TurboTax vs H&R Block vs FreeTaxUSA: 2026 Tax Software Pricing Playbook

TurboTax charges the most, H&R Block less, FreeTaxUSA almost nothing for the federal return. The right choice is an arithmetic problem with your return attached.

1. The Only Price That Counts

Every vendor advertises its federal price in large type and its state price in small type. TurboTax sets your price when you print or e-file, not when you start, and its own pricing page states that prices "are determined based on the product you use and the time of print or e-file." Prices rise through the season. Every total below is federal plus one state return at the late-season list price, for a 2025 return filed in the 2026 season — no vendor has published 2026 tax-year prices yet.

FreeTaxUSA has no paid federal tier. TurboTax and H&R Block sell a ladder, and the rung you land on is decided by the forms your return needs.

2. TurboTax: The Premium Ladder, Priced by Form

TurboTax Online sells four ways to file. Do It Yourself is the guided interview, from $0 to $139 federal on the vendor's own pricing page, with state additional. Expert Assist adds on-demand help from tax experts and runs $59 to $209. Expert Full Service hands the return to a dedicated expert and starts at $129. Roughly 37% of taxpayers qualify for Free Edition, according to Intuit — simple W-2 returns on a standard deduction only.

Deluxe at $79 federal unlocks Schedule A, so homeowners, large charitable donors, and anyone with heavy medical bills land here. Premium at $139 federal is the investor and freelancer tier, the only online edition with the full Schedule C, D, E, and K-1 support. Intuit retired the old Self-Employed name and folded it into Premium: an LLC on Schedule C, an S-Corp owner with a K-1, and a C-Corp shareholder with dividends all land there.

The state fee is the quiet multiplier. Intuit's own community answers put the state charge at $39 in late January 2026 and $64 after March 31. A Deluxe filer with one state return therefore pays $118 early and $143 late; the same return on Premium costs $178 early and $203 late.

3. H&R Block: The Middle Price With an Office Behind It

H&R Block Online runs a shorter ladder: Free Online at $0 federal and $0 state, Deluxe at $65 federal, Premium at $105 federal, and Self-Employed at $130 federal, with $49 for each state return on every paid tier. About 52% of filers qualify for Free Online, which covers W-2 and unemployment income, the standard deduction, both child credits, student loan interest, and retirement distributions. That wider free tier is why H&R Block wins the simple-return comparison for filers who miss TurboTax Free Edition.

The flat $49 state fee is the detail that matters most: TurboTax's state fee moves with the calendar, H&R Block's does not, so a Deluxe filer with one state pays $114 at any point in the season. Early-season reads show lower prices, but the converged late-season figures from three independent October 2026 reads are $65, $105, $130, and $49, and this guide uses those.

H&R Block's real advantage is a door you can walk through: Online Assist adds a tax expert, and the office network means a stuck filer can sit across a desk from a preparer. The trade is real — $49 for the state return where FreeTaxUSA charges $15.99. The office is what the premium buys.

4. FreeTaxUSA: Free Federal, and the State Return Is the Business

FreeTaxUSA's pricing page is the shortest of the three, because there is almost nothing to price: "Free federal filing for everyone," federal $0, state $15.99. Its free federal service covers more than 350 credits and deductions, including self-employment income on Schedule C, rental property, investments, and itemized deductions.

The company earns its money on three lines. The state return is $15.99. Deluxe Support is $7.99 and adds live chat, priority support, and unlimited amended returns. Audit Defense is $19.99. Pro Support, with a final review and tax advice by phone, is $44.99. Amended returns are $16.98 each, free with Deluxe. Tax extensions are free.

That is the trade, stated honestly. FreeTaxUSA gives you no live tax expert in the base product and no interview as polished as TurboTax's. What it gives you is the full form set at $0 federal. A filer who knows what a Schedule C is and can read a 1099-NEC keeps the entire $127 a TurboTax Deluxe filer pays.

5. The Worked Math: Three Return Profiles, One Formula

Every total below follows one formula.

Example: profile (a) — the simple W-2-only filer. One W-2, standard deduction, one state return. TurboTax Free Edition covers this return: $0 federal plus $0 state, total $0. H&R Block Free Online covers it too: $0 plus $0, total $0. FreeTaxUSA charges $0 federal plus $15.99 state, total $15.99. The free tiers win here — roughly 37% qualify at TurboTax, about 52% at H&R Block. A filer with a single W-2 should never pay for software.

Scenario: profile (b) — the itemizing homeowner. Married filing jointly, mortgage interest, real-estate taxes, and charitable gifts, one state return. The 2025 standard deduction is $31,500 joint and $15,750 single. Itemizing only pays when the itemized total beats the standard deduction — run the comparison in our Schedule A itemized deductions playbook. Take a single filer whose itemized deductions total $18,700 — mortgage interest $9,800, real-estate taxes $6,500, charitable gifts $2,400:

Itemizing saves $649 of tax at a 22% bracket — the reason this filer needs Deluxe or its equivalent. The software totals: TurboTax Deluxe $79 plus $64 state equals $143. H&R Block Deluxe $65 plus $49 state equals $114. FreeTaxUSA $0 plus $15.99 state equals $15.99. FreeTaxUSA undercuts TurboTax by $127.01 and H&R Block by $98.01 on the identical return.

