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When it comes to value, Wave is a better accounting software provider when compared with FreshBooks. This is because it offers better features and slightly better pricing and support. For Mac users, however, it’s worth exploring the best accounting software for Mac to see if there’s a solution better suited to your specific platform and needs.
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. FreshBooks also has a better selection of advanced features including integrations and mobile functions when compared to Wave. Tech.co’s research team gives Wave a total score of 4/5, compared to FreshBooks’ score of 3.8/5.
Our researchers have tested and ranked all the top accounting software options. Read on to see their data explain how Wave’s features, support, and deals compare with FreshBook’s — or cut to the chase and check out our quick deal overview page to find and compare quotes from the best accounting software solutions.
| Best for | Tech.co review score | Price from | Free trial | Core Benefit | Payroll Processing | Phone support | Try now | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| FreshBooks | Wave Financial | ||||||||
| Usability, inexpensive plans | Best free option | ||||||||
| 3.8 | 4.0 | ||||||||
| | It’s free, no trial needed | ||||||||
| Inventory tools at a low price, plus a great 50% discount for the first 6 months | Tracks money owed at a low cost | ||||||||
| | | ||||||||
| | | ||||||||
| Try FreshBooks | Try Wave today |
Our software rankings are based on our unique, in-depth research categories, including software attributes, pricing factors, support, and more.
FreshBooks vs Wave: Head-to-Head
FreshBooks is the best accounting solution for retail, while Wave is the best for side businesses on a budget. This is due to FreshBooks’ inventory tools on all plans (Wave offers none on any of its plans), which are key for tracking retail sales. Wave’s lower price point and deeper features make it the top choice for smaller operations that need a lot of bang for their buck – as long as they aren’t retailers.
On the whole, Wave beats FreshBooks for its wide variety of features: Wave has better bookkeeping and accounts payable features, while tying FreshBooks for accounts receivable and financial reporting features. Plus, our research finds that Wave narrowly beats FreshBooks for help and support options. That said, both services do well overall.
Here’s how FreshBooks and Wave compare head-to-head:
Pros
- Great profit and loss comparisons
- Easy import and export for data
- Automated invoicing
- 30-day free trial
Cons
- The $11/user upcharge adds up fast
- No native support for payroll processing
- Price from: $19/Month
- 30-Day Free Trial
- Deal: 50% off the first 6 months
Check out our in-depth guide to FreshBooks pricing over here.
Pros
- Completely free to use
- Offers affordable add-ons
Cons
- Lacks features
- Struggles to scale with growing businesses
- Price from: Free
- Transaction fee: 2.9% + 60¢ for Visa/Mastercard/Discover
- Transaction fee: 1% for bank payments
- Payroll add-on: From $35/mo + $6/user/mo
Read our full guide to Wave pricing over here.
Best Value: Wave
Wave offers the best value for its price for one simple reason: it’s free. The Wave service has plenty of additional costs for add-ons, like payroll and bookkeeping support, but it has one single core plan that costs no money and comes with no limits on clients, users, invoices, estimates, or bills. Waves scores a 5/5 for pricing in our research, while FreshBooks scores 2.8/5.
While Wave has a single, free plan, FreshBooks offers no free plans, but it has a 30-day free trial available for its four paid plans, which are Lite, Plus, Premium, and Select. Unlike Wave, all of FreshBooks’ plans have a strict user limit of one, except Select, which ups this limit to two users.
The Lite plan is $17 per month, and includes core features such as custom invoicing and unlimited estimates, but is capped at just five billable clients. The Plus plan is $30 per month, and adds automations for invoices, late fees, and late payment reminders, with a billable client cap of 50.
The Premium plan is $55 per month, and raises the billable client cap to 500, but adds no other important features. Finally, Select is available for corporations at a custom price, and adds a dedicated Account Manager, training, and lower credit card transaction rates.
Neither Wave nor FreshBooks offer budgeting tools. However, FreshBooks Premium and its Select plans add project accounting tools that include employee labor calculations and project-specific expensing, which Wave doesn’t offer. Businesses with limited needs should pick Wave, while those that can benefit from an expanded set of features should opt for FreshBooks Premium.
Committed to finding free software? Check out our guide to the best free accounting software for small businesses.
| Price | Users | Bookkeeping Does it include bookkeeping functions? | Accounts payable Does it include a range of accounts payable functions? | Accounts receivable Does it include a range of accounts receivable functions? | Project accounting Does it offers tools to track different projects? | Financial reporting Does it offer financial reporting tools? | Budget & forecasting Does it offer budgeting and forecasting tools? | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |  | | | | ||||||
| FreshBooks | Wave | FreshBooks | FreshBooks | FreshBooks | ||||||
| Lite | Wave | Plus | Premium | Select | ||||||
| Free | ||||||||||
| 1 | Unlimited | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| | | | | | ||||||
| Expenses tracking only | | | | | ||||||
| | | | | | ||||||
| Time-tracking only | | | | | ||||||
| | | | | | ||||||
| | | | | |
Check out our complete guide to FreshBooks’ pricing plans.
