The Best Invoicing Software for Freelancers and Solopreneurs in 2026

Most invoicing software comparisons rank tools by their cheapest advertised number and stop there. That number is rarely what a freelancer actually pays. Client caps on entry tiers, card processing fees on every payment collected, and features locked behind a second tier all change the real cost of running your invoicing through a given app. For this guide we pulled current pricing directly from each vendor's own pricing page, checked what is actually included at the price freelancers are likely to pay, and noted where a fee or a limit is not published at all, which matters as much as what is published.

We looked at six tools built for solo operators and small client rosters: FreshBooks, Wave, Invoice Ninja, Zoho Invoice, Square Invoices, and Bonsai. Full-scale accounting suites like QuickBooks Online are out of scope here; if you need double-entry bookkeeping and payroll, that is a separate decision.

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is built for freelancers who bill hourly and want time tracking, expense capture, and client communication in one place. The Lite plan runs $23 a month and caps you at 5 billable clients, unlimited invoices, estimates, and time tracking. Plus, at $43 a month, raises the cap to 50 clients and adds proposals, retainers, and e-signatures, which is the tier most solo consultants and small agencies end up on. Premium is $70 a month for unlimited clients and project profitability reporting. There is no free tier, only a 30-day trial, and extra team members cost $11 a month each even on the higher plans. FreshBooks does not publish its exact card and ACH processing rates on its pricing page, so budget for a standard card-processing range and confirm the number at signup rather than assuming a figure.

Wave

Wave is the rare invoicing tool with a genuinely free tier: unlimited invoices, estimates, bills, and bookkeeping records at $0, with no published cap on clients or invoice volume. The paid Pro tier is $19 a month ($190 a year) and adds automatic bank import, mobile invoicing, and multiple users. Card payments cost 2.9% plus $0.60 per transaction on the free Starter plan (3.4% plus $0.60 for Amex); Pro waives the fixed $0.60 fee on your first ten transactions each month. The tradeoff is that Wave has no built-in time tracking, so if you bill hourly you will need a separate tool or a workaround. It also leans on Zapier for most third-party integrations rather than native connections.

Invoice Ninja

Invoice Ninja's free plan covers 5 clients with unlimited invoicing, four templates, recurring invoices, a client portal, and online payments, which is a genuinely usable free tier for a very small roster. Ninja Pro removes the client cap for $14 a month ($140 a year, effectively two months free), and adds more templates and API access. Enterprise pricing starts at $18 a month and scales with user count up to $300 a month, adding bank sync and e-invoicing/PEPPOL support for freelancers who bill government or EU clients. Payment processing fees are not disclosed on the pricing page, so treat that as an unknown to confirm before you rely on it. The main gap is that Invoice Ninja does not connect directly to full accounting software at the free or Pro tiers, so reconciling books elsewhere takes manual export.

Zoho Invoice

Zoho Invoice only has one tier, and it is free: $0 for up to 2 users, 3 projects, and 500 invoices per year. That ceiling is generous for most solo freelancers, who rarely send more than a few invoices a week, but it does put "Powered by Zoho Invoice" branding on your documents and caps you at two organizations per account. Features include recurring invoices, expense tracking, time logging, a customer portal, and automated payment reminders, all at no cost. There is no paid invoicing tier; if you outgrow Zoho Invoice, Zoho's answer is to move you to the separate Zoho Books or Zoho Billing products, not to upsell within Invoice itself. Payment processing fees are not listed on the invoicing pricing page.

Square Invoices

Square Invoices is free with no monthly fee, and covers recurring invoices and estimates, but its per-transaction card fee on the free plan is 3.3% plus $0.30, noticeably higher than most competitors' entry rates. The $49-a-month Plus plan drops the online card rate to 2.9% plus $0.30 and caps ACH bank-transfer fees at $10 per transaction, while Premium at $149 a month adds the lowest processing rates and 24/7 phone support. The free plan lacks custom fields and estimate-to-invoice conversion. Square makes the most sense for freelancers who already take in-person card payments on Square hardware and want invoicing and point-of-sale reconciled in one dashboard, rather than for someone choosing invoicing software in isolation.

Bonsai

Bonsai is built around the full freelance workflow: proposals, contracts, time tracking, and invoicing together. The catch is that its cheapest advertised tier, Basic at $9 a month billed annually, does not include invoicing at all; that plan covers only time tracking, tasks, and a CRM. Invoicing, payments, proposals, and contracts unlock starting at the Essentials tier, $19 a month billed annually or $25 a month billed monthly. Premium is $29 a month annually and Elite is $49 a month annually with a 3-user minimum. There is no free plan, only a 7-day trial. Bonsai's exact payment processing percentages are not published, and lower tiers limit how many project collaborators you can add. For a freelancer who wants contracts and proposals bundled with invoicing rather than a standalone invoicing app, Essentials is the realistic starting price, not Basic.

Comparison table

Tool	Realistic starting price	Free plan	Client cap on entry tier	Card processing fee	Best for
FreshBooks	$23/mo (Lite)	No, 30-day trial	5 clients	Not published	Hourly billers who want time tracking bundled
Wave	$0 (Starter)	Yes, unlimited stated	Not capped	2.9% + $0.60	Freelancers who want free invoicing and bookkeeping
Invoice Ninja	$0 (5 clients) / $14/mo (Pro)	Yes, capped at 5 clients	5 clients (free)	Not published	Budget-conscious freelancers who outgrow the free cap slowly
Zoho Invoice	$0	Yes, only tier	2 users, 500 invoices/yr	Not published	Very small rosters that want zero-cost invoicing
Square Invoices	$0 / $49/mo (Plus)	Yes	Not capped	3.3% + $0.30 (free) / 2.9% + $0.30 (Plus)	Freelancers already taking in-person Square payments
Bonsai	$19/mo (Essentials, invoicing tier)	No, 7-day trial	Not capped	Not published	Freelancers who want proposals and contracts bundled with invoicing

How to choose

If you send fewer than a handful of invoices a month and want to spend nothing, start with Zoho Invoice's free tier or Wave's free Starter plan; both are usable long-term, not just trial bait. If you bill hourly and want time tracking tied directly to what you invoice, FreshBooks Lite or Plus is built for that workflow specifically. If you already collect payments through Square's point-of-sale hardware, Square Invoices keeps everything in one ledger even though its free-tier card rate runs higher than most alternatives. If proposals and contracts matter as much as the invoice itself, such as for consultants who pitch scoped projects before work starts, Bonsai's Essentials tier bundles that in a way none of the pure invoicing tools do. And if you want to stay on a free tier as long as possible but need more than 5 clients, Invoice Ninja's free plan is the widest genuinely free option among the tools with a client cap, though it will not survive fast client growth for free.

Verdict

For most solo freelancers starting out, Wave or Zoho Invoice will cover invoicing at no cost, and neither one nudges you toward an upgrade you don't need. Once you bill enough clients that a cap becomes a real constraint, or you need time tracking and proposals tied to the same invoice, FreshBooks Plus and Bonsai Essentials are the two paid tools that earn their monthly fee rather than just adding a subscription on top of what a free tool already does.