Compare · Trifold vs Pilot

# Trifold vs Pilot

Pilot and Trifold both take work off whoever keeps your books, in different ways. Pilot is a service, “50/50 people and software”: a bookkeeping team, with tax filing and CFO services on top. Trifold is software: it turns Stripe payments into balanced books and a signed receipt for every payment, which anyone can check.

Pilot, in its own words: “If you're buried in bookkeeping, who's leading the company?”

## Where Pilot is strongest

Honest first. If these matter most to you, Pilot is likely the better fit.

### People who do the books for you

A bookkeeping team keeps your books; Bookkeeping Essentials is $99 a month for up to $100K in monthly expenses. Trifold is software: someone on your side still runs it.

### Tax filing and a CFO

Business tax filing from $1,000 a year (bought with bookkeeping) and CFO services from $1,750 a month. Trifold doesn't file taxes; a year-end package for your CPA is Later.

### Operations beyond the books

R&D credits, payroll and bill pay operations, and stock administration.

## Where Trifold differs

Shipped means it works today in the engine. Next means it's on the roadmap and not built yet.

Shipped

### Anyone can check a receipt, with no account

A family, CPA or auditor pastes a receipt into the free verifier at /verify. It runs in their browser and sends nothing to us; the CLI does the same check offline.

Shipped

### Open formats and an engine you can run yourself

Export the books to Parquet, hledger or CSV whenever you like. The receipt and seal formats are open, and the engine is self-hostable, with its source public on GitHub.

Shipped

### Books you can rebuild, months that stay sealed

Every Stripe event is kept. Replay them and you get the same balances and journals, and a sealed month shows any later change.

## Side by side

The companies and products, fact by fact. Trifold's prices are planned; the hosted service is early access. "Not stated" means Pilot's public pages don't say; it doesn't mean the feature is missing.

| Fact | Trifold | Pilot |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Built for | Schools, studios, non-profits and other organizations paid through Stripe | Startups, small and growing businesses, and professional-services firms |
| What it is | Software: a hosted service (early access) or the self-hosted engine | A service: “50/50 people and software” |
| Monthly price | Free, then Starter $29, Pro $79, Witnessed $149 a month, planned. Non-profit and co-op: $15 / $39 / $79 | Bookkeeping Essentials $99 a month (up to $100K monthly expenses); custom plans through sales |
| Tax | Doesn't file taxes; a year-end package for your CPA is Later | From $1,000+ a year (single-member LLC) to $2,450+ (C-corps), bought with bookkeeping |
| CFO | None | $1,750, $3,150 or $5,250 a month |
| Free plan | Planned. The hosted service is early access; design partners are free during the pilot | None |
| Who can check the records | Anyone, in a free browser verifier or the CLI, with no account | Not stated |
| AI | Rifo, Next (not shipped): drafts and explains, you approve, the engine does the math | AI categorisation, reconciliation, close and Q&A; how work splits between AI and people is not stated |
| Export | Parquet, hledger and CSV, on every plan | Not stated |
| Self-hosting | The engine is self-hostable | No; a service |
| Stripe | Native: books built from Stripe events, Stripe's webhook signature checked | Not stated |
| SOC 2 | Target date to be announced | Not stated |

## Which one fits

### Choose Pilot if…

You want people to do your bookkeeping and file your taxes, and $99 a month and up (taxes extra) fits the budget.

### Choose Trifold if…

A volunteer treasurer or an admin keeps the books, and you want trustworthy automation from Stripe and receipts anyone can check.

## Sources

-   Pilot homepage: [https://pilot.com](https://pilot.com)
-   Pilot pricing: [https://pilot.com/pricing](https://pilot.com/pricing)

Facts about Pilot checked against its public pages as of 2026-11-06. Prices and features change; check theirs before you decide. Corrections: [hello@gettrifold.com](mailto:hello@gettrifold.com). [All comparisons](https://tfd-ledger.pages.dev/compare).

## Every dollar, three ways. Every month, sealed.

Books **✓**·Receipt **✓**·Stripe **✓**

[Get early access](https://tfd-ledger.pages.dev/early-access) [Verify a sample receipt](https://tfd-ledger.pages.dev/verify)

Design partners: founder onboarding, free during the pilot.