Best Free Accounting Software of 2026
We looked at more than a dozen free accounting software products. Our top picks include double-entry accounting and invoicing tools. Some, like Zoho Books, can grow alongside your business too.
Zoho Books
Best for Overall free accounting software
Starting at
$0
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $20, $50, $70, $150, $275.
Promotion
14-day free trial
of the Premium plan.
Learn more on Zoho Books' website
Pros
- Free plan includes accountant access and up to 1,000 invoices per year.
- Email support in free plan; phone and chat support in paid plans.
- Offers five paid plans that can scale with your business.
- Has in-house software for marketing, inventory, payroll, social media, etc.
- Can accept payments via Zoho Payments, Stripe or PayPal.
Cons
- Must subscribe to paid plan to automatically import bank transactions.
Wave Accounting
Best for Easy invoicing
Starting at
$0
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $19
Promotion
N/A
on Wave's website
Pros
- Free plan includes unlimited invoicing.
- Offers in-house bookkeeping assistance and payroll add-ons.
Cons
- Must subscribe to Wave’s Pro plan or other paid services (payroll, payments, etc.) for customer support from a human.
- Must subscribe to paid plan for accountant access and automated bank feeds.
- Must use Zapier for third-party integrations.
GnuCash
Best for Open-source free accounting software
Starting at
$0
Promotion
N/A
Pros
- Can customize according to your business’s needs.
- Display reports as bar chart, pie chart or scatter plot.
Cons
- No cloud access.
- Outdated user interface.
- No live customer support, business software integrations or online payment processing.
ZipBooks
Best for Free bank account connection
Starting at
$0
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $15, $35, custom.
Promotion
30-day free trial
Pros
- Free plan includes one automated bank feed and unlimited invoicing.
- Chat support in all plans.
- Can accept payment via Square or PayPal.
Cons
- Must subscribe to paid plan to invite accountant.
- Must subscribe to $35 Sophisticated plan to tag transactions by location, contact or project.
Manager
Best for Free desktop-based accounting software
Starting at
$0
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $59 for cloud edition.
Promotion
14-day free trial
of cloud edition.
Pros
- Includes unlimited invoicing, bank feeds, project tracking and inventory management.
- Email support available.
Cons
- Must upgrade to cloud edition to support multiple users.
- User interface looks less modern than competitors.
- Cannot accept online payments.
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Free plan - Accountant access in all plans
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- Nonprofit
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Zoho Books
Best for Overall free accounting software
Starting at
$0
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $20, $50, $70, $150, $275.
Promotion
14-day free trial
of the Premium plan.
on Zoho Books' website
Pros
- Free plan includes accountant access and up to 1,000 invoices per year.
- Email support in free plan; phone and chat support in paid plans.
- Offers five paid plans that can scale with your business.
- Has in-house software for marketing, inventory, payroll, social media, etc.
- Can accept payments via Zoho Payments, Stripe or PayPal.
Cons
- Must subscribe to paid plan to automatically import bank transactions.
Zoho Books tops our list because of its feature-packed free plan and scalability. While it has the capacity to grow with your business, its free plan also has the necessary features to get your small business off the ground (which is good, since businesses that already make more than $50,000 in annual revenue aren't eligible for this plan).
You can use it to send up to 1,000 invoices per year, accept online payments through Stripe and PayPal, send estimates and recurring invoices, manage 1099 contractors and create bank rules for categorizing transactions. There’s also a mobile app that allows you to send invoices through iMessage or add widgets to your iPhone’s home screen so that you can easily access overdue invoices.
In addition to its free plan, Zoho Books has five paid plans — which is easily more than most of its competitors offer. The lowest-tier paid plan, for example, gives you access to reporting tags, customized reporting and phone and chat support (whereas the free plan offers support only by email).
Higher-tier plans include more advanced features, like workflow rules, purchase orders, cash flow forecasting and custom roles. And you can integrate with a wide range of other Zoho suite products, like Zoho CRM, Expense and Inventory (additional subscription fees may apply).
Pros
- Free plan includes accountant access and up to 1,000 invoices per year.
- Email support in free plan; phone and chat support in paid plans.
- Offers five paid plans that can scale with your business.
- Has in-house software for marketing, inventory, payroll, social media, etc.
- Can accept payments via Zoho Payments, Stripe or PayPal.
Cons
- Must subscribe to paid plan to automatically import bank transactions.
Zoho Books tops our list because of its feature-packed free plan and scalability. While it has the capacity to grow with your business, its free plan also has the necessary features to get your small business off the ground (which is good, since businesses that already make more than $50,000 in annual revenue aren't eligible for this plan).
