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Best Invoicing Software for Freelancers and Small Business

This page sets seven invoicing tools side by side using one kind of evidence: what each vendor's own pricing page said when we read it on 9 October 2026. Every entry links to that page. We did not sign up for or test these products, so the entries describe plans, prices and published limits, not how the software feels to use.

Prices are monthly list prices in US dollars, from the vendor's US page where it has one. Several vendors were running introductory discounts that day, and vendors change plans and price by country, so check the linked page before you buy. QuickBooks Online is listed without details: its site refused every connection from our check vantage, and we do not describe a product whose page we could not read.

How this page was put together

For each tool we fetched the vendor's pricing page and took from it the plan names, the monthly prices, what the plans include and the limits the page states (clients, invoices, users). Where a page gives two prices for one plan, for monthly and for annual billing, both appear and are labelled. The tools are listed alphabetically. That order is not a ranking, and the page makes no claim about which tool is better.

No vendor link on this page is an affiliate or paid link; the only links to vendors are the source lines on each entry. An automated weekly check re-reads each linked pricing page and flags it when the plan wording an entry relies on is no longer there.

The seven tools, in alphabetical order

Bonsai

client, project and billing workspace
Pricing.
Per user per month: Basic $15, Essentials $25, Premium $39 and Elite $59 billed monthly; $9, $19, $29 and $49 when paid annually. Elite has a three-user minimum.
What the plans include.
Basic covers time tracking, tasks, projects and a CRM. Essentials adds invoices and payments, proposals and contracts, the client portal and expense tracking. Premium adds integrations (QuickBooks, Xero, Zapier, Calendly, Google) and removes Bonsai branding.
Limits.
Invoicing is not on Basic, the cheapest plan; it starts on Essentials.

Source: Bonsai pricing: Basic, Essentials, Premium and Elite plans, read October 9, 2026.

FreshBooks

invoicing and accounting
Pricing.
List prices: Lite $23, Plus $43 and Premium $70 per month; Select is priced on request. The page was advertising a time-limited discount on these plans when we read it. Extra team members cost $11 per month each, and there is a 30-day free trial.
What the plans include.
Every plan lists invoices, estimates, expense tracking and payment by card, ACH bank transfer, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Plus adds proposals, client retainers, accounting reports and accountant access; Premium adds project profitability and custom email templates.
Limits.
Lite sends invoices to 5 clients and Plus to 50; Premium and Select have no client limit.

Source: FreshBooks pricing: Lite, Plus, Premium and Select plans, read October 9, 2026.

Invoice Ninja

invoicing, with its source code published for self-hosting
Pricing.
Free plan $0. Ninja Pro is $14 per month billed monthly or $140 a year. Enterprise starts at $18 per month for 1-2 users and is priced by user count, up to $300 per month for 51-100 users.
What the plans include.
The free plan lists recurring invoices and auto-billing, online payments through a connected gateway, projects with billable time, expenses, a client portal and automatic currency conversions. Pro adds unlimited clients, custom invoice designs, automatic payment reminders and API access; Enterprise adds more users, bank sync and e-invoicing through PEPPOL.
Limits.
The free plan allows up to 5 clients. The source code in Invoice Ninja's GitHub repository is licensed under the Elastic License 2.0.

Source: Invoice Ninja pricing: Free, Ninja Pro, Enterprise and Premium Business plans; invoiceninja/invoiceninja LICENSE: Elastic License 2.0, read October 9, 2026.

QuickBooks Online

not yet read

Details pending. quickbooks.intuit.com reset every connection from our check vantage on 9 October 2026, so we could not read its pricing page, and this entry states nothing about QuickBooks until we can.

Wave

invoicing and bookkeeping
Pricing.
Starter $0; Pro $190 a year, billed annually. Card payments cost 2.9% plus $0.60 per transaction on Starter; Pro lists 2.9% plus $0 for the first 10 card transactions each month. Payroll and receipt capture are paid add-ons.
What the plans include.
Starter includes unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records and invoicing from the mobile app. Pro adds automatic bank imports and automatic late-payment reminders, which go out 3, 7 and 14 days after an invoice is due.
Limits.
The page states no invoice or client limit on Starter.

Source: Wave pricing: Starter and Pro plans, read October 9, 2026.

