FreshBooks review
by FreshBooksSmall business accounting software
Invoicing-first accounting for service businesses, priced by billable clients, with time tracking, projects and payments built in.
- 30-day free trial
- No card needed
- Self-serve
- Seat + usage
- Public prices
What you're paying for
- Easy to adopt (main value)
- Saves engineering time
Invoicing, time tracking, projects and payments for client work, with the accounting reports your accountant needs behind them.
FreshBooks starts from the invoice: estimates, proposals, retainers, recurring invoices, late fees and reminders, time tracking and project budgets, with clients paying by card, ACH or buy now, pay later. Plus adds double-entry reports, bank reconciliation and free accountant access; Premium adds unlimited clients, accounts payable and project profitability. Service businesses that bill clients for their time get billing and bookkeeping in one tool.
- Billing tools on every planEvery plan includes unlimited estimates and invoices, recurring invoices, scheduled late fees, automated reminders, deposits, time tracking and project budgets.Evidence: Pricing page plan comparison (2026-10-16)
- Project profitability on PremiumPremium adds project profitability reports, accounts payable and bill receipt capture alongside unlimited billable clients.Evidence: Pricing page plan comparison (2026-10-16)
- Trial without a cardThe pricing FAQ describes a 30-day free trial with no contracts and no credit card required.Evidence: Pricing page FAQ (2026-10-16)
- Best for
- Freelancers, agencies and service firms that bill clients for time and projects and want invoicing and bookkeeping in one place.
- Good to know
- Each team member is $11 a month, accounts payable starts on Premium ($70), and purchase orders, budgets and class tracking are not listed.
How FreshBooks compares
Against 3 other products we reviewed in Small business accounting software: what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | FreshBooks | Zoho Books | QuickBooks Online | Xero |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 priceBills, multi-currency, inventory, projects and custom roles on a $50 plan with 5 users, backed by SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001. | Built-in reachFull small business books with payments, payroll and bill pay from one vendor, and a plan ladder from a free tier to 25 users. | Worth the priceAccounting priced per business, not per user, with inventory, purchase orders and bank feeds on every plan. |
| Overall score | 6.1 | 8.2Best | 7.5 | 7.1 |
| Free option | 30-day free trial | Free plan | Free plan | 30-day free trial |
| Card to start | No card needed | –Not measured | No card needed | Card required |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $23/mo | $20/mo | $38/mo | $27/mo |
| Pricing model | Seat + usage | Tiered | Tiered | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per business per month by billable clients, plus $11/mo per team member | Per organization per month, in plan tiers; extra users $3/mo each | Per company per month, in plan tiers; no extra seats sold | Per organization per month; no per-user license fees |
| Free option | No free plan; 30-day trial, no card | Free plan under $50K yearly revenue (1 user + 1 accountant, no bills or bank feeds); 14-day trial | Free plan (1 user, 2 invoices/mo, 1 bank connection); 30-day trial of paid plans | No free plan; one month free with billing details taken at sign-up |
| Reference scenario (3 users, monthly) | $92/mo on Premium ($70 + 2 × $11), computed | $50/mo on Professional, computed | $85/mo on Essentials, computed | $59/mo on Growing, computed |
| Users per plan | Owner plus team members at $11/mo each; up to 10 accountants free on Plus and up | 1 + accountant / 3 / 5 / 10 / 10 / 15; extra users $3/mo ($2.50 yearly) | 1 / 1 / 3 / 5 / 25 (Free to Advanced); 2 or 3 accountants free on paid plans | No per-user fees on any plan |
| Multi-currency | Invoices and expenses in other currencies, reports per currency | Professional ($50) and up | Essentials ($85) and up | Established ($97) |
| Inventory and projects | Stock counts on items; project profitability on Premium ($70) | Stock tracking and project profitability on Professional ($50) | Plus ($140) and up | Inventory in every plan (Inventory Plus $39/mo); projects on Established |
| Card / bank payment fees | 2.9% + 30¢ / 1% (FreshBooks Payments or Stripe) | 2.9% + 30¢ / ACH 0.8% capped at $5 (Zoho Payments) | 2.99% / 1% (QuickBooks Payments) | 2.9% + 30¢ / ACH debit 1% capped at $9 (Stripe, managed by Xero) |
| Payroll | FreshBooks Payroll $40/mo + $6 per user | Zoho Payroll from $39/mo + $6 per employee | Workforce Payroll bundles, e.g. with Essentials $125/mo + $6.50 per employee | Xero Payroll, powered by Gusto: $36/mo + $6 per employee or contractor |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type 1 (2023, on request under NDA); no ISO 27001 stated | SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 for Zoho cloud services | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 on the Intuit Trust Center | SOC 2 Type II report on request; ISO/IEC 27001:2022 |
