The bill, side by side
Checkeeper’s pricing page, captured Oct 2, 2026, shows $14.99 a month. Twelve times that is $179.88. People round that to about $180 a year, and that is the comparison OwnChecks uses. It is not a forecast of Checkeeper’s next price change. The same page shows optional mailing at $1.50 a check. A Square partner price was Not stated.
$50 for your first computer. Add more for $15 each, up to 10 per buyer (per purchase email). Future versions are included for as long as we sell it. There is no second line for print credits. The pricing page is the whole menu: the first computer, then $15 for each extra.
Leave Checkeeper running for four months and the subscription alone is $59.96. That is the hook: it costs less than four months of Checkeeper, and then you stop paying for the software. You still pay for paper and, if you print the MICR line yourself, for MICR toner. Those costs exist on either path.
Cloud check writing versus a file on the PC
Checkeeper is cloud software. You work in a browser. Their pricing page says the plan includes unlimited checks, templates, and bank accounts, and that blank stock is supported. Updates on that capture were Not stated. If the useful part of Checkeeper for you is opening it from any computer without installing anything, OwnChecks will feel like a step backward. It installs on Windows. It does not have a phone app.
OwnChecks is the other choice on purpose. Your checks, payees and register stay on your PC. Nothing is uploaded. There is no cloud account to create. It needs the internet only to download it and to activate your key once. Your check data never leaves your PC. The register is the list of checks you have printed: search, void, edit and print again, export CSV, download a backup, restore it. That backup is a file you keep. It is not a bank statement and it is not a hosted ledger.
Mailing is the other split. Checkeeper will mail a check for the $1.50 they list. OwnChecks will not put a check in an envelope for you. You print it and you send it. If mailing is the job, stay with a service that offers it.
What you set up once
On a Windows 10 or 11 PC you install the trial, add the accounts you are allowed to sign on, and add payees. Blank check stock prints your business name, bank name, and a MICR line in the E-13B font. Pre-printed stock uses a preset so you are filling in the fields that are not already on the paper. Logo and signature sit on the check. Field positions can be nudged, and an alignment wizard is included.
The trial prints a SAMPLE – VOID style watermark, marked VOID / TRIAL, until you activate. Use that to print a test page. Print a free test page to check alignment. Confirm acceptance with your bank before you rely on a check. A test page does not prove bank acceptance. OwnChecks is not affiliated with any bank, and it does not move money. MICR toner is recommended when the MICR line is coming from the printer. A laser printer is the recommended printer for blank stock.
After you pay, the confirmation page shows the license key and we email it. Activation is once, while online. After that the installed copy keeps working offline. The key covers the computers that order paid for. Moving a license deactivates the old computer and waits through a 7-day cooldown before another computer takes the seat.
Where Checkeeper remains the better tool
Keep Checkeeper if you need to write a check from a browser on a machine you do not control, if you want them to mail it, or if several people in different places must share one online list. OwnChecks installs on the Windows computers that license paid for. Extra computers are $15 each, not a shared login.
Also keep it if you have already decided that a monthly fee is easier than owning the software. The arithmetic above is only interesting if you expect to print checks longer than a few months. A one-week project does not need a desktop license.
Nothing here says Checkeeper is badly made. It says the price model is a subscription, the data model is a cloud account, and OwnChecks is the opposite of both. Read their pricing page before you switch, and read the EULA updates clause before you treat “updates included” as a promise that the product will be sold forever. It is not. Your license includes all future versions of OwnChecks released while we continue to sell the product. We may stop selling or updating it at any time; your installed version keeps working.
Buy OwnChecks
$50 for your first computer. Add more for $15 each, up to 10 per buyer (per purchase email). Pay once. Updates are included for as long as we sell it. Your license includes all future versions of OwnChecks released while we continue to sell the product. We may stop selling or updating it at any time; your installed version keeps working.
Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay
Refunds within 48 hours of purchase by contacting support@ownchecks.com. After 48 hours, all sales are final. Try the free trial first. Checks print with a VOID watermark until you activate.
Related
Questions
Is OwnChecks a Checkeeper alternative?
It is an alternative if you want Windows software, a one-time $50 license, and check data that stays on the PC. It is not an alternative if you need Checkeeper to mail checks or you need a browser app on a phone.
How does $50 compare with Checkeeper’s year?
Checkeeper is $14.99 a month, $179.88 a year, on its pricing page as of Oct 2, 2026. Optional mailing on that page is $1.50 a check. A year is $179.88, about $180. $50 once is less than four months of that subscription, which is $59.96.
Does the alternative upload my register?
Your checks, payees and register stay on your PC. Nothing is uploaded. It needs the internet only to download it and to activate your key once. Your check data never leaves your PC.
Will my bank accept a check I print?
Print a free test page to check alignment. Confirm acceptance with your bank before you rely on a check. A test page does not prove bank acceptance. OwnChecks is not affiliated with any bank, and it does not move money.