TurboTax vs TaxAct vs H&R Block Prices for 2026

For a one-state return filed in 2026, H&R Block is the cheapest of the three once you leave the free tiers, TaxAct sits in the middle, and TurboTax costs the most. A freelancer's Schedule C return runs about $122 at H&R Block ($85 Self-Employed plus $37 state), about $110 to $150 at TaxAct depending on when in the season you buy, and about $178 to $203 at TurboTax ($139 Premium plus state). All three compute the same tax from the same numbers. TaxFile prepares that same self-employed return for $89 a year with the state included and reads the W-2s and 1099s for you.

TurboTax vs TaxAct vs H&R Block prices for 2026

All three sell the same thing in the same shape: a free tier for a simple Form 1040, then paid tiers that rise as your return picks up forms, then optional human help on top. What differs is where each one sets the walls and how much it charges for the state return, and the state line is where most of the surprise at checkout comes from.

Where the numbers come from. TurboTax federal prices were read on Intuit's own product pages, which still show $79 for Deluxe and $139 for Premium with "State additional". Intuit does not print the state price on those pages; its community answers put it at $39 in late January 2026, and reviews later in the season quote $64, so we show the range. H&R Block blocks automated access from our servers, so its figures come from two independent reviews dated January 9 and April 28, 2026, which agree on every tier. TaxAct also blocks us, and two reviews disagree because TaxAct discounts early and raises prices toward April, so we show both ends.

Two quirks are worth knowing before you choose a tier. At H&R Block, Self-Employed ($85) is priced below Premium ($89), so a freelancer without investments should not buy Premium. At TurboTax there is no longer a separate Self-Employed product: Premium is the tier that carries the full Schedule C. Our TurboTax pricing breakdown covers every Intuit tier, including the Expert and business lines.

What five common returns cost in each

Tier prices hide the total because the state is added at the end. Here are five real returns priced end to end, one state unless the row says otherwise, with no add-ons. Where a vendor's price moves during the season, the range runs from early season to late season.

Read the rows rather than the brand. Against late-season TaxAct and against TurboTax, H&R Block is the cheapest of the three big names on every row, because its $37 state fee is the lowest and its free tier includes the state. Buy TaxAct early in the season and it undercuts H&R Block by $2 to $36 on the paid rows, which is why the timing of your purchase matters more at TaxAct than anywhere else. TurboTax is the most expensive on every paid row, and on the self-employed return it costs roughly $56 to $81 more than H&R Block for the same Schedule C.

TaxFile is the cheapest on the two rows most of our buyers sit on, the itemizer at $39 and the one-state Schedule C at $89, and it is the wrong buy on the other two. A two-state Schedule C costs $199 on our Business plan, more than H&R Block or early-season TaxAct, and we do not prepare stock sales or rentals at all. If you are in either of those rows, pick from the other three.

Which is better for self-employed, TurboTax, TaxAct or H&R Block?

On price, H&R Block Self-Employed, unless you buy TaxAct in January. All three carry the full Schedule C and Schedule SE, all three compute the 15.3 percent self-employment tax on 92.35 percent of net profit, and identical inputs give an identical refund in each. The software does not change your tax.

What changes it is what goes in. A gig driver with 14,000 business miles in 2026, split evenly across the year, has about $10,395 of mileage at the IRS rates of 72.5 cents through June 30 and 76 cents from July 1. Leave it off and the self-employment tax alone rises by about $1,470, which is more than the gap between the cheapest and dearest product on this page. All three big products photograph or import a W-2, but each still walks a self-employed filer through expense categories one interview screen at a time, and it is on you to recognize which apply.

That is the job TaxFile was built for. You upload the W-2s, 1099-NECs and 1099-Ks, the figures are read into the right boxes, and the software sweeps for the deductions your kind of work usually carries, then lists each one with a plain note before you approve anything. The tax software for self-employed filers page shows what the sweep covers. Before you buy anything, it also pays to match a year of bank deposits against your records, because the 1099 totals the IRS already holds have to agree with the income on your Schedule C, and your deposits are how you check them.

Is H&R Block cheaper than TurboTax?

Yes, on every paid tier. H&R Block Deluxe is $35 against $79 at TurboTax, Self-Employed is $85 against $139 for TurboTax Premium, and H&R Block's $37 state fee sits at or below TurboTax's $39 to $64. On a one-state Schedule C return the difference is about $56 to $81. Both free tiers are $0 federal and state for a simple return.

Is TaxAct as good as TurboTax?

For the result, yes: both file the same forms and produce the same tax from the same numbers, and TaxAct backs its math with a $100,000 accuracy guarantee. TurboTax is the more polished interview and has the deepest import options for brokers. Bought at the same point in the season, you pay roughly $50 to $70 more at TurboTax for a self-employed return, so the question is whether the smoother screens are worth that to you. The TaxAct pricing and alternatives page covers TaxAct's tiers in detail.

Is TaxAct better than H&R Block?

Only on price, and only early in the season. In January, TaxAct Deluxe at $29.99 plus state undercuts H&R Block Deluxe at $35 plus $37. By April, TaxAct Self-Employed at up to $109.99 plus $39.99 costs more than H&R Block's $122 total. H&R Block also has something TaxAct does not: thousands of walk-in offices if you decide halfway through that you want a person to finish the return. Our H&R Block competitors page lists what it charges online and in an office.

Which tax software gives the biggest refund?

None of them. A refund is the difference between the tax you owe and the tax you already paid, and both numbers come from your documents, not the software. Enter the same W-2s, 1099s and deductions in TurboTax, TaxAct and H&R Block and you get the same refund to the dollar. A "maximum refund guarantee" is a promise that the math is right. The refund grows only when the return picks up a deduction or credit you would otherwise have missed, which is why the software that asks the right questions, or finds the deductions for you, matters more than the brand.

Which one should you buy?

If none of the three big names fits your budget, the cheapest paid e-file in the market is FreeTaxUSA, compared head to head in FreeTaxUSA vs H&R Block and TaxSlayer vs FreeTaxUSA. The full field in one table is on the tax software comparison page. And if you are weighing software against paying a person, what a CPA charges to do taxes puts the fee data side by side.

Prices are for tax year 2025 returns filed in 2026, one state unless stated, without add-ons, and they change during the season. TaxFile is self-prepared tax software, not personalized tax advice, and no refund amount is guaranteed.