Intuit TurboTax / Intuit Assist vs MarginEdge

Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.

Intuit TurboTax / Intuit Assist

Guided tax filing software with AI answers and optional help from tax experts

FreemiumVisit site

MarginEdge

Restaurant back office software for invoices, food costs and inventory

From $350/moVisit site

Choose Intuit TurboTax / Intuit Assist if…

you want a free plan to start with
you're in its core audience: individual taxpayers, w-2 employees

Choose MarginEdge if…

you're in its core audience: independent restaurant owners, multi-unit restaurant groups

Side by side

FeatureI

Intuit TurboTax / Intuit AssistM

MarginEdge

Pricing modelFreemiumPaid

Starting price—$350/mo

Free plan

Free trial

API

Open source

Trains AI on your content—Yes

Data retention—Kept while account is active or as needed to provide services

Security and compliance—PCI DSS

Invoice capture—

Bill pay—

QuickBooks/Xero sync—

Forecasting—

Human experts included

PlatformsWebWeb

CategoryFinance & AccountingFinance & Accounting

CompanyIntuit Inc.MarginEdge, Co.

Based inUnited StatesUnited States

Founded——

Part of——

Key features

I Intuit TurboTax / Intuit Assist

Step-by-step guided federal and state tax filing
Intuit Assist AI answers tax questions while you file
Import, upload or photograph documents to auto-fill fields
CompleteCheck scans the return for errors
On-demand advice and final review from tax experts
Full-service option where an expert files for you
Monthly bookkeeping and advisory service for sole proprietors

M MarginEdge

AI and human-reviewed invoice coding
Daily controllable P&L including labor
Price change alerts on most-used products
Tom AI assistant for cost questions
MCP connector for ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini
Recipe costing with automatic plate cost updates
Inventory counts and AI sales forecasting
Unlimited bill pay for U.S. restaurants

Plans and prices

From each vendor's site. Prices change — confirm before buying.

Intuit TurboTax / Intuit Assist

Free Edition$0 Federal + $0 State + $0 To File

Do It Yourself$0-$139

Expert Assist$59-$209

Expert Full ServiceStarting at $129

Expert 365 Business$61/mo

MarginEdge

MarginEdge$350/mo per location

MarginEdge + Freepour$500/mo per location

Large groupsCustom

Strengths and limitations

Intuit TurboTax / Intuit Assist

Free Edition covers simple Form 1040 returns at $0 federal and state
Intuit Assist AI is included in Do It Yourself editions
Users can upgrade to human tax expert help or full service
Documents can be imported or photographed and auto-filled

Free Edition excludes itemized deductions, self-employment, investment and rental income
Help and Support is not included in the Free Edition
Expert 365 Business needs QuickBooks Simple Start ($38/mo), sold separately
Expert 365 Business is not available to C-Corps, S-Corps or partnerships

MarginEdge

Flat $350 per location per month with unlimited invoice processing
No contracts on monthly billing and no setup fees
Integrates with Toast, Square, QuickBooks, Xero and 7shifts
Restaurant data is not used to train AI models

No free plan or free trial listed
Toast users pay a pass-through API fee and need the $50/mo Restaurant Management Suite
Bill Pay is available to U.S. clients only
Onboarding packages cost extra