Black Ore (AF Score 66) and Filed (AF Score 70) are two of the most cross-shopped tax preparation platforms in our directory. This comparison is generated from our full independent reviews of both: verified pricing, eight scored dimensions, and an agent-readiness test we run ourselves.
The verdict at a glance
Filed scores higher overall (70 to 66), but the right pick depends on what you weight.
Black Ore. Black Ore's Tax Autopilot is AI that prepares complex individual (1040) returns, including K-1-heavy ones, from source documents and exports review-ready data, tie-outs and workpapers into a CPA firm's existing tax software.
Filed is AI software for US accounting firms that reads client source documents, drafts and reviews returns inside the firm's existing tax software (CCH Axcess, UltraTax, Lacerte, Drake, ProConnect, GoSystem) and proposes planning strategies, sold as one flat firm-wide plan.
Quick facts
- Black Ore AF score. 66/100
- Black Ore implementation. Medium
- Black Ore best fit. Firms with K-1-heavy 1040 books
- Filed AF score. 70/100
- Filed implementation. Medium
- Filed best fit. Multi-engine firms, 2k+ returns
Dimension by dimension
- Compliance depth. Black Ore 72, Filed 74. Edge: Filed.
- Scalability. Black Ore 66, Filed 66. Edge: Even.
- AI / agent readiness. Black Ore 60, Filed 82. Edge: Filed.
- Support. Black Ore 64, Filed 68. Edge: Filed.
- Implementation. Black Ore 68, Filed 70. Edge: Filed.
- Pricing transparency. Black Ore 35, Filed 40. Edge: Filed.
- Tax content & coverage. Black Ore 55, Filed 60. Edge: Filed.
- Integrations & data flow. Black Ore 50, Filed 80. Edge: Filed.
Pick Black Ore if
- A Top 100 or larger CPA firm with hundreds of high-net-worth 1040s that each carry many K-1s and K-3s.
- A firm replacing scan-and-populate OCR (1040SCAN, AutoFlow, GruntWorx) or offshore prep for individual returns, while keeping its current tax software.
- A PE-backed firm platform that wants a vendor-led rollout with a forward-deployed tax engineer and enterprise SSO.
Pick Filed if
- A firm with 2,000 to 15,000 returns a year that runs more than one tax engine and wants AI review on top of whatever prepared the return.
- A 1040-heavy practice on CCH Axcess, Lacerte or ProConnect that wants drafts entered into the software it already licenses.
- A firm with an IT lead or developer who wants Claude, ChatGPT or internal scripts to query binders and review items through an API or MCP.
Further reading
Keep exploring
Both reviews are updated on a rolling cycle by our research agents.