Avalara vs. TaxJar: Which Tax Software is Right for Your Business?
If you’re currently using TaxJar or Avalara but are looking for a better solution or are just getting started with sales tax software and trying to decide between the two, this comparison will help you understand which software is better suited to your business’ needs.
We’ll provide a comprehensive breakdown of Avalara vs TaxJar that looks at everything from their features and pricing to their support and reviews.
Then, we’ll also compare both software solutions to TaxCloud, an industry-leader in support, features, and pricing.
Overview: Avalara vs. TaxJar vs. TaxCloud
What is Avalara?
Avalara is a large publicly traded company that offers a suite of global sales tax compliance services and software aimed primarily at helping large multinational businesses with their sales tax compliance.
Overview:
- Solutions designed for the needs of large global businesses
- Focused on global sales tax compliance
- Helps with nexus monitoring, tax calculations, sales tax returns, and other sales tax compliance management tasks
What is Avatax by Avalara?
Avatax is Avalara’s cloud-based solution for real-time sales and use tax calculations that’s integrated with your ecommerce cart or invoicing system.
AvaTax helps with:
- Accurate tax rates for states, counties, and cities through geospatial rate targeting
- Dealing with special circumstances like exemptions and tax holidays
What is TaxJar?
TaxJar is a U.S.-based sales tax compliance software that helps e-commerce companies automate their U.S. sales tax compliance. TaxJar was acquired by Stripe in 2021 and is focused on supporting U.S. retailers selling on ecommerce platforms.
Overview:
- Solutions target small and medium sized U.S. only businesses.
- Only manages U.S. sales tax compliance
- Helps with sales tax compliance on things like real-time tax calculation, monitoring nexus thresholds and alerting you when you’re approaching them, and filing multi-state sales taxes
What is TaxCloud?
TaxCloud is a sales tax compliance software that was established in 2008 and has over 15 years of experience providing sales tax compliance support to U.S.-based businesses. TaxCloud’s focus is on providing hands-on service and solutions with exceptional pricing and customer service.
Overview:
- Solution focused on small and medium-sized businesses operating in the US
- Manages real-time sales tax calculations for all 13,000+ US jurisdictions
- Provides exceptional customer support from U.S.-based agents via phone, email, and chat
- Automates end-to-end sales tax compliance. TaxCloud will handle nexus monitoring, sales tax calculation, sales tax registration, return preparation, payment remittance, audit defense, and more
Features: TaxJar vs. Avalara vs. TaxCloud
The best place to start our comparison is to look at what each sales tax management software solutions offers in features!
Here’s a chart to help you compare the features offered by TaxJar, Avalara, and TaxCloud.
Key Features
| TaxJar Starter | TaxCloud Starter | Avalara (AvaTax) | TaxJar Professional | TaxCloud Premium | |
| Sales tax calculation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automate sales tax filing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Filing audit support | ✓ | ||||
| Streamlined Sales Tax (STT) Program | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Exemption certificates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Address verification API | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| API access and reports | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Pricing: Avalara vs. TaxJar vs. TaxCloud
Wondering which sales tax management software delivers the best value for the cost? We breakdown TaxCloud vs. TaxJar vs. Avalara pricing below.
| TaxJar Starter | TaxCloud Starter | Avalara (AvaTax) | TaxJar Professional | TaxCloud Premium | |
| Cost (Monthly) | $19/month | $19/month | $$$$ Volume and feature-based pricing | $99/month | $79/month |
| Exemption certificate support | Not included | Included | $$$ | Included | Included |
| Setup fee | ✓ | ||||
| Orders included | 200/month | 100/month | None, Per-order pricing | 200/month | 200/month |
| Lock-in required | ✓ |
TaxJar vs. TaxCloud order-based pricing
Let’s break down the per-order pricing for both TaxJar and TaxCloud to understand the value of each of the solutions.
| Orders Per Month | TaxJar Starter Plan (Monthly) |
TaxCloud Starter Plan (Monthly) |
TaxJar Professional Plan (Monthly) |
TaxCloud Premium Plan (Monthly) |
| 200 orders | $19 | $19 | $99 | $79 |
| 400 orders | $29 | $49 | $199 | $149 |
| 1,000 orders | $49 | $89 | $349 | $299 |
| 2,000 orders | $99 | $129 | $649 | $399 |
| 4,000 orders | $149 | $179 | $649 | $549 |
| 10,000 orders | $199 | $249 | $849 | $749 |
Support: Avalara vs. TaxJar vs. TaxCloud
Given that sales tax compliance is such a crucial aspect of any business, choosing a sales tax software provider means trusting a company to be there for you when you need their help since it could cost a significant amount of money if something goes wrong. So, next we’ll compare the companies around their customer support.
| TaxJar Starter | TaxJar Professional | Avalara (AvaTax) | TaxCloud Starter & Premium | |
| Email support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Chat support | ✓ | ✓ |
Streamlined Sales Tax Support: Avalara vs. TaxJar vs. TaxCloud
The Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) program is a group of states that have signed onto streamlined sales tax rules that make it easier for ecommerce and out-of-state businesses to collect and remit sales tax in. SST Certified Service Providers are a group of five certified sales tax providers who offer businesses free or low cost services in the program. These can include things like free or low cost sales tax registration, sales tax filing, and more in member states.