You can use it to send up to 1,000 invoices per year, accept online payments through Stripe and PayPal, send estimates and recurring invoices, manage 1099 contractors and create bank rules for categorizing transactions. There’s also a mobile app that allows you to send invoices through iMessage or add widgets to your iPhone’s home screen so that you can easily access overdue invoices.
In addition to its free plan, Zoho Books has five paid plans — which is easily more than most of its competitors offer. The lowest-tier paid plan, for example, gives you access to reporting tags, customized reporting and phone and chat support (whereas the free plan offers support only by email).
Higher-tier plans include more advanced features, like workflow rules, purchase orders, cash flow forecasting and custom roles. And you can integrate with a wide range of other Zoho suite products, like Zoho CRM, Expense and Inventory (additional subscription fees may apply).
Pros
- Free plan includes accountant access and up to 1,000 invoices per year.
- Email support in free plan; phone and chat support in paid plans.
- Offers five paid plans that can scale with your business.
- Has in-house software for marketing, inventory, payroll, social media, etc.
- Can accept payments via Zoho Payments, Stripe or PayPal.
Cons
- Must subscribe to paid plan to automatically import bank transactions.
Wave Accounting
Best for Easy invoicing
Starting at
$0
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $19
Promotion
N/A
on Wave's website
Pros
- Free plan includes unlimited invoicing.
- Offers in-house bookkeeping assistance and payroll add-ons.
Cons
- Must subscribe to Wave’s Pro plan or other paid services (payroll, payments, etc.) for customer support from a human.
- Must subscribe to paid plan for accountant access and automated bank feeds.
- Must use Zapier for third-party integrations.
Wave was previously our top overall pick for free accounting software, but the platform has moved a number of features (including bank transaction imports and the ability to add users) to its paid plan. One thing that remains free is invoices, and if your business transacts mostly in that fashion, Wave makes it pretty easy.
Wave’s free plan lets you generate an unlimited number of estimates and invoices and customize them with your business logo. And with Wave’s mobile app, you can do your invoicing from anywhere. Wave can also generate the most important financial statements (profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow statement) along with reports on sales tax, payroll, aged receivables and aged payables.
Wave’s paid plan option gives you access to more features, like automated payment reminders; automated transaction import and reconciliation; and additional users for easy collaboration and sharing with your accountant. On top of that, the software offers different invoice templates depending on the type of business you run: consulting, freelance, legal services, marketing or professional services. Wave offers its own payroll software and payment processing, but you can’t integrate with third-party options.
Pros
- Free plan includes unlimited invoicing.
- Offers in-house bookkeeping assistance and payroll add-ons.
Cons
- Must subscribe to Wave’s Pro plan or other paid services (payroll, payments, etc.) for customer support from a human.
- Must subscribe to paid plan for accountant access and automated bank feeds.
- Must use Zapier for third-party integrations.
Wave was previously our top overall pick for free accounting software, but the platform has moved a number of features (including bank transaction imports and the ability to add users) to its paid plan. One thing that remains free is invoices, and if your business transacts mostly in that fashion, Wave makes it pretty easy.
Wave’s free plan lets you generate an unlimited number of estimates and invoices and customize them with your business logo. And with Wave’s mobile app, you can do your invoicing from anywhere. Wave can also generate the most important financial statements (profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow statement) along with reports on sales tax, payroll, aged receivables and aged payables.
Wave’s paid plan option gives you access to more features, like automated payment reminders; automated transaction import and reconciliation; and additional users for easy collaboration and sharing with your accountant. On top of that, the software offers different invoice templates depending on the type of business you run: consulting, freelance, legal services, marketing or professional services. Wave offers its own payroll software and payment processing, but you can’t integrate with third-party options.
Pros
- Free plan includes unlimited invoicing.
- Offers in-house bookkeeping assistance and payroll add-ons.
Cons
- Must subscribe to Wave’s Pro plan or other paid services (payroll, payments, etc.) for customer support from a human.
- Must subscribe to paid plan for accountant access and automated bank feeds.
- Must use Zapier for third-party integrations.
GnuCash
Best for Open-source free accounting software
Starting at
$0
Promotion
N/A
Pros
- Can customize according to your business’s needs.
- Display reports as bar chart, pie chart or scatter plot.
Cons
- No cloud access.
- Outdated user interface.
- No live customer support, business software integrations or online payment processing.
