QUICK ANSWER
For most sole proprietors and single-member LLC owners filing a Schedule C, FreeTaxUSA is the better value in 2026: federal filing is free even for self-employed returns, and each state costs $14.99. TurboTax charges roughly $129 for its self-employed tier plus about $59 per state, but it justifies the premium if you want QuickBooks integration, polished expense import, or live CPA review. If your business files its own return — an S-corp Form 1120-S or partnership Form 1065 — FreeTaxUSA is off the table entirely, and TurboTax Business becomes the default pick.
Key Takeaways
- FreeTaxUSA wins on price — $0 federal plus $14.99 per state for a Schedule C return that would cost $185+ on TurboTax.
- TurboTax wins on hand-holding — a smoother interview, automatic 1099 imports, and optional live expert review that FreeTaxUSA can only partially match.
- Entity returns are the dividing line — FreeTaxUSA only handles personal returns; S-corps and partnerships need TurboTax Business or an accountant.
- Support costs extra either way — FreeTaxUSA Pro Support runs about $40, while TurboTax Live Assisted pushes the total past $200 for most filers.
Pricing: FreeTaxUSA Costs a Fraction of TurboTax
The price gap is the headline of this comparison. FreeTaxUSA charges nothing for federal returns regardless of complexity — Schedule C income, home office deductions, depreciation, and quarterly estimated tax calculations are all included in the free federal tier. You pay $14.99 per state, $7.99 for the Deluxe upgrade (priority support and unlimited amended returns), or about $39.99 for Pro Support with live screen-share help from a tax specialist.
TurboTax prices the same Schedule C return at roughly $129 for the Premium/self-employed online tier plus about $59 per state — call it $188 before any add-ons. Move up to Live Assisted and you are in the $219–$269 range; Live Full Service, where a pro prepares everything, typically starts around $389 for self-employed filers and climbs with complexity. Over five filing seasons, the difference between the two platforms can easily exceed $800 for an identical return.
Features: Where TurboTax Earns Its Premium
Both platforms handle the substance of a self-employed return correctly: business income and expenses, vehicle deductions with standard mileage versus actual cost comparisons, home office (simplified and actual), Section 179 and bonus depreciation, self-employment tax, and QBI deduction worksheets. On accuracy of the math, there is no meaningful difference — both guarantee their calculations.
TurboTax pulls ahead on data movement. It imports 1099-NEC and 1099-K forms directly from hundreds of payers, syncs expense data from QuickBooks Self-Employed and QuickBooks Online, photographs W-2s, and carries forward prior-year TurboTax data automatically. FreeTaxUSA imports prior-year returns from TurboTax, H&R Block, and TaxAct as PDFs, but most current-year data is manual entry. If you have 40 expense categories and three 1099s, expect an extra hour of typing with FreeTaxUSA. One more hard limit: FreeTaxUSA files Form 1040 returns only. TurboTax Business (a separate product, around $180 federal) covers 1120-S, 1065, and 1120 returns with K-1 generation.
Ease of Use and Support
TurboTax still has the most polished interview in consumer tax software — plain-English questions, contextual explanations, and a running refund tracker. FreeTaxUSA looks dated by comparison and leans on IRS terminology, which is fine if you have filed a Schedule C before and disorienting if you have not. Both offer accuracy guarantees and audit-support add-ons (FreeTaxUSA bundles audit assistance into Deluxe; TurboTax sells MAX protection for about $60).
Support is where budgets get tested. FreeTaxUSA free-tier users get email support; Deluxe adds live chat; Pro Support adds phone and screen share with tax pros. TurboTax Live Assisted connects you to a CPA or EA on demand, including a final expert review before filing — genuinely valuable the first year you deal with depreciation recapture or a home sale, and hard to justify every year after that.
Verdict: Which Should You Pick?
Pick FreeTaxUSA if you file a Schedule C, your bookkeeping is already organized, and you do not need imports — the savings are large and the output is identical. Pick TurboTax if you want live expert review, run QuickBooks, or need an entity return. Many owners split the difference: TurboTax the first year, FreeTaxUSA (importing last year’s PDF) every year after.
| FreeTaxUSA | TurboTax | |
|---|---|---|
| Federal self-employed return | $0 | ~$129 |
| State return | $14.99 | ~$59 |
| Live expert help | ~$39.99 (Pro Support) | $219+ (Live Assisted) |
| 1099/QuickBooks import | Limited, mostly manual | Extensive |
| S-corp / partnership returns | Not supported | TurboTax Business (~$180) |
| Best for | Confident Schedule C filers | First-timers, QuickBooks users, entities |
Recommended Resources
TurboTax Home & Business 2025 — the desktop edition covers a personal return plus Schedule C at a flat price, a solid middle ground if online tier pricing feels steep.
Accounting All-in-One For Dummies — understanding what belongs on your Schedule C makes either platform faster and reduces the odds you overpay or trigger notices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I get a smaller refund using FreeTaxUSA instead of TurboTax?
No — if you enter the same information, the refund is the same. Both products compute the return from identical IRS rules, forms, and worksheets, and both guarantee the accuracy of their calculations. Perceived refund differences between platforms almost always trace back to data-entry differences, not software differences: a missed home office deduction, a vehicle entered under actual expenses on one platform and standard mileage on the other, or a QBI deduction question answered inconsistently. Where TurboTax can genuinely change the outcome is discovery — its interview is more aggressive about surfacing deductions a first-time filer might not know to look for, and Live Assisted adds a human review that catches omissions. If you have filed self-employed returns before and keep a clean expense ledger, that advantage shrinks to zero. A practical test: prepare your return in both products (you pay nothing until you file in either one), compare the bottom lines, and file with the cheaper platform once the numbers match. Many switchers do exactly this in their first FreeTaxUSA year for peace of mind.