Wave

Yes, genuinely, but with three limits worth knowing before you build a business on it.

What costs nothing. The Starter plan is $0 and it is not a trial. You get unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping records, double-entry accounting, the mobile app and a dashboard for cash flow and customers. For a freelancer who invoices a handful of clients a month, that is a complete product at no cost.

Limit one: getting paid is not free. Accepting a card on the free plan costs 2.9% plus $0.60 per transaction, and 3.4% plus $0.60 for Amex. On a $2,000 invoice that is about $58. Wave earns on payments, which is what funds the free accounting.

Limit two: it is single-user. Starter is one seat. The moment you want a bookkeeper or a partner in the file, you are on the paid plan.

Limit three: no automatic bank feed. Auto-import of bank transactions, auto-merging and categorising, unlimited receipt capture and automated late-payment reminders all sit on the Pro plan at $19 a month, or $190 a year. Pro also drops the card fee to 2.9% plus $0.

So the practical rule: free is real if you are one person entering transactions by hand and mostly getting paid by bank transfer. If you are reconciling a bank account every week or taking a lot of card payments, the $19 buys back time and some of the fee.

// Plans and rates checked on waveapps.com on 25 August 2026. Wave was running a promotion at $9.50 for the first three months; that is a promotion, not the standing price.