Best Invoicing Software in 2026

Why invoicing software is worth choosing carefully

Any tool can turn a list of line items into a PDF. The differences show up after you hit send: whether a reminder goes out automatically when a client is ten days late, whether a retainer client is charged on the first of the month without you lifting a finger, and how much of each payment the processor keeps. For a freelancer billing $10,000 a month, the gap between the cheapest and most expensive way to get paid in this guide is more than $300 a month, and most of that comes from payment fees rather than subscriptions.

The seven tools here come from different starting points:

• FreshBooks and Wave combine invoicing with bookkeeping.
• Invoice Ninja and Zoho Invoice are dedicated invoicing tools with generous free plans.
• Bonsai wraps invoicing into a client workflow with proposals and contracts.
• Harvest is a time tracker that builds invoices from hours.
• PayPal Invoicing is a free feature of a PayPal Business account.

This comparison uses only what each vendor publishes on its own pricing pages, fee schedules and help centers as of October 2026. Two things changed recently and are easy to miss in older reviews:

• Bonsai is now part of Zoom. The product still runs under the Bonsai name at hellobonsai.com, but its site now describes it as "a Zoom company". Invoicing is no longer on the entry plan: Basic covers time tracking, projects and CRM, and invoices and payments start at Essentials.
• Harvest bills paid plans by seat plus usage. Its pricing page footer names Bending Spoons as the operator, and paid plans now include a base allowance with additional invoices, projects, clients and tasks billed by usage.

What to look for in invoicing software

Work through these in order. The first three decide what you pay; the rest decide how much time you save.

1. Limits on the free or cheapest plan. Limits come in different shapes. FreshBooks Lite allows 5 billable clients. Invoice Ninja's free plan allows 5 clients but unlimited invoices. Zoho Invoice caps you at 500 invoices a year and 2 users. Harvest's free plan allows 1 seat and 2 active projects. Wave Starter has no invoice cap. Match the limit to how you actually work: ten retainer clients is a different problem from 200 one-off jobs.

2. Online payment fees by method. This is usually the biggest cost. Card rates cluster around 2.9% plus a fixed fee, but the fixed fee ranges from $0.30 to $0.60, and Amex, international cards and currency conversion add more. Bank transfers (ACH) vary far more: some providers cap the fee at $5 or $10 per payment, others charge a flat 1% with no cap. If your clients pay large invoices, ACH pricing matters more than the subscription.

3. Recurring invoices and autopay. Retainers and monthly services need recurring invoices that go out on schedule, ideally with the client's card or bank account saved so the payment is collected automatically.

4. Automatic late reminders. A reminder that goes out three days after the due date, then again a week later, does most of the collections work for you. Check which plan includes it: on Invoice Ninja it starts at Pro, and on Wave it is tied to Pro or online payments.

5. Estimates and quotes. If you quote before you work, look for estimates that the client can accept online and that convert to an invoice. Wave also lets an estimate collect a deposit, and Invoice Ninja lets clients approve quotes with an e-signature.

6. Client portal. A portal gives each client one link to see all their invoices, quotes and payments. It cuts down on "can you resend that invoice?" emails.

7. Time and expense billing. If you bill by the hour or pass through costs, you want time entries and receipts to land on the invoice without retyping them.

8. Multi-currency. If you have clients abroad, check whether you can invoice in their currency and what the conversion costs. Zoho Invoice, for example, invoices in your base currency only.

FreshBooks: full review

FreshBooks is the most complete invoicing tool in this comparison and also handles bookkeeping, so many small service businesses can run on it alone.

Key features

• Recurring invoices, late payment reminders and estimates on every plan, including Lite.
• A client portal on every plan.
• Time tracking and expenses that you can pull onto invoices.
• Proposals and client retainers from the Plus plan.
• Built-in card and ACH payments, with Advanced Payments (a virtual terminal) as a $20/month add-on.

Pricing

US list prices are billed monthly: Lite $23/month (5 billable clients), Plus $43/month (50 billable clients), Premium $70/month (unlimited billable clients) and Select at custom pricing. As of October 2026 new customers get 80% off for the first 4 months ($4.60, $8.60 and $14.00 a month), then pay the list price. The pricing page has an annual toggle but shows no annual prices, so check the checkout page if you want yearly billing. Extra team members cost $11/user/month. There is a 30-day free trial with no credit card.