Xero

accounting software (US plans)
Pricing.
Early $27, Growing $59 and Established $97 per month; the page was advertising 80% off the first three months when we read it. Payroll is an add-on powered by Gusto.
What the plans include.
All three plans send invoices and quotes, accept online invoice payments, reconcile bank transactions and handle sales tax and W-9 and 1099 records. Growing adds automatic bill entry and auto-reconciliation; Established adds multiple currencies, project time and cost tracking, and expense claims.
Limits.
Early is limited to 20 invoices and 5 bills, and the page notes that invoices created by connected apps count toward the limit. Multiple currencies are on Established only.

Source: Xero US pricing plans: Early, Growing and Established, read October 9, 2026.

Zoho Books

accounting software (US plans)
Pricing.
Free $0. Per organisation per month: Standard $20, Professional $50, Premium $70, Elite $150 and Ultimate $275 billed monthly; $15, $40, $60, $120 and $240 billed annually. Paid plans have a 14-day free trial.
What the plans include.
The free plan lists invoices, quotes, online payments, a customer portal, automated payment reminders, recurring invoices and bank reconciliation. Standard adds bank feeds and 1099 e-filing; Professional adds multi-currency transactions, timesheet billing and inventory.
Limits.
The free plan is for one user plus an accountant and is free while revenue for the financial year does not exceed $50K. Annual invoice limits: 1,000 on Free, 5,000 on Standard, 10,000 on Professional, 25,000 on Premium.

Source: Zoho Books US pricing: Free, Standard, Professional, Premium, Elite and Ultimate plans, read October 9, 2026.

Matching a tool to what you need

To pay nothing: Wave's Starter plan is $0 with unlimited invoices; Zoho Books Free is free on the US page while revenue for the financial year does not exceed $50K, with up to 1,000 invoices a year; Invoice Ninja's free plan covers up to 5 clients.

To bill a small, fixed set of clients: FreshBooks Lite sends invoices to 5 clients and Plus to 50, Invoice Ninja's free plan stops at 5 clients, and Xero's Early plan is limited to 20 invoices.

To invoice in more than one currency: on the pages we read, Xero lists multiple currencies on Established only, Zoho Books lists multi-currency transactions from Professional, and Invoice Ninja's free plan lists automatic currency conversions.

To keep proposals and contracts in the same tool: Bonsai lists proposals and contracts from its Essentials plan, the same plan that adds invoices, and FreshBooks lists proposals from Plus.

To run the software on your own server: Invoice Ninja publishes its source code on GitHub under the Elastic License 2.0.

Calculator tools that pair with your invoicing software

Whichever tool you pick, the arithmetic of payment terms, late interest and calendar-day against business-day windows is the same. These calculators on this site work it out:

Vendor pages these entries were read from

Checked October 9, 2026. All sources

For informational purposes only

This calculator provides general estimates based on business day counting rules. It does not constitute legal advice. Deadlines in legal, regulatory, or contractual matters may be subject to jurisdiction-specific rules, court orders, or statutory exceptions. Always verify critical deadlines with a qualified professional.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which of these invoicing tools have a free plan?
Three, on the pages we read on 9 October 2026: Wave Starter ($0, unlimited invoices), Zoho Books Free (on its US page, free while revenue for the financial year does not exceed $50K, for one user plus an accountant, up to 1,000 invoices a year) and Invoice Ninja Free (up to 5 clients). FreshBooks offers a 30-day free trial instead of a free plan. Every Bonsai and Xero plan on their pages carries a price.
Do these tools send late-payment reminders automatically?
Their pricing pages list it for Wave Pro (reminders 3, 7 and 14 days after the due date), Invoice Ninja Pro and above, and Zoho Books from the free plan. FreshBooks lists automated late payment reminders and scheduled late fees among its plan features. To work out the due date a reminder counts from, the invoice due date calculator on this site handles calendar-day, business-day and end-of-month terms.
Are the prices on this page what I will pay?
Not necessarily. They are the list prices each vendor's page showed in US dollars on 9 October 2026, before tax. FreshBooks and Xero were advertising introductory discounts that day, annual billing lowers the monthly figure for Bonsai, Invoice Ninja and Zoho Books, and vendors set different prices by country. The pricing page linked on each entry is the authority.
Why does QuickBooks Online have no details?
Because we could not read its pricing page. On 9 October 2026 quickbooks.intuit.com reset every connection from the vantage we check sources from. This page only states what a vendor's own page says, so the QuickBooks entry stays empty until that page can be read.