Drake Software Review 2026: Pricing, Features, Cloud Options and Support

Drake Software is professional tax preparation software for CPAs, enrolled agents and independent tax preparers in the United States. Drake has been selling tax software since 1977 and says it is trusted by more than 70,000 preparers. For tax year 2026, Drake Tax desktop licenses run from $379.99 for a pay-per-return starter pack to $3,145 for Pro Unlimited multi-user, and the cloud-based Drake Tax Online starts at $299.99.

Plenty of review posts still quote last year’s numbers. This guide uses Drake’s own pricing page as the source, then adds what most reviews skip: Drake Tax Online costs, the Drake Accounting price, cloud hosting, release timing, the support phone number, recent news and an honest ProSeries comparison. We wrote it from the point of view of a firm that prepares returns inside Drake for CPA practices, so KMK Ventures sees how the software holds up at volume.

Key takeaways

• Cheapest way in: Drake Tax Online at $299.99 (first user included) or Pay-Per-Return at $379.99 (10 individual returns included).
• Mid-range: Drake Tax 1040 and Pro 250 licenses sit between roughly $1,895 and $2,375 at current early-season prices.
• Highest tier: Drake Tax Pro Unlimited is $3,145 for multi-user, with retail pricing of $3,295 starting December 1.
• Support is included: every package comes with free, unlimited U.S.-based support by phone, email or chat.
• Biggest drawbacks: an interface many reviewers call dated, and a desktop product that runs on Windows.

What is Drake Software?

Drake Software is a U.S. tax software company based in Franklin, North Carolina. Its flagship product, Drake Tax, lets professional preparers prepare, review and e-file federal and state returns. It is owned by Taxwell, the same parent company as TaxAct, though the two brands run separately.

Drake is more than one program. The lineup has two ways to prepare returns and a set of tools around them:

• Drake Tax (desktop): the installed program most people mean when they say “drake tax software.”
• Drake Tax Online: a browser-based version launched in September 2025.
• Practice tools: Drake Portals, Drake Workflow, Drake E-Sign, Drake Pay, Drake Accounting, Drake SmartExtract and Drake Audit Defense.

As income tax software, Drake covers individual returns (1040, 1040-NR, 1040-SS, 709) and business and entity returns (1120, 1120-S, 1120-H, 1065, 1041, 990, 706). It ships with more than 4,300 federal and state forms and schedules, hundreds of return diagnostics, and all states included with no per-state fee.

How much does Drake tax software cost in 2026?

Drake Tax costs between $299.99 and $3,145 per tax year, depending on the product, the number of returns included and whether you buy for one user or several. Drake sells annual licenses, not monthly subscriptions. This is the Drake tax pricing 2026 official list, with early-season prices and the retail price that applies from December 1.

Source: Drake Software pricing, checked October 5, 2026. Licensing is per physical site and EFIN, so confirm your user count at checkout.

Single-user vs multi-user: which license do you need?

Choose single-user if your firm has exactly one tax preparer. Choose multi-user if you have two or more. Drake’s knowledge base explains the rule: every PTIN-holding preparer counts as a user, the single-user version allows one user, and both versions allow unlimited support staff. A single-user license also covers one firm only, so if you file for two different firms you need multi-user. Pro 250 and Pay-Per-Return are multi-user by default. On Drake’s checkout page, the Pro 250 option is multi-user only, while Pro Unlimited lets you pick either version.

What does Drake charge beyond the base price?

Extra returns are billed in the program. Individual returns beyond your allowance cost $49.99 each and business returns cost $74.99 each. Optional services such as Drake Pay, bank products and Protection Plus audit assistance carry their own fees. Phone, email and chat support do not.

Which plan is the best value?

Do the arithmetic before you pick a tier. Using current early-season prices:

• PPR vs 1040 (150 returns): the 1040 plan costs $1,895 and PPR costs $379.99 plus $49.99 for every return after the first 10. They cost about the same at roughly 40 individual returns. Past that, the capped plan wins.
• 1040 (150) vs 1040 Unlimited multi-user: the unlimited license costs $430 more, which equals about nine extra individual returns. If you expect to go past 150 by more than that, unlimited is cheaper.
• Pro 250 vs Pro Unlimited multi-user: the gap is $770, or about 15 extra individual returns at $49.99. Firms that regularly pass 265 returns should lean unlimited.

