10 Competitive FreshBooks Alternatives Contractors Must Check

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Freshbooks may be a great accounting software but it ain’t great as its alternatives. Limited third-party integration options, limited personalization, restricted report-generating capabilities, and most importantly being too costly for something that could be quite budget-friendly is where you must ponder upon. You must have encountered a few or all of them while using Freshbooks, which is why it becomes important to look for Freshbooks alternatives.

We’ll talk about a few of the best Freshbooks competitors in this article that provide comparable or extra features and functionality. This alternative can aid you in discovering software that more effectively meets expectations.

Software Benefits Pricing
Most PreferredInvoiceOwl
  • Several third-party integrations
  • Manage multiple businesses
    with a single account
  • Stay relaxed with Quickbooks
    sync for accounting task
Free trial:
  • 3-day FREE Trial
Monthly:
  • $28.99
Yearly:
  • $99.99
Quickbooks
  • Manage accounting
Simple Start:
  • $15/month
Essentials:
  • $27.50/month
Plus:
  • $42.50/month
Advanced:
  • $100/month
Xero
  • Pay bills through Xero
  • Connect your banks
Early:
  • $13/month
Growing:
  • $37/month
Established:
  • $70/month
Wave
  • Allow to take expert advises
  • Makes salary tasks a bliss
Free
Zipbooks
  • Manages accounts, billing,
    and expenses
Smarter:
  • $15/month
Sophisticated:
  • $35/month
Zoho
  • Manages your estimating
    and invoicing tasks
Free
Sage 50Cloud
  • Manages inventory
  • Manages payroll and reporting
Pro Accounting
  • $34.30/month
  • $346.80/year
Premium Accounting
  • $55.20/month
  • $554.20/year
Quantum Accounting
  • $91.45/year
  • $919.80/month
Accountedge
  • 10 users can manage
  • Streamlines billing
    and accounting
Account Edge Pro
  • $499/yearly
Cloudbooksapp
  • Manage your business’s
    billing and invoicing
Team Plan:
  • $9.99/monthly
Agency Plan:
  • $19.99/monthly
Lifetime Plan:
  • $999

Most Popular FreshBooks Alternatives

1. InvoiceOwl

If you need a simple-to-use estimate and invoicing software for a contractor that helps you quickly create professional estimates and invoices on the go, InvoiceOwl is your best option. This is a cloud-based estimating and invoicing software that enables you to create, manage, and send accounting documents like estimates, invoices, purchase orders, and credit memos.

invoiceowl

As we mentioned, it is a cloud-based estimating software. This means it stores all the data in one place and you can access it from anywhere, be it from your desk in the office or on the site. Wondering how? It allows you to create accounting documents, manage clients, and generate reports through your smartphone.

Now don’t get into the lifelong debate of iOS vs Android because InvoiceOwl treats both users equally and serves on both platforms. And did we forget the web-based app? Yes, it is available as a web app for contractors wanting to get things done on their laptops or computer.

Why is it better than FreshBooks?

What is missing in InvoiceOwl?

Why choose it?

InvoiceOwl allows you and your customer to digitally sign the documents in multiple ways. And no, your client does not need to install InvoiceOwl for this.

And that’s not all, we can go on and on counting its features and benefits. So, if we have to tell you all about it in a 20-second elevator pitch, we will tell you that it helps you win jobs, get paid faster, and know your business numbers at your fingertips. And if you are a geek like us who really likes to get into details, let’s know more about InvoieOwl’s features one by one.

Top features:

Estimates

estimates

InvoiceOwl lets you create and send accurate estimates professionally by letting you customize any of the available templates. These templates are designed by industry experts and help you include all the essential information needed to get your estimates approved.

Invoices

Once you issue estimates, you need to send invoices to request payments from your client and it helps you with that too. The InvoiceOwl app lets you convert estimates into invoices in just a single tap.

Online Payments

Now that you have issued an estimate and invoice to the client, you must be ready to receive payments, and that too promptly, right? So, InvoiceOwl lets you accept online payments via multiple payment gateways like Stripe, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. This lets you make getting paid quick effortlessly.

Clients Management

clients management

Managing clients can get quite hectic for contractors working on multiple projects. You need to maintain relations with the old clients and reach out to the new clients as well. This is where InvoiceOwl is ready to help you. It records information like company name, address, and contact details for unlimited clients to make client communication easy.

Financial Reports

financial reports

One of the most important factors in becoming a successful contractor, you need to know your numbers right. Thus, InvoiceOwl helps you to stay on top of your sales with a single click. It lets you generate annual sales reports based on the date of sales, items, and customers.

Furthermore, it also lets you have an insight into your customer aging data, which tells you which customer is likely to pay you on time and which is most likely to delay it by analyzing the history of that customer.

Criteria of comparison InvoiceOwl FreshBooks
Estimates
Invoices
Save clients
Purchase orders
Credit memos
Reviews
Free online invoice generator
Free online estimate generator
Mark up
Change Order
Templates 8 3

If that’s not enough, InvoiceOwl lets you create invoices and estimates online without requesting any sign-ups.

Pros
  • Fully customizable
  • 100% paper-free workflow
  • Online payments
  • Live tracking notification
Cons
  • Fixed fonts

Make Pen-and-Paper Invoicing a Thing of the Past

Leverage InvoiceOwl to the fullest to streaming estimating and invoicing tasks a child’s play.

