- Best free invoice app: Zoho Invoice.
- Best for built-in payment processing: Square Invoices.
- Best for ease of use: Wave Invoicing.
Best Free Invoicing Software for Small Businesses
Product | Promotion | Learn more | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Zoho Invoice Learn more on Zoho Invoice's secure website | 4.5/5 Best for Free invoice app | $0 Free. | N/A | Learn more on Zoho Invoice's secure website |
Square Invoices Learn more on Square Invoices' secure website | 5.0/5 Best for Built-in payment processing | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $20. | 30-day free trial of the Plus plan. | Learn more on Square Invoices' secure website |
Wave Invoicing | 4.5/5 Best for Ease of use | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $16. | N/A | |
PayPal Invoicing | 4.5/5 Best for PayPal Business users | $0 Free. | N/A | |
Invoice Ninja | 4.5/5 Best for Customization | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $12, $16. | N/A | |
Hiveage | 4.5/5 Best for Simple billing software | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $19, $29, $49. | 14-day free trial of the Pro plan. | |
Harvest | 4.5/5 Best for Project invoicing | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $13.75, $17.50 per user. | 30-day free trial | |
Hopscotch | 3.5/5 Best for Cashing unpaid invoices | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $45. | 45-day free trial of the Pro plan. |
Our pick for
Free invoice app
Zoho’s free invoicing software offers a long list of features, including time and expense tracking, reporting, a customer portal and a robust mobile app. The software integrates with numerous payment gateways to easily accept online payment as well as many other Zoho apps for customer management, advanced analytics, employee management and more.
Zoho Invoice
on Zoho Invoice's secure website
Free.
Pros
- Send up to 500 invoices per year for free.
- Portal lets clients pay invoices and view their transaction history.
- Payment gateway integrations include Stripe, PayPal, Square and more.
- Photograph receipts and attach them to expense reports.
- Free invoice app for iOS lets you add a timer widget to your home screen, send invoices via iMessage and add new contacts by taking photos of their business cards.
Cons
- Limited third-party integrations outside of other Zoho products and QuickBooks Online.
Our pick for
Built-in payment processing
Square is foremost a top-rated payment processor and POS provider. It charges some of the most competitive processing rates among the competition. The company offers high-quality software at an affordable price, and it tends to be generous with the features and functionality it offers with its free plans — Square Invoices among them. Note that Square does charge a higher online transaction rate if you opt for its free monthly invoice plan.
Square Invoices
on Square Invoices' secure website
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $20.
of the Plus plan.
Pros
- Unlimited invoicing, estimates, contracts, users and clients in all plans.
- Integrates with Square’s all-in-one payment platform.
- Streamlined and intuitive.
- Ability to process in-person and online card payments as well as cash, checks, ACH transfers, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
- Send recurring invoices.
- Automatic payment reminders.
- Gives clients the option to include a tip.
Cons
- Must use Square’s in-house payment processing to accept online payments.
- Free plan does not enable custom invoicing fields and the ability to auto-convert estimates into invoices.
Our pick for
Ease of use
From setup to customization to automated payment reminders, Wave’s invoicing software ensures an easy and intuitive user experience. All your invoicing data flows seamlessly into Wave’s accounting software, and if you want to easily collect online payment from your customers, you can choose to use Wave’s paid payment processing service.
Wave Invoicing
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $16.
Pros
- No billable client or invoice limits.
- Integrates with Wave Accounting.
- Recurring invoices and automatic billing for repeat clients.
- Automatic online payment reminders.
- Converts estimates into invoices.
Cons
- Limited features may not be suited for fast-growing businesses.
- Must use Zapier for third-party integrations.
Our pick for
PayPal Business users
If you already have a PayPal Business account, then using PayPal’s free invoicing software makes great sense. Like any of the other free products on this list, you’ll pay only a transaction fee for each payment you accept. Your customers can pay using PayPal or Venmo as well as a debit or credit card.
PayPal Invoicing
Free.
Pros
- Straightforward and simple to use.
- No billable client or invoice limits.
- Send recurring invoices.
- Automatic payment reminders.
- Gives clients the option to include a tip.
- Converts estimates into invoices.
Cons
- Not as customizable as the competition.
Our pick for
Customization
Invoice Ninja’s software is developed and tested within the open-source community, which means it is regularly tested and improved by a community numbering in the thousands. As open-source software, Invoice Ninja can be self-hosted and you or your team can make use of its open API to customize the software for your needs.
Invoice Ninja
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $12, $16.
Pros
- Free plan supports unlimited invoices for up to 20 clients.
- Automatically transfer credit card processing fees to customers and allow them to tip on invoices or pay incrementally over time.
- Integrates with more than a dozen payment gateways including Stripe, PayPal, Square and Apple Pay.
- Built-in inventory tool tracks items as they’re invoiced.
- Portal lets clients view their invoices and payment history.
Cons
- No direct integrations with bookkeeping or accounting software.
- Enterprise plan pricing increases as you add more users.
Our pick for
Simple billing software
Hiveage software makes it easy to manage invoicing and billing. It includes a clear and simple dashboard to show you a real-time view of your income and expenses as well as invoices that are paid and outstanding. Hiveage also simplifies the subscription billing process with automatic scheduling and recurring payment capabilities.
Hiveage
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $19, $29, $49.
of the Pro plan.
Pros
- Free plan supports unlimited invoicing for up to five clients.
- Integrates with a dozen payment gateways including Stripe, PayPal, Square and more.
- Assign different billable rates to each type of task.
- Direct clients to your own custom domain with the Plus plan.
Cons
- No built-in, direct integrations with bookkeeping or accounting software.
- All plans have client limits (highest-tier Plus plan caps at 1,000).
