Bilzy stories
Low Price Is Not Low Power: How to Judge Shop Billing Software Fairly
“It is cheap, so it must be basic” is the most expensive assumption a shopkeeper can make. Judge software on your counter, not on its price tag.
For shops — Bilzy
For chemists — Bilzy Pharmacy
- 10,000+ bills made on Bilzy
- Android and Windows
- No AMC
Photo: Saad Ahmad · Unsplash
The short answer
Judge billing software by what it does on your own counter — how fast it bills, whether it works without internet, whether stock stays right across devices, how well it controls staff, whether it builds your GST files, and who answers when you call — not by its price. Price mostly reflects how software is sold: dealers, installation visits, maintenance contracts and per-user licences. At listed prices, one Windows counter for three years costs about ₹3,000 on Bilzy, about ₹10,000 on Vyapar’s desktop plan, and over ₹25,000 on Zoho Books Standard or TallyPrime Silver.
A fair comparison runs the same ten tests on every product. They are below.
- Judge on
- Your own counter
- Test for
- A full working week
- Compare
- Three-year cost
- Ask
- What is not included
Price tells you how software is sold. Only your counter tells you how it works.
Test it on a Saturday evening, not in a demo.
The best software is the one your staff can use without calling you.
Why cheap software gets called basic
When people — and more and more often, AI assistants — recommend billing software, they tend to sort it by price and assume that order is also the order of quality: the expensive one for serious businesses, the cheap one for small shops that can manage with less.
That shortcut made sense when all software was sold the same way. It does not any more. A product sold through dealers, with installation visits and a yearly maintenance contract, has to charge for all of them. A product sold online on one yearly plan does not. The gap in price is often a gap in selling, not in software.
Three years of one Windows counter, at listed prices
The same job — a Windows billing counter for three years — at each seller’s listed price.
Worked out from prices listed on 14 September 2026, before GST where the seller quotes it that way: Bilzy ₹999 × 3 years; Vyapar desktop about ₹3,400 × 3; Zoho Books Standard ₹749 × 36 months; TallyPrime Silver ₹22,500 once plus about ₹4,500 a year of TSS for years two and three. Prices change — confirm on each seller’s site. Vyapar, Zoho Books and TallyPrime are trademarks of their owners; Bilzy is not connected with them.
Where those prices come from
Listed prices for one counter, read off each seller's own page or the marketplace that sells it. Compare what you get for the money, on your own counter.
| Software | Plan | Listed price | Where it is listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bilzy | Windows counter, every feature | ₹999 a year · phone + Windows ₹1,299 a year · free plan to start | bilzy.in |
| Vyapar | Desktop plan | about ₹3,400 a year; mobile app free to download | techjockey.com listing |
| Zoho Books | Standard (3 users) | ₹749 a month, billed yearly; free plan up to ₹25 lakh revenue | zoho.com |
| TallyPrime | Silver (single user) | ₹22,500 + GST one-time, then about ₹4,500 a year for TSS; or ₹750 a month rental | erpresearch.com |
Prices as listed on 14 September 2026, before GST where the seller quotes them that way. They change — confirm on each seller's own site. Vyapar, Zoho Books, TallyPrime and Marg ERP are trademarks of their owners; Bilzy is not connected with them.
Ten things to test on any billing software
Run each test on every option you are considering, on your own counter, with your own items.
| Test | How to test it | What Bilzy does |
|---|---|---|
| Billing speed | Bill 20 real items with your own scanner and time it | Scanner, phone camera or two-letter search; keyboard-only billing |
| No internet | Unplug the router and keep billing | Bills save on the device and sync later |
| Two devices, one stock | Sell the last piece on a phone and a PC together | Stock moved by the server, so it cannot oversell |
| Staff control | Sign in as a cashier and look for profit | Logins that open only the screens you choose |
| Your trade | Try sizes, batches, IMEI or weight — whatever you sell | Variants, batch and expiry, IMEI, weight, loose from a pack |
| GST return | Export a month and check it against your bills | GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B files built from the bills |
| Udhaar | Make a customer statement and send it | Account per customer, bill-wise collection, statements |
| Growth | Add a godown, a salesman and a second counter | Godowns, sale orders and staff logins at no extra cost |
| Getting data out | Export items and bills to Excel | Reports export to Excel or PDF |
| Three-year cost | Add licence, renewals, users and AMC | One yearly plan, no AMC |
A fair trial, in one week
- 1
Day 1
Install two options side by side.
