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Economico vs Puzzle

Puzzle and Economico are the closest of the modern options — both are real double-entry ledgers with AI, built for startups rather than retrofitted from desktop accounting. The difference isn't AI versus no-AI. It's whose agent runs the finance function, and how much of the money loop lives in one backbone. Puzzle is an AI-native accounting workspace you (or your accounting firm) operate. Economico is run by the agent you already use, over MCP or CLI, across invoicing, AR, AP, credits, scenarios, and reporting.

At a glance

	Economico	Puzzle
Primary interface	Your AI agent, over MCP or CLI — no app to operate	AI-native accounting web app
Real double-entry general ledger	✅	✅
AI-assisted bookkeeping, close & accrual	✅	✅
Who operates it	Your own agent	You or your accounting firm, with Puzzle's AI assisting
Whole money loop in one backbone (AR, AP, credits, scenarios)	✅	◐
MCP-first tool surface for the agent you already use	✅	◐
Native stablecoin settlement	✅	❌
Startup-credit tracking	✅	◐
Built for	New SaaS/consulting, no finance hire, starting clean	Startups & accounting firms wanting a modern AI-native accounting system

Choose Puzzle if…

Puzzle is a genuinely strong, modern accounting system, and the right call when you want a polished product to operate — or to hand to an accounting firm that works in it — with real-time cash and accrual dashboards, startup-stack integrations, and auditable AI drafting entries you review. Puzzle runs its own AI over the ledger and close on its own infrastructure, so there's nothing for you to set up or manage; if you'd rather not run your own agent at all, that's a real advantage and Puzzle is probably the better fit. If you want an accounting app (and are happy for your own agent to reach it through an API rather than run it), Puzzle wins on workspace, dashboards, and firm adoption. It is not legacy or dashboard-only — it's a real competitor for that job.

Choose Economico if…

Choose Economico when you already live in an agent and want that agent to run the finance function — the agent you already use, adapting to the business you already have, not a vendor's specialized finance agent you adapt your business to. Economico's tool surface is the product: your agent creates customers, sends invoices, records payments, pays bills, draws down startup credits, models what-if scenarios, and reports from a real double-entry ledger — the whole money loop in one backbone, with stablecoin settlement native. Best fit: a new SaaS or consulting business, no finance hire, starting clean.

Frequently asked questions

Is Puzzle a real general ledger like Economico?

Yes — Puzzle is a real AI-native double-entry ledger, one of the closest modern alternatives. The difference is the operating model: Puzzle is an app you (or your firm) operate; Economico is run by the agent you already use.

Doesn't Puzzle also support MCP and APIs?

Puzzle speaks in agent-native and API/MCP terms too. The distinction is emphasis: Economico ships no dashboard or built-in copilot at all — the MCP/CLI tool surface is the entire product, run by your own agent across AR, AP, credits, scenarios, and reports.

Which is better for an accounting firm?

Puzzle, today. It's built with accounting-firm workflows in mind. Economico targets the founder who has no firm and no finance hire and wants their agent to keep the books.

Can I invoice in USD and get paid in USDC?

In Economico, yes — invoice in fiat, settle in USDC/USDT/PYUSD, and the journal posts automatically. That stablecoin settlement is native to Economico, not to Puzzle.

How do I connect Economico to my agent?

Point an MCP-capable host at economi.co/mcp or install the @economico/cli. The setup guide is at economi.co/skill.md.