Payment fees: standard cards 2.9% + $0.30; Amex and commercial cards 3.5% + $0.30; ACH 1% (caps only on Select). Cards issued outside the US or Canada add 1.5%, invoices in a currency other than your account currency add 2%, and disputes cost $15. FreshBooks also notes that transaction fees are not returned when you refund a payment.

Pros

• Every core invoicing feature is on the cheapest plan.
• Time and expenses go onto invoices without retyping.
• Bookkeeping and reports are in the same app.

Cons

• The 5-client cap on Lite pushes most working freelancers to Plus at $43/month.
• ACH costs 1% with no cap unless you are on Select, which adds up on large invoices.
• Adding team members gets expensive at $11 each.

Who it is for: Freelancers, consultants and small agencies who want invoicing, reminders, time, expenses and basic accounting in one tool, and are happy to pay monthly for a polished product.

Who should skip it: Anyone with many small clients on a tight budget (Zoho Invoice or Invoice Ninja cost far less), and businesses whose clients pay large invoices by bank transfer, where capped ACH elsewhere is much cheaper.

Invoice Ninja: full review

Invoice Ninja is a dedicated invoicing tool with a strong free plan, a low-cost Pro plan and the option to run it on your own server.

Key features

• Unlimited invoices on the free plan, for up to 5 clients.
• Recurring invoices with auto-billing and a client portal on every plan.
• Quotes that clients approve with an e-signature, then convert to invoices.
• Projects, billable time, Kanban tasks, expenses and vendors.
• Connects to Stripe, PayPal, Square, GoCardless and other payment gateways.

Pricing

Free: $0 for up to 5 clients, with Invoice Ninja branding and 11 templates. Pro: $14/month or $140/year for unlimited clients and invoices, automatic late reminder emails, branding removed, custom invoice designs, a portal at YourSite.invoicing.co and API access. Enterprise: from $18/month or $180/year for 1-2 users, tiered by team size up to $300/month for 51-100 users; adds bank account sync and a portal on your own domain. Premium Business is custom, from $280/year.

The self-hosted edition is source-available under the Elastic License v2 and has no subscription; you pay only for your own hosting.

Invoice Ninja does not process payments itself. You connect a gateway and pay that gateway's fees. With Stripe, the standard US rate is 2.9% + 30¢ for cards and 0.8% (capped at $5) for ACH Direct Debit.

Pros

• $140/year for unlimited clients is the lowest paid price here.
• Recurring billing, a client portal and quotes even on the free plan.
• You choose the payment gateway, which keeps fees transparent.
• Self-hosting is an option for technical users.

Cons

• No automatic late reminders on the free plan.
• You need to set up and manage a separate gateway account.
• It is not accounting software, so you will still need bookkeeping elsewhere.

Who it is for: Freelancers and small agencies who want a full set of invoicing features for very little money, and developers or IT-savvy owners who prefer to self-host.

Who should skip it: Owners who want one tool for invoicing and bookkeeping (look at FreshBooks or Wave), and anyone who does not want to deal with a payment gateway setup.

Zoho Invoice: full review

Zoho Invoice is fully free, with no paid tier, and it still includes the automation that other tools charge for.

Key features

• Quotes, invoices and recurring invoices, with saved card details and automatic charging.
• Automated payment reminders.
• A self-service customer portal.
• Time logging on projects and expense tracking.
• Integrations with Zoho CRM, Zoho Books and other Zoho apps.

Pricing

Free: up to 500 invoices a year, 2 users, 3 projects and up to 2 organizations. Invoices carry "Powered by Zoho Invoice" branding. Zoho says accounts that are inactive for more than 180 days may be deleted after notice, so log in occasionally or back up your data.

Payments: Zoho Invoice connects to Zoho Payments, PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.Net, CSG Forte and others. Zoho Payments (US) charges 2.9% + $0.30 for domestic cards, an extra 1.5% for international cards, an extra 1% for currency conversion, and 0.8% capped at $5 for ACH (available on request). Disputes cost $15 and failed ACH payments $5.

Pros

• No subscription, ever.
• Reminders, recurring billing and a client portal at no cost.
• Very low ACH cost through Zoho Payments.
• An easy path to Zoho Books or Zoho Billing if you grow.

Cons

• Invoices are in your base currency only; Zoho points to Zoho Billing for multi-currency.
• 500 invoices a year and 2 users.
• Zoho branding on invoices.

Who it is for: Freelancers and small businesses sending up to about 40 invoices a month who want automation without a monthly bill.

Who should skip it: Anyone invoicing clients abroad in their own currency, teams of more than 2 people, and businesses that need branding-free invoices.

