M
MMarginEdge vs Pilot
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
M
Choose MarginEdge if…
- you're in its core audience: independent restaurant owners, multi-unit restaurant groups
P
Choose Pilot if…
- you want the lower entry price ($99/mo vs $350/mo)
- you want to trial it before paying
- you're in its core audience: startup founders, small business owners
Side by side
Feature MarginEdge Pilot
Pricing modelPaidFree trial
Starting price$350/mo$99/mo
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
Trains AI on your contentYes—
Data retentionKept while account is active or as needed to provide servicesKept until deletion request; tax data at least seven years
Security and compliancePCI DSS—
Invoice capture—
Bill pay
QuickBooks/Xero sync
Reconciliation—
Forecasting
Human experts included
PlatformsWebWeb
CategoryFinance & AccountingFinance & Accounting
CompanyMarginEdge, Co.Pilot.com, Inc.
Based inUnited StatesUnited States
Founded——
Part of——
Key features
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
P Pilot
- AI transaction categorization and account reconciliation
- Monthly book close with financial reports
- AI answers about past transactions and cash flow
- Cash flow scenario modeling
- US-based dedicated bookkeeping team
- Business tax filing and R&D credit services
- Fractional CFO advisory and fundraising support
- Outsourced payroll, AP, AR and stock administration
Plans and prices
From each vendor's site. Prices change — confirm before buying.
MarginEdge
MarginEdge$350/mo per location
MarginEdge + Freepour$500/mo per location
Large groupsCustom
Pilot
Bookkeeping Essentials$99/month
Bookkeeping CoreContact sales
Bookkeeping CustomCustom
Tax - Single Member LLCFrom $1,000/year
Tax - Partnerships & S-CorpsFrom $2,000/year
Tax - C-CorpsFrom $2,450/year
CFO BasicFrom $1,750/month billed annually
CFO EssentialsFrom $3,150/month billed annually
CFO CustomFrom $5,250/month billed annually
Operations StarterFrom $750 one-time
Operations EssentialsFrom $850/month
Strengths and limitations
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
Pilot
- Entry bookkeeping plan priced at $99/month
- Pricing for tax, CFO and operations services is published
- Combines AI tooling with US-based bookkeepers and CFOs
- Free tax extension included in tax plans
- Tax and operations plans must be bought with Pilot Bookkeeping
- Core and Custom bookkeeping prices require contacting sales
- CFO plans start at $1,750/month
- Not a public accounting firm, so it does not provide licensed CPA services
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Built from each vendor's public website; we haven't tested them hands-on. Editorial policy