed into, watches for the paid invoice, and texts that customer a review link while the job is still fresh in their head. Launch is $9 a month for your first two months, then $29, against $38 a month for Simple Start, the cheapest QuickBooks plan that includes the mobile app. Launch includes 100 texts a month and Growth includes 1,000, sent from your own dedicated local number, and we handle 10DLC registration end to end for US businesses. Text or email, your call. It connects once, from a browser, on whichever machine you happen to be at.