FreshBooks vs Wave Compared: Is Waveapps or FreshBooks Best?

By ryan Bookkeeping Comments Off

freshbooks vs wave

Mobile apps are available for both iOS and Android devices, and offer invoice creation, receipt management, and the ability to receive important notifications. Finally, even if you’re pretty sure you’ve found the right accounting product for your business, we recommend taking it out for a test-drive first. All the products on this list are free (like Wave Accounting), offer a free plan (Zoho Books) or include a 30-day free trial (QuickBooks, Xero and FreshBooks). However, FreshBooks can work well for some self-employed freelancers, and Wave Accounting’s features could be ideal for some small and midsize businesses. In our FreshBooks vs. Wave review below, we compare each software’s pros, cons, pricing and features to help you hone in on the right option for your needs. FreshBooks is a cloud based software, which means you can use it from anywhere.

Top Consumer Reviews has reviewed the best small business accounting software solutions to help you make this choice.
Those who left FreshBooks reviews said that they like that the tool is one-stop accounting software that’s easy to set up and use.
The customizable “Let’s Talk” plan stands out as a unique option, allowing users to select the features they want.
But FreshBooks remains a better pick for retailers than Wave, because it offers inventory management tools in all its plans, while Wave doesn’t allow inventory management at all.

While both platforms cater to freelancers, micro-businesses, and sole proprietors, FreshBooks offers scalability with its four plans, making it suitable for growing businesses as well. Both solutions support double-entry accounting but lack inventory management. Wave is a free invoicing and accounting software for freelancers and small businesses. It comes with add-ons at a price for users; Wave payment to process transactions, Wave Payroll, Mobile Receipts and Advisors. Our researchers didn’t choose FreshBooks or Wave as their top pick. Instead, QuickBooks was found to be the best (scoring 4.7/5 overall), at least for small business owners.

Meet Our Team

Invoicing and accounting (plus much more) are free and unlimited for everyone. You can create your free Wave account, set up your business in minutes and see for yourself. For instance, here’s how much you’ll pay for FreshBooks’ cheapest plan, FreshBooks Lite, with extra users. Find the perfect plan to support your business by visiting our pricing page. Support for non-paying users is limited to the chatbot and self-service Help Center. Integrates with more than 100 third-party apps; limited choices for direct payroll and point-of-sale integrations.

freshbooks vs wave

However, FreshBooks’ cheapest plan relies on the single-entry accounting system, which is less accurate than the more widely accepted double-entry system. And unlike nearly every other accounting competitor, FreshBooks doesn’t include free accountant access with its cheapest plan either. Wave Accounting has just one plan and is completely free for life.

How We Evaluated FreshBooks vs Wave

Wave and FreshBooks are two of the most noteworthy accounting software options for small businesses. Wave Accounting’s completely free software lets small-business owners — especially self-employed freelancers — track their finances, send invoices and get paid at no cost. FreshBooks, which starts at $17 a month, has more expansive invoicing features and top 4 use cases of automated bookkeeping in 2023 multiple plans that scale up to support growing and midsize businesses. FreshBooks and Wave have a lot of similar features despite their different pricing structures. FreshBooks has a definite edge as it provides more options to invoice and bill customers, track employee time, track actual vs estimated project costs, and unbeatable customer support.

You can download iOS and Android apps that let you painlessly invoice your clients and track expenses wherever and whenever you need to. But you can’t solve all your accounting needs because that’s not what it’s built for. If Wave has all of the features your small business needs and you don’t foresee any future expansion, there’s little reason to pay for a different product.

FreshBooks & Wave Feature Comparison

In many cases your team will already be making use of other types of B2B software in your company and it’s always wiser to choose services that integrate well with each other. If you do that you can ensure a reliable exchange of information between your teams and software used, which can considerably reduce time wasted on migrating between one service and the next. Wave is the world’s fastest growing software for small businesses, best for those with fewer than 10 employees. It offers free accounting, unlimited invoicing, and receipt capture presented on a user-friendly dashboard. Wave is the fastest-growing software for small business accounting, invoicing, payments, and more.

freshbooks vs wave

You don’t have to enter any credit card information when you sign up for Wave, and you won’t pay anything to use the software itself. Note that the company also offers discounts for annual payment. When you purchase something for a business expense, you’ll be able to take a photo of the receipt directly from the FreshBook application and attach the image to your expense. This is a great feature that will enable you to easily provide proof of purchase. This article will discuss the main differences between FreshBooks and Wave by highlighting differences in features, price, and usability. We’ll highlight notable strengths and drawbacks of each tool and make recommendations to help you pick the best software for your business.