Renewal quotes land in October and discounts lapse in November, which makes this the six weeks when preparers actually look at what they are paying.
The question is never which package has the nicest interface. It is whether the software handles the returns your clients actually file, and what it costs you when one of them turns into a six state partnership in March.
In the AICPA's 2025 tax software survey of 2,011 members, three products cover most of the profession: UltraTax CS at 22.9 percent, Drake Tax at 16.3 and Lacerte at 15.8. Here is how they differ on the things that decide the engagement.
| Renewal season view | Drake Tax | UltraTax CS | Lacerte |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of surveyed firms | 16.3 percent | 22.9 percent, most used | 15.8 percent |
| States | All included, no add on modules | Licensed by state and jurisdiction | Included on unlimited, charged per return on pay per return |
| Cost of a second state | Nothing | Priced into the quote | 98 dollars on a business return |
| Complex return depth | Covers mainstream entities well | 371 state and local returns, data sharing across linked returns | 7,200 forms, 25,000 diagnostics, consolidated corporations |
| Published pricing | In full, unlimited at 3,295 with a sale price of 3,145 | Quote only | Per return rates published, 599 licence then 148 a business return |
| Survey standouts | Top overall at 4.4, support 4.4 against a 3.8 average, updates 4.7 | Deepest suite integration if you run Accounting CS | Diagnostics and complex entity handling |
| Learning curve | Quickest of the three | Steepest | In the middle |
| Best fit | Volume practices on mainstream returns | Firms already running the CS suite | Complex partnerships, consolidations, multi state work |
Start with your client list, not the feature grid
The honest first question is what you actually file.
A practice doing 1040s, S corps and straightforward partnerships is well served by any of the three, and should buy on price and support. A practice with estates, exempt organisations, consolidated corporations or tiered partnerships is buying a different product, and the price difference stops mattering the moment the software cannot produce a form you need in April.
Lacerte publishes the broadest numbers: 7,200 tax forms and 25,000 automated diagnostics, with consolidated corporate returns and automated K-1 delivery called out specifically.
UltraTax CS covers 1040, 1041, 1120, 1120C, 1120S, 706, 709, 990 and 5500, with more than 371 state and local returns, and shares data across linked returns so a partnership K-1 flows into the partner's 1040 without rekeying.
Drake Tax leads with all states included rather than with a form count. If your practice does 706, 709, 990 or 5500 work, confirm current year coverage with the vendor before renewing rather than assuming it.
Multi state is where the cost actually diverges
This is the biggest practical difference between the three, and it rarely appears in a feature comparison.
Drake includes every state, with no add on state modules and no additional e-filing fees. A return with six states costs the same as a return with one.
Lacerte charges per state on pay per return. The published rates are 599 dollars for the annual license, then 148 for a business return with one state, 98 for each additional state business return, 103 for each additional state individual return, and 146 for a consolidated corporation. A three state 1065 therefore costs 344 dollars in software before you have looked at it. An unlimited plan removes that, but it is quoted rather than published.
UltraTax licenses by state and jurisdiction inside the quote, so multi state exposure is priced into the renewal number rather than appearing per return.
Run your own client list through that. Ten three state partnerships is 3,440 dollars of Lacerte per return charges, against no marginal cost on a Drake unlimited package. If most of your work is single state and your volume is low, the calculation flips and per return pricing is the cheaper answer.
Complexity: diagnostics are the real feature
Preparers who move to Lacerte usually talk about diagnostics rather than forms. Twenty five thousand automated checks is a different working experience from a short error list. The software argues with you before the return goes out, which is worth real money on a complicated partnership.
UltraTax's equivalent strength is linkage. Data sharing across returns means an entity return populates the partners' or shareholders' individual returns, and Fixed Assets CS, Accounting CS and Practice CS sit in the same suite. For a firm preparing both sides of a client's return set, that removes a rekeying step nobody enjoys.
Drake's strength is speed on mainstream work: customizable data entry screens, LookBack and LinkBacks for prior year figures, and a calculation results window that tells you where the return stands and whether it is e-file eligible. On genuinely exotic returns it is more manual, and preparers who do that work routinely tend to end up on Lacerte or UltraTax.
One caveat worth naming. Intuit claims a 99.86 percent federal e-file acceptance rate for Lacerte. Treat vendor acceptance statistics as directional rather than decisive, since what gets rejected depends as much on the preparer as on the software.
Ease of use, learning curve and support
The survey data is the most trustworthy thing available here, because the respondents paid for the software themselves.
Drake took the top overall rating at 4.4, led on ease of obtaining technical support at 4.4 against a 3.8 average, and scored 4.7 on handling updates. The support reputation is consistent across years: you call, a person answers, and the person knows the software.
The learning curve runs the other way. UltraTax is the steepest of the three, Lacerte sits in the middle, and Drake is quickest to pick up. That matters most if you hire seasonal staff, because training time is a real cost that appears on no quote.
On price, the split is stark. Price was the single biggest complaint across the whole survey at 61.5 percent of respondents. Among Drake users, 85.1 percent listed price as something they liked and only 8.2 percent disliked it. The Lacerte community thread on justifying REP fees has both sides in one place: "Lacerte is a tool that does the job I want done with minimal effort" from one long time user, and "I'm sick of paying a lot with little service. I'll be going to either Drake or Ultra Tax next season" from another.
Where firms actually land
Volume practice, mainstream returns, cost sensitive: Drake. Unlimited pricing, every state included, and the best support scores in the profession.
Complex partnerships, consolidations, heavy multi state: Lacerte. The diagnostics and form depth are what you are paying for, and at low volume the per return route keeps it affordable.
Already running Accounting CS, Fixed Assets CS or Practice CS: UltraTax. The suite linkage is a real advantage and splitting it rarely pays.
Hiring seasonal preparers every year: weight the learning curve heavily. The cheapest software stops being cheap if January goes on training.
If you are switching, switch carefully
Conversions bring prior year data across imperfectly. Depreciation detail, carryforwards, basis schedules and state specific items are the usual casualties, and each one is something you discover in March rather than November.
Three rules worth following. Switch in a year you can afford to be slower. Run the first few complex returns in parallel if you can. And never change tax software and accounting workflow in the same season, because when something breaks you will not know which change caused it.
One more thing about renewal season: ask for the discount. Published prices are starting points, multi year terms are negotiable, and a firm that mentions it is evaluating alternatives usually gets a better number than one that does not.
The part none of them do
Whichever you renew, all three start working at the same moment: once somebody has turned the client's books into mapped, tax ready balances.
That step is the one the profession rates worst. In the same survey, integration with accounting software was the lowest scoring dimension measured, averaging 3.3 out of 5, below ease of use, support and reliability. It also does not improve when you switch packages, because the gap sits between the client's books and the return rather than inside the tax software.
That gap is what Ledger IQ closes, and it is deliberately package neutral. Upload the client's trial balance from QuickBooks, Xero or anything that exports Excel or CSV. Map each account to a named return line with AI suggestions you review and approve, post adjusting and tax entries on a working trial balance, then export an import file built for Drake, Lacerte or UltraTax CS. The return is populated from balances that already tie, and the tie out view flags any line that disagrees with your workpaper before the return goes out.
Which means the renewal decision can be made on what actually matters, the returns your clients file, while the handoff from the books is solved separately and stays solved whichever logo you sign with.
Ledger IQ supports Forms 1065, 1120S and 1120, with exports for Drake, Lacerte and UltraTax CS. Your first return is free, so you can try it at portal.ledgeriq.ai on a live client without a credit card.