Wave for books, Zoho Invoice for client portals
Choose Wave when invoices should feed into a free accounting ledger. Choose Zoho Invoice for a client portal and payment reminders, or Invoice Ninja for project billing and time tracking within its five-client hosted limit. FreshBooks, QuickBooks, and Xero start to make sense when the work extends beyond sending and tracking invoices.
The right choice usually comes down to invoice volume, how clients pay, and how much business recordkeeping you want in the same account. If you mostly send fixed-fee invoices, Wave or Zoho Invoice are easier than a project-heavy tool. If invoices come from tracked hours, Invoice Ninja or Harvest-style workflows matter more. If payment links and card acceptance are the main concern, Square, PayPal, and Stripe each make sense for different client expectations. Branding, tax fields, client records, and export habits matter more over time than the color of the invoice template.
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wave | Freelancers and sole operators | Unlimited invoices and bookkeeping records | Automation and receipt capture require paid |
| Zoho Invoice | Solo businesses, Zoho tool users | Client portal, reminders, time tracking included | 2 users, 3 projects, 500 invoices per year |
| Invoice Ninja | Hourly and project billing | Up to 5 clients hosted; unlimited invoices | 5-client limit on the hosted free plan |
| Square Invoices | Service businesses taking card payments | Unlimited invoices, estimates, and contracts | Milestone payments require paid |
| PayPal Invoicing | Clients who already use PayPal | Unlimited invoices, unlimited clients | Payment fees vary by method and country |
| Stripe Invoicing | Developers and API-driven billing | No monthly fee; dashboard and API access | 0.4% fee per paid Starter invoice, plus processing |
Payment fees matter more than invoice count
FreshBooks and QuickBooks package invoicing inside paid accounting plans. Payroll, inventory, advanced reporting, and bank reconciliation can justify those plans for a business with employees or complex books. A freelancer who only sends invoices and records payments should compare the no-cost tools below before paying for a larger accounting system.
Switching gets harder after client records, recurring invoices, tax settings, and payment links are tied to one service. The alternatives below require setup, but none requires a credit card. Wave keeps core invoicing outside a monthly subscription and earns revenue from payment processing instead.
That setup work is still worth doing carefully. Import or create your core client records, check how the invoice PDF looks with your logo, send yourself a test invoice before sending one to a client, and confirm that payment links, tax fields, and reminder settings behave the way you expect. Those small checks matter more than choosing the tool with the longest feature list, especially once clients start paying through it.
Six invoicing routes and their limits
1. Wave: best overall free invoicing for freelancers
Best overallWave is a free cloud-based accounting, invoicing, and payment platform built specifically for freelancers and solo business owners. Wave makes money from payment processing fees, not subscriptions.
Wave Starter keeps invoice and bookkeeping volume unrestricted. Its current plan page lists unlimited estimates, invoices, bills, and bookkeeping records, plus optional payment processing.
The limits show up around automation. Automatic bank imports and categorization, automatic payment reminders, and digital receipt capture require Pro or an add-on. Card payments carry transaction fees, payroll is separate, and built-in time tracking is not part of the workflow.
Wave Starter fits a solo operator willing to enter bookkeeping records manually. Check exports with the accountant who will use them rather than assuming a particular tax workflow.
2. Zoho Invoice: best free invoicing with a client portal
Best for client portalZoho Invoice is part of Zoho’s set of business tools. It is a dedicated invoicing tool, separate from Zoho Books, with an ongoing free tier.
Zoho’s current global plan page lists up to two users, three projects, and 500 invoices per year. It also includes templates, automated reminders, a client portal, time tracking, expense records, and integrations with other Zoho products.
The user, project, and annual invoice caps are the practical ceilings. Full accounting lives in Zoho Books rather than this standalone invoicing product.
Zoho Invoice’s client portal looks more professional than a basic invoice email. Clients can view invoice history, download documents, and pay online, which matters when they have accounts payable processes that require documentation. The adjustable reminders also reduce the awkward follow-up conversation around late payments.
