Both are Indian desktop accounting packages with GST built in. They part ways on two things: what several users in one office cost, and how deep the stock handling goes. Your accountant settles most of the rest.
Choose Tally if your accountant works in Tally, your stock is simple (items, godowns, maybe batches), and you want the software every new hire and every auditor already knows.
Choose BUSY if you are a trader, distributor or retailer with serious stock: many items by size or colour, serial-numbered goods, batches with expiry, or several people billing at once in one office on a tight budget.
Choose neither if the problem is projects, production or sites rather than books and stock. That is the point where accounting software, of any brand, stops and an ERP starts.
Both vendors sell a one-time licence and a subscription, so the fair comparison depends on how many people use it and for how long.
TallyPrime: Silver ₹22,500 for one user on one computer; Gold ₹67,500 for unlimited users on the office network. Both prices are plus GST and include the first year of TSS (updates and connected services). After that, TSS is ₹4,500 a year for Silver and ₹13,500 for Gold. Tally also rents the software: ₹8,100 a year for Silver, ₹24,300 for Gold, TSS included.
BUSY 21 (one-time, plus GST): Basic ₹11,000 for non-GST billing; Standard ₹16,500 with full GST, e-invoicing, e-way bills, batch-wise stock and bills of material, for unlimited users in one office; Enterprise ₹22,000 adds branches and several GSTINs. BUSY also sells yearly "Magic" plans from ₹5,000 to ₹50,000 per 360 days.
Three years, five people in one office, GST business: Tally Gold works out at ₹67,500 + two TSS renewals of ₹13,500 = ₹94,500. BUSY Standard is ₹16,500 one-time. Ask the BUSY dealer what updates cost after the first year, because the pricing page does not say, and add it to the BUSY figure before you compare.
Prices checked on 20 October 2026 on the vendors' own pages: Tally's cost guide and BUSY pricing. Dealers sometimes quote differently; get the final figure in writing.
Stock depth. BUSY switches on batch-wise stock with manufacturing and expiry dates, serial-number tracking on purchase and sale, and parameterised items (brand, size, colour) from its configuration screens. A garment wholesaler with one shirt in twelve sizes and six colours, or an electronics dealer tracking every serial number, gets this without customisation.
Multi-user cost. The Standard licence covers unlimited users in one office. With Tally, the second simultaneous user means moving from Silver to Gold.
Branches. BUSY Enterprise handles head office and branches, offline and online branch working, and several GSTINs in one licence.
A phone app included. BUSY licences include one mobile app free for the first year, so the owner can see sales and outstanding on the phone.
Your accountant. Tally is the default in Indian accounting practice. When your CA asks for data, they want a Tally backup, and moving away from it shifts work onto you or into their fee.
People. Accountants and billing staff with Tally experience are easy to hire, and most commerce courses teach it.
GST filing from inside the software. TallyPrime can upload and file GST returns through its connected GST features, and download GSTR-2A and 2B for reconciliation.
The partner ecosystem. Thousands of Tally partners build add-ons in TDL, Tally's customisation language, so a missing feature is usually a purchase away rather than a dead end.
Both are accounting and inventory packages. They record what was bought, sold, paid and stocked. They were not built to answer:
If those are your questions, compare ERPs, not accounting packages. Rebota is one: books, GST and stock sit underneath projects, production orders, BOQs, site logs and payroll in one system, and it imports your Tally masters and vouchers. After the 15-day trial, keep using Rebota free: 1 user, 30 GST invoices a month, stock, suppliers and cash. Upgrade only when you need more.
Moving in either direction is mostly about masters: ledgers, groups, items and opening balances. Vouchers follow mechanically once the masters line up.
Before you switch, ask the dealer exactly what their migration moves (masters, opening balances, full voucher history), run it on a copy, and tie the trial balance and stock summary to the old system before anyone stops using it. Keep the old software readable for at least one audit cycle.
| Feature | TallyPrime | BUSY | Rebota |
|---|---|---|---|
| One GST user, one-time licence | Silver ₹22,500 + GST | Standard ₹16,500 + GST | Cloud plans; see pricing |
| Several users in one office | Gold ₹67,500 + GST | Standard covers unlimited users | Users included in each plan |
| Yearly cost after year one | TSS ₹4,500 / ₹13,500 + GST | Ask the dealer | Plan fee |
| Subscription option | Rental ₹8,100 / ₹24,300 a year | Magic ₹5,000–₹50,000 / 360 days | Monthly or yearly |
| Free version | Educational mode (learning only) | Express (no GST features) | Free plan after the trial |
| GST invoices, e-invoice, e-way bill | Standard and above | ||
| File GST returns from the software | Connected GST | GST e-returns (Standard) | Prepares GSTR-1 and 3B; you file on the portal |
| Batch with expiry | |||
| Serial numbers | Via batches or add-ons | ||
| Size and colour (parameterised) stock | Via add-ons | Variants per item | |
| Bill of materials, production | BoM, manufacturing journal, job work | BOM and production planning | Production orders, routing, scheduling |
| Branches and several GSTINs | Branch data synchronisation | Enterprise ₹22,000 | Multi-company, one login |
| Works without internet | Cloud only | ||
| Use from outside the office | Cloud Access add-on | BUSY Online ₹10,800 / 360 days | Browser and Android app |
| Your CA already knows it | Almost every CA | Common in trading | Rarely |
| Projects, BOQ, site logs |
Rebota, as the third option, suits businesses whose books are fine but whose operations are not: contractors who need BOQ, RA bills and site logs, manufacturers who need production orders and scheduling, and anyone who wants books, stock and payroll in one browser-based system.
A trader or shop that needs GST billing, stock and books and nothing else should pick Tally or BUSY. Rebota would be more system than the problem needs.
Tally wins when your CA, your staff and your auditors all work in it, and stock is simple. BUSY wins for inventory-heavy trading, distribution and retail, especially with several billing users in one office or serial-numbered and size/colour items.
Under the GST threshold, with a handful of invoices a month and no stock to speak of, a spreadsheet and a good invoice format will do. Neither package is needed yet.
Tally: TSS every year after the first, Gold for a second simultaneous user, and add-ons for serial or size/colour stock. BUSY: updates after year one (ask), BUSY Online for remote work, and CA time if your accountant does not use it. Both: a Windows PC and backups that someone actually checks.
If your accountant lives in Tally and your stock is simple, stay with Tally. If stock is the business and several people bill at once, BUSY gives more for less. If the gap is projects, production or sites, neither closes it.
Before choosing, take one real month of your own data into each demo: twenty sales invoices, ten purchases, one stock transfer and one credit note. Ask the dealer to post them while you watch, then print the GSTR-1 summary and the stock summary. Whichever package gets your month right with the fewest workarounds is the one to buy, whatever the brochure says.