These are our calculations from Drake’s published prices, not Drake’s own guidance. Early-season prices end November 30, so the break-even points shift slightly in December. Firms that hit volume spikes in March can also pair their licenses with offshore staffing for CPA firms rather than buying more capacity than they need all year.

Drake Tax Online pricing

Drake Tax Online costs $299.99 and includes the first user. Additional users are $99 each. Returns are pay-per-use at $49.99 for individual and $74.99 for business, with bulk discounts available. There is nothing to install, update or back up. Some import features still depend on a Windows-based data-entry module, so check that against your workflow before you commit.

For a new preparer, a part-timer or anyone with unpredictable volume, this is the lowest-risk entry point in the Drake lineup. It is also the answer for firms that want drake online tax software without managing servers.

Drake accounting software price and bookkeeping

Drake Accounting is priced separately from Drake Tax. The Professional Edition costs $795 per year and adds full double-entry accounting, payroll, accounts payable and receivable, and GAAP-compliant financial statements. The Forms Edition costs $395 per year and focuses on payroll forms, W-2s, 1099s and the 94x series. Both include unlimited clients and built-in e-filing for those forms. You can bundle either one with Drake Tax for a lower combined price.

Is it good drake bookkeeping software? It is built for tax professionals who run client books and payroll in the same environment as their returns. Clients who already live in QuickBooks Online or Xero usually stay there, and that is where an outsourced team comes in. Our outsourced bookkeeping services cover that work, and our guide to bookkeeping for small businesses explains when handing it off makes sense.

Drake Portals and the Practice Essentials bundle

Drake Portals is the client-facing side of the suite: a secure place to exchange documents with clients. Drake bundles it with Drake Workflow (return tracking and task assignment) and Drake E-Sign (signatures) in the Practice Essentials Bundle, advertised at 40% off.

• Practice Essentials Bundle: $599 (list $1,000), offered with Pro 250, 1040 150 and Drake Tax Online.
• Practice Essentials Plus Bundle: $849 (list $1,425), offered with the unlimited Pro and 1040 licenses.

The bundle is available to buyers of Pro, 1040 or Drake Tax Online with 25 or more pre-purchased returns. Existing Portals or Workflow subscribers can upgrade and may receive a credit for the unused months.

Drake Tax software features that matter in practice

The feature list is long, so here are the parts that change how fast a return gets out the door:

• Review tools: DoubleCheck for review and verification, LookBack to compare against prior-year entries, and LinkBacks that jump from a diagnostic straight to its source.
• Two data-entry styles: interview-style entry for 1040s, and forms-based entry for everyone who prefers keyboard speed.
• Practice management: Client Status Manager, scheduler, pre-season letters and organizers, and EIN-database autofill for employer and payer data.
• Planning and compliance: Tax Planner, filing status optimization, fixed asset reports, FinCEN Form 114 e-file, Forms 5471, 4720, 3115 and 1118, and K-1 export from pass-through returns to individual returns.
• Local filings: city and local programs for KY, MI, MO, NY, OH, OR and PA.
• Security: multi-factor authentication, role-based access, automatic session timeout and encryption in transit and at rest.
• Conversions: data conversion from most competitor software, which makes switching less painful.

Speed only helps if the workflow around it is tidy. If your firm’s bottleneck is process rather than software, our piece on how to optimize tax preparation for CPA firms covers the practical fixes.

Drake tax software cloud hosting options

You have three realistic ways to run Drake without depending on one office PC:

1. Drake Tax Online: browser-based, no installation, works on any device. Pricing is above.
2. Hosted desktop: Drake lists a SOC 2 compliant cloud hosting option through Rightworks at $114 per user per month for Pro, 1040 and PPR licenses. Drake Tax Online does not need it.
3. Network install: the desktop program is network-ready for multi-user offices that run their own server.

The desktop product is built for Windows. Mac-first firms should lean toward Drake Tax Online or a hosted desktop session instead of trying to force a local install.

