FreeFinance alternatives
The 5 best FreeFinance alternatives in 2026
The short answer: FreeFinance is solid Austrian cloud accounting — but if you want to write invoices with it, look closely. The cheap Business package cannot write invoices; invoicing starts in the Plus package at €25 net per month (€22 on a 36-month term), prepaid and with no monthly billing. If you mainly want to write invoices and have dunning run automatically, Backbone (formerly Billy; from €19/month incl. VAT, cancellable monthly) is our pick — it is our own product, and below we are transparent about where it wins and where it does not.
This roundup covers all five serious options — with verified pricing (as of July 2026), honest weaknesses and a clear "best for" per tool.
All alternatives at a glance
| Backbone | ProSaldo.net | kalkül | sevDesk | Runple | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | AI invoicing, dunning with interest, receipts & a ZIP for your accountant (DE/AT) | Bookkeeping with UVA & FinanzOnline, cheaper entry | Free BAO-compliant invoicing, Austria only | Accounting & e-invoicing in the DACH region, native apps | Trading with inventory; free tier with real dunning |
| Document limit | Monthly allowance per plan; numbers not published yet | Unlimited invoices (all plans) | No limit — core features permanently free | Free: 3 invoices/month; paid unlimited | Free: 5/month; Basic: unlimited |
| Price | from €19 / month incl. VAT | from €9 / month (annual) or €10 monthly | core free; supporter tier (price not public) | from €12.90 / month; free tier: 3 invoices/month | Free (5 invoices/month); Basic €19.90, Standard €29.90 |
| Invoice from AI prompt | Yesassistant Billy, asks before sending | No | Nono AI features | No | No |
| All features via AI assistant | Yesnearly everything; also from Claude/ChatGPT (MCP) | Nobooking suggestions & OCR only | No | Nosuggestions only (receipts, bookings) | NoAI for incoming documents only |
| Professional templates | Partially2 templates (Basic, Minimal), logo + accent color | PartiallyBASIC: fixed layout; designer from PLUS | Partiallydesign for paying supporters only | Yes11 layouts, 6 of them Premium | Partiallybranding even on the free plan |
| Live preview | Yesyou write on the page itself | NoPDF preview in a new window | Partiallyin the design editor, not the invoice form | – | – |
| Recurring invoices | Yesevery plan | Partiallyfrom PLUS; creates drafts | – | Yes | PartiallyStandard (€29.90) and up |
| Automatic email sending | Yesinvoices by email; reminders on schedule from Studio | Noreminders manual per open item | Noreminders sent manually | Partiallyseries invoices optionally automatic; dunning manual | Partiallydunning yes (3 stages); series dispatch not documented |
| Bookkeeping | Nono EÜR/VAT filing; export for your tax advisor | Yescash-basis from GO, UVA filing from PLUS | Partiallycash-basis statement free | Yesin the accounting plan | Yescash-basis free, UVA from Standard |
| E-invoicing | PartiallyZUGFeRD; XRechnung coming soon | PartiallyebInterface to the federal gov., all plans | Nonot offered | Yeseven in the free tier | Nonot offered |
Competitor pricing and feature claims per the vendors, verified on August 2, 2026, prices net. Backbone details per back-bone.io as of October 9, 2026, prices incl. VAT. Subject to change.
Backbone
Invoices, receipts and dunning with an AI assistantBackbone is the alternative for everyone who really only considered FreeFinance for invoicing — and wants neither €25 net a month nor a year’s prepayment for it. The AI assistant drafts invoices and quotes from one sentence, sends them after your confirmation, and dunning chases late payers with interest (own schedule from Studio) — no dunning run you have to start yourself. From €19 a month incl. VAT, cancellable monthly, Austria AND Germany in one account.
Full transparency, since Backbone is our product: it is NOT accounting software — cash-basis accounting, UVA filing and FinanzOnline are absent, as is a BMD export. On e-invoicing FreeFinance is ahead: Backbone has ZUGFeRD, but ebInterface and XRechnung are only coming soon.
Strengths
- Invoices drafted by an AI assistant, sent only after your OK — none of the other tools here can (competitors as of July 2026, per their own sites)
- Dunning with statutory interest and the €40 flat fee where the law allows — own schedule from Studio, no manual dunning run
- Austria AND Germany in one account (mandatory-detail check under §11 UStG / §14 UStG while you write)
- Clean templates (Basic, Minimal) with logo and accent color, live preview
- Cancel monthly instead of 12- or 36-month prepayment
Weaknesses
- No bookkeeping: cash-basis accounting, UVA filing and FinanzOnline integration are absent (a UVA template is coming soon), as is a BMD or DATEV export
- E-invoicing only in part: ZUGFeRD is live, ebInterface and XRechnung are coming soon
- No permanent free plan (7-day trial with a card on file, €0 due today)
- Web app rather than a native mobile app; public API coming soon
ProSaldo.net
The Austrian accounting classic (Visma)ProSaldo.net (a Visma product) is the most direct FreeFinance alternative in the accounting camp — with a decisive price advantage at entry: invoicing is already in the BASIC plan from €9 net billed annually (€10 monthly), where FreeFinance only writes invoices from €25. Cash-basis accounting comes with GO, UVA filing to FinanzOnline with PLUS.
The trade-offs: reminders are sent manually per open item (not even as a bulk run like FreeFinance’s), the BASIC layout is fixed and not editable, recurring invoices need PLUS and OCR needs the GO plan. ProSaldo.net does not create e-invoices like FreeFinance does.
