FreshBooks vs Xero

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 21 October 2026.

Written head to head: Xero vs FreshBooks, with when to choose each side.

Compared on	FreshBooks Free trial · from $20.70/mo Visit Remove	Xero From $27/mo Visit Remove
What it is	Invoicing and accounting for freelancers and service businesses, priced by number of billable clients	Cloud accounting with three US plans, no per-user fees, Gusto payroll and the JAX AI assistant
Free plan	No	No
Cheapest paid plan	$20.70/mo billed annually (Lite)FreshBooks pricing	$27/mo (Early)Xero pricing
What it covers	Invoice up to 5 billable clients; extra team members $11/month each; $248.40 billed yearly. Promotion: 80% off ($4.60/month) for the first 4 months.	Per organization, no per-user licence fees; send quotes and 20 invoices, enter 5 bills; auto-reconcile is a $5/month add-on. Promotion: 90% off ($2.70/month) for the first 6 months for new US customers, until 2 November 2026.
Free trial	30-day free trial, no credit card required	One month free on any Xero plan
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	Web
Integrations (vendor's figure)	100+ apps in the FreshBooks AppStore	Integrate with 1000+ apps
Open source	No	No
Good for	Freelancers and consultants who bill a small number of clients Service businesses that invoice for tracked time and project work Owners who want their accountant working in the same books	Small businesses that want several people in the books without per-user fees Businesses that work closely with an accountant or bookkeeper Companies that bill or pay in foreign currencies
Watch out for	Lite invoices only 5 clients and Plus 50; unlimited clients need Premium ($70/mo) Each team member costs $11 a month on top of the plan Bank reconciliation, receipt scanning and accountant access are not on Lite	Early caps you at 20 invoices and 5 bills, and auto-reconcile costs $5 a month extra Multi-currency, projects and expense claims need Established ($97/mo) Payroll costs $36 a month plus $6 per person through Gusto
Made by	2NDSITE Inc.	Xero Limited

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

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