Drake Software is a reputable provider of professional tax preparation software designed for tax preparers and accounting professionals. Founded in 1977, the company offers a comprehensive suite of tools that facilitate efficient, IRS-compliant tax return preparation and e-filing. Their flagship product, Drake Tax®, serves as a central hub for tax practices, delivering features such as fast calculation results, extensive accuracy checks, and customizable program options. Targeting a diverse range of customers, from solo practitioners to multi-site tax preparation businesses, Drake Software emphasizes user-friendly solutions that streamline workflow and enhance productivity. The company is recognized for its commitment to customer service, providing expert support to ensure users can effectively utilize their software. With straightforward, flat-rate pricing, Drake Software aims to meet the needs of tax professionals seeking reliable software solutions.
Drake Software receives a significant amount of criticism from users, with many expressing disappointment in the decline of both the software and customer support since the company's buyout. Reviewers frequently mention issues with software stability, including crashes and errors that lead to rejected tax returns.
The customer service experience is particularly highlighted as lacking, with long wait times and unhelpful responses being common complaints. While some users still appreciate the software's capabilities and have had positive experiences with support, these voices are overshadowed by the majority who feel the quality has deteriorated. Many long-time customers express frustration over the increased fees and reduced service quality. Overall, the sentiment leans heavily negative, reflecting a widespread dissatisfaction with Drake Software's current offerings.
Summary generated with AI from recent reviews
Each source counts by its number of reviews. Only reviews written by people are scored.
| Source | Rating | Reviews | Weight | 6-mo | Fake risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trustpilot Imported Trustpilot reviews | 2.1 | 60 | 100% | +0.3 | ● Low |
Monthly average rating from reviews written by people · latest review Feb 2026.
| Month | Average | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 25 | 2.0 | 2 |
| Apr 25 | — | 0 |
| May 25 | 3.0 | 3 |
| Jun 25 | — | 0 |
| Jul 25 | 3.5 | 2 |
| Aug 25 | — | 0 |
| Sep 25 | 2.0 | 1 |
| Oct 25 | 2.0 | 3 |
| Nov 25 | — | 0 |
| Dec 25 | 3.9 | 11 |
| Jan 26 | 1.7 | 7 |
| Feb 26 | 1.1 | 11 |
Share of positive (4–5★) and negative (1–2★) reviews mentioning each topic · based on the 60 most recent reviews.
“Customer support is always reachable”
“The customer service reps if you get one has no idea what there are doing”
Same method for every company: overall rating, legitimacy checks, the average rating of reviews mentioning each area and the 6-month trend · Software & SaaS.
| Company | Overall | Legit | Service | Quality | Value | Trend | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 2.1 out of 5 (poor) | 100 out of 100 | 1.6 out of 5 (poor) | 1.3 out of 5 (poor) | 1.1 out of 5 (poor) | — | 60 |
| 4.6 out of 5 (good) | 50 out of 100 | — | — | — | — | 581 | |
| 4.9 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.8 out of 5 (good) | 4.7 out of 5 (good) | 4.9 out of 5 (good) | — | 367 | |
| 2.2 out of 5 (poor) | 100 out of 100 | 1.1 out of 5 (poor) | — | — | +8% | 224 | |
| 4.2 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.3 out of 5 (good) | — | — | −67% | 199 |
Bottom line: Drake Software is #5 of 5 on overall rating in this group. On value, Remote Utilities scores higher (4.9 vs 1.1).
60 reviews of Drake Software. Filter by what matters to you.
I have used Drake since 2008. This year, Drake charged me for their portal 2/3/25, even though I cancelled it after briefly using the product last year. After twelve days of requests for a refund, it has not been issued. I have turned in a dispute to the credit card company on 2/17/25. Drake customer service is very poor!!!!
Drake updates have shut us out from using the software. Support staff has not been able to fix this after 6 weeks working on it. We have over 100 returns we have to reinput into another software product to stay in business. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT! After 18 years, we are moving on.
I mistakenly entered one digit wrong of a social security number and when I corrected, they used credit for another return. When I called their support they are lying that they are working on it. It seems this software company became so cheep that they don't respect their clients and don't respond to emails and don't resolve problems. I have worst experience in 2025.
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Drake is the worst software product I have probably ever used. It looks like its from 1985 and support is awful. We are now in February and we still are unable to use the product and Drake support has no idea what the issue is with our account. Do not buy it!!!
