easybill alternative
Backbone vs. easybill: client invoices or e-commerce receipts?
easybill’s strength is e-commerce: automatic invoices from Amazon, eBay and shop orders. Backbone (formerly Billy) is built for the other half of self-employment — service providers, freelancers and agencies who bill hours and projects, write individual client invoices and want to get paid.
If you bill hundreds of marketplace orders a month, look at easybill. If you invoice clients per project, Backbone keeps the path short: log hours, let the assistant draft the invoice, send — and chase payment when it does not arrive.
Why service businesses pick Backbone over easybill
easybill’s automation is about order imports. Backbone’s automation is about your work: the AI assistant drafts documents on request, and dunning runs with statutory interest.
- Invoice, quote or reminder in one sentence to the assistant — nothing goes out without your OK
- A reminder and two formal stages with interest and the €40 fee, scheduled automatically from Studio
- Time tracking per client and project, hours onto the invoice in one click
- Compliant for Germany and Austria (§14 UStG / §11 öUStG, §19, §13b), ZUGFeRD and a QR code to pay
- Recurring invoices for retainers in every plan
Backbone vs. easybill at a glance
| Backbone | easybill | |
|---|---|---|
| AI & automation | ||
| Create an invoice from an AI prompt | Yesassistant Billy, also in Claude/ChatGPT | No |
| AI executes actions (send, update) | Yesdrafts, sends after your OK, chases | Nosuggestions; AI drafts invoice text |
| Automatic dunning | Yeswith interest + €40 fee; scheduled from Studio | Partiallyyes, but only in the Premium plan |
| AI receipt capture (OCR) | Yesreads receipts, matches payments | Yes |
| Design & interface | ||
| Ready-made invoice designs | Partially2 templates: Basic, Minimal | Partially2 bilingual base layouts you clone |
| Live preview while typing | Yesyou write on the page itself | Noprint preview on click only |
| Custom branding | Partiallylogo, accent color | Yesfrom Starter; one logo file per account |
| Invoicing from a mobile app | Partiallyweb app, no native app | Nono native app |
| Invoicing workflow | ||
| Recurring invoices | Yesevery plan | Partiallyonly from the Professional plan |
| E-invoicing (XRechnung/ZUGFeRD) | PartiallyZUGFeRD; XRechnung coming soon | Yeseven in the free tier |
| Countries, bookkeeping & price | ||
| Austria (§11 öUStG) | Yessame interface | Nono Austrian version |
| Bookkeeping (EÜR / VAT filing) | Noexport for your tax advisor | No |
| Entry price (net/month) | €19 incl. VAT (Solo); net ≈ €15.97 (DE) / €15.83 (AT) | Free (50 docs/month); from €9 |
easybill pricing and feature claims per the vendor, verified on July 31, 2026, prices net. Backbone details per back-bone.io as of October 9, 2026; Backbone prices incl. VAT. Subject to change.
Backbone in detail
When easybill is the better choice
To be fair: for multichannel sellers with lots of marketplace orders, easybill’s import automation is strong, the free plan (50 documents/month) is a fair entry point, and it does XRechnung today — at Backbone it is coming soon. Backbone has no marketplace import; it is built for individual client invoices, dunning and receipts.
See all easybill alternatives