Intuit QuickBooks Online is one of the most fully featured accounting software products on the market. It’s used and trusted by millions of customers worldwide, and its software plans can accommodate small businesses and massive international enterprises alike. It integrates with most third-party business apps, which makes it a versatile, user-friendly choice for businesses using multiple software tools to manage their workforce.
However, QuickBooks Online has one of the highest starting prices of any bookkeeping and accounting software product. Business owners — including and especially freelancers — will likely find that Wave Accounting’s comprehensive tools meet their financial management needs just as well as QuickBooks. Additionally, since Wave is free for life, it’s a better choice than QuickBooks for new businesses on a strict budget.
Below, we’ll cover the key differences between QuickBooks Online vs. Wave Accounting, including their features, pros, cons and pricing.
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QuickBooks Online and Wave Accounting share the same basic bookkeeping features. Both accounting products use double-entry accounting by default. Both also integrate with most other business apps, Intuit QuickBooks through built-in integrations and Wave via Zapier. However, they offer different levels of scalability, in-depth accounting features and customer support, which we’ll explore in more detail below.
| Features | QuickBooks Online | Wave Accounting |
|---|---|---|
| Income and expense tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Invoice generation and payment acceptance | Yes | Yes |
| Payment acceptance | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile accounting app | Yes | Yes |
| Number of users | Limited by plan | Unlimited |
| Number of plans | Four | One |
| Payroll software integration | Yes (QuickBooks Payroll) | Yes (Wave Payroll) |
| Starting price | $30 per month | Free for life |
| Learn more |
QuickBooks Online has four accounting plans with varying prices, features and user limits:
Intuit also has a freelance plan called QuickBooks Self-Employed, which helps freelancers track expenses and taxes but does little else. QuickBooks Self-Employed starts at $15 a month, but Wave Accounting has more features at a better price.
In contrast, Wave Accounting has just one accounting plan that includes all features. Its software is free for life and includes unlimited invoicing, billing, payment acceptance, expense tracking, bank connections, users and businesses. For instance, freelance sellers can use it to manage multiple Etsy, Amazon and eBay shops without paying an extra fee for each separate business account.
Both QuickBooks and Wave have their own payroll products that integrate seamlessly with their respective accounting software. If you have employees, include add-on payroll software costs when considering whether QuickBooks Online or Wave makes more sense for your bottom line:
If you need bookkeeping basics only, both QuickBooks Online and Wave Accounting should suit you nicely, since they share many key features:
However, QuickBooks Online has more accounting features than Wave Accounting. The QuickBooks Simple Start plan includes all the features listed above as well as the following:
Higher-tier QuickBooks accounting plans add even more features, such as time tracking, inventory management, bill management, profitability forecasting and more.
Put another way, if you need more than basic accounting features, QuickBooks Online is a better choice for you than Wave — as long as you’re comfortable with QuickBooks’ above-average starting price.
Both QuickBooks Online and Wave Accounting have highly rated mobile apps. With both accounting providers, iOS and Android users can accept payments, access funds, create and send invoices, and check income and expenses on the go.
But just as with their browser-based interfaces, QuickBooks’ features outnumber Wave’s on mobile as well. Only QuickBooks Online lets freelancers track mileage, convert estimates to invoices and scan and upload receipts.
Crucially, Wave also lacks a mobile payroll app for both employees and employers. You can integrate Wave Payroll with Wave Accounting for seamless general ledger updates, but only QuickBooks Payroll will let you check payroll amounts and pay employees on the go. While Wave syncs with third-party time-tracking apps, it doesn’t have a built-in employee time clock or self-service portal.
Some of Wave’s features are better suited to midsize and big businesses than QuickBooks’, including its multi-business management and unlimited user access. However, QuickBooks’ features and more comprehensive plans give businesses plenty of room to grow: As your company expands, you can upgrade to a new plan instead of switching accounting software providers altogether.
Both Wave and QuickBooks offer solid full-service payroll software that help small-business owners pay employees on time. While neither provider has a free payroll solution, Wave’s self-service plan costs just $20 a month plus $6 per employee. If you don’t mind filing payroll taxes on your own, Wave has the more affordable payroll solution of the two providers.
If you have between one and five employees, Wave Payroll’s full-service plan is cheaper per month than QuickBooks Payroll. However, thanks to QuickBooks Payroll’s lower per-employee fee, you’ll save more with QuickBooks than Wave as you add more employees.
Additionally, QuickBooks Online integrates with more payroll providers than its own in-house payroll software. For instance, you can integrate your QuickBooks accounting software with Gusto, even though QuickBooks Payroll and Gusto are direct competitors. Although you can use Zapier to integrate Wave with other products, Wave Payroll is the only payroll software Wave directly, seamlessly syncs with.
To compare QuickBooks Online and Wave Accounting, we considered how each product stacked up in the following key areas:
To evaluate how well each product performed in these categories, we created free accounts with each provider. We also viewed demos, read product specs and white papers, and consulted reviews on third-party sites like Gartner Peer Insights, the App Store and Google Play.
If you’re a freelancer or small-business owner whose primary consideration is affordability first and features second, Wave Accounting is a better pick for you than QuickBooks Online. Its completely free software has the basics you need to manage your business’s finances and plan for a profitable future.
However, if you plan on growing your business in the future, QuickBooks Online is a far better choice than Wave. Its reporting features, integrations, user-friendly apps and multi-plan scalability will help you plan for growth and expand far into the future.