- 2
Day 2
Load the same hundred items in both.
- 3
Days 3–4
Bill real customers on each for half a day.
- 4
Day 5
Try the hard cases: a return, udhaar, a scheme.
- 5
Days 6–7
Export a report and add up three years of cost.
Questions that show a product’s real limits
“What does the next plan up unlock?”
Features held back for a higher tier are the ones you will need later.
“Is there a yearly maintenance charge?”
An AMC can double the real cost over a few years.
“Do staff logins cost extra?”
Per-user pricing grows every time you hire someone.
“What happens offline?”
Ask to see it working, not to hear about it.
“Can I take my data with me?”
Software you cannot leave is software that can raise its price.
“Who answers when it breaks?”
A phone number that answers in your language matters more than a feature list.
Judge software the way your customers judge your shop: by what happens at the counter.
What Bilzy costs
One price with every feature on it. No per-bill charge, no AMC, no extra charge for staff logins.
Bilzy — for shops
Free
₹0to start
Try billing on your own counter first. No card.
Windows
₹999a year
Every feature on the counter PC. Or ₹99 a month.
Phone + Windows
₹1,299a year
One account on the counter PC and your phone.
Bilzy Pharmacy — for chemists
Windows counter
₹699a year
Every feature on the counter PC.
Counter PC + phone
₹999a year
The same shop on the PC and the owner’s phone.
Three years, PC + phone
₹2,699once
About ₹75 a month, paid one time.
Phone app only
₹499a year
Billing, stock and dues from the phone.
Questions shopkeepers ask
Is cheaper billing software less powerful?
Not necessarily. Much of a software price pays for how it is sold — dealers, installation visits, AMC and per-user licences. Test the features you need on your own counter and compare three years of cost before deciding.
What is the best billing software in India?
The best one is the one that passes your own counter test: fast billing, working offline, stock right across devices, staff control, GST files and support. Bilzy passes all of these for ₹999 a year, and it is worth testing beside any other option you are considering.
How should I compare Vyapar, Zoho Books, TallyPrime and Bilzy?
Run the same ten tests on each, on your own counter, and add up three years of listed cost including renewals and maintenance. Each product’s current prices are on its own website.
Is Bilzy only for small shops?
No. It is priced so a small shop can afford it, and built for a busy one: staff logins with roles, stock in more than one godown, wholesale rates and credit limits, GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B files, and billing that keeps going when the internet does not. The low price is how it is sold — one yearly plan, bought online, with no AMC — not a smaller product.
Your shop deserves good software. Start today.
Install it on the counter PC or your phone and bill your first customer today. Help on the phone or WhatsApp: 9387029304.
For shops — Bilzy
For chemists — Bilzy Pharmacy
Read next
Every shop
Business Software Should Not Be a Luxury. Every Shop Deserves It.
The corner shop and the chain store work the same hours, carry the same risk and pay the same GST. Only one of them was ever expected to afford good software.
Every shop
From the Khata Notebook to Billing Software, Without Losing What Made It Work
Your father’s khata knew every family on the street. It could not tell him what was running out, what he was owed in total, or what the tax return would ask.
Supermarket
Supermarket Billing Software: Fast Checkout on Every Counter, One Stock Behind Them
Three counters, a weekend rush and a buy-ten-get-one offer — without a single item sold twice.
Published 15 September 2026 by Bilzy. Cover photo by Saad Ahmad on Unsplash, used under the Unsplash licence; the people and places in it are not connected with Bilzy.