doola vs Wave Comparison 2026
doola forms a United States company, including for a founder with no US address, then sells the compliance that follows: $297 a year for Starter, or $1,599 a year for Tax and Compliance, which hands bookkeeping and filings to somebody else. Wave does the bookkeeping itself, for free on invoicing and double-entry accounts, or $19 a month for automation and receipt scanning, but it never forms a company or files anything with a state. A founder needs doola first if the entity does not exist yet; Wave only replaces the $1,599 tier for someone willing to keep their own books.
At a glance
- Wave starts cheaper, at $19.
- Only Wave has a free tier.
- doola bills annually only, so there is no month to try it for.
Side by side
doola | Wave | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $297 | From $19 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Paid subscription | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier (they differ) | No | Yes |
| Billing (they differ) | Annual only | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | None |
| API |
doola
Form the company, then keep its books
doola sets up a US company for somebody who does not have one, including the people doing it from outside the country, and then sells the upkeep that follows. Formation is the cheap part. What costs money is the annual compliance, the bookkeeping and the filings, which is exactly the work that gets forgotten until it is late. Pricing is annual and the state's own filing fee sits on top.
Our note
The state fee is the number this page does not add up for you, and it ranges from under a hundred dollars to several hundred depending on where you file, so the real first-year cost is Starter plus a figure you have to look up. Formation alone is cheap almost anywhere; what you are buying at the dearer tiers is somebody else remembering the annual report.
Only on this side
- Covers legal & contracts
Wave
Invoicing and bookkeeping that costs nothing
Wave does invoices, receipts and double-entry bookkeeping for free, and earns on card payments and on a paid tier that automates the parts you would otherwise do by hand. For a sole trader sending a dozen invoices a year it is the cheapest honest answer. Payroll and the advisor service exist in some countries only, which is worth checking before a whole tax year lives in it.
Why people weigh these two
- Wave instead of doola
- Wave does invoicing and bookkeeping for nothing, covering the books while skipping the packaged compliance doola charges for.
- doola instead of Wave
- doola forms the company first and then keeps its books, at $297 with no free tier, for somebody who has not yet incorporated rather than just needing invoices.
Which one should you pick
Pick doola if the company itself needs forming, particularly from outside the United States, since Wave has no equivalent feature at any price. Once the entity exists, doola's $1,599 a year Tax and Compliance tier is the one to compare against Wave, because it hands bookkeeping and the recurring filings to somebody else rather than software a founder runs personally.
Pick Wave for the bookkeeping itself, once a company already exists, since Starter is free for unlimited invoices and real double-entry accounts, and Pro is $19 a month or $190 a year for automation and receipt scanning. Even Pro's annual price is a fraction of doola's $1,599 a year compliance tier, but it is software to run yourself, not a service that also files paperwork with a state.
Common questions
- Can Wave form a company the way doola does?
- No. Wave is invoicing and bookkeeping software with no formation feature at any price. doola exists specifically to form a United States LLC or C Corp, including for a founder with no US address, starting at $297 a year plus the state filing fee.
- Is Wave cheaper than doola's bookkeeping tier?
- By a wide margin. Wave's Starter plan is free, and Pro is $19 a month or $190 a year, against doola's Tax and Compliance tier at $1,599 a year. The difference is that doola's price includes somebody else doing the work and handling the actual filings, where Wave is software a founder runs personally.
- Does doola do invoicing the way Wave does?
- doola's features are formation, a registered agent, an EIN application, bookkeeping and tax filing on the dearer tiers, with no invoicing feature described. Wave's free Starter plan is built around unlimited invoices and bills alongside the bookkeeping.
- What does Wave not do that a new company might still need?
- Form the company itself, or file anything with a state, which is doola's whole job. Wave also states that payroll and its bookkeeper-backed Advisors service, from $149 a month, exist only in some countries, worth checking before a full tax year depends on either.
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