They have cut back on the support staff apparently opting for AI chatbots that barely trained support staff query, can't solve even the simplest requests
The date listed is just one of several as I have been changing over to a new computer. I have used Drake for over 20 years and it used to be a great company. Now Drake is terrible. Apparently Drake's owners sold out and the new owner went cheap. I noticed a decline in the qualify of Drake technical support last year. This year, Drake support has been incompetent. They appear to have gotten rid of their experienced tech support and hired untrained people to read off computer screens. They do not understand Drake Software. Level 2 support? From my recent experience, Level 2 support was someone in India who did not know the software, read off of a screen and then lied to me about what was on the page. I was looking at the same page, so I know she lied. If I had only known this problem a few months ago, I would have bought another software. Using Drake this tax season will be a painful experience, but I look forward finding a tax preparation software company that has competent technical support.
I do not recommend Drake Software. I purchased Drake after joining forums and reading what other pros had to say about the software. The sales rep lied to me and told me they had a hosted solution so it would be no issue using my MAC. After I made the decision to go with Drake, I learned that he lied to me, there is no hosted solution. You can host it through another service they offer, for an additional $1200 per user. The support representative did not understand my request, then laughed at me when I told her that I am a MAC user. Do not expect any level of customer support. The supervisor tried, and did end up sending me a coupple of links that told me to sign up hosted cloud services at an additional cost... that would have been great to know at the time of purchase. I reached out to the Amanda Watson, Onboarding and Customer Success Manager. I received a polite but canned reply with the usual pleasantries... Thank you for reaching out and sharing your experience. I am truly sorry to hear about the difficulties you've encountered and the frustration it has caused. I understand how important it is to have software that works seamlessly with your Mac, and I apologize for the miscommunication and inconvenience you have faced. You are correct, our desktop product is not compatible with the Mac Operating System. However, we do offer some alternatives, such as our web-based software, Web1040. Currently, Web1040 is only available for individual returns. Do you prepare business returns? If not, Web1040 might be a suitable option for you. Additionally, there is a hosting solution available, but just as you mentioned, there is a fee associated with hosting the desktop software in the cloud." ALL OF WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT TO KNOW AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE. I Asked for a refund... was promised a call and have not heard anything from them. Success has made them lazy, they do not care abou ttheir customer at all. The massive amount of poor reviews here should tell you everything you need to know. DO NOT CHOOSE DRAKE! THE SALE TEAM ARE LIARS!!!
This is a Synopsis of what occurred: 2012 client Unreliable support when it was most needed. The issue I have a client who needs to have his 2021 (yes 2021) tax return e-filed by Nov 15, 2024. If it does not get filed in time he will lose a large refund because of IRS statute of limitations on refunds. I moved recently and when I notified the IRS they changed my EFIN # (without my knowledge). So, when I attempted to e-file the return it was rejected. To compound the issues he and his wife on traveling separately and getting signatures is difficult. To: Support@drakesoftware From: vicsantucci Sent: Nov 08, 2024 at 07:28 PM EST Subject: My efin changed Hi, My EFIN changed and I am unable to efile a 2021 tax which has to be submitted by Nov 15, 2024. I have attached the IRS new efin number. Please make the appropriate changes. THERE RESPONSE DrakeSoftware Support Nov 8, 2024, 7:32 PM (3 days ago) Hi, Thank you for Contacting Drake Software Support. Below are the Instructions to change your EFIN number on your account: Registering an EFIN or Replacing a Previously Registered EFIN Submit a copy of your IRS e-file Application Summary showing a Provider Option Status of "Active" by uploading your document through the Support website. If you need to get a copy of your e-File Application Summary, see Drake Tax – IRS: e-File Application Summary. 1. Log in to the Drake Software Support website. 2. Click Account > Manage EFINs on the left side of the page. 3. On the Manage EFINs page: o Enter the EFIN you want to register with Drake Software. If a multi-site, you MUST choose the sub office you want the EFIN registered to. If a sub-account EFIN is uploaded to the Master, it will change the Master EFIN. o Click Select File and choose your supporting PDF document for that EFIN. o Click Submit to upload the document to Drake Software for validation. 4. To confirm your upload, and check the status of your EFIN with Drake Software, review the list of registered EFINs at the bottom of the page. Please allow four hours for EFIN processing to be completed. The following are the codes you may see under the Status column: So why did they just send my request with the document required to me so the process could be started!! I immediately reach out to Drake support and was advised there is a another dept in Drake that has to process the change and they proceeded to give me a contact #. Never did they mention that this dept was not open on Saturdays (like the Drake support group is Plus it was a 3 day weekend. I requested they reach out to management in the dept in needed and they said they have no way to contact them. I also reach out to the CEO of the company with no response!!!! Mr. Halpin, First let me apologize for contacting you directly but I tried using Drake's support and they were useless. I have a client who needs to have his 2021 (yes 2021) tax return e-filed by Nov 15, 2024. If it does not get filed in time he will lose a large refund because of IRS statute of limitations on refunds. I moved recently and when I notified the IRS they changed my EFIN # (without my knowledge). So, when I attempted to e-file the return it was rejected. I sent a request to your e-file dept and it was acknowledged but not processed. I was advised by software support that it will take 3 business days until they get to work on it. Also, software support advised that they had no way of reaching out to the e-file management dept. In addition to working in the tax business I was also in the computer / programming business so I find it strange that one of your departments cannot contact another dept. ,if needed. This needs to be addressed ASAP or I will lose the client (he brings in 20K of revenue each year). Please reach out to your people to assist me. Thank you. I have worked for both small and large size companies in addition to the Federal government and customer support always came first. I understand Drake has their rules of procedure BUT there is always and exception, especially when this was a simple programming change. Also, example comes from management and if this is an example of how the new Drake direction is, it will fail. They did come through after all the hassle I was put through and I was able to get the return e-filed. The client was extremely upset so I waived my fee in order to keep the account.
