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Both cover accounting & tax and creator finance. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| FreshBooks | Wave | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $23 | From $19 |
| Pricing model | Free trial, then paid | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | 30 days | None |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web, iOS, Android | Not stated |
| Covers | Accounting & Tax, Creator Finance | Accounting & Tax, Creator Finance |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | 1 | None right now |
Invoicing built for freelancers, not accountants
FreshBooks is double-entry accounting wearing a friendly invoice app, which is the right shape for somebody who bills a handful of clients and dreads January. Time tracking and expenses feed the invoice directly. Client limits on the cheap plan are the thing that pushes people up a tier.
Our note
Wave does invoicing and bookkeeping free and is enough for most creators. Pay for FreshBooks when the client count, the retainers or the proposals are the reason, not because it looks more serious.
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.
Our note
Free accounting that is genuinely accounting, which is rare enough to be worth the check it needs: confirm that payments and payroll are supported where you live before a tax year is built on it.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.