| Custom roles / audit log | Fixed team roles; audit log for admins | Custom roles on Professional; activity log on every plan | Custom roles on Advanced; audit log from Essentials | Fixed user roles; History and notes audit trail |
| Data export | CSV of chart of accounts, clients, expenses, invoices, items, vendors and reports | Reports to CSV, XLS, XLSX or PDF; API on every plan | Export data tool (reports and lists to Excel); read-only access 1 year after cancelling | Any report exported to Excel or PDF; API |
| 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, Zoho Books puts the broadest set of bookkeeping and control features at $50 a month, with SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 behind it. Bills start on Professional, and the free plan is limited to businesses under $50K revenue. | From its public pages, QuickBooks Online is a full accounting suite with payments, payroll and bill pay from Intuit and a clear plan ladder. Users are tied to tiers, and inventory and projects start on Plus. | From its public pages, Xero is full small business accounting priced per organization with no per-user fees, with inventory and purchase orders on every plan. Most businesses that pay bills start on Growing, and currencies and projects need Established. |
Evidence: FreshBooks: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Zoho Books: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; QuickBooks Online: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Xero: 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.
Score
- Pricing clarity
- 9.0 / 10, Excellent
- scenario plan priced; can be bought online; extra users priced; Select plan price not published (Let’s Talk)
- Free plan and trial
- 3.0 / 10, Fair
- no free plan; 30-day trial of paid plans, no card needed
- Price for 3 users
- 4.3 / 10, Fair
- $92/mo: Premium at $70/mo, billed monthly; plus $22/mo for 2 team members at $11 each; accounts payable starts on Premium; assumes the owner’s own login is included in the plan and each of the 2 staff is a paid team member
- Bookkeeping depth
- 6.0 / 10, Good
- multi-currency on the scenario plan; inventory on the scenario plan; project profitability on the scenario plan; purchase orders not listed; budgets not listed; classes or tracking tags not listed
- Getting paid and payroll
- 9.5 / 10, Excellent
- card rate published; bank payment rate published; recurring invoices on the scenario plan; payment reminders on the scenario plan; payroll price published
- Security, access and data export
- 5.0 / 10, Fair
- no SOC 2 Type II stated; two-factor sign-in; custom roles not listed; audit trail on the scenario plan; API; ledger or transaction export
Review
Review from public pages
Written from FreshBooks's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 16, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
What the public pages show
We read FreshBooks' US pricing page with its plan comparison, add-on prices, offer terms and FAQ, the security safeguards page, the terms of service, the SOC 2 press release, help articles on two-factor authentication, team member permissions, items and data export, a feature article on multi-currency and the API pages on Oct 16, 2026; we did not sign up, start the trial or call the API for this review.
The comparison table is clear on what each plan adds. Billing tools are on every plan; Plus adds double-entry reports, bank reconciliation and accountant access; Premium adds unlimited billable clients, accounts payable and project profitability. Add-on prices are listed for every plan: team members $11 a month each, Advanced Payments $20 and payroll $40 plus $6 per user.
Some points need a question to FreshBooks. The pricing page does not say whether the account owner counts as a team member, so our scenario assumes the owner's login comes with the plan. Select is priced through a consultant. The multi-currency article (2021) describes invoices and expenses in other currencies with reports per currency, and names no plan limit. The SOC 2 press release (Feb 2023) covers a Type 1 report; we found no Type II report or ISO 27001 statement.
Strengths
- Client billing on the entry plan
Lite already includes recurring invoices, late fees, reminders, deposits, time tracking and card, ACH and buy now, pay later payments.
vs Wave: Wave puts payment reminders and recurring invoices on Pro or with online payments.
- Project profitability with unlimited clients
Premium ($70 a month) adds project profitability reports and accounts payable with unlimited billable clients.
vs QuickBooks Online: QuickBooks Online starts project profitability on Plus ($140); Xero on Established ($97).
