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It's a split decision.
Choose Avalara for broader tax compliance, including tax calculation, returns, exemption management and cross-border needs. Its annual-billed plans start at $58.25 per state per month for qualified sellers using SST services; the standard plan starts at $66.58 per state per month. Choose Tax1099 for preparing and e-filing tax forms, with a $0-subscription Essential tier and pay-as-you-go fees from $2.90 per form. It is not a like-for-like replacement for Avalara’s broader platform.
01Side by side
| Avalara | Tax1099 | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $58.25/state/month annual-billed with qualified SST plan | $0 subscription; pay-as-you-go filing from $2.90/form |
| Free plan | No free plan listed | Essential has no subscription fee; per-form fees apply |
| Best for | Businesses managing broader tax compliance | Businesses and tax pros filing tax forms |
| Core strength | Tax calculation, returns, exemptions and compliance | IRS, state and SSA e-filing and corrections |
| Learning curve | Ease-of-use review score: 5/10 | Ease-of-use review score: 7/10 |
| Integrations/data | 1,400+ partner integrations on Custom | Bulk imports; integration count not published |
| Team/seat costs | Annual plans priced per state | Teams and Scale: unlimited users; $249/$349 annually |
| Support | Review score: 3/10; Custom lists a 1-hour response SLA | Review score: 3/10 |
Avalara Choose Avalara if
- Choose Avalara if you need tax calculation and returns across tax types.
- Choose Avalara if exemption management is part of your compliance workflow.
- Choose Avalara if you need a broad platform with cross-border compliance tools.
Tax1099 Choose Tax1099 if
- Choose Tax1099 if you mainly prepare and e-file tax forms.
- Choose Tax1099 if you want a no-subscription-fee Essential tier.
- Choose Tax1099 if you need bulk imports, TIN matching or recipient eDelivery.
02Pricing compared
Avalara’s annual-billed Core Compliance plan is listed at $66.58 per state per month; qualified sellers using SST Services can pay $58.25 per state per month. Both are for businesses under $50 million in annual revenue, with SST eligibility limited to qualified sellers. The per-state pricing means costs rise with the number of states covered. The pricing page lists monthly-billed rates of $79 and $69 per state per month, respectively.
Tax1099 Essential has no subscription fee, but filing starts at $2.90 per form. Teams costs $249 annually ($20.75 per month equivalent), and Scale costs $349 annually ($29.08 per month equivalent). Tax1099 also lists volume filing rates down to $0.55 per form; overage rates are not published. These prices buy different scopes: form filing versus broader tax compliance.
03Features and depth
Avalara covers a wider compliance job: its platform includes tax calculation for sales and use tax, VAT, property tax and other taxes, plus returns, reporting and exemption-certificate management. The listed Core Compliance plans include AvaTax across 12,000+ U.S. tax jurisdictions, nexus monitoring across all 50 states, and managed returns, filing and remittance. Avalara also lists e-invoicing, cross-border compliance and business licensing capabilities.
Tax1099 focuses on preparing and e-filing tax forms with the IRS, states and SSA. Its listed tools include corrected and void filings, TIN matching, electronic W-9/W-8 collection, recipient eDelivery, and bulk-data or accounting-software imports. Teams adds reporting and 250 free TIN matches; Scale adds API and workflow management. That makes Tax1099 a more targeted option for form workflows, not a like-for-like substitute for Avalara’s calculation, returns and broader compliance coverage. The right comparison is the work each product covers, not just the entry price.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Tax1099’s guided filing workflow is centered on preparing and submitting forms, so it may be easier to scope if that is the main job. Its Essential tier also lets individuals file as needed without a subscription, though per-form fees apply. Teams and Scale add shared access and automation features.
Avalara covers more tax and compliance work, including jurisdiction coverage, nexus monitoring and managed returns. That broader scope may mean more decisions to make when setting it up; the pricing material does not detail onboarding steps. Our review scores rate ease of use at 7 for Tax1099 and 5 for Avalara. Both reviews flag support as a weak point, with a score of 3 for each, so neither should be chosen on an assumption of strong support.
Questions people ask
Which should we choose, Avalara or Tax1099?
Choose Avalara if you need tax calculation, returns, exemption management or broader tax compliance. Choose Tax1099 if your main task is preparing and e-filing forms, with options for TIN matching, W-9/W-8 collection and recipient delivery. Their feature sets are not interchangeable.
Can Tax1099 replace Avalara?
Not for Avalara’s broader tax-compliance scope. Tax1099’s listed capabilities focus on form preparation and e-filing, related data collection and delivery. It may fit a business that only needs those workflows, but the published information does not show it replacing Avalara’s tax calculation, returns or cross-border compliance features.
Which product costs less?
Tax1099 has the lower entry cost: Essential has no subscription fee, with filing from $2.90 per form. Avalara’s annual-billed listed plans start at $58.25 per state per month for qualified SST sellers. Compare total filing volume and state coverage; the products price different services.
Do Avalara or Tax1099 offer a free trial?
A free trial is not listed on the vendor's site for either product. Tax1099 does offer Essential with no subscription fee, but filing is pay-as-you-go from $2.90 per form. Avalara has no free plan listed, and its plans are priced per state.