3. Invoice Ninja: best free invoicing for project and time-based billing
Best for project billingInvoice Ninja is an open-source invoicing platform with a free hosted tier for up to five clients and a self-hosting option.
Invoice Ninja’s current hosted Free plan covers up to five clients and unlimited invoices. It includes recurring invoices, online payment gateways, projects, billable time, expenses, and a client portal.
The five-client hosted limit is the hard ceiling, and some template customization sits behind paid tiers. Self-hosting changes the maintenance model: the operator is responsible for hosting, updates, and backups.
The time-tracking-to-invoice workflow is what separates Invoice Ninja from Wave and Zoho Invoice. If your invoices are built from tracked hours rather than fixed amounts, logging time inside Invoice Ninja and converting it directly to a line-item invoice is meaningfully faster than exporting from a separate time tracker and manually building an invoice.
4. Square Invoices: best for service businesses taking card payments
Square Invoices is Square’s invoicing product and works with the company’s other payment tools. The free plan covers invoices, estimates, and contracts with no monthly subscription.
Square Invoices is built around service payments rather than bookkeeping. The current Free plan includes unlimited invoices, estimates, contracts, customers, and user accounts, plus project tracking and payment links.
Payment processing uses Square’s listed invoice-payment rate, and the product does not replace accounting software or time tracking. Milestone-based payment schedules and advanced invoice customization require a paid plan.
Square keeps estimates, contracts, invoices, and payment activity in one account. It fits a service business already using Square for point-of-sale or remote card payments.
5. PayPal Invoicing: best for clients who prefer PayPal
PayPal Invoicing is PayPal’s built-in invoicing feature, available to any PayPal Business account at no subscription cost.
PayPal keeps the invoice workflow simple: unlimited invoices to unlimited clients, customizable templates, payment tracking and history, partial payment support, QR code payment links, and automatic reminders are included without a subscription.
The trade-off is cost and depth. PayPal charges when an invoice is paid, and rates vary by payment method and country. Accounting and project time tracking are separate workflows.
PayPal states that there is no fee to create or send an invoice; payment processing fees apply when a customer pays. It fits a seller whose customers already ask to pay through PayPal or Venmo.
6. Stripe Invoicing: best for technical and developer-led businesses
Stripe Invoicing is Stripe’s hosted invoicing product, built for developers and technical businesses already using Stripe for payments.
Stripe Invoicing makes the most sense when invoices are part of a broader payment system. Stripe’s current pricing lists Starter at 0.4% per paid invoice, in addition to payment-processing fees. Hosted invoice pages, a customer portal, and API access are included.
The product assumes Stripe familiarity. Subscription billing uses a separate pricing model, while expense tracking and accounting are not included. It fits a business already building payment flows on Stripe.
Stripe exposes invoice creation and management through its API. That matters when invoices need to be generated from a product or internal system rather than entered manually.
When free invoicing is enough and when to pay
A free invoicing plan can cover a solo freelancer who has simple taxes, no payroll, and a client count that fits the selected service. Payment processing still carries fees even when the software has no subscription.
The free-plan cap that matters is rarely “number of invoices” by itself. A freelancer can send plenty of invoices and still be fine on free software if the client list is stable, taxes are simple, and payment processing fees are acceptable. A smaller business can outgrow free invoicing sooner if it needs multi-user approval, cleaner accountant access, detailed tax handling, recurring subscription billing, or exports that match a specific bookkeeping workflow.
Paid invoicing becomes relevant when the business needs more users, projects, automation, accountant access, inventory, or payroll. Compare those requirements against the current plan pages before moving client and tax records.
Keep billing and bookkeeping connected
Choose Wave for unlimited invoice and bookkeeping records entered in one free workflow. Zoho Invoice adds a client portal and reminders within its user, project, and annual-invoice caps. Invoice Ninja fits project-based and hourly billing for up to five hosted clients. The related guides cover free accounting software, QuickBooks alternatives, CRM tools, time tracking, and spreadsheet alternatives.