Wave: full review

Wave offers free unlimited invoicing and free bookkeeping, which makes it a popular first tool for sole proprietors.

Key features

• Unlimited invoices, estimates and bills on the free Starter plan.
• Estimates that can collect a deposit to secure a job.
• Recurring billing with automatic card payments for repeat customers.
• Foreign currency invoices, with Wave recording exchange gains and losses.
• Bookkeeping in the same app, with automatic bank imports on Pro.

Pricing

Starter: $0. Pro: $19/month billed monthly or $190/year billed annually; adds automatic bank imports and categorization, automated late payment reminders and extra users. Wave's invoicing page says recurring billing and late reminders are available with the Pro plan or with online payments turned on.

Payment fees: cards 2.9% + $0.60 and Amex 3.4% + $0.60. On Pro, the first 10 card transactions each month have no fixed fee. ACH is 1% with a $1 minimum. Wave says card payouts take 1-2 business days and bank payments 1-7 business days.

Pros

• Unlimited invoices and clients for $0.
• Bookkeeping included.
• Pro is cheap at $190/year.

Cons

• The $0.60 fixed card fee is double the $0.30 most others charge.
• ACH is 1% with no cap, so a $5,000 bank payment costs $50.
• No time tracking and no client portal advertised.

Who it is for: Sole proprietors and very small businesses that send a modest number of invoices and want free invoicing and books in one place.

Who should skip it: Anyone billing by the hour, and businesses with large invoices paid by bank transfer.

Bonsai: full review

Bonsai is built for client work from start to finish: a proposal becomes a contract, the contract becomes a project, and the project becomes an invoice.

Key features

• Proposals, contracts, invoices and payments in one flow (Essentials and up).
• A client portal, forms and scheduling (Essentials and up).
• Recurring billing, with saved payment details for repeat clients.
• Time tracking, tasks, projects and a CRM on every plan.
• Payments in more than 100 currencies.

Pricing

Per user: Basic $9/month billed annually or $15 monthly, but it does not include invoicing. Essentials $19/month annually or $25 monthly adds invoices and payments, proposals and contracts, forms, scheduling, a client portal and expense tracking. Premium $29 annually or $39 monthly adds profit reports and integrations with QuickBooks, Xero and Zapier. Elite $49 annually or $59 monthly, with a 3-user minimum, adds custom permissions, timesheet locking and expense markup. There is a 7-day free trial.

Payment fees: Bonsai's payments page lists cards at 2.9% + $0.30 and ACH "as low as 1%". Its help center lists Amex at 3.25% + $0.30 and ACH at 1% with a $1 minimum. Bonsai lets you choose whether you or the client pays the fee.

Pros

• The smoothest proposal-to-payment workflow in this comparison.
• Client portal and scheduling on Essentials.
• Multi-currency billing.

Cons

• The entry Basic plan does not include invoicing.
• Per-user pricing makes teams expensive.
• Only a 7-day trial.

Who it is for: Freelancers and small agencies who send proposals and contracts for most jobs and want the paperwork and billing in one place.

Who should skip it: Anyone who only needs invoices, since Essentials costs more than tools that do invoicing alone.

Harvest: full review

Harvest started as time tracking for agencies and still has the best path from tracked hours to a finished invoice.

Key features

• Turns timesheets and project expenses (with receipt photos) into invoices.
• Recurring invoices for repeat clients and late payment reminders on a schedule you set.
• Online payments through Stripe (card or ACH) and PayPal.
• Invoices and payments copied to QuickBooks Online or Xero (Teams and up).
• Project budgets and reports.

Pricing

Free: 1 seat and 2 active projects, with invoicing included. Teams: $9/seat/month billed annually ($108/seat/year) or $11 monthly, unlimited seats, plus accounting and payment integrations. Enterprise: $14/seat/month annually ($168/seat/year) or $17.50 monthly. Enterprise Plus is custom. Paid plans include a base allowance, and Harvest says additional invoices, projects, clients and tasks are billed by usage; the usage rates are not on the pricing page. There is a 30-day free trial.

Payment fees are set by Stripe or PayPal. Stripe's standard US rates are 2.9% + 30¢ for cards and 0.8% capped at $5 for ACH Direct Debit.

Pros

• The strongest time-to-invoice workflow here.
• Invoicing on every plan, including Free.
• Stripe ACH keeps bank payments cheap.

Cons

• Usage charges make the total bill hard to predict.
• The free plan's 2-project limit is tight.
• Not accounting software.

Who it is for: Agencies and consultancies that bill by the hour and want accurate invoices from tracked time.

