Avalara
The enterprise standard for sales tax, now with a small-business Select plan.
- Best for: Clients with multi-state volume or ERP integrations
- Price: From $799/state/yr
- Watch for: Per-state pricing adds up quickly
Scores are TaxPrepBench's editorial judgment, derived from the sourced facts on this page. They are not lab test results. How we rate
What Avalara does
Avalara is a long-established sales and use tax compliance platform. AvaTax calculates tax in real time inside ecommerce, ERP and accounting systems, and Managed Returns prepares and files returns.
For small businesses, Avalara Select's Core Compliance plan is $799 per state per year (or $79 per state per month) with a three-state minimum. It bundles AvaTax calculation, Managed Returns, exemption handling and nexus monitoring, with a shared cap of 200,000 transactions a year across all US volume.
SST-eligible businesses can use Core Compliance + SST Services at $699 per state per year with no state minimum.
For tax firms, Avalara is the system clients with heavy multi-state volume or ERP integrations usually end up on. It is more expensive than Kintsugi or TaxJar for small sellers.
Clients with multi-state volume or ERP integrations
Tiny sellers in one or two states
Avalara pricing
$79/state/mo; 3-state minimum; 200K transactions/yr
$69/state/mo; SST-eligible, no state minimum
Quoted by vendor
Pricing model: Per state, annual or monthly
Key features
- AvaTax real-time tax calculation
- Managed Returns preparation and filing
- Exemption certificate management
- Nexus monitoring
- SST (Streamlined Sales Tax) services
- Hundreds of ecommerce and ERP integrations
Pros & cons
Pros
- Deep integration catalog
- Covers calculation through filing
- Published small-business pricing (Avalara Select)
- Proven at large scale
Cons
- Per-state pricing adds up quickly
- Three-state minimum on Core Compliance
- Complex for very small sellers
- Higher cost than TaxJar or Kintsugi for low volume
Avalara vs. top alternatives
| Avalara |  TaxJar |  Kintsugi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $799/state/yr | From $39/mo | From $75/action |
| Best for | Clients with multi-state volume or ERP integrations | Small ecommerce and marketplace sellers | Firms serving e-commerce and multi-state sellers |
| Key difference | The enterprise standard for sales tax, now with a small-business Select plan. | Simple, published sales tax plans for small online sellers, from $39/month. | Sales-tax nexus monitoring and filing with a genuinely free monitoring tier. |
How it fits a tax practice workflow
Monthly and quarterly sales tax cycles.
- Multi-state sales tax filings for clients
- Nexus monitoring
- Exemption certificates
Integrations
Security & compliance
Vendor-stated controls are not audited by TaxPrepBench. See our IRC 7216 and WISP checklist before client data touches any AI tool.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Avalara cost for a small business?
Avalara Select Core Compliance is $799 per state per year with a three-state minimum, per Avalara's August 2026 pricing post.
How much does Avalara cost?
Core Compliance: $799/state/yr ($79/state/mo; 3-state minimum; 200K transactions/yr); Core Compliance + SST: $699/state/yr ($69/state/mo; SST-eligible, no state minimum); Enterprise: By quote. Pricing model: Per state, annual or monthly.
What does Avalara integrate with?
QuickBooks, NetSuite, Shopify, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage Intacct, Salesforce.
What are the best alternatives to Avalara?
TaxJar (Simple, published sales tax plans for small online sellers, from $39/month.) Kintsugi (Sales-tax nexus monitoring and filing with a genuinely free monitoring tier.)
Sources
- avalara.com/us/en/blog/avalara-select-sales-tax-pricing-small-businesses.html
- avalara.com/us/en/products/sales-and-use-tax/avatax.html
Our analysis is based on vendor documentation and public reviews. Last verified 2026-10-15. Spot an error? Suggest a correction.
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