GnuCash is appealing for its fully free software and benefits that come with open-source technology, like faster iteration and improvement due to its crowdsourced development and testing. However, GnuCash will also require some familiarity with coding, as well as some comfort with using a checkbook-style register and entering transactions manually. Among other capabilities, you can split transactions and customize how the register is displayed.
GnuCash is desktop-based, meaning it must be locally installed on your computer. It’s compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems, but it cannot be accessed remotely like cloud-based software can.
Pros
- Can customize according to your business’s needs.
- Display reports as bar chart, pie chart or scatter plot.
Cons
- No cloud access.
- Outdated user interface.
- No live customer support, business software integrations or online payment processing.
GnuCash is appealing for its fully free software and benefits that come with open-source technology, like faster iteration and improvement due to its crowdsourced development and testing. However, GnuCash will also require some familiarity with coding, as well as some comfort with using a checkbook-style register and entering transactions manually. Among other capabilities, you can split transactions and customize how the register is displayed.
GnuCash is desktop-based, meaning it must be locally installed on your computer. It’s compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems, but it cannot be accessed remotely like cloud-based software can.
Pros
- Can customize according to your business’s needs.
- Display reports as bar chart, pie chart or scatter plot.
Cons
- No cloud access.
- Outdated user interface.
- No live customer support, business software integrations or online payment processing.
ZipBooks
Best for Free bank account connection
Starting at
$0
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $15, $35, custom.
Promotion
30-day free trial
Pros
- Free plan includes one automated bank feed and unlimited invoicing.
- Chat support in all plans.
- Can accept payment via Square or PayPal.
Cons
- Must subscribe to paid plan to invite accountant.
- Must subscribe to $35 Sophisticated plan to tag transactions by location, contact or project.
Competitors, like Zoho Books and Wave, only include automatic bank feeds if you subscribe to a paid plan, but ZipBooks allows you to connect to one bank account for free. Since transactions from that account are automatically imported, you don’t have to remember to kick off the process yourself each month. Similar to Zoho Books, ZipBooks also integrates with Square and PayPal for online payments.
Aside from payment options, free plan subscribers can also integrate with business apps like Gusto and Slack. Some competitors, like Wave, offer their own in-house payroll software, but it’s hard to find a free product that integrates with a popular third-party alternative like Gusto. In addition to offering these integrations, ZipBooks lets you snap photos of your expense receipts, track customer and vendor details, and send custom quotes and invoices. But you’ll have to subscribe to a paid plan to schedule recurring invoices and send automated payment reminders.
Pros
- Free plan includes one automated bank feed and unlimited invoicing.
- Chat support in all plans.
- Can accept payment via Square or PayPal.
Cons
- Must subscribe to paid plan to invite accountant.
- Must subscribe to $35 Sophisticated plan to tag transactions by location, contact or project.
Competitors, like Zoho Books and Wave, only include automatic bank feeds if you subscribe to a paid plan, but ZipBooks allows you to connect to one bank account for free. Since transactions from that account are automatically imported, you don’t have to remember to kick off the process yourself each month. Similar to Zoho Books, ZipBooks also integrates with Square and PayPal for online payments.
Aside from payment options, free plan subscribers can also integrate with business apps like Gusto and Slack. Some competitors, like Wave, offer their own in-house payroll software, but it’s hard to find a free product that integrates with a popular third-party alternative like Gusto. In addition to offering these integrations, ZipBooks lets you snap photos of your expense receipts, track customer and vendor details, and send custom quotes and invoices. But you’ll have to subscribe to a paid plan to schedule recurring invoices and send automated payment reminders.
Pros
- Free plan includes one automated bank feed and unlimited invoicing.
- Chat support in all plans.
- Can accept payment via Square or PayPal.
Cons
- Must subscribe to paid plan to invite accountant.
- Must subscribe to $35 Sophisticated plan to tag transactions by location, contact or project.
Manager
Best for Free desktop-based accounting software
Starting at
$0
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $59 for cloud edition.
Promotion
14-day free trial
of cloud edition.
Pros
- Includes unlimited invoicing, bank feeds, project tracking and inventory management.
- Email support available.
Cons
- Must upgrade to cloud edition to support multiple users.
- User interface looks less modern than competitors.
- Cannot accept online payments.
Manager is another free accounting option, and it offers software both for desktop and cloud access. It supports cash and accrual accounting and lets you manage purchase orders, track accounts receivable and payable, send invoices, and run an array of reports. In addition to the basic reports — like an income statement and balance sheet — you can generate reports on inventory, fixed assets, suppliers, customers and changes in equity. Other more advanced features include the ability to create separate tax codes for different line items in invoices, track inventory and assign production stages to items.
