If you freelance, consult, or run a business of one, tax software isn't really about which app looks nicest. It's about which one matches your Schedule C to the cheapest, most accurate path through the IRS system — and which one you'll actually finish before the deadline.
The short answer: for most freelancers filing a 2025 return in 2026 with a straightforward Schedule C, FreeTaxUSA is the default value pick — federal filing is free, one state return runs $15.99, and even Pro Support with expert access and one state totals $80.98 as of mid-2026. TurboTax earns its higher price when you want guided imports from QuickBooks or a spreadsheet, live expert review, or a path into S-corp and partnership business returns that FreeTaxUSA doesn't offer. Both are the wrong tool if you have multi-state nexus, an S-corp with a shaky reasonable-salary number, messy books, or foreign employment income — that's CPA territory.
What's different about filing as a freelancer in 2026?
The IRS opened the 2026 filing season for 2025 individual returns on January 26, 2026, with the regular deadline landing April 15, 2026. If you're reading this later in the year, you're likely dealing with an extension, a prior-year cleanup, or planning ahead for the 2026 tax year itself — the math below still applies, just swap the year.
Two rules anchor everything a freelancer files on Schedule C. First, IRS Publication 334 requires a return once your net self-employment earnings hit $400 or more — there's no clean too-small-to-file exemption once you cross that line. Second, self-employment tax runs 15.3% of net earnings (12.4% Social Security plus 2.9% Medicare) up to the Social Security wage base, which was $176,100 for 2025 earnings and rises to $184,500 for 2026 earnings. Neither FreeTaxUSA nor TurboTax changes that math — they just calculate and file it.
2026 also brought new OBBBA provisions worth knowing before you pick software. The qualified tips and qualified overtime deductions apply for tax years 2025 through 2028, including eligible self-employed filers, but they're deductions with eligibility rules and documentation requirements — not a signal that tipped or overtime income skips reporting or other taxes. Separately, the old $20,000-and-200-transaction 1099-K threshold was retroactively reinstated, but that's a reporting trigger for the platform, not a rule about whether you owe tax — the IRS is clear that you report all income whether or not a 1099-K shows up.
The Schedule C complexity ladder: three freelancers, three price tags
Generic feature lists don't tell you what you'll actually pay. Here's the honest math across three real-world profiles, using pricing verified in July 2026. Confirm current prices in-product before you file, since both companies reserve the right to adjust pricing through the season.
Persona A: the $45,000 side-hustle designer
One 1099-NEC, about $2,500 in expenses, one state, no employees, nothing fancy. This is the cleanest possible Schedule C.
- FreeTaxUSA Basic: $15.99 total — free federal plus one $15.99 state return.
- FreeTaxUSA Deluxe, with chat support and amended-return coverage: $23.98.
- FreeTaxUSA Pro, with access to a tax professional: $80.98.
- TurboTax DIY Online: listed at up to $149 federal plus state additional — Free Edition doesn't apply, since TurboTax explicitly excludes business or 1099-NEC income from its simple-return definition.
- TurboTax Expert Assist Business for a sole proprietor: $229 federal plus state additional.
At this income level, if your return is clean and you're comfortable answering software prompts, FreeTaxUSA wins outright — TurboTax would need to save real time or real anxiety to justify the gap.
Persona B: the $90,000 consultant with real deductions
Two 1099-NECs, roughly $15,000 in expenses, a home office, and a self-employed retirement contribution. This is where simple freelancing ends and bookkeeping starts to matter.
FreeTaxUSA still covers this scenario: Schedule C, Schedule SE, home office (Form 8829), depreciation (Form 4562), the QBI deduction, and self-employed retirement contributions are all supported for 2025 returns. Pro Support plus one state still totals $80.98 if you want a professional to review your entries.
TurboTax's Expert Assist Business product runs $229 federal plus state for a sole proprietor, and it adds spreadsheet or QuickBooks expense import plus specialized business-tax-expert help while you complete the return — genuinely useful if your books already live in QuickBooks.
The price gap still favors FreeTaxUSA on paper. TurboTax becomes defensible here only if the import workflow or expert review saves you meaningfully more time than the roughly $148 price difference represents.
Persona C: the $180,000 agency-of-one weighing S-corp status
At this revenue level the question often stops being which filing app and becomes who prepares your business return. FreeTaxUSA can still handle your personal return, including a Schedule K-1 if you already have an S-corp, but its list of federal forms it files doesn't include Form 1120-S — it's a personal-return tool, not an S-corp preparation tool.
TurboTax has an actual S-corp path: Expert Assist Business for Form 1120-S runs $589 federal plus state, and Expert Full Service for the same runs $1,499 federal plus state. Either way, you're also filing a separate personal return, so total cost is the business-return fee plus whatever you pay for the 1040.
Whether an S-corp election even makes sense at your income is a separate question from software — it hinges on a defensible “reasonable salary,” payroll costs, state fees, and administrative overhead. Run that math with a CPA before electing anything; software chooses how you file, not whether you should restructure.
| Scenario | FreeTaxUSA | TurboTax |
|---|---|---|
| Clean Schedule C, one state | $15.99 | up to $149 + state |
| Same, with expert access | $80.98 (Pro Support) | $229 (Expert Assist Business) |
| S-corp business return (1120-S) | Not offered | $589 to $1,499 + state |
FreeTaxUSA: what you get for the price
FreeTaxUSA's pitch is unusually simple: federal filing is free for 2025 individual returns, including self-employment forms, and a state return adds $15.99. Optional add-ons — Deluxe Support at $7.99, Pro Support at $64.99, and Audit Defense at $19.99 — layer on if you want more than software alone.