- Trial with no card
The 30-day trial needs no credit card, and data is kept if you do not subscribe.
vs Xero: Xero’s one month free takes billing details at sign-up.
- Two-factor sign-in for everyone
Two-factor authentication is mandatory for email-and-password logins, by emailed code or an authenticator app.
Things to know
- Users are an add-on
Team members are $11 a month each on every plan, so 3 users on Premium cost $92 a month (computed); up to 10 accountants are free on Plus and up.
- Bills start on Premium
Accounts payable is marked on Premium and Select only, and Plus is limited to 50 billable clients.
- Narrower bookkeeping features
The plan pages list no purchase orders, company budgets or class tracking; inventory is a stock count on items.
- Compliance documents
The security page states PCI DSS Level 1 and hosting on Google Cloud; the SOC 2 report announced in 2023 is Type 1, available under NDA.
Workaround: Ask [email protected] for the current SOC 2 report.
Pricing reality
FreshBooks bills per business by billable clients, plus $11 a month per team member. For our scenario, 3 users with invoices, bills and bank feeds, accounts payable needs Premium, so the cost is $70 + 2 × $11 = $92 a month at list price (computed), assuming the owner’s login is included. Yearly billing takes 10% off the plan: Premium is $756 a year ($63 a month); the yearly price of team members is not stated. The 80% offer for 4 months is for new customers and cannot be combined with the free trial. Add-ons: Advanced Payments $20 a month, payroll $40 a month plus $6 per user; card payments are 2.9% + 30¢ and bank transfers 1%.
Exit path
Admins can export the chart of accounts, clients, expenses with receipt images, invoices, items, vendors and reports as CSV, and invoices as PDFs; estimate CSVs are sent by Support on request. The terms say content stops appearing shortly after an account is terminated, so export before cancelling. The FreshBooks API is documented.
Compared with
- Pick FreshBooks when
- You bill clients for time and projects and want project profitability below $140 a month.
- Pick QuickBooks Online when
- You need purchase orders, budgets, class tracking or several users without per-user fees.
- Pick FreshBooks when
- You want a 30-day trial without a card and client billing tools such as retainers and late fees.
- Pick Xero when
- You want bills, purchase orders and any number of users for $59 a month.
- 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.
Choose it if
- You bill clients for time and projects and want billing and books together.
- You want late fees, reminders, retainers and deposits on the entry plan.
- You want to try every feature for 30 days without a card.
Look elsewhere if
- You need purchase orders, company budgets or class tracking.
- Several staff need access and you want to avoid per-user charges.
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.
Plan limits at a glance
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per business per month by billable clients, plus $11/mo per team member |
| Free option | No free plan; 30-day trial, no card |
| Reference scenario (3 users, monthly) | $92/mo on Premium ($70 + 2 × $11), computed |
| Users per plan | Owner plus team members at $11/mo each; up to 10 accountants free on Plus and up |
| Multi-currency | Invoices and expenses in other currencies, reports per currency |
| Inventory and projects | Stock counts on items; project profitability on Premium ($70) |
| Card / bank payment fees | 2.9% + 30¢ / 1% (FreshBooks Payments or Stripe) |
| Payroll | FreshBooks Payroll $40/mo + $6 per user |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type 1 (2023, on request under NDA); no ISO 27001 stated |
| Custom roles / audit log | Fixed team roles; audit log for admins |
| Data export | CSV of chart of accounts, clients, expenses, invoices, items, vendors and reports |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 16, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for FreshBooks yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 16, 2026.
We have not published API calls for FreshBooks yet.
FreshBooks lists 4 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Lite (5 billable clients), costs $23/mo.
- FreshBooksLowest priceLite$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
- FreshBooksPlus$43/mo$464.40 billed yearly; 80% off for 4 months shown for new customers
- Invoices to 50 billable clients
- Double-entry accounting reports and bank reconciliation
- Accountant access
- Proposals, retainers and receipt scanning
- FreshBooksPremium$70/mo$756 billed yearly; 80% off for 4 months shown for new customers
- Unlimited billable clients
- Accounts payable and bill receipt capture
- Project profitability
- Custom email templates
- FreshBooksSelectContact sales
- Lower card and capped ACH fees
- 2 team members included
- Advanced Payments included
- Dedicated support and onboarding
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-16.
Source: freshbooks.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.