How Qunei compares
Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks were built for people working in screens, and have since added AI assistants of their own. Qunei was built the other way round: from the first line, for the AI assistant you already use to operate. Here is what that difference means, how Qunei lines up against those three and against Hnry, and when one of them is the better choice.
Details of other products come from their own websites, as of 26 September 2026.
Your AI, not theirs
An assistant built into accounting software starts from what is in that software. Your own assistant can already draw on the rest of your business: your email and documents, your conversations, the way you like things done. With Qunei, that assistant keeps your books, so the bill in your inbox and the entry in your ledger meet in one conversation.
The choice of assistant is yours, too. Qunei connects over MCP, an open standard, so it is not tied to one AI company or one model. Today that means Claude, Claude Code and Cowork, with whichever model suits the job. ChatGPT, Codex and open-source assistants such as OpenClaw and Hermes Agent are on the roadmap. Connect as many as you like and change your mind whenever you want: your agent can change, and your books do not have to.
At a glance
Four products New Zealand small businesses use, beside Qunei. Prices are before GST. On a phone, the table scrolls sideways.
| Qunei | Xero | MYOB | QuickBooks | Hnry | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whose AI does the work | Yours. Any assistant that connects over MCP, as many as you like. Today: Claude, Claude Code and Cowork. | Xero’s own, JAX, working inside Xero. | MYOB’s own, with features coming through a partnership with Microsoft. | Intuit’s own. Its Claude connector is for the US only. | Hnry’s own app and team. |
| How you work | You ask your AI assistant. It drafts entries, and nothing posts until you approve. | In Xero’s web and mobile apps. | In MYOB’s apps. | In QuickBooks’ apps. | Hnry’s app and team look after your tax for you. |
| Made for | Sole traders to companies, with one ledger or many. | Small and growing businesses, and their accountants. | Small and growing businesses, and their accountants. | Small businesses. New Zealand gets its Global edition, not a local one. | Sole traders, contractors and freelancers. Not company books. |
| Price | NZ$10 a month for each ledger. Users are free. | Monthly plans, priced by feature tier. | Monthly plans, priced by feature tier. | Monthly plans, priced by feature tier, billed in US dollars. | 1% of each payment into your Hnry account, capped at NZ$1,500 a year. |
| Live bank feeds | Coming soon. Today your AI codes the statements you upload. | Yes. | Yes. | In some countries, with statement upload as the fallback. | None. Your income is paid into a Hnry account instead. |
| GST returns | Worked out on the invoice or payments basis. You file the return in myIR. | Prepared in Xero and filed with Inland Revenue. | Prepared in MYOB and filed with Inland Revenue. | GST rates are set up by hand, with no New Zealand defaults. | Worked out, paid and filed for you. |
| Payroll | Not built in. | Included on the larger plans, an add-on on the smallest. | An add-on, charged per employee. | Not in the Global edition. | Not part of the service. |
| Your records | Plain-text files. A complete copy of every ledger at any time, even after you stop paying, when your workspace turns read-only and nothing is deleted. | The general ledger, reports and lists export separately. | Reports, and an export file for your accountant. | Reports and lists export as spreadsheets. | Invoices, expenses and receipts in the Hnry app. |
| Corrections | A new entry that links to the one it fixes. Nothing is edited in place. | Transactions can be edited after they are entered. | Transactions can be edited after they are entered. | Transactions can be edited after they are entered. | Through the Hnry app and team. |
Qunei or Xero?
Xero, founded in Wellington, is a mature set of web and mobile apps with bank feeds, GST returns filed with Inland Revenue, payroll, and a large marketplace of apps that connect to it. It has an AI assistant of its own, JAX, which works inside Xero. Other assistants can reach Xero through an MCP server that developers run themselves, or through connectors made by other companies.
Choose Xero if you want to work in screens, need payroll or live bank feeds today, or rely on apps that connect to Xero. Choose Qunei if you want your own assistant, and everything it already knows about your business, keeping the books; if you want every correction kept as a linked entry rather than an edit, or to tag entries by more than Xero’s two active tracking categories; or if you want books you can take away as plain text, at NZ$10 a month for each ledger.
Qunei or MYOB?
MYOB has served Australian and New Zealand businesses for decades, with accounting, GST returns filed with Inland Revenue, and payroll, in apps you work in directly. It is adding AI features of its own through a partnership with Microsoft.
Choose MYOB if payroll is central to your business or your accountant works in MYOB. Choose Qunei if your AI assistant is where you already work, and you want plain-text books, a draft-and-approve workflow and the same flat price for every ledger you run.
Qunei or QuickBooks?
QuickBooks is Intuit’s small-business accounting software, with AI agents of Intuit’s own and a Claude connector for US customers. It has no New Zealand edition: businesses here use its Global edition, billed in US dollars, which leaves GST rates to set up by hand and has no payroll.
Choose QuickBooks if you already know it, or trade mainly in a country where it has a local edition. Choose Qunei if you want New Zealand GST returns worked out for you on either basis, an assistant of your choosing doing the bookkeeping, and records you own outright.
Qunei or Hnry?
Hnry is a different kind of product: a registered tax agent and accounting service for sole traders, contractors and freelancers. Your self-employed income is paid into a Hnry account, and from each payment Hnry works out and pays your income tax, GST, ACC levies and student loan, then files your returns. Its fee is 1% of each payment, plus GST, capped at NZ$1,500 plus GST a year, and its accountants are included. It does not keep company books.
Choose Hnry if you are a sole trader who wants tax handled for you and never wants to look at a ledger. On a small income it can also cost less than a Qunei ledger, with an accountant included. Choose Qunei if you want books of your own, run a company or more than one business, or want to keep working with your own accountant, who can join your workspace at no charge.
What Qunei does not do yet
- Live bank feeds. New Zealand feeds are coming first. Until then, upload or attach your statements and your AI codes them.
- Payroll. Not built in. Your AI can record each pay run from your payroll provider’s report as a journal.
- Filing with IRD. Qunei works out your GST return, box by box; you file it in myIR.
- Income tax returns. Not prepared for you. Your accountant works from the same reports.
- An app of its own. Your assistant’s app is the app, on your phone as well as your computer.
- Assistants beyond Claude. Qunei works with Claude, Claude Code and Cowork today, with ChatGPT and Codex next.
The roadmap shows what is coming, and in what order.
Moving across
Your AI sets up your chart of accounts with you and enters your opening balances as drafts for you to approve. Your accountant and your bookkeeper can join your workspace at no extra charge. An importer that reads Xero’s own exports is on the roadmap.
Sources
- Xero: pricing plans, GST returns, tracking categories
- MYOB: pricing, bank feeds, exporting data
- QuickBooks: Global pricing, setting GST rates
- Hnry: pricing, tax payments, payments
Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks and Hnry are trademarks of their owners. Qunei is not affiliated with any of them. If anything here is out of date, email hello@qunei.ai and we will correct it.