Holistiplan Pricing vs Instead vs TaxPlanIQ: Who Each One Fits

If you're comparing Holistiplan pricing against Instead and TaxPlanIQ, you'll find three pricing pages that don't measure the same thing. One charges by household. One says the software is free and bills for agent work. One sells monthly tiers by plan count and seat. Each model tells you who the product was built for, and that's the question your firm should settle before it compares any dollar figure.

This guide lines the three up on audience, intake, integrations, output and published pricing, using only what each vendor published as of 2026-09-23.

Corvee is now Instead

If you searched for Corvee tax planning and ended up on instead.com, that's expected. Corvee's site states "Corvee is now part of Instead" (corvee.com, checked 2026-09-23). For pricing, this guide uses Instead's pricing page.

For a firm that already had Corvee on a shortlist, the practical step is simple. Evaluate Instead as the current product, read Instead's pricing page rather than an old Corvee quote, and ask the vendor directly what carried over for existing accounts. That last point isn't something this guide can answer from published pages.

Side by side: audience, intake, integrations, output, pricing

Every row below comes from the vendor's own pages as checked on 2026-09-23. "Not in the facts we verified" means exactly that, not that the feature is missing. Ask the vendor.

Sources: Holistiplan pricing, Holistiplan integrations, Instead pricing, Corvee integrations, TaxPlanIQ pricing. All accessed 2026-09-23. Prices change; check the vendor page.

The criteria behind these rows, and the two this table leaves out (tax-software import and evidence trail), are laid out in the guide to tax planning software for CPAs. This page applies them to three vendors. It doesn't repeat them.

Holistiplan pricing and who it fits

Holistiplan's Premium Tax tier is priced by the number of households you serve: $1,499 a year for 30 households, up to $15,499 a year for 750, with enterprise pricing above that. As published on 2026-09-23; check the vendor page.

Households is an advisor's unit. An advisory practice counts relationships, not returns, and the CRM integrations point the same way: Redtail and Wealthbox are advisor CRMs. If your planning work starts with a wealth manager who wants a tax read on a client's return, Holistiplan is shaped for that seat.

A CPA firm can still use it. The question is whether a per-household price maps onto how your firm bills planning. If you charge per plan or per engagement, you'll be translating between two units every renewal.

Instead pricing and who it fits

Instead's pricing page leads with one line: "The software is free. You pay for the agent." The platform itself costs nothing, with unlimited users, entities and e-file. The work the AI agent does is billed in credits. Credit pricing comes through sales, and credits are valid for 12 months.

That makes the software line on a budget easy and the total cost hard to know in advance. Your spend follows how much agent work your firm runs. Before you commit, ask the vendor three things: what one credit buys, how many credits a typical S-corp owner plan uses, and what happens to unused credits at month 13.

Instead fits a firm that wants planning, workpapers and e-file on one platform and is comfortable with usage-based cost. The e-file and workpaper outputs put it closer to the tax practice than to the advisory desk.

TaxPlanIQ pricing and who it fits

TaxPlanIQ publishes three tiers:

Every tier carries a 12-month commitment, and annual billing takes 15% off. As published on 2026-09-23; check the vendor page.

It's built for accounting firms, and the outputs say so: a white-label ROI summary, a slide deck and a report, all things a firm puts in front of a client to sell and deliver a planning engagement. Bulk upload of up to 100 returns suits a firm that wants to screen its existing book for planning candidates.

The seat counts matter more than the price gap. Basic is one user. If a Preparer builds the plan and a Reviewer checks it, you're past Basic before you start.

What a year costs at list price

Illustrative example, using the list prices each vendor published on 2026-09-23, before discounts, trials or negotiated terms:

Actual results vary based on income, industry, and state. Prices change; check each vendor page. Your own cost also depends on client count, seats, the vendor's current terms and, for Instead, how many credits your work uses.

The table doesn't pick a winner, and it can't. The units don't match. A household, a monthly seat bundle and an agent credit measure different things, so the honest comparison is your firm's own volume run through each model. If you're still setting what the planning engagement is worth to the client, the piece on how to price tax planning services covers that side.

The question pricing pages don't answer

A tax plan that reaches the client carries your firm's name, whichever tool drafted it. So after price, ask each vendor where the finished plan's record lives. Who can see which return figures fed each recommendation? Who signed it, and where is that sign-off recorded? If your firm cancels, what do you keep?

Those answers aren't on any of the three pricing pages we checked, so this guide doesn't state them. Ask in the demo and get the answer in writing. A finished plan reads the same whether its numbers are right or wrong. The record behind it is the only way a Reviewer can check. For what the client-facing document itself should hold, see what a tax plan deliverable should contain.

If your firm takes planning work from outside advisors, the handoff between the two seats matters as much as the tool. That's covered in the advisor-to-CPA handoff guide.

Where TracePrep fits

TracePrep isn't in the table because it doesn't sell tax planning software today. It ships one workflow: the Reasonable Compensation Study, where every figure traces to a source, the Reviewer signs off, and the Firm owns the finished workpapers. A tax-planning workflow is in development.

If the owner's salary is the first number in your S-corp plans, the Study is where that number gets its evidence. See how a Study is built.

Conclusion

Holistiplan, Instead and TaxPlanIQ don't compete on the same price because they don't sell to the same seat. Per household fits an advisor. Free software with paid agent credits fits a firm that wants the whole return workflow in one place. Monthly tiers by plan and seat fit a firm packaging planning for its book. Pick the model that matches how your firm does the work, then ask each vendor where the signed record lives.

TracePrep ships the Reasonable Compensation Study today, with traceable evidence and Reviewer sign-off on workpapers your firm owns. A tax-planning workflow is in development.

Get started or see how a Study is built.

Not tax advice. Vendor facts and prices are as published on 2026-09-23 and change without notice; check each vendor's page before you buy. This article doesn't recommend a vendor for any specific firm.

TracePrep is a software product from TracePrep Inc., not a CPA firm. This content is operator experience for educational purposes; it is not tax advice and has not been reviewed by a licensed CPA. Consult a qualified tax professional for guidance on your specific situation. Source citations in TracePrep workpapers support audit defense but do not guarantee IRS outcomes.