Why Our Members Switched
Amadae vs Pilot
Amadae is best for
- Creators and solo businesses that need owner-level tax strategy, not board reporting
- People who want business and personal returns filed together
- Owners who want banking, invoicing, and payroll in the same platform as the books
Pilot is best for
- Venture-backed startups that need accrual books for investors and diligence
- Companies with the expense volume to justify startup-grade pricing
The verdict
Pilot is built for a specific customer: a funded startup that needs accrual books investors and auditors will trust, with burn reports and a finance team on call. It is good at that, and priced for it. A creator or solo business is a different animal: the money questions are quarterly estimates, the S corp election, owner pay, and a personal return, none of which is Pilot's center of gravity. Amadae is built for exactly that shape, with books, banking, payroll, quarterly strategy, and business plus personal filings in one flat-priced platform. Choose Pilot if you have investors to report to. Choose Amadae if the investor is you.
Startup bookkeeping service · Updated 2026-09-29
Pilot pricing vs Amadae
Amadae
All plans 100% deductible
- LLC plan from $249/month: monthly bookkeeping, quarterly estimates, business and personal returns, real accountants
- S corp plan from $349/month: adds payroll, reasonable salary and the S corp return
- A free financial review comes first, so you know what you would save before paying
Pilot
- Plans typically start around $500/month and scale with expense volume
- Tax filing and CFO services are priced as add-ons
Pilot pricing scales with company size and changes over time; confirm current rates on pilot.com. Amadae Accounting is quoted after a free review.
Feature comparison
| Amadae | Pilot | |
|---|---|---|
| Automated bookkeeping on its own ledger | Bookkeeping team closing accrual books for startups | |
| Business and personal tax filing | Included with Amadae Accounting | Tax filing as a paid add-on |
| Quarterly estimated taxes | Calculated and scheduled for you | Not the focus; built for company-level tax, not owner estimates |
| S-corp formation and election | ||
| Business banking and cards | ||
| Invoicing and payments | ||
| Intelligent Assistant (Mozart) | Included in every module | |
| Personal finance and forecasting |
Not sure if Pilot or Amadae fits better? A 30-minute call tells you exactly where you stand.
Learn MoreFree 30-minute review. No pitch deck.
Pros and cons
Amadae
Pros
- Built for owners: quarterly estimates, S corp strategy, and owner pay are the core job
- Business and personal returns prepared and filed together
- Banking, invoicing, and payroll native to the same ledger
- Flat monthly pricing sized for a solo business, not a funded startup
Cons
- Not built for venture reporting, board packages, or audit-grade accrual close
- A funded startup with investors would outgrow it
Pilot
Pros
- Accrual books investors and acquirers take seriously
- Dedicated finance team with startup-specific expertise
- Scales from seed through later stages with CFO services
Cons
- Priced for funded companies, heavy for a business of one
- Owner-level tax strategy and personal returns are not the focus
- Banking, invoicing, and payroll live in other tools
What Pilot does well
Pilot built bookkeeping for the venture ecosystem: accrual books closed monthly by a dedicated team, burn and runway reporting, and the kind of financials that survive investor diligence. Add-on tax and CFO services extend it up the stack. For a funded startup, that is the right product from the right specialist.
A solo business is not a small startup
The finances of a creator or solopreneur look nothing like a startup's. There is no board asking for burn reports. The high-stakes questions are personal: how much to send the IRS each quarter, whether an S corp election saves five figures, what salary to pay yourself, and how the business return flows into your 1040. A startup bookkeeping service is not built, or priced, around those questions.
Amadae is. Books close monthly on Amadae's own ledger, fed by native banking and invoicing. Quarterly estimates run on safe-harbor logic. The S corp election is modeled, and payroll runs at a defensible salary when it pays off. Business and personal returns are prepared and filed together, because for an owner they are one financial life.
How to choose
Raised venture money, answering to investors, need accrual statements for diligence: Pilot is the right lane. Working for yourself, keeping what you earn: the leverage is owner-level strategy, and Amadae's free financial review will show what that strategy is worth on your actual numbers.
What you get with Amadae
One flat monthly price. Real accountants who know how creators get paid.
- Automated bookkeeping on its own ledger
- Business and personal tax filing
- Quarterly estimated taxes, calculated and scheduled
- S-corp formation and election
- Business banking and cards, built in
- Intelligent Assistant (Mozart) included in every module
Free 30-minute review. Transparent pricing.
Plans from
$249/mo
If you make $40K - $69K. Flat, no hourly bills.
- Monthly profit and loss reports
- Tax set-aside management
- Expense categorization
- Real-time financial dashboard
- Business bank account connections
- Individual tax return included*
Common questions
Pilot vs Amadae FAQ
Is Pilot good for freelancers or solo businesses?+
It is built and priced for startups with real expense volume, typically starting around $500 per month with tax as an add-on. A solo business usually needs owner-level work, estimates, S corp strategy, personal filing, that is not the product's center. That work is Amadae's core service.
Does Pilot file personal returns?+
Pilot's tax add-on centers on company filings for startups. Amadae prepares business and personal returns together, since an owner's taxes only make sense as one picture.
Which is cheaper for a business of one?+
Amadae. Its LLC plan starts at $249 per month with bookkeeping, quarterly estimates, and both returns included, while Pilot's pricing is sized for funded companies and treats tax as an add-on. The free review quotes your exact situation.
What if my business raises funding later?+
Then graduate to startup-grade accounting with clean history in hand. Amadae's books and statements are exportable, and starting from reconciled books makes any future provider faster and cheaper.
See how Amadae compares to Pilot
Free 30-minute review. We tell you exactly what you would save.