FreshBooks and QuickBooks are the two most recognizable names in small business accounting — and the comparison between them gets asked constantly, for good reason. They’re fundamentally different tools solving different problems, and choosing the wrong one is an expensive mistake that typically costs 6–12 months of workflow pain before you switch.
The direct answer: FreshBooks wins for freelancers and service-based solopreneurs who invoice clients and track time. QuickBooks wins for growing businesses that need full double-entry accounting, payroll integration, inventory management, or have employees and a dedicated bookkeeper. Here’s everything you need to know to make the right call.
Quick Verdict — Which Should You Choose?
- Choose FreshBooks if: You’re a freelancer, consultant, agency owner, or service-based sole proprietor who invoices clients, tracks hours, and wants an accounting tool that doesn’t require a CPA to navigate.
- Choose QuickBooks if: You have employees, sell physical products, need full double-entry accounting, or plan to hand your books to an accountant or bookkeeper — they almost certainly prefer QuickBooks.
- The wild card: Your accountant’s preference matters more than you think. 90%+ of US accountants work in QuickBooks daily. If you’re outsourcing bookkeeping, ask them first.
FreshBooks vs QuickBooks: Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | FreshBooks | QuickBooks Online |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (regular) | $21/mo (Lite) | $38/mo (Simple Start) |
| Free trial | ✅ 30 days | ✅ 30 days (or 50% off 3 months) |
| Invoicing | ✅ Excellent | ✅ Good |
| Time tracking | ✅ Built-in (all plans) | ⚠️ Add-on (QuickBooks Time) |
| Expense tracking | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (more powerful) |
| Double-entry accounting | ⚠️ Plus plan and above | ✅ All plans |
| Payroll | ❌ Third-party only | ✅ Built-in add-on |
| Inventory management | ❌ | ✅ Plus and above |
| Accountant access | ✅ All paid plans | ✅ All plans |
| Client portal | ✅ Built-in | ⚠️ Limited |
| Mobile app rating | 4.7/5 (iOS), 4.2/5 (Android) | 4.5/5 (iOS), 4.3/5 (Android) |
| Ease of use | ✅ Beginner-friendly | ⚠️ Steeper learning curve |
| Integrations | 100+ | 750+ |
| Best for | Freelancers & service businesses | Growing SMBs with employees |
Pricing: FreshBooks vs QuickBooks
Pricing is where the comparison gets interesting — and where many buyers make the wrong call by comparing sticker prices without accounting for what they actually need.
FreshBooks Pricing (2026)
| Plan | Regular Price | Billable Clients | Key Inclusions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | $21/mo | 5 | Invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, basic reports |
| Plus ⭐ Most Popular | $38/mo | 50 | + Proposals, retainers, recurring invoices, double-entry reports, bank reconciliation |
| Premium | $65/mo | Unlimited | + Unlimited clients, project profitability, advanced proposals, customized emails |
| Select | Custom | Unlimited | + Lower processing fees, white-label branding, dedicated account manager, 2 free team members |
FreshBooks pricing note: FreshBooks raised prices in 2026, and a promotional 70%-off deal is currently running for the first few months. Evaluate at full price — the Lite plan at $21/month caps you at 5 billable clients, which is aggressively restrictive. Most freelancers with a real client roster need Plus at $38/month minimum.
QuickBooks Online Pricing (2026)
| Plan | Regular Price | Users | Key Inclusions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solopreneur | $20/mo | 1 | Basic invoicing, expense tracking, mileage, Schedule C prep |
| Simple Start | $38/mo | 1 | + Sales tax, 1099 contractors, cash flow planner |
| Essentials | $75/mo | 3 | + Bill management, time tracking, multiple currencies |
| Plus ⭐ Most Popular | $115/mo | 5 | + Inventory, project profitability, 1099 contractor tracking |
| Advanced | $275/mo | 25 | + Custom reports, batch invoicing, dedicated support, revenue recognition |
QuickBooks pricing note: Intuit raised prices significantly in July 2025 — Simple Start went from $30 to $38/month, Plus jumped from $90 to $115/month (a 28% increase). These are 2026 renewal prices for all existing customers. The 50%-off-for-3-months promotional price is irrelevant for budgeting — plan your budget around full price from month four onward.
