FreshBooks alternatives
The 5 best FreshBooks alternatives in 2026
The short answer: most people look for a FreshBooks alternative because of the client caps — the Lite plan ($23/month) allows only 5 billable clients, and archived clients still count; 50 clients cost $43 (Plus), and unlimited only arrives with Premium at $70. Add $11 per extra team member per month, and FreshBooks markets no AI features at all. If you are based in Germany or Austria and want to grow without caps and write invoices with AI, Backbone (formerly Billy; from €19/month incl. VAT) is our pick — it is our own product, so for a US-based business we list it last, and below we are transparent about where it wins and where it does not.
To stay fair: FreshBooks’ time tracking is mature, automatic payment reminders ship on all plans, and invoices come in 16 languages — including German (document text only). This roundup covers all five serious alternatives, with verified pricing (as of July 2026) and honest weaknesses.
All alternatives at a glance
| QuickBooks | Zoho Invoice | Wave | Square Invoices | Backbone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Full US accounting with taxes and payroll | Free invoicing with deep customization | Simple free bookkeeping in the US/Canada | Shops already on Square POS | AI invoices with no client cap (DE/AT) |
| Document limit | Free: 2/month; Simple Start: unlimited | 500 invoices/year, 2 users | Unlimited — but sending needs Pro/payments | Unlimited (free plan too) | Monthly allowance per plan; numbers not published yet |
| Price | Simple Start $38 / month | $0 (500 invoices/year) | Free; sending needs Pro ($19) | Free; cards 3.3% + 30¢ | from €19 / month incl. VAT |
| Invoice from AI prompt | Partiallybeta/connector, 25 prompts/mo | Noonly in paid Zoho Books | No | No | Yesassistant Billy, asks before sending |
| All features via AI assistant | Nodrafts; never sends on its own | NoZia: insights & text drafts | Nomarkets no AI features | NoAI answers questions only, no actions | Yesnearly everything; also from Claude/ChatGPT (MCP) |
| Professional templates | PartiallyStandard & Modernized | Yesdeepest free customization in the US field | Partially3 designs; font tied to the design | Partially3 layouts | Partially2 templates (Basic, Minimal), logo + accent color |
| Live preview | Nopreview via print/download only | Nopreview on click | – | Nopreview on click | Yesyou write on the page itself |
| Recurring invoices | YesSimple Start included | Yes | Partiallyauto-send needs Pro/payments | Yes | Yesevery plan |
| Automatic email sending | Partiallyreminders yes; recurring invoices save as drafts | Yesseries optionally automatic; reminders free | Partiallyreminders need Pro/payments | Yesseries sent on schedule | Yesinvoices by email; reminders on schedule from Studio |
| Bookkeeping | Yescore strength | Nothat is paid Zoho Books | Yessimple accounting included | No | Nono EÜR/VAT filing; export for your tax advisor |
| E-invoicing | Nono XRechnung/ZUGFeRD | Nono XRechnung/ZUGFeRD | Nono XRechnung/ZUGFeRD | Nono XRechnung/ZUGFeRD | PartiallyZUGFeRD; XRechnung coming soon |
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.
QuickBooks
The accounting heavyweightQuickBooks is the step up rather than sideways: if you are outgrowing FreshBooks and want full US accounting — bank feeds, tax categories, payroll integration, a huge ecosystem — this is the complete package. QuickBooks can also draft invoices from a prompt these days: as a beta or via a connector, capped at 25 prompts a month.
The price for that is the price: Simple Start is $38 a month, Essentials $75, Plus $115 — and Intuit announced price changes for renewals from August 2026 without publishing amounts. Foreign currencies need Essentials and up, and German is not among the six supported languages.
Strengths
- Full US accounting: bank feeds, tax categories, payroll integration
- Huge ecosystem — the standard of US accounting
- Prompt invoicing at least exists (beta/connector, 25 prompts/month)
- Automatic payment reminders (up to 3) on all plans
Weaknesses
- From $38/month; Essentials $75, Plus $115 — price changes announced for renewals from August 2026
- Prompt-to-invoice only as a beta/connector capped at 25 prompts a month
- Foreign currencies only from Essentials ($75)
- Six languages, German not among them; no §14 UStG compliance
Zoho Invoice
The free tool in the Zoho ecosystemZoho Invoice is the answer to FreshBooks caps that costs nothing: not $23 for 5 clients, but $0 — with the deepest free template customization of the five US tools, recurring invoices and automatic payment reminders included. Notably, Zoho documents no client cap.