Strengths
- Invoicing already from €9 net (annual billing) — a much cheaper entry than FreeFinance
- Deeply Austrian: cash-basis accounting from GO, UVA straight to FinanzOnline from PLUS
- Established vendor (Visma)
- 30-day trial
Weaknesses
- Reminders only manually per open item
- BASIC layout is fixed and not editable; layout designer only from PLUS
- Recurring invoices only from PLUS, OCR only from GO
- Austria only — Germany is not served
kalkül
The free tool from Linzkalkül is the counter-programme to FreeFinance: instead of a prepaid accounting bundle, its core features are permanently free — invoices, the small-business rule, BAO compliance and even cash-basis accounting. The Linz-based vendor commits to keeping existing accounts’ free features free.
In return it lacks almost everything that distinguishes FreeFinance: no UVA filing, no e-invoicing, no AI features. Reminders are sent manually, colors and layout are reserved for paying supporters (subscription price not public), and kalkül states an explicit focus on Austria.
Strengths
- Core features permanently free — including cash-basis accounting and the small-business rule
- BAO-compliant invoices for Austria
- Logo upload included in the free scope
- Vendor commits to keeping existing accounts’ free features free
Weaknesses
- No AI features; reminders only manually
- Colors & layout for paying supporters only — subscription price not public
- No UVA filing, no e-invoicing, Austria only
sevDesk
The DACH accounting incumbentsevDesk is the best-known accounting name in the DACH region, with a dedicated Austrian offering (sevdesk.at). Interesting for FreeFinance switchers: the "Rechnung" plan starts at €12.90 net (12-month billing), the free tier allows 3 invoices per month, and e-invoicing is included even for free. Add native iOS and Android apps.
Dunning stays manual: reminders are sent by hand per invoice, and dunning levels need the accounting plan. sevDesk’s "AI" means receipt capture plus a support chatbot — no invoice creation.
Strengths
- Dedicated Austrian offering (sevdesk.at) plus wide DACH adoption
- E-invoicing even in the free tier (3 invoices/month)
- Native iOS and Android apps
- Cheaper entry with invoicing than FreeFinance (€9.90 vs. €25)
Weaknesses
- Reminders manual per invoice; dunning levels need the accounting plan
- Custom layout only as a paid service; colors from a palette only
- AI is limited to receipt capture and a chatbot
Runple
The Austrian business suiteRunple is an Austrian business suite with inventory and warehousing — and on one point it is ahead of everyone else here: even its free tier (5 invoices/month) runs automatic 3-stage dunning, where FreeFinance makes you start every dunning run yourself. Receipt capture and custom branding are free too.
In return, Runple is a trading-focused suite: for pure service businesses that breadth is dead weight. Recurring invoices need the Standard plan (€29.90), Runple creates no e-invoices like FreeFinance does, and Germany is not served (Austria focus, no DATEV).
Strengths
- Free tier: 5 invoices/month with automatic 3-stage dunning
- Receipt capture and custom branding even on the free tier
- Full inventory management for trading businesses
- Austrian vendor
Weaknesses
- Recurring invoices only from Standard (€29.90)
- No e-invoicing
- Suite breadth is dead weight for pure service businesses
- No Germany (Austria focus, no DATEV)
How we evaluated
All pricing and feature claims come from the vendors’ own pricing and help pages, last verified on 31 July 2026 (Backbone details: as of 9 October 2026) — including the inconvenient details like tier gating and dunning limitations. Where a vendor does not document something, we do not claim it. Backbone is our own product: we rank it #1 for the use case it is built for, and we state its weaknesses as plainly as everyone else’s.
Do not choose Backbone if …
Backbone is ranked first on this page, and this page belongs to Backbone (formerly Billy). So that you can weigh that: here are the cases where another tool is the better choice.
- You already invoice public-sector clients (XRechnung)Backbone produces ZUGFeRD e-invoices, but XRechnung (and Austria’s ebInterface) is only coming soon. sevDesk, easybill and FastBill ship XRechnung in their cheapest tier, and in Austria FreeFinance creates ebInterface and XRechnung. If you must bill public-sector clients today, choose one of those.
- You want to do your bookkeeping inside the toolBackbone collects receipts, matches them to payments and takes bank statements, but deliberately does no bookkeeping: no EÜR, no P&L, no VAT return via ELSTER or FinanzOnline. Your tax advisor does the books from the export. If you want everything from one tool, take sevDesk, Lexware Office, or FreeFinance in Austria.
- Your tax advisor insists on a DATEV or BMD exportBackbone has none. It delivers a named ZIP of receipts, sent invoices, bank statements and a CSV report — or a free bookkeeper login. Any accountant can open that, but it is not a DATEV interface. If your accountant insists on one, that rules Backbone out — sevDesk and Lexware Office are built for it.
- You want a native mobile appBackbone is a web app: it runs in your phone’s browser and you can upload receipt photos with it — but there is no native app in the store (a Mac app for the timer is coming soon). sevDesk, Lexware Office, FreshBooks, Wave, Zoho and Square all ship one.
- You never want to payBackbone has no free plan: after a 7-day trial (card on file at Stripe, €0.00 due today) it costs from €19 a month incl. VAT. easybill (50 documents a month) and sevDesk (3 invoices a month) have permanently free tiers, and in the US so do Wave and Zoho Invoice.
- Your business is based in the USBackbone is built for Germany and Austria. It invoices in English and in USD, GBP or CHF too — for a German or Austrian business billing clients abroad. It does not handle US sales tax. For a US-based business, QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Wave, Zoho Invoice or Square are the better-fitting tools.