Pricing Verdict
Winner: FreshBooks (for freelancers) — A freelancer with 10–20 active clients pays $38/month on FreshBooks Plus versus $75/month on QuickBooks Essentials (which is what most freelancers actually need for multi-user or time tracking features). FreshBooks is also genuinely simpler at comparable price points, which reduces the hidden cost of time spent learning the software.
Winner: QuickBooks (for businesses with employees) — QuickBooks Plus at $115/month covers payroll integration, 5 users, inventory, and full double-entry accounting. Replicating that stack in FreshBooks Premium ($65/month) plus separate payroll software typically costs more and creates data fragmentation.
Invoicing: FreshBooks vs QuickBooks
Invoicing is where FreshBooks was built — and it shows. QuickBooks invoicing is perfectly functional, but it’s designed by accountants for accountants. FreshBooks invoicing was designed for people who hate accounting.
FreshBooks Invoicing
- Create professional invoices in under 2 minutes — no accounting knowledge required
- Automatic payment reminders at customizable intervals — FreshBooks sends the uncomfortable follow-up so you don’t have to
- Client portal where clients can view invoice history, make payments, and download past invoices — reduces support emails
- Recurring invoice automation with client retainer support — set it once for ongoing engagements
- Invoice read receipts — see when a client opens your invoice, which eliminates the “I didn’t receive it” excuse
- Online payment acceptance via Stripe, PayPal, and FreshBooks Payments — credit card and ACH
QuickBooks Invoicing
- Solid invoicing functionality with strong template customization options
- Automatic invoice reminders available at Essentials tier and above
- Progress invoicing feature allows billing in installments against a project estimate — useful for contractors
- Batch invoicing available on Advanced plan — critical for businesses sending 50+ invoices monthly
- QuickBooks Payments integration handles credit card and ACH — rates: 2.99% for cards, 1% for ACH (capped at $10)
Invoicing Verdict
Winner: FreshBooks. The invoice read receipt feature alone changes the dynamic of client follow-up. The client portal, automatic reminders, and recurring invoice management are all more polished and intuitive than QuickBooks’ equivalent features. If invoicing is your primary financial workflow — which it is for most freelancers — FreshBooks’ advantage here is significant enough to be a deciding factor.
Expense Tracking: FreshBooks vs QuickBooks
FreshBooks Expense Tracking
- Connect bank accounts and credit cards for automatic expense import
- Receipt scanning via mobile app — photograph receipts and extract line items automatically
- Expense categorization with customizable categories aligned to tax schedules
- Bill clients directly for expenses — add a markup and invoice the expense to a specific project
- Mileage tracking available via the mobile app with IRS-standard rate calculation
QuickBooks Expense Tracking
- Bank connection with automatic categorization using AI — learns your patterns over time and becomes more accurate
- Receipt capture via mobile app (QuickBooks GoPayment) with OCR extraction
- Vendor management — track bills payable and manage supplier relationships at Essentials and above
- Accounts payable tracking — see what you owe and when it’s due across all vendors
- Purchase order management available at Plus tier — critical for product-based businesses
Expense Tracking Verdict
Winner: QuickBooks. For service businesses with simple expense patterns, FreshBooks is adequate. But QuickBooks’ AI-assisted categorization improves measurably over time, accounts payable management handles vendor bills that FreshBooks treats as afterthoughts, and the purchase order workflow is simply not available in FreshBooks. Any business paying bills to vendors — not just collecting payment from clients — needs QuickBooks’ more complete payables picture.
Reporting and Accounting: FreshBooks vs QuickBooks
This is the most significant functional gap between the two platforms — and the one that matters most as your business grows.