Who should skip it: Businesses that bill fixed prices or products, and anyone who wants a predictable flat subscription.

PayPal Invoicing: full review

PayPal Invoicing is part of every PayPal Business account. It costs nothing to send invoices, and your clients can pay the way many of them already do.

Key features

• Free invoices with your logo and brand colors.
• Clients pay by PayPal, Venmo, card, Apple Pay, Pay Later or bank.
• Recurring invoices and automatic reminders.
• Available in over 200 markets and 24 currencies.

Pricing

No monthly fee is required. US invoicing rates: standard cards and Apple Pay 2.99% + $0.49; PayPal checkout, Venmo or guest checkout 3.49% + $0.49; Pay Later 4.99% + $0.49; Pay by Bank (ACH) 1% capped at $10. International payments add 1.5%. Chargebacks cost $20 and standard disputes $15. PayPal also lists an optional invoicing subscription at $14.99/month.

Pros

• No subscription.
• Clients can pay with PayPal, Venmo or Pay Later.
• Bank payments are capped at $10.

Cons

• The highest card and wallet fees in this comparison.
• No time tracking, expenses or client portal.
• A $20 chargeback fee.

Who it is for: Freelancers whose clients prefer PayPal or Venmo, and people who send a handful of invoices a year.

Who should skip it: Anyone invoicing more than a few thousand dollars a month by card, where the fee gap becomes real money.

Cost comparison: invoicing $10,000 a month

Here is what one person pays to collect $10,000 a month as five $2,000 invoices, all paid online with standard US Visa or Mastercard cards. The figures use each vendor's published prices and fees from October 2026, after any intro discount ends. Amex, international cards, currency conversion and disputes would add to every line.

How the card fees work out: 2.9% of $10,000 is $290, plus five fixed fees of $0.30 ($1.50). Wave's fixed fee is $0.60 ($3.00), which Pro waives for the first 10 card payments a month. PayPal's 2.99% is $299 plus five fixed fees of $0.49 ($2.45). Annual subscriptions are divided by 12.

Two things stand out. First, subscriptions are a small part of the bill; the processor takes about 2.9% whichever tool you choose. Second, FreshBooks Lite only works here because there are exactly 5 clients; with a sixth client you need Plus, which makes the total $334.50.

Now the same $10,000 paid by bank transfer (ACH):

Moving clients from cards to capped ACH can save more than $250 a month on $10,000 of invoices, far more than the difference between any two subscriptions. If most of your clients are businesses that pay large invoices, steer them to bank payment and pick a tool with capped ACH.

How to choose

You want one tool for invoicing and simple books. Choose FreshBooks if you want the most polished features and a client portal, or Wave if cost matters most and you do not track time.

You want to pay nothing. Choose Zoho Invoice if you invoice in one currency and send fewer than 500 invoices a year. Choose Wave if you need unlimited invoices. Choose Invoice Ninja Free if you have 5 or fewer clients.

You have many clients but a small budget. Invoice Ninja Pro at $140/year has no client or invoice cap and includes automatic reminders.

You bill by the hour. Harvest builds invoices from timesheets better than anything else here. FreshBooks and Invoice Ninja are good alternatives with flat pricing.

You send proposals and contracts. Bonsai keeps the whole client lifecycle in one place, if you accept per-user pricing.

Your clients are abroad. FreshBooks, Wave, Bonsai and PayPal can invoice in other currencies. Avoid Zoho Invoice for this.

Your clients pay large invoices. Look at capped ACH: Zoho Payments and Stripe charge at most $5 per payment.

Your clients live in PayPal and Venmo. PayPal Invoicing is the easy path, but compare the fees with a tool that also offers PayPal as one of several options.

Conclusion

FreshBooks is the best invoicing software for most freelancers and small service businesses because every feature that gets you paid (recurring invoices, reminders, estimates, a client portal, time and expenses) is on its cheapest plan, alongside bookkeeping. Its weak points are the 5-client cap on Lite and uncapped ACH.

If you would rather not pay a subscription, Zoho Invoice gives you most of the same automation for free, as long as one currency and 500 invoices a year are enough. Invoice Ninja is the best value paid plan at $140 a year. Wave suits sole owners who want free books too, Bonsai fits proposal-heavy client work, Harvest fits hourly billing, and PayPal Invoicing fits clients who already pay through PayPal.

Whichever you choose, look hard at payment fees. On $10,000 a month they cost far more than any subscription here, and choosing capped bank transfers over cards can save more than the software costs.