Keeper is a 1099 expense tracker that scours your financial accounts to catch every expense you can write off on your taxes. It’s best for independent contractors, freelancers and small business owners who want to maximize their tax savings without having to do extra work. But it costs $16 per month, with a one-time fee of $39 per tax season for exporting write-offs. Alternatively, you can choose the annual plan at Keeper, which includes tax filing through Keeper.
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Keeper Tax Software Review
Edited by Holly Jennings
- Federal starting price
- $99
- State returns starting price
- Included
Our verdict
Designed for contractors and business owners, but it’s not the cheapest option out there.
Keeper is an online tax software available to W-2 employees but is definitely catered more toward business owners and contractors. There are three plans, starting at $99 per year up to $399 per year. The plans have varying perks, with the most basic supporting typical deductions and the other two with business-specific perks and an AI that can locate personal and business deductions. Keeper says that its AI tax assistant is more accurate than human accountants, but returns are still reviewed and signed by tax professionals. However, as great as some of its perks are, there are simply less expensive tax software options out there.
Best for: Business owners and freelancers.
Pros
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7-day free trial
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Can support employees, freelancers and business owners
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AI can look for deductions
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File from phone or computer
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Max refund guarantee
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Audit protection included
Cons
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High cost
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No phone support
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$399 plan required for corporate taxes and foreign tax situations
Who is Keeper best for?
Keeper is most definitely designed with 1099 employees and business owners in mind.
The Filing and deductions plan or the Premium plan are where the real perks are. These are the plans where an AI looks for deductions for you, offers automatic deduction tracking and supports receipt uploads, and you can link up to 10 accounts.
However, Keeper is still compatible for those with W-2 income. The plan Just filing supports W-2 income and typical tax deductions, such as homeowners credits, child tax credits, student credits and deductions and hundreds more. But for $99 per year, you can probably find less expensive options if you have a simple return or don’t need help tracking expenses year-round.
Related: Best Tax Software
Keeper plans and cost
Keeper has three plans. For those with more simple tax returns, the plan Just Filing makes the most sense, as it supports W-2 income, 1099 income, and typical tax situations and deductions. For corporations or those that need to file amended or prior year returns and want AI assistance, look to the other plans.
| Plan | Cost | Details |
|---|---|---|
Just Filing | $99/year |
|
Filing and Deductions | $199/year | Everything in Just Filing, plus:
|
Premium | $399/year | Everything in Filing and Deductions, plus:
|
What we like about Keeper
Keeper offers a free seven-day trial, so you can play around with it before committing to a plan.
Designed for business owners
This software is designed with business owners and freelancers in mind, letting you connect your bank account and track your expenses throughout the year to help personalize your tax filing experience with questions that only apply to your situation. With the Premium plan, you can link up to 10 financial accounts.
While Keeper often comes to mind around tax season, the software is actually designed to help you stay organized year-round, hence the annual cost.
AI tax assistant
With its Filing and Deduction and Premium plans, an AI scans for all possible deductions, and returns are reviewed and signed by tax professionals. Its smart algorithms comb through your transaction history to maximize your deductions and identify tax breaks you qualify for.
Keeper’s AI tax assistant’s base model is Chat GPT-4. According to Keeper, this AI has been fine-tuned to tax legislation and laws. Keeper claims the AI has a 96% accuracy rate — higher than the 94% accuracy rate for human tax professionals.
However, that AI might be a pro or a con for you, depending on how you feel about AI in general. But we were glad to see Keeper be up front about the base model for the AI and that human tax professionals still review tax returns for accuracy. Keeper says that either a CPA, EA or JD reviews AI responses periodically.
Max refund guaranteed
Typical for most tax preparation software, Keeper offers a Maximum Refund Guarantee. Audit protection is also included in all three plans.
If you file with Keeper, then file somewhere else and receive a larger refund or smaller tax liability, Keeper will refund your subscription fee. Like most refund guarantees, the larger refund or smaller tax liability can’t be due to incomplete, inaccurate or inconsistent information supplied by you.
Where it falls short
The cost is Keeper’s biggest downside. You’ll pay at least $99 per year, and if you have a more complex tax situation, you’ll pay $399 per year. Just for comparison, TurboTax’s business software starts at $169 for sole proprietors or single-member LLCs.
Additionally, Keeper often calls out its AI-powered tools, stating it will find every deduction and its “AI tax assistant more accurate than human accountants.” However, you’ll only get the AI assistant with either Filing and Deductions or Premium plans.
No phone support
Online companies already lack physical locations, so to see Keeper not have a phone number listed for customer support was a bummer.
Keeper offers chat support for customers and on online form anyone can fill out, but that’s it. For such a high annual price point, we were hoping for more options. However, it does have socials, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
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Customer reviews and ratings
| BBB accredited | Yes |
|---|---|
| BBB rating | A+ |
| BBB customer reviews | 4.68 out of 5 stars, based on 125 customer reviews |
| Trustpilot score | 4.7 out of 5 stars, based on 45 customer reviews |
| Apple App Store Score | 4.8 out of 5 stars, based on 11,800 customer reviews |
| Google Play Score | 4.6 out of 5 stars, based on 5,290 customer reviews |
| Customer reviews verified as of | 19 February 2025 |
Keeper receives high marks from its customers. Holding a surprisingly high customer rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), where other tax and business services tend to only receive poor reviews, Keeper customers sign high praises. On the whole, most reviews appear to be from 1099 filers and business owners.
The few negative reviews claim they struggled to contact customer support, another reports their taxes were filed incorrectly due to complex multi-state filings and a few others mention the high price isn’t worth the lack of customer support.
On the positive side (and there are many more happy reviews), customers say if you work multiple contract or freelance jobs, it makes tracking taxes much easier. Others say it’s very customizable and that it’s been less expensive than TurboTax. A few mention the weekly updates and expense tracking and love the receipt upload feature, and many more say it’s been great for their small business.
On Trustpilot, the good reviews keep flowing. A few say they received much higher refunds from Keeper than other services, that the platform is easy to use and that the chat support is helpful and fast. Many mention it’s helpful for tracking everything year-round.
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Bethany Finder
Editor, Banking
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