FreshBooks Reporting
- Double-entry accounting available on Plus and above — required for GAAP compliance and serious bookkeeping
- Profit & Loss statement, balance sheet, and trial balance on Plus and above
- Accounts aging report — see which clients owe you money and for how long
- Project profitability reports on Premium — compare billable hours and expenses against project revenue
- Tax summary reports simplify Schedule C prep for sole proprietors
- Gap: Chart of accounts is simplified — limited customization for complex business structures
QuickBooks Reporting
- Full double-entry accounting on every plan — proper debits and credits, journal entries, and audit trail
- 100+ built-in reports including Cash Flow Statement, Statement of Cash Flows, Custom P&L, Balance Sheet
- Budget vs. actuals reporting — plan revenue and expenses by department or class
- Class tracking and location tracking — segment financial data by department, product line, or geography
- Advanced custom reporting on Advanced plan — build custom financial dashboards
- Accountant-ready books — the format most CPAs expect when preparing tax returns or audited financials
Reporting Verdict
Winner: QuickBooks, decisively. FreshBooks Plus introduced double-entry accounting, which closed the biggest gap — but QuickBooks’ reporting depth is still materially more comprehensive. If you work with an accountant or bookkeeper, they almost certainly use QuickBooks-formatted reports as their starting point. If you plan to seek outside investment, bank financing, or eventually sell your business, investor-grade financials require QuickBooks-level rigor. FreshBooks is fine for a freelancer’s tax prep; it’s insufficient for a business that’s building toward anything.
Mobile Apps: FreshBooks vs QuickBooks
FreshBooks Mobile
- iOS: 4.7/5 stars (App Store, 7,000+ ratings) — consistently praised for clean UI and reliable invoice creation on the go
- Android: 4.2/5 stars (Google Play, 2,000+ ratings)
- Create and send invoices, capture receipts, log expenses, and track time — all core workflows function fully on mobile
- Push notifications for invoice views and client payments — real-time cash flow awareness
- Client portal accessible via mobile for clients — they can pay invoices without downloading anything
QuickBooks Mobile
- iOS: 4.5/5 stars (App Store, 200,000+ ratings) — massive user base signals reliability
- Android: 4.3/5 stars (Google Play, 100,000+ ratings)
- Mileage tracking via GPS is more accurate and reliable than FreshBooks’ implementation
- Receipt capture and bank reconciliation work well on mobile, though the full desktop experience is noticeably richer
- Some advanced reporting and reconciliation features require desktop — mobile is best for expense logging and invoice sending, not financial analysis
Mobile Verdict
Winner: FreshBooks (for daily field use). FreshBooks’ mobile app is designed around the freelancer workflow: create invoice, send it, get paid, log an expense. That sequence is smoother in FreshBooks than in QuickBooks. QuickBooks mobile is more capable overall but is clearly a companion to the desktop experience rather than a standalone tool. If you’re running your business from your phone 80% of the time, FreshBooks’ mobile-first design wins.
Integrations: FreshBooks vs QuickBooks
FreshBooks Integrations
- 100+ integrations via the FreshBooks App Store and Zapier
- Key integrations: Stripe, PayPal, Gusto (payroll), HubSpot, Asana, Basecamp, Trello, Shopify (basic)
- Zapier automation extends to 5,000+ additional apps — most workflows can be connected with minimal technical effort
- API available for custom integrations at higher tiers
- Gap: No native inventory management integrations; limited e-commerce depth compared to QuickBooks
QuickBooks Integrations
- 750+ native integrations — the largest integration ecosystem in small business accounting
- Key integrations: Shopify (deep), WooCommerce, Amazon, Square, PayPal, Stripe, ADP (payroll), Gusto, TSheets/QuickBooks Time, Salesforce, HubSpot
- QuickBooks Payroll integrates natively — no third-party payroll sync required
- Inventory integrations with Fishbowl, SOS Inventory, and Cin7 for product-based businesses
- Accountant access portal lets your CPA connect directly — standard workflow for tax professionals
Integrations Verdict
Winner: QuickBooks, significantly. 750+ integrations vs. 100+ is a meaningful difference — and more importantly, the depth of QuickBooks integrations (especially with e-commerce platforms like Shopify and payroll systems like Gusto and ADP) is substantially greater. If your tech stack includes payroll, inventory, or e-commerce, QuickBooks’ integration ecosystem reduces manual data entry in ways FreshBooks simply can’t match.
Ease of Use: FreshBooks vs QuickBooks
This is the dimension that most reviews get wrong — they test ease of use for simple tasks and declare a winner. The real test is ease of use for your specific workflow over time.
