Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover accounting & tax and creator finance. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Keeper | Wave | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $199 | From $19 |
| Pricing model | One-time purchase | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Billing | One-time purchase | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | None |
| API | Not stated | 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 | None right now | None right now |
Tax filing that hunts for freelance write-offs
Keeper connects to the accounts a freelancer actually spends from and proposes deductions transaction by transaction, then files the return at the end of it. A tax professional reviews and signs what gets sent. The pricing is per filing rather than per month, so it is bought once a year and the deduction hunting is what you are paying for in between.
Our note
Priced per filing rather than per month, which is the whole comparison against Wave or FreeAgent. Two hundred dollars once a year suits anybody whose Schedule C is the only return they file. It is poor value for somebody who also needs the books kept in between, and that is a different purchase.
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.