Case Study: profile (c) — the self-employed Schedule C filer. A freelancer with $60,000 of net Schedule C profit, one 1099-NEC, one state return. The software totals: TurboTax Premium $139 plus $64 state equals $203. H&R Block Self-Employed $130 plus $49 state equals $179. FreeTaxUSA $0 plus $15.99 state equals $15.99, or $23.98 with the optional $7.99 Deluxe support upgrade. FreeTaxUSA undercuts TurboTax by $187.01. The freelancer's real tax bill is separate from the software: Schedule SE taxes 92.35% of net earnings at 15.3% — the SECA rate that replaces FICA withholding on a W-2 pay stub:

That $8,477.73 is the tax, not the software. For the Schedule C itself, see our Schedule C profit and loss playbook.

6. Audit Defense: What the Free Help Covers and What It Does Not

All three include some free audit help; none includes full representation for free. TurboTax gives free one-on-one audit guidance year-round, H&R Block basic audit support at no charge.

TurboTax sells full representation through its MAX bundle, at about $49 to $59 a year — the vendor publishes no fixed price, so this guide prints the range. FreeTaxUSA sells Audit Defense for $19.99, published on its own pricing page. H&R Block's Worry-Free Audit Support is $20 by the single 2026 read that prices it. Over three years: $147 at TurboTax (at the $49 end), $59.97 at FreeTaxUSA, $60 at H&R Block.

The honest audit question is the probability of an audit, well under 1% for most individual returns. A filer with a clean W-2 return buys peace of mind. A filer with a large Schedule C loss, a home-office deduction, or an unreported crypto sale buys something real.

7. Refund Advances: Free Money With a Clock Attached

A refund advance is a loan against your expected refund, not the refund itself. TurboTax Refund Advance carries $0 loan fees and 0% APR, with no impact to your credit score, and pays into a Credit Karma Money checking account. DIY filers qualify for up to 50% of the expected refund, capped at $4,000; Full Service customers for up to 100%, capped at $10,000. The expected refund must be at least $500; applications for the 2025 season ran December 19, 2025 through February 28, 2026.

Example: a $3,200 expected refund. A DIY filer qualifies for at most 50% of $3,200, or $1,600. A Full Service filer qualifies for up to $3,200.

H&R Block's Refund Advance offers the same 0% APR and $0 loan fees, in six fixed tiers from $250 to $4,000 — but only to filers who file in person at a participating office between January 2 and March 15, 2026, with funds loaded onto an Emerald Prepaid Mastercard or into a Spruce account. FreeTaxUSA lists no refund-advance product at all.

8. The Free Route: IRS Free File and the $95,000 Line

Before paying any vendor, check the route that costs nothing. IRS Free File guided software covers adjusted gross income of $95,000 or less for the 2025 tax year — start at irs.gov. Free File Fillable Forms has no income limit, but you do the work yourself, with limited calculations and no state filing. The program reopens in January 2027.

Above the line, the vendor free tiers are the fallback, judged on simplicity, not income. FreeTaxUSA has no conditions at all — federal filing is free at any income, and the only charge is the $15.99 state return.

9. The Decision Table

10. Who Should Avoid Each Product

TurboTax is the wrong buy for a filer whose return is simple enough for Free Edition anywhere else, and for a self-employed filer who files the same Schedule C every year — that filer pays $187.01 a year for an interview they have already memorized.

H&R Block is the wrong buy for a filer who never uses the office and never calls the expert line — the $98.01 annual gap to FreeTaxUSA on a Deluxe return is the price of a net they never fall into.

FreeTaxUSA is the wrong buy for a first-time filer with a complex return and no one to call. Deluxe at $7.99 buys live chat with a support specialist, not a tax expert; Pro Support at $44.99 is a final review, not a preparer. A founder filing a first Schedule C with an EIN, an LLC election, and a home office should pay for a CPA review that year — then switch to FreeTaxUSA once the return is a template. Run the estimate through the tax estimator first.

11. Execution Checklist: File at the Lowest True Price

• [x] Step 1: Inventory every form first — W-2, 1099-NEC, 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1099-B, K-1, Schedules C, D, E. The form set picks your tier. Import by photo, bank API, or CSV upload.
• [x] Step 2: Check IRS Free File first — AGI of $95,000 or less qualifies; the program reopens in January 2027.
• [x] Step 3: Price the total, not the federal figure — federal plus one state, plus audit defense only if the return carries real audit risk.
• [x] Step 4: Decide on the refund advance before you e-file — TurboTax closes February 28, H&R Block March 15.
• [x] Step 5: File early — TurboTax's state fee runs $39 early and $64 late.
• [x] Step 6: Keep the return and the confirmation — save the filed PDF and the IRS acceptance notice, with your SSN or ITIN redacted from shared copies.

The software does not change your tax bill. It changes what you pay to report it. Price the total, match the product to the return in front of you, and keep the $187.01 a self-employed filer saves every year at FreeTaxUSA — or spend it, deliberately, on the one year a human expert is worth it.