Where it's strong
It covers the forms most freelancers actually need at no federal cost: 1099-NEC, 1099-MISC, 1099-K, Schedule C, Schedule SE, the QBI deduction, self-employed retirement contributions, depreciation, and the home office deduction. Import features let you upload prior-year returns, W-2s, and 1099s rather than retyping everything, and its supported-forms page even lists the new OBBBA Schedule 1-A items — tips, overtime, car-loan interest, and the enhanced senior deduction — for 2025.
Where it falls short
FreeTaxUSA doesn't support Form 2555 foreign employment income, Form 1040-NR for nonresident aliens, filers living outside the U.S. at filing time, at-risk limitations (Form 6198), or casualty and theft gains and losses on business property. It also isn't built to prepare a standalone S-corp or partnership return — it can absorb a Schedule K-1 onto your personal return, but Form 1120-S and Form 1065 aren't on its list of federal forms filed. And Pro Support gets you access to a tax professional for questions, not a full-service prepare-and-sign experience.
Skip it if
You need a business return prepared for an S-corp or partnership, you're a nonresident alien or living abroad at filing time, or your situation involves at-risk or basis limitations FreeTaxUSA doesn't cover.
TurboTax: what the higher price buys
TurboTax's DIY Online products are listed at $0 to $149 federal with state charged separately; Expert Assist runs $89 to $209 federal plus state; Expert Full Service is advertised starting at $100 but the final number depends on the forms your return actually needs. TurboTax is explicit that pricing depends on product, service level, tax complexity, and even the time of year you file — it can change without notice, so treat any number here as a range to verify in-product.
Where it's strong
TurboTax has a genuine ladder: pure DIY, Expert Assist (a professional checks your work), Expert Full Service (someone else does the filing), and a dedicated Experts for Business track for sole proprietors, S-corps, and partnerships. For sole proprietors specifically, TurboTax includes Schedule C improvements, spreadsheet or QuickBooks expense import, and built-in quarterly estimated-tax calculations — the QuickBooks link in particular saves real time if your books are already there.
Where it falls short
Free Edition explicitly excludes business or 1099-NEC income, so almost no freelancer qualifies for TurboTax's free tier. Business Online products don't cover C-corps (Form 1120), trusts and estates (Form 1041), tax-exempt entities, or returns needing more than five state filings. And because pricing flexes with your specific forms, the number you see on a comparison page rarely matches your final total — the Full Service form-by-form price list is the only way to estimate accurately.
Skip it if
Your Schedule C is clean and your priority is price — FreeTaxUSA covers the same core forms for a fraction of the cost. TurboTax earns its premium only when imports, expert review, or business-entity filing genuinely save you time or reduce risk.
Who should skip both and call a CPA instead?
Neither product is built for every situation. If you have income across multiple states, an S-corp election with a payroll setup you're not confident about, bookkeeping that's more shoebox than ledger, at-risk or basis limitations, or foreign employment income, a CPA or enrolled agent will typically save you more than either piece of software — in dollars, time, or both. Software answers how do I file this, not should I restructure my business.
Where tax software fits in your financial stack
Tax filing sits in the Foundation layer of a solo operator's financial OS — it's the compliance work that has to happen correctly before anything else, from banking to growth investing, really matters. It pairs directly with your bookkeeping tool: if your expense tracking lives in a system like FreshBooks, that data should flow cleanly into whichever filing software you choose, which is part of why TurboTax's QuickBooks import matters more than it looks on a feature list. If you're still assembling that foundation, the first financial stack for freelancers walks through what to set up before tax season, and the financial stack by revenue stage guide shows how the stack should evolve as your income — and your filing complexity — grows. For the deeper mechanics of the self-employment tax math referenced throughout this piece, see the self-employment tax guide for solo operators, and for how filing fits into your recurring money routine, check the business finance workflow for solo operators.
Frequently asked questions
Is FreeTaxUSA really free for freelancers?
Federal filing is free for 2025 individual returns, including self-employed forms like Schedule C and Schedule SE, but state filing costs $15.99 and optional support or audit add-ons cost extra, as of mid-2026.
Can I use TurboTax's Free Edition with 1099-NEC income?
Generally no — TurboTax's free-tier definition excludes business income and 1099-NEC income, which covers most freelancers, so you'd move into a paid DIY or Expert Assist tier instead.
Which is cheaper for a one-state freelancer with a clean return?
FreeTaxUSA is cheaper on verified pricing — federal plus one state totals $15.99, while TurboTax's DIY tier is listed at up to $149 federal with state charged separately.
Can either product file an S-corp return?
TurboTax's Experts for Business track prices Form 1120-S work at $589 for Expert Assist and $1,499 for Expert Full Service, plus state. FreeTaxUSA can report a Schedule K-1 on your personal return but doesn't prepare the 1120-S itself.
Bottom line
For a clean Schedule C — one state, standard deductions, no entity — FreeTaxUSA's $15.99 total is hard to argue with, and it scales federally free through home office deductions, depreciation, and self-employed retirement contributions. TurboTax justifies its higher price when you want QuickBooks-linked imports, a human reviewing your return, or an actual path to filing an S-corp or partnership return. Either way, the software choice is the easy part — the harder decision, especially once you're weighing S-corp status or juggling multiple states, belongs with a CPA who can look at your actual numbers.