FreshBooks Ease of Use
- Designed for non-accountants — you don’t need to understand debits and credits to use FreshBooks effectively
- Onboarding takes 15–30 minutes; most users are sending invoices on day one
- Interface uses plain language (“Money In / Money Out”) rather than accounting jargon
- G2 user review average: 4.5/5 for ease of use (based on 800+ reviews)
- Phone support included on all paid plans — unusual in this category and genuinely valuable for non-technical users
QuickBooks Ease of Use
- Steeper learning curve — the full chart of accounts and double-entry model requires some accounting literacy
- Once understood, QuickBooks is efficient for users who work in it daily — the complexity is a feature, not just a bug
- Intuit has improved the UI significantly post-2024 — the dashboard and invoice flows are more intuitive than they were
- G2 user review average: 3.9/5 for ease of use (based on 3,000+ reviews)
- Extensive self-service documentation, ProAdvisor network (certified QuickBooks advisors), and a large user community
Ease of Use Verdict
Winner: FreshBooks. The gap is real and measurable. FreshBooks consistently rates higher on ease-of-use metrics across G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot — not because it’s simplistic, but because it’s designed around the service business workflow rather than the accountant’s workflow. The phone support alone — rare among accounting tools — makes FreshBooks meaningfully less stressful for solo operators without a finance background.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is FreshBooks or QuickBooks better for freelancers?
FreshBooks is better for most freelancers. The invoicing workflow, client portal, time tracking integration, and beginner-friendly UI all align with how freelancers actually run their businesses. QuickBooks is overkill for a solo freelancer with straightforward invoicing needs — unless your accountant specifically requires it for your tax filing.
Can I switch from FreshBooks to QuickBooks later?
Yes, but it requires some effort. FreshBooks allows you to export transaction data as CSV files. Your accountant or bookkeeper will need to import and reconcile this data in QuickBooks. Most accountants are familiar with this migration process. Budget 2–4 hours of accountant time for a clean migration of 1–2 years of data.
Does FreshBooks do payroll?
Not natively. FreshBooks integrates with Gusto for payroll processing — you manage payroll in Gusto and the expense data syncs back to FreshBooks. This works well but adds a separate subscription cost (Gusto starts at $49/month plus $6/employee). QuickBooks has a native payroll add-on that’s more seamlessly integrated.
Do accountants prefer QuickBooks?
Most do — significantly so. The QuickBooks ProAdvisor network has 1.4 million certified advisors in the US. Most accounting firms run their bookkeeping practice on QuickBooks. If you’re handing your books to an outside bookkeeper or CPA, asking which software they use is the most important first question — their preference should heavily influence yours.
Does QuickBooks have a time tracking feature?
Not built-in for the standard plans — time tracking requires QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets), which starts at $10/month plus $8/user/month. FreshBooks includes time tracking at all paid plan tiers with no add-on fee, which gives it a clear pricing advantage for service businesses where billable hours are central.
Which is better for a small business with employees?
QuickBooks, without question. Employee payroll, multi-user access, accounts payable, inventory (if applicable), and the breadth of reporting required for a business with payroll obligations all favor QuickBooks. FreshBooks Premium with Gusto payroll can approximate the experience, but the fragmentation adds complexity and cost.
Is there a free trial for both?
Yes — both offer 30-day free trials. FreshBooks also offers a promotional discount (currently 70% off for the first few months). QuickBooks offers 50% off for the first three months as an alternative to the trial. Both offers are legitimate; just budget for full-price costs after the promotional period ends.
Bottom Line: FreshBooks vs QuickBooks — Which Should You Choose?
The answer comes down to two questions: Do you have employees? Do you sell physical products?
If the answer to both is no — choose FreshBooks. You’re a freelancer, consultant, or service business. Your world is invoices, time tracking, and getting paid. FreshBooks is built precisely for you. The cleaner UX, the invoice read receipts, the client portal, the mobile-first design — all of it is designed around your workflow. FreshBooks Plus at $38/month is the right plan for most freelancers with 10–50 active clients.
If the answer to either is yes — choose QuickBooks. You have payroll obligations, inventory to track, or multiple users needing simultaneous access. QuickBooks’ accounting depth, integration ecosystem, and accountant-familiar format become essential. QuickBooks Plus at $115/month is the right plan for most growing SMBs with 1–5 users, inventory, and an outside accountant.
The only exception: If your accountant or bookkeeper specifically recommends one, follow their advice without question. The software they work in daily will always produce better results than the software you prefer theoretically.