Drake software 2025 release date and when to expect 2026

Drake releases each new tax-year version of Drake Tax in December, historically in the first week. Drake Tax 2025, the version used for the 2026 filing season, followed that pattern. Drake’s knowledge base explains what that preseason install contains:

• The December release is not the full program. State programs and K-1 export are not yet available, and batch updating is turned off.
• Starting with Drake Tax 2025, the January “second release” installs automatically as an update. Earlier years needed a separate January installation.
• The IRS sets the e-file opening date, and Drake lets you transmit approved return types once the January updates are installed.

If that holds for tax year 2026, expect the preseason version in December 2026. Confirm the exact date in your Drake Download Center, since Drake does not publish it far in advance.

Drake tax software news for 2026

Drake has been releasing at a steady pace this year. The dates below come from Drake’s press releases and blog:

• February 16, 2026: Drake Portals added intelligent document classification and workflow improvements.
• July 14, 2026: Drake announced the beta of Drake SmartExtract, an AI tool that pulls data from uploaded tax documents into review-ready return fields. A September 1, 2026 post announced it for Drake Tax Desktop users. Drake’s own disclosure says extracted data can be incomplete or mapped incorrectly, so every field still needs preparer review.
• July 17, 2026: Drake launched Drake Audit Defense, a post-filing support service for firms and their clients.
• September 2, 2026: Drake published an update on Drake Tax Online adding more browser-based preparation and smoother workflows. See What’s New at Drake Software for the running list.
• Also new: an AI chatbot called Help Assistant inside Drake Tax Desktop answers questions from Drake’s documentation and can hand off to a live agent.

Drake software support phone number

Drake’s support phone number is (828) 524-8020. Sales is (800) 890-9500. Both are listed on Drake’s site. Here are the contacts most people need:

Every Drake Tax package includes free, unlimited U.S.-based support by phone, email or live chat, plus a knowledge base, video tutorials and practice returns. When you need to support Drake Software users inside your own firm, point new staff to the knowledge base and the free practice returns first. They answer most onboarding questions faster than a ticket does.

Drake tax software reviews: pros and cons

Independent comparisons say much the same things about Drake. Verito’s TaxAct vs Drake vs ProSeries comparison credits Drake with one of the strongest price-to-feature ratios for small and growing firms. Other roundups flag the interface as dated and the learning curve as real for new preparers.

What reviewers like

• Low cost per return once you pass a few dozen returns.
• Fast keyboard-driven entry and strong diagnostics.
• Support that picks up the phone, which Drake highlights in its own customer reviews.
• All states included, plus broad entity and form coverage.

What reviewers dislike

• A look and feel that trails newer cloud-native products.
• A learning curve for preparers coming from another package.
• A Windows desktop core, with the browser option (Drake Tax Online) still newer and narrower.

ProSeries vs Drake Tax for small CPA firms

For a small CPA firm, the choice usually comes down to ProSeries or Drake. ProSeries is Intuit’s desktop product, sold as Basic and Professional editions. Drake is independent of Intuit. Verito’s summary is a fair shorthand: Drake wins on cost per return at volume, while ProSeries wins on depth for complex entities and Intuit integration.

How to decide:

• Under about 40 returns, with unpredictable volume: Drake Pay-Per-Return or Drake Tax Online.
• Mostly 1040s, 100 to 150 returns: Drake Tax 1040 (150) or ProSeries Basic.
• Steady business entity work (1120-S, 1065, 1041): Drake Pro 250 or Unlimited, or ProSeries Professional.
• Already deep in Intuit’s ecosystem: price ProSeries first, then compare against Intuit’s other products. We have written about outsourcing with both Lacerte and ProConnect for firms in that camp.

ProSeries pricing varies by edition and changes yearly, so we are not publishing a number here. Get a current quote and compare it to the Drake figures above.

Using Drake with an outsourced tax team

Software speeds up a preparer. It does not add preparers in March. That is why a growing number of CPA firms pair Drake with an outsourced team.

KMK’s preparers work directly inside your Drake setup, so your file structure, checklists and review process stay the same. The return types supported include 1040, 1120, 1120S, 1065 and 1041. If you want the full picture, start with our outsourced tax preparation services and the list of outsourced tax services by return type.

A few paths firms take:

• Seasonal capacity: hire offshore tax accountants to handle peak-season overflow.
• Cost per return: learn how outsourcing tax preparation to India works for U.S. firms, including the review handoff.
• Brand control: use white label tax services so the work goes out under your firm’s name.