Of the three companies, only Avalara and TaxCloud are Certified Service Providers. TaxCloud offers access to the SST program under the TaxCloud Premium plan. It’s unclear who Avalara offers access to the program to.
Customers have suggested Avalara failed to inform them of their eligibility for the program:
“Avalara was also very expensive, and their customer support was not responsive. Every issue required a consulting contract, and they rarely helped us fix their mistakes. Additionally, Avalara never informed us about the Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) program, which could have saved us a significant amount of money.”
| TaxJar Starter | TaxJar Professional | Avalara | TaxCloud Starter | TaxCloud Premium | |
| Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Partner Support | ✓ | ✓ |
Reviews: TaxJar vs. Avalara vs. TaxCloud
Reading about features is one way to get a sense of what a company offers but the best way to get a sense of your experience with a company is to read through their customer reviews to better understand how they treat their customers.
Here’s what customers are saying about these sales tax compliance solutions:
Avalara
Many Avalara customers have satisfactory experiences with their AvaTax platform but, when you read Avalara reviews, there are some common themes.
| Category | Review Excerpt |
| Cost | “It was great until we got a bill for 2,000% more than what we were historically paying. They charged 2,000% more for upgrading our transaction level with no pricing alert.” |
| Customer support | “This is the worst company I’ve ever dealt with. They ignore my emails, they pass me around from person to person. Zero customer service. You can’t even cancel your subscription. This is the reason people hate entrepreneurship. Because of people like Avalara.” |
| Issues with tax calculation | “It has been a nightmare, my taxes have not been filed correctly in three months. I operate in several states so we have late fees in all the states we need to file in. I can’t get a hold of anyone that can actually help. What they promised is not what they have delivered.” |
| Issues with services | “Incompetent personnel, no customer service, they compromised our data, combining our account with other company’s account, not responsive to emails/calls, do not know how to solve problems they create, overcharge, impossible to cancel account, they keep charging you. RUN!” |
TaxJar
TaxJar can be a great solution for some businesses but the company’s online reviews have similar complaints. Here are some common themes in TaxJar reviews.
| Category | Review Excerpt |
| Cost | “The softwares cost to implement is more than it’s worth to pay for monthly with a subscription.” |
| Customer support | “I can’t get anyone to respond to questions/issues I have. Lousy customer service when it comes to adding new states.” |
| Difficulty onboarding | “They used to provide support and assistance with configuration, and now it is self-service. The support articles are very canned and just give you basic directions on connecting things with no real explanation of the configuration of how the system works.” |
| Difficult to use | “A web interface that provides no ability to manually adjust anything other than whether a transaction is tax exempt or not. Searching for transactions is best done by exporting data and using excel.” |
TaxCloud
Curious why TaxCloud’s 2,000+ customers chose TaxCloud? Read a sample of TaxCloud reviews below to get a better idea!
| Category | Review Excerpt |
| Pricing | “TaxCloud makes collecting and distributing sales tax easy for small online retailers. It is cost effective compared with other options and their support team is reliable. The combination of affordability and efficiency makes this a great product to handle the mundane so I can focus on my business.’’ |
| Support | ‘’We’ve used many tax service providers in the US, from big names like Avalara to mid-sized companies, and hands down, TaxCloud is the best. What sets them apart is their exceptional customer service and personal approach. Unlike the big companies, they offer a more personalized experience with a dedicated professional who is always there for you.’’ |
| Ease of integration | “Integration was easy with their simple and well documented API. TaxCloud has been a huge help streamlining our sales tax collection and remittance.” |
| Reduction in staff time | “We started using TaxCloud when we started selling supplies and merchandise online and needed to track our tax liability beyond just California. TaxCloud gets the job done and I don’t have to spend time doing the various filings each month. A much different feeling than some of the other sales tax companies out there.” |
| Simplifies tax compliance | “TaxCloud service has simplified our tax calculation process and given us the peace of mind that our taxes will always be accurate.” |
Verdict: TaxJar vs. Avalara vs. TaxCloud
Which company won overall based on features, pricing, support, and reviews?
TaxCloud wins all categories:
- Features: TaxCloud – More features than both Avalara and TaxJar.
- Pricing: TaxCloud – Significant savings over Avalara and TaxJar.
- Support: TaxCloud – Three channels of support
- Streamlined Sales Tax: TaxCloud – Offers access to all Premium members
- Reviews: TaxCloud – Customers who love to brag about how much they love us
If you switch to TaxCloud from TaxJar, you’ll get more features at a lower cost and better support. Or if you switch to TaxCloud from Avalara, you’ll get prompt support with significant savings.