- Freelancers, consultants, service businesses: Try FreshBooks Free for 30 Days →
- Growing SMBs with employees or inventory: Try QuickBooks Online Free for 30 Days →
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FreshBooks In-Depth: What Makes It Work for Freelancers
FreshBooks was built in Toronto in 2003 by a frustrated small business owner who was tired of Excel-based invoicing. That origin story matters — unlike QuickBooks, which was built by accountants for accountants, FreshBooks was built by a freelancer for freelancers. Twenty-plus years later, that founding philosophy still shapes every product decision.
The workflow FreshBooks optimizes is: estimate → project → time tracking → invoice → payment → report. Every feature in the product serves one of those six steps. When you open FreshBooks, you’re not looking at a chart of accounts or a trial balance — you’re looking at “Money In” (what you’ve invoiced and collected) and “Money Out” (what you’ve spent). That’s not dumbing it down; that’s designing for the reality of how freelancers think about their finances.
FreshBooks Features That Actually Matter for Freelancers
- Invoice Read Receipts: FreshBooks notifies you the moment a client opens your invoice. This changes the collection dynamic entirely — when a client says “I haven’t received the invoice,” you can see exactly when they opened it. More practically, you know when to follow up: if a client opened the invoice 5 days ago and hasn’t paid, that’s the signal to call. FreshBooks reports that businesses using read receipts get paid an average of 5+ days faster.
- Client Portal: Every FreshBooks client gets a dedicated portal where they can view all their invoices, pay outstanding balances, and download past invoices for their own records. This reduces “Can you resend that invoice?” emails dramatically and makes your operation look significantly more professional than emailing PDF attachments.
- Proposals + Estimates: On Plus and above, you can send professional project proposals that clients approve digitally. Approved proposals convert to projects automatically, which then feed into your time tracking and invoicing workflow — the entire client journey from proposal to payment in one system.
- Retainer Management: If any of your clients pay a fixed monthly retainer, FreshBooks automates this entirely. You configure the retainer once, and FreshBooks sends the invoice automatically on whatever billing date you set. Combined with auto-billing (client credit card on file), retainer collection can be 100% hands-free.
- Phone Support: This is unusual. FreshBooks offers phone support on all paid plans — something QuickBooks Online, Wave, and most accounting SaaS tools have eliminated. For a solo freelancer who hits a problem at 9pm before a client presentation, this matters in ways that chat-only support can’t match.
FreshBooks Limitations to Know Before You Buy
FreshBooks is not a full accounting system, and it doesn’t pretend to be. The Lite plan’s 5-client cap is a genuine limitation — if you have more than 5 active clients, you need Plus at $38/month from day one. More importantly, FreshBooks’ chart of accounts is simplified. If your accountant or bookkeeper needs to customize account categories extensively, run class-level reporting, or manage payroll within the same system, they’ll find FreshBooks limiting. This is not a product for businesses with a dedicated finance function — it’s for the freelancer or small agency owner who is their own CFO.
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QuickBooks In-Depth: What Makes It Essential for Growing Businesses
QuickBooks Online has 7+ million active subscribers as of 2026, making it by far the most widely used small business accounting software in the English-speaking world. That market dominance creates a network effect: your accountant uses it, your bookkeeper uses it, the accounting templates your industry uses are built for it. Switching to something else means working against a massive ecosystem, and that friction is real.
QuickBooks is built on proper double-entry accounting — every transaction creates both a debit and a credit, every dollar is accounted for in the general ledger. For a freelancer with simple finances, this feels like overkill. For a business with employees, inventory, multiple bank accounts, and an outside bookkeeper, it’s the non-negotiable foundation of accurate financials.
QuickBooks Features That Justify the Higher Price
- Full Payroll Integration: QuickBooks Payroll (Core at $50/month + $6.50/employee, Premium at $88/month + $10/employee) handles direct deposit, tax filings, and W-2 preparation natively. The payroll expenses flow directly into your books without manual journal entries. FreshBooks has no native payroll — you need Gusto ($49/month + $6/employee), which creates a separate system to reconcile.
- Inventory Management (Plus and above): Track product quantities, set reorder points, and calculate cost of goods sold automatically. If you sell physical products — even just a few SKUs — this is essential for accurate P&L reporting. FreshBooks has no inventory features whatsoever.