Pros
- Includes unlimited invoicing, bank feeds, project tracking and inventory management.
- Email support available.
Cons
- Must upgrade to cloud edition to support multiple users.
- User interface looks less modern than competitors.
- Cannot accept online payments.
Manager is another free accounting option, and it offers software both for desktop and cloud access. It supports cash and accrual accounting and lets you manage purchase orders, track accounts receivable and payable, send invoices, and run an array of reports. In addition to the basic reports — like an income statement and balance sheet — you can generate reports on inventory, fixed assets, suppliers, customers and changes in equity. Other more advanced features include the ability to create separate tax codes for different line items in invoices, track inventory and assign production stages to items.
Pros
- Includes unlimited invoicing, bank feeds, project tracking and inventory management.
- Email support available.
Cons
- Must upgrade to cloud edition to support multiple users.
- User interface looks less modern than competitors.
- Cannot accept online payments.
Jump to
How we choose the best free accounting software
What free accounting software we consider
How we keep our picks up to date
What features does the best free accounting software have?
What customer support does free accounting software offer?
Who is free accounting software for?
How to choose the best free accounting software
Looking for options with free trials?
If free options aren't robust enough to support your business as it grows, consider testing out a paid accounting software product’s free trial. That way, you can try it out before committing. Here are some of our top choices:
- QuickBooks Online: Free 30-day trial.
- Xero: Free 30-day trial.
- FreshBooks: Free 30-day trial.
- Zoho Books: Free 14-day trial.
Table of Contents
How we choose the best free accounting software
Our writers and editors gather more than 30 pieces of data for each accounting software product we rate. This list only includes products that have permanent $0-per-month plans. Free trials or discounts that expire do not count.
To make our picks, the remaining products needed to fill an industry-specific niche or stand out for a particular feature. We also wanted options that checked off most of these boxes:
- Basic income and expense tracking.
- Reporting.
- Unlimited invoicing.
- Cloud access.
- Live customer support.
- Double-entry accounting.
Some of the products we chose don’t include all of these features. That’s to be expected, though. Free products excel at pricing. But they don’t have all the valuable features of their paid counterparts. Think inventory tracking, advanced reporting, integrations, automated bank feeds.
This is why we don’t score some free accounting software products that aren’t on our list of the overall best accounting software. On paper, they score below our typical threshold for recommendation. However, they can still offer value to very small businesses that only need the basics.
What free accounting software we consider
NerdWallet's editorial team has evaluated more than 50 accounting software options, but this list only includes the free ones. That means we’re working with a much smaller market.
We focus on well-known accounting software products, like Wave and Zoho Books, that have free plan tiers. But we also look at more niche options that have a smaller market share and don’t charge a monthly fee.
Our writers and editors have covered or considered the following free accounting software:
Akaunting. Brightbook. Cloudbooks. GnuCash. Manager. NCH Express Accounts. Odoo. ProfitBooks. QuickBooks Solopreneur. TrulySmall Accounting. Wave Accounting. ZipBooks. Zoho Books.
How we keep our picks up to date
NerdWallet has a full-time team of small-business writers and editors. The free accounting software market doesn’t change as much as the market for paid products. But we still do our due diligence.
This mostly involves reviewing product information regularly. We do at least one full audit each year and reach out to providers if needed. Some updates happen off-cycle — like Wave’s addition of a paid plan with features that were once free. We make those changes as soon as they happen.
Updates to this guide for 2026
We previously recommended ProfitBooks, Brightbook and Odoo. However, we removed them for various reasons.
ProfitBooks has inventory management capabilities. But its free plan limits the number of products you can manage to 10. That’s not particularly useful for most business owners.
Brightbook, meanwhile, doesn’t use double-entry accounting like its competitors.
And though we give the paid version of Odoo high marks, its free plan only lets you use one app. That means you’d have to pay to access accounting and invoicing (two separate apps). Most free accounting software offers both at no cost.
What features does the best free accounting software have?
The table below lists useful features to look for in free accounting software. You can use it to compare products and find which ones fit your specific needs. Keep in mind that some products include capabilities, like automated bank feeds, in paid plans but not free ones.
| Zoho Books | Wave | GnuCash | ZipBooks | Manager | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited invoicing | X (up to 1,000 per year) | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Double-entry accounting | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Cloud access | ✔️ | ✔️ | X | ✔️ | X (paid plan only) |
| Automated bank feed | X (paid plans only) | X (paid plans only) | X | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Accountant access | ✔️ | X (paid plans only) | X | X (paid plans only) | X (paid cloud plan only) |
| Online invoice payments | ✔️ | ✔️ | X | ✔️ | X |
What customer support does free accounting software offer?
Free accounting software usually offers less support than paid products. That’s normal. But some free products have more resources than others. Use the table below to compare customer support channels across free accounting software plans.
| Zoho Books | Wave | GnuCash | ZipBooks | Manager | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat | X (paid plans only) | X (with paid add-ons only) | X | ✔️ | X |
| Email | ✔️ | X (with paid add-ons only) | X | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Phone | X (paid plans only) | X | X | X | X |
Some products, like GnuCash, don’t have live customer support. They do have official online forums, though. You can post questions and hear from developers and other users. You can also typically find help from unofficial communities, like on Reddit or Facebook. Company reps may not show up in these spots.
Neither option will get you an answer as quickly as using phone support. But they're still helpful resources.
Who is free accounting software for?
Free accounting software is sufficient for just a small subset of businesses. Think service-based freelancers, contractors and people with side hustles. These types of businesses often transact via invoice. And free accounting software products usually include some type of invoicing feature that gets the job done.
Sometimes, free accounting software can also work for businesses that don’t transact via invoice. But the business has to be very small and complete just a handful of sales each week. A good example would be someone selling homemade bread at a farmers market just one day per week.
If your business uses a POS system or has employees, free accounting software likely won’t cut it.
💬 Why I didn’t choose free accounting software
"Free accounting software sounds great. But in reality, it has a pretty niche market.
"When my husband opened a brewery, I had to decide if a free product would cut it. I decided it wouldn’t for the following reasons:
- It’s generally less automated and requires more manual data entry.
- Many products don’t have direct integrations with payroll software or POS systems. This is crucial.
- I was more familiar with user interfaces of paid products, like QuickBooks Online and Xero.
"Ultimately, software should make it easier to run your business. If a free program doesn't, a paid option will likely be the better choice to save you time and help ensure accuracy.
"You can usually opt for free trials of paid versions before committing to get a better idea of how user-friendly and capable the software is. And don’t forget to ask sales representatives about sign-up promotions — paid products typically offer discounts for the first several months."
— Hillary Crawford, lead writer covering small business
How to choose the best free accounting software
You might not be investing money when picking free accounting software. But you are investing your time. Follow these steps to find a solution that can accommodate your business in all of its stages.
1. List your must-have features. Free accounting software should have some combination of the following features:
- Income and expense tracking.
- Invoicing.
- The ability to automatically import your bank transactions so that you can categorize them.
- Third-party integrations or in-house software options for payments, payroll, etc.
However, it often lacks features you’d find in paid products. Examples include inventory management, advanced reporting and live support. If a free system doesn’t have everything you require, you’ll need to consider add-ons, upgraded versions or a different product altogether.
2. Evaluate whether you need cloud and/or mobile access. Most accounting software is cloud-based. That means you can access it anywhere there’s an internet connection. If this level of access is important to you, look for platforms with robust mobile websites or accounting apps. If you plan on only using your free accounting software from a single computer, a desktop-based option may work.
3. Think about your business’s growth potential. Your accounting needs might be modest today, but they may not stay that way forever. If you think your business will grow in the future, make sure your accounting software offers higher-tier plans or add-ons that can scale with your company.
4. Check in with your accountant. Accountants typically work with paid products like QuickBooks Online or Xero. But they may be familiar with some of the free ones listed here too. If you plan to work with an accountant come tax time, ask if they have experience with the free products you’re considering. And if you don’t plan to do your own bookkeeping, ask your bookkeeper the same.
Methodology
NerdWallet independently reviews accounting software products before determining our top picks. We collect the data for our software ratings from products’ public-facing websites and from company representatives. Our editorial team reviews information on a regular basis for consistency and accuracy.
We also periodically update our scoring system to reflect changing industry norms and business needs. For instance, in 2026, we stopped factoring in whether mobile apps work for both Android and iOS smartphones. If an accounting software product has its own mobile app, it’s almost always available for both operating systems.
NerdWallet’s accounting software ratings favor products that are easy to use, reasonably priced, have a robust feature set and can grow with your business. The best accounting software received top marks when evaluated across 10 categories and more than 30 subcategories. Learn more about how we rate small-business accounting software.
These ratings are meant to provide clarity in the decision-making process, but what’s best for your business will depend on its size, growth trajectory and which features you need most. We encourage you to research and compare multiple accounting software products before choosing one.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.
