Best QuickBooks alternatives for freelancers and solo businesses
If you work for yourself, you probably don't need full small-business accounting. Here's how Wave, Zoho Books and FreshBooks compare for freelancers, using plan details from each vendor's official pricing page. Checked .
The short version
- Want to pay nothing? Look at Wave Starter ($0, unlimited invoices and bookkeeping records) or Zoho Books Free ($0 while your annual revenue stays under $50K, up to 1,000 invoices a year).
- Bill clients by the project or the hour? FreshBooks is built around clients, invoices, estimates and time tracking. Lite is $23/mo for up to 5 billable clients, and Plus is $43/mo for up to 50.
- Want automatic bank feeds on a budget? On Wave they're a Pro feature ($19/mo, or $190/yr billed annually). Zoho Books lists bank reconciliation on its Free plan.
- Prices below are from each vendor's official US pricing page, checked . Intro discounts are noted separately because they expire.
What solo businesses usually need
When freelancers ask for a QuickBooks alternative, the same short list comes up again and again: send invoices and get paid, track expenses and receipts, log mileage, and pull simple reports for tax time. Most don't need payroll, inventory or purchase orders. In a recent r/everlance_user thread titled "Freelancers is QuickBooks actually worth it anymore?", the original poster put it as "Expense tracking, Mileage tracking, Simple reports for taxes." Replies named Wave, FreshBooks, Xero and Zoho, among others.
So the useful questions are: how many clients you invoice, whether you need bank transactions to import on their own, whether your accountant needs a login, and what happens to the price when you outgrow the starter plan.
The three best fits for freelancers and solo businesses
Wave: free invoicing and books, pay for automation
- Starter, $0: unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records, the mobile app, and optional online payments at 2.9% + $0.60 per card transaction (3.4% + $0.60 for Amex).
- Pro, $19/mo or $190/yr billed annually: adds automatic bank transaction import, auto-merge and categorization, unlimited receipt capture, and automatic late-payment reminders. Card fees drop to 2.9% + $0 for the first 10 transactions each month (Amex 3.4% + $0), then go back to the Starter rate.
- Intro offer on the check date: Pro at $9.50/mo for the first 3 months on monthly billing.
- Good fit if: you're happy to upload bank statements yourself on the free plan, or you want a low-cost plan with bank feeds.
- Watch out for: on the free plan, bank activity comes in through file uploads rather than live feeds. See our QuickBooks Online to Wave guide for what that looks like.
Zoho Books Free: a real free tier with a revenue cap
- Free, $0: Zoho describes it as "free accounting software for solopreneurs and micro businesses". It lists invoices, quotes, expenses and journals, receipt autoscans, mileage tracking, online payments, a customer portal, payment reminders, bank reconciliation, recurring invoices, 1099 tracking and filing, and P&L, balance sheet and 50+ reports.
- Limits: 1 user plus 1 accountant; up to 1,000 invoices and 1,000 expenses a year; free for as long as your revenue for the financial year stays under $50K. Add-ons aren't supported on Free, except document autoscans.
- Next step up: Standard at $20/mo, or $15/mo billed annually (3 users, 5,000 invoices a year).
- Good fit if: you want mileage, reconciliation and 1099s on a free plan and you earn under $50K a year.
- Watch out for: once revenue passes $50K, plan on a paid tier.
FreshBooks: built for client work
- Lite, $23/mo: invoices to 5 billable clients, real-time expense tracking, estimates, card/ACH/Apple Pay/Google Pay payments, and tax-time reports.
- Plus, $43/mo: 50 billable clients, and adds proposals, client retainers, financial and accounting reports, expense receipt scanning and accountant access.
- Premium, $70/mo: unlimited billable clients, project profitability and custom email templates.
- Intro offer on the check date: 80% off for 4 months (Lite $4.60/mo, Plus $8.60/mo, Premium $14/mo), plus a 30-day free trial.
- Good fit if: you're a consultant, designer, developer or other service freelancer who lives in invoices, estimates and proposals.
- Watch out for: the client limit counts both active and archived billable clients, and accountant access and full financial reports start on Plus, not Lite.
Side by side
| Question | Wave | Zoho Books | FreshBooks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Starter, $0 | Free, $0 (revenue under $50K/yr) | Lite, $23/mo |
| Invoice limit on cheapest plan | Unlimited invoices | 1,000 invoices a year | 5 billable clients |
| Automatic bank import | Pro ($19/mo) | Bank reconciliation listed on Free | Not listed on the plan cards we checked |
| Mileage tracking | Not listed on the pricing page | Listed on Free | Not listed on the plan cards we checked |
| Accountant access | Not listed on the pricing page | 1 accountant on Free | Plus and up |
| Proposals and retainers | Not listed | Quotes listed on Free | Plus and up |
"Not listed" means the vendor's pricing page didn't mention it on the check date. It doesn't mean the feature doesn't exist. Check the vendor's feature pages before you decide.
How to choose (our suggestions)
- Earning under $50K and want everything free? Start with Zoho Books Free. Its free plan lists the most bookkeeping features of the three.
- Only need invoices and simple books, and don't mind uploading statements? Wave Starter costs nothing and has no invoice cap.
- Your work runs on clients, proposals and retainers? FreshBooks Plus is the plan to price out, since Lite stops at 5 clients and leaves out accountant access.
- Your accountant or bookkeeper prefers a particular tool? Ask before you switch. Their preference often matters more than a few dollars a month.
What about Xero?
Xero's cheapest US plan, Early, is $27/mo and is capped at 20 invoices and 5 bills. On the check date Xero had a new-customer offer of 90% off for the first 6 months ($2.70/mo on Early), ending November 2, 2026. It's a fuller double-entry system, so it suits a solo business that expects to grow or already has an accountant who uses Xero. If you send a lot of invoices, check whether Early's cap fits before you sign up; the plan card doesn't say what period the cap covers. Compare every option in QuickBooks alternatives by business type.
Moving your books off QuickBooks
Whichever tool you pick, export your QuickBooks reports and lists before you cancel. Intuit gives paid subscribers read-only access for one year after canceling. Our step-by-step guides cover what moves and what doesn't:
- QuickBooks Online to Wave
- QuickBooks Online to Zoho Books
- QuickBooks Online to FreshBooks
- QuickBooks Online to Xero
Sources
Prices and plan features come only from each vendor's official pages. Plans change, so confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.
- Wave: Pricing (checked )
- Zoho Books (US): Pricing and plan FAQ (checked )
- FreshBooks: Pricing (checked )
- Xero (US): Pricing plans (checked )
- Intuit QuickBooks Help: What happens to my QuickBooks Online data after I cancel? (checked )
Last checked: . Not tax, legal or accounting advice.
QuickBooks is a registered trademark of Intuit Inc. Xero, Zoho Books, FreshBooks, Wave and Aplos are trademarks of their respective owners. BookSwitcher is an independent site and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Intuit or any vendor listed.