Best for Accounting Functionality: Draw
Wave offers a solid amount of features with its one free plan, beating FreshBooks’ cheaper plans. It does lose to FreshBooks’ more expensive Premium plan though. If your business has limited needs, Wave is the most inexpensive solution, but if it has greater accounting needs, FreshBooks Premium is best.
Our researchers tracked four different categories for accounting tools: software attributes, bookkeeping tools, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. Here are the core differences and similarities between the two:
Wave:
- Receipt scanning via iOS mobile app
- No inventory management
- No way to set up recurring bills
- Track expenses on all plans
- Create and send invoices and estimates on all plans
FreshBooks:
- Receipt scanning via Plus, Premium, and Select only
- Inventory management on all plans
- Set up recurring bills with Premium and Select
- Track expenses with Premium and Select only
- Create and send invoices and estimates on all plans
Overall, FreshBooks offers better functionality, but only at higher plans. Wave has a solid feature set, even though it offers just a single inexpensive plan.
Learn more about Wave’s feature offering in our Wave accounting review.
Best for Additional Features: FreshBooks
Both FreshBooks and Wave allow users to create income statements, cash-flow statements, balance sheets, as well as sales and tax reports. FreshBooks offers the ability to customize reports on some plans (Plus, Premium, and Select) but Wave doesn’t offer custom reporting on any plans.
Best for Help & Support: FreshBooks
Both solutions offer an onboarding service, but Wave’s is slightly better: it lets users review relevant articles from the service’s knowledge base, while FreshBooks just gives users interface sign-posting to direct them to the needed function.
So, why does FreshBooks win over all? Because it offers the deeply helpful phone support. Both services offer email support, though neither service has 24/7 support across any plan.
How Do FreshBooks & Wave Compare With Alternatives?
FreshBooks is the best free tool for tracking bills, and Wave is the best accounting software for retail operations. But they’re far from the only options. Check out our table of the best accounting services for more, and read on for a few select competitors worth considering.
| Best for | Price from | Free trial | Payroll Processing | Phone support | Try now | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FEATURED  |  | |  | |  | ||
| QuickBooks | Wave Financial | Zoho Books | FreshBooks | Kashoo | |||
| Online businesses | Best for small businesses | Best free option | Best for automation features | Usability, inexpensive plans | Easiest Setup | ||
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| | | It’s free, no trial needed | | | | ||
| | | | | | | ||
| | | | | | | ||
| Try Xero now | Try QuickBooks | Try Wave today | Try Zoho Books | Try FreshBooks | Try Kashoo Today |
FreshBooks vs. QuickBooks vs. Wave
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. The QuickBooks accounting service offers better features and add-ons than either Wave or FreshBooks, even though Wave does still have the best pricing overall. Plus, the right plan (QuickBooks Advanced) will net you 24/7 email and phone support, making it easy to solve any problems.
FreshBooks vs Zoho Books vs Wave
Zoho Books is another solid choice, with an overall rating of 4/5 thanks to a broad and complex set of features (matched only by QuickBooks), as well as decent 3.5/5 pricing. The service’s automation features are one standout benefit, letting busy operations send regular invoices and estimates with minimum effort. The downside for Zoho is its poor customer support, which earns a low score of 3.4/5 due to a lack of live chat or phone help.
How Did We Score FreshBooks & Wave Against Others?
Tech.co’s research team analyzed all the top accounting software providers by identifying nine key sub-categories.
Three of those categories were pricing, support, and software functionality (referring to mobile apps, integrations, and paid add-ons, such as payroll support). The remaining six categories covered all the features offered: bookkeeping, accounts payable, accounts receivable, project accounting, financial reporting, and budget and forecasting.
Once compiled, all these scores were concentrated into a single five-point score. Ultimately, our researchers determined not just the best overall (QuickBooks, if you wondered), but which software was best in each sub-category as well.
Verdict: Is Wave Better than FreshBooks?
We recommend Wave over FreshBooks because it offers better features, pricing, and support. Wave is a particularly good pick for side businesses, since it has a free plan that offers more complex tools than you’ll tend to find with other accounting solutions.
Our research finds that FreshBooks does well for features and support as well, and it is great for retailers because it offers inventory management on all plans (Wave doesn’t offer it at all). Either service should serve your business well.
In the end, the best accounting solution for you depends on the unique needs of your business. Once you know what those are, there’s just one step left: compare quotes from the top options on the market. Our quick quotes form will let you do just that — within minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
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