Wave vs FreshBooks vs Zoho Books vs QuickBooks Online

Written head to head: QuickBooks Online vs FreshBooks · Wave vs QuickBooks Online · Zoho Books vs QuickBooks Online, with when to choose each side.

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	QuickBooks Online Free plan · from $38/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	Intuit's cloud accounting for US small businesses, from a free tier to plans with AI bookkeeping
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.	1 user, no accountant access, up to 2 invoices a month (unlimited if you qualify for and enable QuickBooks Payments), the top 3 reports (profit and loss, balance sheet, account quick report), 1 bank connection, chat support. No credit card required. Mobile app access and third-party integrations are not available on Free.
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	$38/mo (Simple Start)QuickBooks Online 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.	1 user plus access for 2 accountants. Promotion: 50% off ($19/month) for the first 3 months. No annual contract; the pricing page shows no annual price.
Free trial	None stated	30-day free trial, no credit card required	14-day free trial	30-day free trial, shown alongside the 50%-off offer on the pricing page
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	Web, iOS, Android	Web, iOS, Android, Windows, API	Web, iOS, Android
Integrations (vendor's figure)	Not stated	100+ apps in the FreshBooks AppStore	Not stated	800+ integrations
Open source	No	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	US small businesses that want accounting, invoicing and payroll from one vendor Sole owners starting on a free plan with a few invoices a month Growing teams that need inventory, project profitability and up to 25 users
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	Free plan: 1 user, 2 invoices a month unless QuickBooks Payments is enabled, 1 bank connection, no mobile app or third-party integrations User caps: 1 on Simple Start, 3 on Essentials, 5 on Plus, 25 on Advanced Inventory, budgets and project profitability need Plus ($140/mo); workflow automation and custom permissions need Advanced ($340/mo)
Made by	Wave Financial Inc.	2NDSITE Inc.	Zoho Corporation Pvt. Ltd.	Intuit Inc.

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.