Keeper is a tax-filing service first: it finds deductions in your bank transactions and a tax professional files your return. BrassWell doesn’t file returns at all. It runs the year leading up to one: income, invoices, mileage and how much to set aside as each payment lands. They overlap less than the app-store categories suggest.
Side by side
| BrassWell | Keeper | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A year-round money app for the self-employed | A tax-filing service with expense tracking |
| Price | $19.99/mo Core, $29.99/mo Pro; $199/yr Core, $299/yr Pro | Bookkeeping only $20/mo (no filing); with filing $199, $399 or $1,199 a year |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card, never auto-charges | 14 days |
| Files your tax return | No: exports for you or your accountant | Yes, federal and state, reviewed by a tax pro |
| Quarterly tax estimate | Every plan: 2026 brackets, state rate, reminders | Premium ($399/yr) and Business |
| Invoicing | Core: 5 a month. Pro: unlimited | Not offered |
| Mileage | Pro: IRS-ready log, 2026 mid-year rate by date | “Coming soon” |
| Deduction finding | You mark deductible; AI reads receipts | AI scans transactions for write-offs |
| Bank connections | Pro (via Plaid); CSV import on every plan | Unlimited connections |
| Budgets and goals | Yes | Not listed |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Android, web | iPhone, Android, web |
Where Keeper is the better choice
Filing. Keeper prepares your federal and state returns and a tax professional reviews and signs them. BrassWell never files a return; if you want one product that ends in a filed return, that is Keeper’s whole point.
Finding deductions you didn’t know about. Keeper scans every connected transaction for write-offs, with unlimited bank connections on every plan. BrassWell has you mark what is deductible, and reserves bank connections for Pro.
Complex returns. Its Business plan files S-corporation and partnership returns and closes the books at year end.
Where BrassWell is the better choice
Running the business, not just filing for it. Invoices with your own payment link, time tracking that bills itself, and an IRS-ready mileage log with the 2026 mid-year rate change applied by date. Keeper offers none of the three today.
Quarterly tax on every plan. BrassWell estimates what you owe on the 2026 brackets and your state rate from the first day of the trial, and emails a reminder before each due date. At Keeper, quarterly payments come with the $399 Premium plan.
Spending money safely. Budgets, goals and the set-aside percentage are about the month you are in, not about April.
A year of each, in dollars
Keeper with filing starts at $199 a year, and the plan with quarterly payments is $399. BrassWell is $199 a year for Core or $299 for Pro, and does not file. Plenty of people pair a year-round tool with whoever files: if your accountant or tax software already handles the return, you are comparing BrassWell with Keeper’s $20-a-month bookkeeping plan ($240 a year), which has no invoicing or mileage.
Switching from Keeper
Export your categorized transactions from Keeper as a CSV. BrassWell imports a CSV of income and expenses, matches the columns to your file’s headers, and skips likely duplicates, so a year of history comes across in one sitting. Keep the old account until your first BrassWell month looks right, and download every receipt image first: receipts are what you need if a deduction is ever questioned, and they are the part most often lost in a move.
Questions, answered
Is BrassWell a Keeper alternative?
Partly. Both track expenses for the self-employed, but Keeper files your tax return and BrassWell does not. BrassWell adds invoicing, budgets and quarterly tax estimates on every plan, and a mileage log and time tracking on Pro. Many people use a year-round tool like BrassWell and file with an accountant or tax software.
Does Keeper track mileage?
Not yet: Keeper’s pricing page listed mileage tracking as coming soon on October 24, 2026. BrassWell Pro keeps an IRS-ready mileage log and applies the 2026 mid-year rate change by date.
How much does Keeper cost?
Keeper lists a $20-a-month bookkeeping plan without filing, and filing plans at $199, $399 and $1,199 a year. Quarterly tax payments are included from the $399 Premium plan.
Does BrassWell file taxes?
No. BrassWell estimates what you owe through the year and produces CPA-ready exports and, on Pro, quarterly profit-and-loss and tax statements, for you or your accountant to file from.
Sources
- Keeper pricing — Keeper. Plans, filing, quarterly payments and the “coming soon” mileage note, checked October 24, 2026.
- Keeper — Keeper. Filing, deduction finding and platforms.
- BrassWell pricing — BrassWell. Core and Pro, line by line.