Our pick for
Project invoicing
If your work is largely project-based, then Harvest’s invoicing software is worth consideration. It has a strong focus on time tracking and gives you access to detailed reports to best manage projects and teams. The free plan is designed for freelancers and solopreneurs with access for a single user and a tight limit on the number of projects for which you can invoice. If you find you can’t work within those constraints, you can upgrade to the paid Pro plan for unlimited users and projects.
Harvest
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $13.75, $17.50 per user.
Pros
- Offers a free plan (limited to two projects).
- Advanced time tracking features, including integrations with Google Calendar, Slack, Asana, Trello and other project management tools.
- Display billable hours by task, person or project on invoices.
- Snap and upload photos of billable expense receipts with the mobile app.
- Integrates with QuickBooks Online and Xero for accounting.
Cons
- Invoice customization options are limited. Free users can’t add company logos to invoices, and Harvest offers only two templates (one PDF and one GDoc).
- Payment integrations are limited to Stripe and PayPal.
Our pick for
Cashing unpaid invoices
In a pinch, Hopscotch can help you access funds from unpaid invoices. While this feature is available in both the free and paid plans, cashing invoices early does come with an added fee (typically around 3% of the transaction amount). The service is similar to invoice financing and should only be used if you trust your clients to fulfill their payment obligations.
Hopscotch
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $45.
of the Pro plan.
Pros
- Free plan supports unlimited invoices, bills and clients.
- Flow feature allows you to access funds from unpaid invoices (comes with a service fee).
- Offers option to pass credit card processing fees to client.
Cons
- Invoice customization options are limited, with just two main templates available.
- Third-party payment integrations are not available and you must subscribe to the Pro Plan to integrate with QuickBooks.
NerdWallet’s picks for best free invoicing software
Zoho Invoice
Square Invoices
- $0 per month for the Free plan.
- $20 per month for the Plus plan.
- 3.3% plus 30 cents for online card payments with the Free plan.
- 2.9% plus 30 cents for online card payments with the Plus plan.
- 2.6% plus 10 cents for in-person card payments.
- 3.5% plus 15 cents for card on file and manually keyed in payments.
- 1% for online ACH payments.
Wave Invoicing
- $0 for the Starter plan.
- $16 per month for the Pro plan.
- 2.9% plus 60 cents for Visa, Mastercard and Discover payments with the Starter plan.
- 2.9% for the first 10 transactions each month for Visa, Mastercard and Discover payments with the Pro plan (then Starter plan rates apply).
- 3.4% plus 60 cents for AmEx payments with the Starter plan.
- 3.4% for the first 10 transactions each month for AmEx payments with the Pro plan (then Starter plan rates apply).
- 1% for ACH payments.
PayPal Invoicing
- 3.49% plus 49 cents for PayPal, Venmo and Pay Later payments.
- 2.99% plus 49 cents for debit card, credit card and Apple Pay payments.
Invoice Ninja
- $0 per month for the Free plan.
- $12 per month for the Ninja Pro plan (or $120 billed annually).
- $16 per month for the Enterprise plan for up to 2 users (or $160 billed annually); price increases with more users.
Hiveage
- $0 per month for the Free plan.
- $19 per month for the Basic plan (or $16 per month billed annually).
- $29 per month for the Pro plan (or $25 per month billed annually).
- $49 per month for the Plus plan (or $42 per month billed annually).
- 2.9% per transaction if you use Hiveage Payments.
- Payment processing fees vary if you choose to integrate with a payment gateway.
Harvest
- $0 per month, 1 user, for the Free plan.
- $13.75 per user per month for the Pro plan (or $11 per user per month billed annually).
- $17.50 per user per month for the Premium plan (or $14 per user per month billed annually).
Hopscotch
- $0 per month for Hopscotch plan.
- $45 per month for Hopscotch Pro plan (or $36 per month billed annually).
- 2.9% to 3.25% for credit card transactions with the free plan (depending on your average transaction amount).
- 2.75% for credit card transactions with the Pro plan.
- $0 for ACH transfers.
- Variable rates for Hopscotch Flow.
How does free invoicing software work?
How to choose free invoicing software
Key features of free invoice software
- Customizable invoices. Many free invoice options may lack full customizability or large libraries of invoice templates to choose from, but most free invoicing software products should enable you to customize your fees (including adding a tipping option) and terms based on the project and include your business logo.
- Estimate-to-invoice conversions. Most invoice software products, free or paid, can simplify business processes for you by automatically converting approved estimates to invoices. This feature can save you time and reduce errors.
- Recurring billing. This automation feature makes it easy for you to schedule invoices to be regularly sent to your repeat clients.
- Time tracking tools. Some free invoice software will include a feature for tracking time so you can be sure the bills you send to your customers are accurate. If your invoice software doesn’t include a built-in feature for tracking time, then look for software that integrates with time tracking apps.
- Automatic payment reminders. This automation feature is pretty nearly ubiquitous among free and paid invoicing software. Letting your software do the tricky and time-consuming work of chasing clients for payment can take a real weight off.
- Accounting software integration. Many accounting software products now include invoicing tools. But if you opt for a free invoicing solution, you’ll likely want it to integrate directly with a popular accounting product so your billing and invoicing data feeds directly into your accounting software. This will make it easier to consolidate your financial reports and prepare to file your taxes.
- Payment options. Your free invoice software should make it easy for your customers to pay you directly through your invoices. Some invoice software integrates with payment gateways that act as the payment processors and set the payment processing fees (which you will have to pay each time you collect payment on an invoice, even if your invoice software itself does not charge a monthly fee). Other invoice software offers in-house payment processing, for which the company sets its own processing rates. Consider your customer base and how they may prefer to pay (e.g., with a credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay or another method) when you’re weighing your free invoice software options.