Accounting & invoicing

Accounting & invoicing software compared

QuickBooks Online, Xero, Zoho Books, FreshBooks and Wave: user limits, invoice caps, free plans and what each costs per month.

Prices checked October 14, 2026 By Credence Intel Research

Photo: Kelly Sikkema / Unsplash

FreshBooks

Invoicing-first accounting for service businesses, priced by billable clients

Paid plans from$20.70/mo

Lite, billed annually

30-day trial, no cardExtra 10% off billed yearly

Good fit: Service businesses and freelancers billing a small number of clients (5 on Lite, 50 on Plus) who want invoicing first.

See all 4 plans and prices

Prices per month in US dollars, excluding tax, read on FreshBooks's pricing page on October 14, 2026. "–" means the vendor does not show that billing option. Vendor pricing page
Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Lite per account / month	$20.70	$23
Plus per account / month	$38.70	$43
Premium per account / month	$63	$70
Select custom quote	Custom	–

30-day money-back guarantee (vendor)
FreshBooks Payroll add-on $40/mo plus $6/mo per user (vendor)

QuickBooks Online

Small-business accounting with plans from 1 to 25 users, plus a limited free plan

Paid plans from$38/company/mo

Simple Start, billed monthly

Free plan30-day trialMonthly billing, no annual contract

Free plan: Plan named 'Free': $0, no credit card required, 1 user, no accountant access, send 2 invoices per month (unlimited if you qualify for and enable QuickBooks Payments), connect 1 bank, 3 reports (P&L, balance sheet, account quick report), chat support; no mobile app or third-party integrations.

Good fit: Businesses that need multiple users (up to 25 on Advanced) and accountant access, or a single user needing only very light invoicing on the Free plan (2 invoices a month).

See all 5 plans and prices

Prices per month in US dollars, excluding tax, read on QuickBooks Online's pricing page on October 14, 2026. "–" means the vendor does not show that billing option. Vendor pricing page
Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Free per company / month	–	$0
Simple Start per company / month	–	$38
Essentials per company / month	–	$85
Plus per company / month	–	$140
Advanced per company / month	–	$340

Wave

Free invoicing and bookkeeping, with a Pro plan for bank feeds and more users

Paid plans from$15.83/business/mo

Pro, billed annually

Free plan$190 a year billed annually

Free plan: Starter: $0; unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records; card payments 2.9% + $0.60 (Amex 3.4% + $0.60). Auto-import of bank transactions, adding users and automated late-payment reminders are Pro features.

Good fit: Freelancers and micro-businesses in the US or Canada who want free unlimited invoicing and can enter bank transactions manually.

See all 2 plans and prices

Prices per month in US dollars, excluding tax, read on Wave's pricing page on October 14, 2026. "–" means the vendor does not show that billing option. Vendor pricing page
Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Free per month	$0	$0
Pro per business / month	$15.83	$19

Xero

Accounting with no per-user fees on any plan

Paid plans from$27/org/mo

Early, billed monthly

Good fit: Teams that want unlimited users without per-user fees; Growing ($59) or above for anyone sending more than 20 invoices or entering more than 5 bills a month.

See all 3 plans and prices

Prices per month in US dollars, excluding tax, read on Xero's pricing page on October 14, 2026. "–" means the vendor does not show that billing option. Vendor pricing page
Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Early per organization / month	–	$27
Growing per organization / month	–	$59
Established per organization / month	–	$97

No per-user license fees (vendor)
Trusted by 5 million customers (vendor)
Integrates with 1000+ apps (vendor)
Free expert setup help; Xero Coach free for the first 90 days (vendor)
Xero Payroll add-on (powered by Gusto) $36 a month + $6 per employee/contractor (vendor)

Zoho Books

Accounting with a free plan for businesses under $50K revenue

Paid plans from$15/org/mo

Standard, billed annually

Free plan14-day trial

Free plan: 1 user + 1 accountant, 1,000 invoices and 1,000 bills/expenses a year, 5 scheduled reports, 50 receipt autoscans/month, email support only, no add-ons except document autoscans; available while revenue for the financial year does not exceed $50K.

Good fit: Very small businesses under $50K revenue that want a free plan, and cost-conscious teams of 3 to 15 users who can pay annually.

See all 6 plans and prices

Prices per month in US dollars, excluding tax, read on Zoho Books's pricing page on October 14, 2026. "–" means the vendor does not show that billing option. Vendor pricing page
Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Free per month	$0	$0
Standard per organization / month	$15	$20
Professional per organization / month	$40	$50
Premium per organization / month	$60	$70
Elite per organization / month	$120	$150
Ultimate per organization / month	$240	$275

Listed A–Z by default. We do not rank tools we have not tested, and no vendor can pay for position. Starting price is the cheapest paid plan per month, using annual billing where the vendor offers it.

Quick comparison

Prices read on each vendor's pricing page on October 14, 2026. Excludes tax.
Tool	Paid from (per month)	Free plan	Free trial	Link
FreshBooks	$20.70 Lite, annual	No	30 days, no card	Visit
QuickBooks Online	$38 Simple Start, monthly	Yes	30 days	Visit
Wave	$15.83 Pro, annual	Yes	–	Visit
Xero	$27 Early, monthly	No	–	Visit
Zoho Books	$15 Standard, annual	Yes	14 days	Visit

Users and limits on the entry plan

Entry plan	Price / month	Users	Limit to watch
QuickBooks Simple Start	$38	1 (+2 accountants)	Essentials ($85) for 3 users
Xero Early	$27	No per-user fees	Send 20 invoices and enter 5 bills
Zoho Books Standard	$15 annual	3	5,000 invoices a year
FreshBooks Lite	$23	Team members $11/mo each	5 billable clients
Wave Pro	$19	Add users on Pro	Free Starter has no automatic bank import

Compare first-year cost for QuickBooks, Xero and Zoho Books →

Common questions

Does QuickBooks have a free plan?

Yes. QuickBooks now lists a $0 Free plan for 1 user, with 2 invoices a month (unlimited if you qualify for and turn on QuickBooks Payments), 1 bank connection and no accountant access.

Which accounting software has no per-user fees?

Xero says it has no per-user license fees on any plan. QuickBooks caps users by plan (1, 3, 5 or 25), and Zoho Books by plan (3, 5, 10 or 15).

Who qualifies for Zoho Books Free?

Zoho Books Free is for businesses with annual revenue at or below $50K. It allows 1 user plus 1 accountant and 1,000 invoices a year.