- Class and Location Tracking: Segment all your financial data by department, product line, location, or any other dimension you define. A consulting firm can track revenue and expenses by service line; a restaurant chain can track by location. This level of reporting granularity doesn’t exist in FreshBooks.
- 750+ Integrations: QuickBooks connects to virtually every other business tool — Shopify, WooCommerce, Stripe, Square, ADP, Salesforce, HubSpot, and hundreds more. The integration ecosystem means QuickBooks becomes the financial hub that every other tool pipes data into, not a standalone island.
- Bank Reconciliation with AI Categorization: QuickBooks learns your expense patterns over time and auto-categorizes transactions with increasing accuracy. After 3–6 months of use, most routine expenses are categorized correctly without touching them — a meaningful time savings for any business with significant transaction volume.
QuickBooks Limitations to Know Before You Buy
QuickBooks isn’t cheap, and Intuit raised prices significantly in July 2025. Simple Start at $38/month, Plus at $115/month, and Advanced at $275/month represent prices that have increased 28–64% over the past five years. The payroll add-on pushes the total cost of a 10-employee business to $165–$225/month just for accounting and payroll — before any other software tools. For a business with under $100K in annual revenue, these costs are meaningful. The UX learning curve is also real: new QuickBooks users typically need 2–4 weeks before they’re working efficiently, and the complexity increases as you use more features.
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Who Actually Switches Between FreshBooks and QuickBooks?
The most common migration pattern we see: freelancers start on FreshBooks, then switch to QuickBooks when they hire their first employee. This happens because payroll changes everything. The moment you have a W-2 employee, you have payroll tax obligations, quarterly filings, and year-end W-2 forms. Managing those outside of your accounting system creates reconciliation headaches that a busy business owner can’t afford to spend time on. QuickBooks Payroll eliminates that problem; FreshBooks + Gusto creates it.
The reverse migration — QuickBooks to FreshBooks — typically happens when a solo operator realizes they’re paying for complexity they don’t need. An independent consultant who switched from QuickBooks Plus ($115/month) to FreshBooks Plus ($38/month) saves $924/year and gets a simpler invoicing experience in exchange for accounting features they never used. If your accountant only needs your books twice a year for tax prep, FreshBooks exports are sufficient.
Total Cost of Ownership: FreshBooks vs QuickBooks at Different Business Stages
| Business Stage | FreshBooks Cost (Annual) | QuickBooks Cost (Annual) | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo freelancer, 5–20 clients | $456 (Plus plan) | $456 (Simple Start) — lacks time tracking, retainer mgmt | FreshBooks wins on features per dollar |
| Freelancer + contractor (1099s), no employees | $456 (Plus plan) | $456 (Simple Start, includes 1099 tracking) | Tie — both cover 1099 contractors adequately |
| Small business, 1–3 W-2 employees | $780 (Premium) + $624+ (Gusto payroll) = $1,404+ | $1,380 (Plus + Core Payroll, 3 employees) | QuickBooks wins on integration; similar cost |
| Growing business, 5+ employees, inventory | Not recommended — lacks inventory features | $1,380–$2,256 (Plus + Payroll Premium) | QuickBooks wins decisively |
The table reveals an important truth: at the freelancer stage, FreshBooks delivers more relevant features per dollar. At the employee stage, QuickBooks’ integrated ecosystem starts winning — not because it’s cheaper, but because it reduces the number of tools and manual reconciliation steps required.
FreshBooks vs QuickBooks: What Real Users Say
Across G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot with 10,000+ combined reviews:
- FreshBooks average rating: 4.5/5 — top comments praise the invoicing UX, phone support, and client portal. Top complaints: client cap on Lite plan, price increases in 2026, and missing inventory features.
- QuickBooks Online average rating: 4.2/5 — top comments praise the accounting depth, integrations, and accountant familiarity. Top complaints: price increases since 2024, complexity for simple use cases, and customer support response times.
The pattern is consistent: FreshBooks users rate the software higher overall, but QuickBooks users are more likely to say they can’t live without it — because for a business with employees and inventory, the alternatives are genuinely more painful. FreshBooks earns higher satisfaction; QuickBooks earns higher lock-in.