Is OLT.com Free?

OLT.com offers free federal tax filing for all users on its basic tier, including complex tax situations. Under standard pricing, filers pay $9.95 per state return. Those in the few states with no required state tax return can use OLT.com for free.

For most users looking to use OLT.com, we recommend upgrading to the Premium Edition for $9.95 (currently on sale for $2 off), which includes live customer support, audit support, and a discount on state returns.

Most users will pay $9.95 (Free Edition with a single-state return) or $19.90 for Premium plus one state. While it’s not truly free for most people, the pricing is very competitive and much lower than what you’d pay for premium experiences with industry leaders, TurboTax or H&R Block.

However, it is more costly than the free Cash App Taxes app (which has more limitations. Pricing is similar to our favorite, FreeTaxUSA, which has more features.

What’s New In 2026?

For 2026, OLT.com made updates to ensure accurate tax filings, driven by IRS requirements. That includes updated limits for tax brackets, deductions, and credits. 

With its 100% accuracy guarantee, you should get nearly identical results with OLT.com compared to any other tax app, assuming you enter all data accurately.

The most significant changes for 2026 are related to the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which has major implications for the standard deduction, health insurance, state and local taxes (SALT), and small-business taxes, among other changes.

OLT.com makes filing easy for many filers doing their 2025 taxes in early 2026. It’s best for those with fewer tax forms and those without active investing accounts, as you can’t upload or import PDF tax forms or spreadsheets with your investment data. You must manually enter all W-9, 1099, and other tax forms, which can be cumbersome and lead to user errors.

However, the software includes multiple checkpoints that allow users to verify whether they’ve entered the information correctly. Because self-employed people (including side hustlers) and landlords can easily navigate to anything they need, it’s a good deal if you don’t have too much information to enter.

Active stock and cryptocurrency investors may want to avoid OLT.com and consider TurboTax or another competitor. Having to enter all your trades one at a time can be extremely cumbersome and prone to typos and other errors.

With software upgrades for last year’s tax season, OLT.com has several features that help it stand out from other bargain-priced software.

In recent years, OLT.com has upgraded its software to simplify entering your details and filing your taxes. The app now has a menu-driven navigation system that lets you choose which section you want to enter.

Filers can review each sub-section before moving forward, helping detect errors before changing attention to another section. The software also includes robust, built-in calculators that help filers claim the correct depreciation and depletion expenses.

Users can easily track filing progress and review financial outcomes with section summaries. The summaries show each section’s income, deductions, or credits. OLT.com displays detailed sub-section summaries so users can catch mistakes while working through their return.

Affordable Live Customer Support

The Premium Edition costs less than $10 and gives you access to live chat, phone customer support, and audit support should you need it. Some competitors charge much more for access to human support.

However, it’s worth noting that live support is limited, and you may experience long waits during peak filing periods. Customer service support helps you with questions about OLT.com, but doesn’t include personalized tax advice.

With the free version of OLT.com, you can ask questions via email, with a longer delay before you see a response.

OLT.com Drawbacks

OLT.com isn’t a perfect product. Here are some drawbacks to consider before you sign up. 

OLT.com doesn’t allow users to import W-2 or 1099 forms, so filers must enter all this information by hand. Some filers won’t mind the extra step, but those with several bank or investment accounts may want to choose more expensive and sophisticated software.

While OLT.com made notable strides in its user experience, some screens remain cluttered with a design that still feels dated. There is also a lot of information on some screens, which can make it easy to miss something important.

Plus, the screen doesn’t really resize well for all the prompts, depending on your computer’s size, especially with that sidebar. It does go away sometimes, but it’s not as clean as TurboTax or H&R Block. You can see an example here from our testing:

How Does OLT.com Compare To Other Tax Software?

OLT.com is low-cost, so our comparisons focus on other software with similar pricing structures.

In 2026, we’re comparing OLT.com to FreeTaxUSA, Cash App Taxes, and TaxSlayer. OLT.com rivals FreeTaxUSA’s user experience and offers slightly lower prices.

Cash App Taxes has a somewhat better product, and it’s free, but it doesn’t support multi-state filing and lacks support for a few other important scenarios for some filers. TaxSlayer is the most expensive product in the bargain category, but it offers the most functionality.

OLT.com requires users to enable multiple forms of authentication. The multi-factor authentication requirement protects users in the event of a password breach. The company also protects and encrypts personally identifiable information and credit card numbers.

The company also meets third-party standards for data privacy and consumer data protection. Despite the credentials, no website can 100% guarantee the safety of information shared online. Follow password and cybersecurity best practices to keep bad guys out of your account.

With the Free Edition, your support options with OLT.com are limited to email support and self-help by using the website’s Knowledge Base and FAQs. If you upgrade to Premium, you’ll get audit assistance, live chat, and phone tech support.

At first glance, the audit assistance appears to be a good value. However, Cash App Taxes offers a similar guarantee for free. Unlike other bargain software companies, like TaxHawk, OLT.com does not offer an upgrade option that provides access to tax pros.

Why Should You Trust Us?

The College Investor team has spent years reviewing the top tax filing options. Our team has personal experience with most tax software tools. I have been the lead tax software reviewer since 2022 and have compared most of the major companies in the marketplace.

Our editor-in-chief, Robert Farrington, has been testing tax software tools since 2011 and has tried almost every tax filing product. Our team has also created reviews and video walk-throughs of the major tax preparation companies, which you can find on our YouTube channel.

We’re tax DIYers like you, and we want a good deal. We work hard to offer informed and honest opinions on every product we test.

How Was This Product Tested?

In our original tests, we used OLT.com to complete a real-life tax return that included W-2 income, self-employment income, rental property income, and investment income. We tried to enter all the data and use every available feature. We then compared the result to all the other products we’ve tested, as well as a tax return prepared by a tax professional.

This year, we went back through and rechecked all the features we initially tested, as well as any new ones. We also validated the pricing options.

Here are answers to a few questions filers frequently ask about online tax software like OLT.com.

Can OLT.com help me file my crypto investments?

OLT.com supports crypto filing, but it doesn’t make the process any easier. Users cannot import IRS Form 8949, so they must enter each transaction manually. Most crypto traders would be better off using a service like TurboTax Premier to file their returns.

Can OLT.com help me with state filing in multiple states?

Yes, OLT.com supports multi-state filing. The cost is $9.95 per state.

Does OLT.com offer refund advance loans?

No, OLT.com isn’t offering refund advance loans in 2026. You can pay your OLT.com fees for $29.99 with the “bank product,” which we suggest you avoid.