Small business accounting software · Comparison
FreshBooks vs Wave
2 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | FreshBooks | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Easy to adoptInvoicing, time tracking, projects and payments for client work, with the accounting reports your accountant needs behind them. | Worth the priceInvoices, bills and bookkeeping for free, and bank imports, users and reminders for $19 a month per business. |
| Overall score | 6.1 | 6.7Best |
| Free option | 30-day free trial | Free plan |
| Card to start | No card needed | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $23/mo | $19/mo |
| Pricing model | Seat + usage | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per business per month by billable clients, plus $11/mo per team member | Per business per month or year |
| Free option | No free plan; 30-day trial, no card | Free Starter plan (unlimited invoices and bills, no bank import) |
| Reference scenario (3 users, monthly) | $92/mo on Premium ($70 + 2 × $11), computed | $19/mo on Pro, computed |
| Users per plan | Owner plus team members at $11/mo each; up to 10 accountants free on Plus and up | Admins, editors and viewers on Pro; payroll manager and tax pro on all plans |
| Multi-currency | Invoices and expenses in other currencies, reports per currency | Foreign currency invoices and bills |
| Inventory and projects | Stock counts on items; project profitability on Premium ($70) | Not listed |
| Card / bank payment fees | 2.9% + 30¢ / 1% (FreshBooks Payments or Stripe) | 2.9% + $0.60 (first 10 a month at 2.9% + $0 on Pro) / 1%, $1 minimum |
| Payroll | FreshBooks Payroll $40/mo + $6 per user | $40/mo + $6 per employee and per contractor paid |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type 1 (2023, on request under NDA); no ISO 27001 stated | Not stated; Level 1 PCI DSS |
| Custom roles / audit log | Fixed team roles; audit log for admins | Fixed roles that cannot be customized; no audit log described |
| Data export | CSV of chart of accounts, clients, expenses, invoices, items, vendors and reports | Data Export: journal entries and transactions, bills, customers, vendors (XLS or CSV) |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, FreshBooks is invoicing-first accounting for client work, with strong billing tools on every plan and project profitability on Premium. Bills start on Premium and each team member adds $11 a month. | From its public pages, Wave is the lowest-cost way here to keep small business books: free invoices and bills, and bank imports and users for $19 a month. It lists fewer bookkeeping and security features than the larger suites. |
Evidence: FreshBooks: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Wave: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our FreshBooks review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick FreshBooks when
- You need project profitability, time tracking and accountant access in the same tool.
- Pick Wave when
- You want a free plan with unlimited invoices and bills, or Pro at $19 a month.
From our Wave review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Wave when
- You want a free plan with unlimited invoices and bills, or Pro at $19 a month.
- Pick FreshBooks when
- You need project profitability, time tracking and free accountant access.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- FreshBooksLite$23/mo$248.40 billed yearly; 80% off for 4 months shown for new customers
- Invoices to 5 billable clients
- Unlimited estimates and expenses
- Automated bank import and recurring invoices
- Card, ACH and buy now, pay later payments
- WaveLowest pricePro$19/mo$190 billed yearly; per business
- Automatic bank imports and auto-categorized transactions
- Admin, editor and viewer users
- Payment reminders and recurring invoices
- First 10 card payments a month at 2.9% + $0
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: FreshBooks 2026-10-16, Wave 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- WaveSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 2 self-serve products here (6.7/10).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- FreshBooks30-day free trial, no card needed; scored 6.1/10.
- Lowest starter price
- Wave$19/mo for the Pro ($190 billed yearly) plan.
- Highest overall score
- Wave6.7/10 (Good). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
More in Small business accounting software
Add a product
Search by product name or by what it does, such as “email” or “feature flags”. 2 more fit in this comparison.