Wave Accounting is among the best — if not the best — free accounting software programs for small businesses. But while many freelancers and sole proprietors prefer Wave’s no-cost bookkeeping features, you might not be among them.
Below, we break down Wave’s top competitors by their features, pricing, pros and cons. We’ll also explain who Wave is best for and detail its strengths and weaknesses to help you decide if Wave or an alternative is the right financial solution for your small business.
Don’t mind spoilers? Jump to our conclusion to see if Wave Accounting is right for you.
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Wave and its six accounting competitors share the same basic bookkeeping features. Whether you opt for Wave or an accounting alternative, you can safely assume it will offer online payment acceptance, financial reporting, mobile app access, customizable invoicing and basic financial tracking.
| Starting price | Unlimited invoicing | Income and expense tracking | User limits | Top payroll integrations | Learn more | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreshBooks | $17/mo. | Yes (billable clients limited by plan) | Yes | Additional per-user fee | Gusto | |
| Xero | $13/mo. | Cheapest plan limited to 20 invoices/mo. | No (expense tracking with priciest plan only) | Unlimited | Gusto | |
| Zoho Books | $0/mo. | Up to 1,000 invoices/year | Yes | Additional per-user fee | Zoho Payroll | |
| QuickBooks Online | $30/mo. | Yes | Yes | Up to 25 users | QuickBooks Payroll, Gusto | |
| Kashoo | $0/mo. | Yes | Yes | One user | SurePayroll, Paychex | |
| Sage Business Cloud | $10/mo. | Yes | Yes | One user | Gusto | |
| Wave Accounting | Free | Yes | Yes | Unlimited | Wave Payroll |
Product and pricing details up to date as of 6/9/2023.
Most businesses that choose Wave do so for its free-for-life pricing, so you should know upfront that Zoho Books is the only Wave alternative on our list with a truly free plan. Additionally, Zoho’s free plan is only available to businesses with annual revenue below $50K USD. If that describes your business’ financial situation and you’re interested only in free accounting software, skip to our Zoho Books review to see how it compares to Wave Accounting.
All other accounting solutions on our list (Zoho Books’ paid plans included) offer free trials that range from 14 to 30 days. Some providers — most notably, QuickBooks Online — let you choose between either a discount or a free trial, but you can’t select both options.
Starting price: $17 per month
Like Wave, FreshBooks’ unlimited customizable invoices make it a great solution for freelancers with service-based businesses. Both Wave and FreshBooks let you schedule automated recurring invoices, accept online payments through invoices and set up payment due date reminders. Both software tools also have notably user-friendly invoice templates that are simple to customize.
While FreshBooks offers unlimited invoices, each plan limits the number of clients you can bill each month. (With the cheapest plan, the number is just five.) Additionally, Wave Accounting uses double-entry accounting, which is the best way to catch and fix accounting mistakes early on. FreshBooks’ cheapest plan doesn’t include double-entry accounting, and it doesn’t include free access for your accountant, either.
FreshBooks is the only accounting software product on this list to offer both annual and month-to-month payment options. Customers who choose to pay annually lock in at least a 10% discount, though FreshBooks’ frequent discounts for both annual and monthly plans can run as deep as 70% off for six months.
Along with its custom enterprise-level accounting plan, FreshBooks has three invoicing, accounting and billing plans for small and midsize businesses:
FreshBooks also offers a 30-day free trial.
For a more in-depth look at FreshBooks’ features, pros and cons, read our FreshBooks review.
Starting price: $13 per month
Make most of your money selling products rather than services? Xero is the only accounting product on our list to offer inventory tracking with its cheapest plan.
Along with inventory management, Xero’s users get bank reconciliation, cash-flow management, quotes, invoices and bill tracking — starting at the comparatively low monthly cost of $13 ($156 per year). Xero’s more comprehensive plans add project tracking, expense management and multi-currency support.
Like Wave, Xero’s plans include unlimited users at no additional cost. Both providers also offer easy-to-customize invoices, though Xero’s cheapest plan limits users to sending just 20 invoices or quotes per month.
Xero has three accounting plans for small and midsize businesses, making it a more scalable pick than Wave Accounting:
Each Xero plan includes a 30-day free trial.
Interested in learning more about Xero? Read our in-depth Xero review.
Starting price: $0 per month
Zoho Books is among the most fully-featured accounting software providers on our list — even more so than industry favorite QuickBooks Online. With six different accounting plans, its scalable solution supports businesses as they grow from small start-ups to multi-state enterprises.
If your business’s revenue is below $50K USD per year, you can take advantage of Zoho Books’ free plan for small businesses. It allows for one user plus free accountant access, but note that you can’t add more users, even for an extra fee, unless you sign up for Zoho Books Standard or higher.