The real limits sit elsewhere: per Zoho you bill only in your base currency — a hard blocker for international clients — caps of 500 invoices a year and 2 users apply (Zoho says its limits are updated yearly), and creating invoices from a prompt requires the paid Zoho Books.
Strengths
- Permanently free — and no documented client cap
- Deepest free template customization of the five US tools
- Recurring invoices and automatic payment reminders free
- A sensible pick if you already use Zoho CRM or Books
Weaknesses
- Base currency only — per the vendor; a hard limit for international clients
- 500 invoices/year and 2 users (Zoho says limits are updated yearly)
- Prompt-created invoices need paid Zoho Books, not Zoho Invoice
- Free as the on-ramp into the Zoho ecosystem — the upsell path is built in
Wave
The free accounting tool (US/Canada)Wave removes not just FreshBooks’ client caps but the subscription price altogether: invoice creation is free and unlimited, and simple accounting is included. It is monetized through payment fees — 2.9% + $0.60 per card payment, 1% ACH with a $1 minimum — and the Pro plan ($19/month).
The catches: on the free plan you cannot send invoices from Wave — per the vendor that needs Pro, enabled online payments or payroll. Wave exists only in the US and Canada and only in English — permanently, per the vendor; FreshBooks’ 16 invoice languages have no counterpart here.
Strengths
- Invoice creation is genuinely free and unlimited — no client cap
- Simple free accounting included
- Your own logo and color on invoices
- Bank payments (ACH) at just 1%
Weaknesses
- The free plan cannot send invoices from the tool — that needs Pro ($19), online payments or payroll
- US and Canada only; support discontinued elsewhere
- English only — permanently, per the vendor
- Card fees of 2.9% + $0.60; Pro only waives the $0.60 on the first 10 payments/month
Square Invoices
Invoicing inside the payments ecosystemSquare Invoices is the FreshBooks alternative for anyone who takes payments in person: creating and sending invoices is free — with no client cap — automatic payment reminders included, and clients pay directly through the invoice, seamlessly next to the Square terminal and register.
The business model is card fees, and the free plan charges the higher rate: 3.3% + 30¢ per card payment instead of 2.9% + 30¢ with a subscription. The unified plans are Free ($0), Plus ($49) and Premium ($149) per location; the old standalone "Invoices Plus" at $20 is legacy. One currency per account, no availability in Germany or Austria — and the AI only answers questions, without being able to take actions.
Strengths
- Creating and sending invoices is free, automatic payment reminders included
- No client cap on the free plan
- Seamless if you already use Square POS or terminals
- Your own logo and color, even on the free plan
Weaknesses
- The free plan pays the higher card rate: 3.3% + 30¢ versus 2.9% + 30¢ with a subscription
- Not available in Germany or Austria; one currency per account
- The AI only answers questions about your data and cannot take actions
- Unified plans: Plus $49, Premium $149 per location (the old $20 Invoices Plus is legacy)
Backbone
Invoices, receipts and dunning with an AI assistant (DE/AT)Backbone is the alternative for people in Germany or Austria whose main FreshBooks gripe is the limits: Backbone has unlimited clients and projects — you pay from €19 incl. VAT a month (Solo, 1 user; a small team comes with Studio at €29). And instead of forms, you have the AI assistant draft invoices: it creates invoices and quotes from one sentence and executes after your confirmation. FreshBooks markets no AI features at all.
Full transparency, since Backbone is our product: time tracking exists (timer or manual, hours-vs-target per client, hours straight onto the invoice), but FreshBooks' project billing is more mature, and there are no native apps (a Mac timer app is coming soon). Bookkeeping, US tax features and built-in payment processing are absent too; you get paid by bank transfer or your own processor. Backbone is not built for a US-based business.
Strengths
- Unlimited clients and projects (Solo: 1 user, small team from Studio)
- Invoices drafted by an AI assistant — FreshBooks markets no AI at all
- The AI executes after your confirmation (send, update) instead of only drafting
- Germany and Austria in one account (mandatory-detail check under §14 UStG / §11 UStG), invoices also in English and USD
- From €19 incl. VAT instead of from $23, cancel monthly — time tracking included
Weaknesses
- Time tracking in the web app (Mac timer app coming soon); project billing less mature than FreshBooks
- No bookkeeping, no US tax features, no built-in payment processing
- 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; prices in euros incl. VAT
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 client caps, per-user surcharges and card fees. Where a vendor does not document something, we do not claim it. Backbone is our own product: because it is built for freelancers in Germany and Austria, we list it last for US-based businesses, 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.