Totally useless ... There is nothing regarding my Rightnetworks access ... cannot access it!! ??? Yes I am totally pissed at Drake service ..
Being a New Drake user, when I clicked View/Print, the whole Drake disappeared and it happened several times today. I decided to call Drake and Mr Corwyn answered. He was one of the most knowledgeable and patient representatives whom I had ever had for years. He shared the screen with me and kept trying one way after another until he solved the problem and the Drake started working. In addition, he also helped me to set up the account correctly so I could get the tax return going. What impressed me the most was “He knows Drake from the beginning to the end”. He was so outstanding that I believed he must be a senior Representative of Drake. He deserves it if not! Because, it was his excellent customer service that convinced me to believe using Drake is my best choice! Many thanks to Mr. Corwyn!
I have been a Drake customer for 10+ years and have become increasingly disappointed in the declining quality of customer support. Agents are obviously less experienced over the past couple of years, can rarely address your question and regularly ask to call you back with an answer only to never hear from them again. The quality of the support has fallen so much that i am seriously considering switching to another tax preparation software.
This is not about the Drake Tax, but Drake Portal. can you please extend the auto logout time!!!! It is ridiculously short. I cannot even go back and forth between it and Drake Tax working on a retrun only to come back and have to log back in. It is shorter than any bank login or any other application I work with . IT IS EVEN SHORTER THAN DRAKE TAX AUTO LOGOUT. What the heck are they tryng to accomplish other than aggragvate the user into finding a differnt solution?
We've been using Drake Software for the last 10 years now and have always been very pleased with the accuracy, ease of use, and vast options the company has given us. The tax planner is helpful for clients to prepare for the next year or give them several scenarios for making decisions.
I absolutely agree with a previous review about horrible support and rude people. It is clear to me, after being a customer for the past 16 years or so, that the last couple of years has shown a steep decline in support. They have increased their fee by 50% since 2020. Not a great trend, higher prices for a lesser product and bad support. They like to blame the states for e-filing issues, but I caught them in a lie today. I'm done after 2023 season.
Dan at Drake top of the line in the rude category. Had Drake software for 35 years and Dan has guaranteed I will find a new software company. They were the best for 30 years. The last few years they have been declining and Dan has now moved Drake to the rude category in service. A footnote Rude Dan a supervisor in the customer service area told me NOT to contact them as they would solve the software problem that was causing me 2X the work when they got around to it and I was unreasonable to believe that my desire for some kind of time frame as to when my extra work load might end wasn't anything he cared about. I also take from that, that Drake doesn't care much either.
I've been using Drake Tax and Drake Payroll for a while now. The Software itself isn't bad but my issue is with IRS rejected filings. Drake wouldn't notify the tax preparer that a return has been rejected. Drake does receive the status update from the IRS but it won't send an email to the tax preparer to notify them as such. This software isn't cheap but it's basically useless in these type of situations. This causes so much grief to resolve the issues once discovered.
super great
it is late in the season, but i need to look for a new company because i cannot get the software to download. support keeps sending me up to someone higher and they promise to call back within 24 hrs. it is been a week run around and i have still not talked to anyone. BEWARE. NO SUPPORT.
Drake Software is a reputable provider of professional tax preparation software designed for tax preparers and accounting professionals. Founded in 1977, the company offers a comprehensive suite of tools that facilitate efficient, IRS-compliant tax return preparation and e-filing. Their flagship product, Drake Tax®, serves as a central hub for tax practices, delivering features such as fast calculation results, extensive accuracy checks, and customizable program options. Targeting a diverse range of customers, from solo practitioners to multi-site tax preparation businesses, Drake Software emphasizes user-friendly solutions that streamline workflow and enhance productivity. The company is recognized for its commitment to customer service, providing expert support to ensure users can effectively utilize their software. With straightforward, flat-rate pricing, Drake Software aims to meet the needs of tax professionals seeking reliable software solutions.
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