Zoho Books’ six plans range in price from $0 a month to $240 a month. Users can save by paying for each plan annually instead of month to month, though we suggest taking advantage of Zoho Books’ 14-day free trial before committing to an annual plan. Zoho’s starting prices are as follows:
Zoho Books’ free plan includes most of the same features as Wave Accounting as well as the basic features included in its competitors’ lowest-tier paid plans:
Higher-tier plans add bill pay, inventory management, project tracking, time tracking and in-depth reporting features.
Starting price: $30 per month
QuickBooks Online, a cloud-based accounting service offered through powerhouse financial company Intuit, is among the most comprehensive, user-friendly accounting systems available. Its basic plan includes far more features than Wave Accounting, such as 1099 contractor management. Its mobile app comes with mileage tracking. The software’s expense tracking and tax categorization simplify tax time for freelancers who depend on tax write-offs at the end of the year.
However, many small businesses don’t have the budget for QuickBooks’ above-average starting price. As opposed to the $0 you’ll pay to use Wave Accounting, QuickBooks Online’s cheapest plan will cost you $360 a year (not accounting for a month-long free trial or three-month discount).
QuickBooks Online has four cloud-based accounting plans for small businesses:
First-time QuickBooks users can sign up for a 30-day free trial or take advantage of a 50% off discount for three months. Even with the three-month discount, though, QuickBooks Online’s high starting price puts it outside many business owners’ budgets.
Additionally, QuickBooks increases its pricing much more frequently (and with much less advance warning) than other accounting solutions. If you sign up for QuickBooks, be aware that you might be paying more for the same plan a year down the line than you would initially.
Starting price: $0 per month
Kashoo is a small-business-focused accounting service that offers paid accounting software alongside a free invoicing app, TrulySmall Invoicing. TrulySmall’s invoicing features are nearly as comprehensive as FreshBooks’ and include automated payment reminders, unlimited invoices, invoice-based payment acceptance, and unlimited estimates that convert easily to invoices once you and your client agree on payment and services.
Kashoo also has two paid accounting plans, both of which have enough features to compare favorably to big-name competitors like QuickBooks and Xero. Whether you opt for Kashoo’s free or paid plan, you’ll get the same direct line to customer support with top-notch level of customer service and tech support. Unlike Wave Accounting and Xero, Kashoo’s customer service is available both over the phone and via email.
Kashoo has one free invoicing plan for freelancers plus two paid plans for small and growing businesses:
Like Zoho Books, Kashoo’s free trial period lasts just 14 days rather than 30.
While Kashoo’s free invoicing plan comes with essential invoicing features only, both of its paid plans include the following bookkeeping services:
On top of the basic features offered with TrulySmall Accounting, the more advanced Kashoo plan includes inventory management, project management and optional payroll integration with SurePayroll (along with a handful of other small-business payroll providers).
Starting price: $10 per month
Apart from Kashoo’s TrulySmall Invoicing and Zoho Books’ free plan, Sage Business Cloud Accounting is the cheapest accounting product on our list. For $10 a month, users can create invoices, track bills and check expenses with automatic bank reconciliation. While Sage’s entry-level plan doesn’t have as many features as Wave Accounting has for free, its thorough automations can save enough time to make the price worth it for tech-savvy business owners.
Sage Accounting distinguishes itself from the rest of the accounting software market by offering exceptional customer service. Software users who purchase a Sage membership can access hundreds of talks, online classes and other learning resources. This add-on feature is especially useful for first-time business owners who are learning the legal and financial ropes of self-employment.
Sage Business Cloud has two accounting plans:
Sage runs frequent sales with better-than-average discounts, though these discounts typically apply to the Sage Accounting plan only (not the Start plan). For instance, as of June 2023, new customers can get Sage Accounting at 70% off for six months.
Wave Accounting is quite simply the best free accounting software for most freelancers and small businesses, so if you’re looking specifically for budget-friendly bookkeeping, Wave Accounting is your best bet. However, if you have more expansive accounting needs, opt for a more fully-featured accounting service like QuickBooks Online, Xero or Zoho Books instead.
Wave Accounting is completely free. It doesn’t cost a cent to use Wave’s cloud-based software or download its mobile app. At no point are you required to enter your credit card number to use Wave’s services. Industry-standard transaction fees are the only charges you’ll accrue while using Wave for accounting.
However, Wave Payroll — which is Wave Accounting’s main integration — does cost a monthly fee:
To learn more about Wave, dive into our detailed Wave Accounting review.
We aim to provide you with the best possible accounting software reviews, but there’s simply no substitute for hands-on experience. Since Wave Accounting is free — and since its competitors all offer free trials — we recommend creating a trial account for any software you’re considering.
Once you’ve experienced the software for yourself, you’ll have an easier time determining whether Wave or a competitor is ideal for you.
To find Wave Accounting’s top competitors and assess each one fairly, we looked into third-party reviews on sites like Trustpilot and the App Store, among others. We set up free trial accounts with every provider on our list so we could experience the software for ourselves. While test-driving the software, we focused on how each performed in the following areas, using the following questions to guide our testing process:
