QuickBooks Online vs FreshBooks for freelancers: price and limits compared

Prices checked on the official pricing pages on . Prices are in US dollars and can change at any time.

The short answer

FreshBooks is cheaper to start ($23 a month against $38) and built around invoicing clients, but Lite stops at 5 billable clients. QuickBooks costs more but is the software most US accountants already use, and it scales into payroll and inventory.

Choose QuickBooks Online if

  • Your accountant works in QuickBooks
  • You'll need payroll or inventory
  • You bill more than 5 clients but don't want FreshBooks Plus

Choose FreshBooks if

  • You mostly invoice a few clients
  • You want the lower starting price
  • You want proposals and retainers (Plus)

QuickBooks Online vs FreshBooks, side by side

QuickBooks OnlineFreshBooks
PriceSimple Start $38 a month for 1 user; Essentials $85 (3 users); Plus $140 (5 users). A 50%-off-for-3-months offer was showing when we checked.Lite $23 a month (5 billable clients); Plus $43 (50 clients); Premium $70 (unlimited). An 80%-off-for-4-months offer was showing when we checked.
Free planNo free plan. 30-day free trial.No free plan. 30-day free trial, no credit card required.
Best forBusinesses whose accountant works in QuickBooks, or that will need payroll and inventory later.Freelancers and consultants who bill a small number of clients.
Works onWeb browser, iPhone and iPad, AndroidWeb browser, iPhone and iPad, Android
Open sourceNoNo
Pros
  • Most US accountants already know it
  • Grows with you into payroll and inventory
  • Very easy invoicing for service work
  • Client-friendly invoices and payment pages
Cons
  • No free plan
  • Expensive for a one-person business once the discount ends
  • Lite plan limits you to 5 billable clients
  • Extra team members cost $11 a month each
Key features
  • Invoicing and online payments
  • Bank feeds and categorisation
  • Reports and tax-time exports
  • Accountant access on every plan
  • Invoices, estimates and online payments
  • Expense tracking
  • Proposals and retainers (Plus)
  • Project profitability (Premium)
LinksAlternatives
QuickBooks Online website		Alternatives
FreshBooks website

Prices checked on the official pricing pages on . Prices are in US dollars and can change at any time.

Neither quite right?

Other invoicing and accounting tools worth a look:

  • Wave: Free invoicing and bookkeeping, paid for mainly through card-processing fees. From $19/mo, free plan.
  • Zoho Invoice: A completely free invoicing app from Zoho, with no paid tier to upsell. Free, free plan.
  • Xero: Cloud accounting software that's especially common with accountants in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. From $27/mo.

Sources

Official pages we checked for the prices, plans and limits on this page:

How we choose and check these tools

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