Wave vs FreshBooks vs Zoho Books

Compared on	Wave Free plan · from $15.83/mo VisitRemove	FreshBooks Free trial · from $20.70/mo VisitRemove	Zoho Books Free plan · from $15/mo VisitRemove
What it is	Free invoicing and double-entry bookkeeping for small businesses, with a $19 Pro plan for bank sync	Invoicing and accounting for freelancers and service businesses, priced by number of billable clients	Accounting with a free plan under $50K revenue, six US plans priced per organization and the Zia AI assistant
Free plan	Starter: unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records; mobile invoicing; optional online payments at 2.9% + $0.60 per card transaction (3.4% + $0.60 for Amex). No automatic bank import or auto-categorisation; receipt capture is an $8/month add-on; collaborators limited to payroll manager or Block Advisors tax pro access.	No	For businesses with financial-year revenue under $50K: 1 user plus 1 accountant, up to 1,000 invoices and 1,000 expenses a year, 50 receipt autoscans a month, 5 scheduled reports, email support. Bank feeds are not included; document autoscans are the only add-on allowed.
Cheapest paid plan	$15.83/mo billed annually (Pro)Wave pricing	$20.70/mo billed annually (Lite)FreshBooks pricing	$15/mo billed annually (Standard)Zoho Books pricing
What it covers	Per business; $190 billed yearly. Card fees drop to 2.9% + $0 on the first 10 transactions each month. Canadian price CA$25/month or CA$250/year.	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; 3 users, up to 5,000 invoices and 5,000 bills/expenses a year, 200 receipt autoscans a month. Extra users $3/user/month ($2.50 billed yearly). Prices exclude local taxes.
Free trial	None stated	30-day free trial, no credit card required	14-day free trial
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	Web, iOS, Android	Web, iOS, Android, Windows, API
Integrations (vendor's figure)	Not stated	100+ apps in the FreshBooks AppStore	Not stated
Open source	No	No	No
Good for	Freelancers and sole owners who want free invoicing and bookkeeping Small businesses in the US or Canada that invoice often on a small budget Owners who want a bookkeeper to keep the books for them	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	Micro businesses under $50K revenue that want free double-entry accounting Product businesses that need inventory and purchase orders inside the accounting tool Teams that want custom workflows, approvals and custom modules
Watch out for	Automatic bank imports and transaction categorisation need the Pro plan Receipt capture costs $8 a month on the free plan Its pages do not describe AI features, multi-currency or inventory tracking	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	The Free plan applies only while annual revenue stays under $50K, with 1 user and no bank feeds Annual invoice and bill caps on every plan, from 5,000 on Standard to 100,000 on Elite and Ultimate Multi-currency, projects and inventory need Professional ($50/mo); budgets and cash flow forecasting need Premium
Made by	Wave Financial Inc.	2NDSITE Inc.	Zoho Corporation Pvt. Ltd.

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.

Every tool in accounting and invoicing software is on its category page, with the written head-to-heads on Compare.