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2. Quickbooks

quickbooks

Contractors often use multiple software to streamline their workflow and sometimes they might overdo it and create a situation where they need to manage multiple software to get things done. So, the last thing they would want is another software and that’s why Quickbooks accounting software lets you integrate various software and smoothen your business process.

What is better than FreshBooks?

  • Insightful data to support business choices
  • Provides detailed information on profit & loss
  • Integrate debit and credit card accounts

What is missing?

  • Requires training to operate
Pros
  • Easy integration
  • Easy to setup payroll
Cons
  • No undo button
  • Training needed

3. Xero

xero

Xero is an accounting software that helps you clear off all the items from your accounting to-do list. Right from invoicing and collecting payments for your services to paying your staff on time, it helps with everything. If you are a small business owner and have Xero accounting software, you would not need an accountant. 

What is better than FreshBooks?

  • Ease of use
  • Enhances user experience with enticing dashboard
  • In-person, webinars, online, and video-based training
  • More than 110 integrations
  • Great mobile application
  • Simplify accounting

What is missing?

  • Lack of third-party integration
Pros
  • Comments functionality
  • Informative and simple dashboard
Cons
  • Reports are limited

4. Wave

If you are looking for free accounting software, Wave is the right one for you. Yes, it is entirely free to use. If you are wondering how it makes money, it charges its cut on every transaction. Therefore, it is most popular amongst small businesses and freelancers. It is quite a straightforward accounting software that lets you keep the account journal digitally and updated.

wave

Moreover, this free FreshBooks alternative offers the invoicing feature as well that helps you create and send online invoices to your clients with just a click of a button. It helps you create multiple invoices with consistency using the customizable invoice templates.

What is better than FreshBooks?

  • Unlimited collaboration with third-party applications
  • Manage accounting with multiple businesses
  • Manage income and balance sheets
  • Generate reports

What is missing?

  • Requires you to pay for payroll management

So, if you are a newly started business trying to manage accountancy with minimal cost, you should check the Wave-free version.

Pros
  • Has a free version
  • Best for a freelancer
Cons
  • No live or phone support

5. ZipBooks

zipbooks

ZipBooks is the accounting software you need if you do not have much accounting experience and want to manage or organize accountancy for small businesses. This software makes your workflow simple and smooth. And the best thing is that you do not have to be an accountant to use this software.

What is better than FreshBooks?

  • Can leverage as payroll software
  • Gusto integration for employee wage management
  • Records payments automatically
  • Collect customer reviews

What is missing?

  • Lacks credit card integration
Pros
  • Feedback functionality
  • Profit and loss statements
Cons
  • No balance statement

6. Zoho

zoho

Zoho Books is an accounting software out of the suite of Zoho. And Zoho is one of the most reliable brand names, its integrity is undoubted. It helps you with everything and is more related to accounting.

What is better than FreshBooks?

  • Manages multiple currencies
  • Payments reminder
  • Manages revenue
  • Custom report generation

What is missing?

  • Poor customer service
Pros
  • Affordable
  • Great support
Cons
  • No cash flow prediction

7. Sage 50Cloud

Sage 50Cloud accounting software has all the basic features you need for your small business accounting. This software is one of the FreshBooks alternatives as it is capable enough to replace FreshBooks in your workflow.

sage 50cloud

It has proved to be one of the best FreshBooks competitors as it has great vendor management functionalities. It can save, manage, and organize all your vendors and customers for accurate reporting.

It helps small businesses to bring their accounting wherever they go by using mobile apps for Android as well as iOS. Additionally, it is a cloud-based app, so no matter how many mobile devices you may use, you can get updates on all of them. This helps you create unlimited invoices and manage them by tracking each of them automatically.

What is better than FreshBooks?

  • Manages inventory
  • Synchronizes stock and accounts
  • Allow you to budget 

What is missing?

  • Lack of updates
Pros
  • In-depth inventory module
  • User-friendly navigation
Cons
  • Expensive training

8. AccountEdge Pro

AccountsEdge Pro

AccountEdge Pro is a complete accounting software that helps small businesses to handle accounting efficiently. If you are a business in the growing stage, this could be an appropriate choice for your business accounting. It helps with organizing and managing all financial data of the company digitally.

What is better than FreshBooks?

  • Handle transition 
  • Better handle financial data

What is missing?

  • Lack of mobile application
Pros
  • In-Person Training
  • Best for Mac users
Cons
  • Finding previous years’ data can be a challenge

9. CloudBooks

CloudBooks is a FreshBooks alternative for freelancers and small business owners that do not want to limit their accounting department to an office desk.

cloudbooks

As the name suggests, it is a cloud-based accounting software. You can access your data from the site, your home, or anywhere else you want. The CloudBooks accounting software solves a particular problem that most freelancers and small businesses face quite often, which is late payments.

It allows you to cut your time short in creating invoices and sending them quickly to the customers and also encourages the customers to pay you online. Online payments make transactions fast and transparent.

So, if you work with a small team, this software can be the solution you are looking for.

What is better than FreshBooks?

  • Offers free plan
  • Dedicated customer service team

What is missing?

  • Lacks web application
  • Lacks user adding capacity
Pros
  • Robust functionality
  • Very nice looking front-end
Cons
  • The new invoice layout can be a bit confusing

10. Invoicera

If you are small to the mid-size business owner looking for faster invoicing, Invoicera is one of the FreshBooks alternatives for you.

Invoicera

Most business owners get confused with its name. They think it is only for invoices and tracking them.

Well, yes it is for that and much more. It not only tracks the invoices but the invoicing data too. Its intuitive dashboard lets you create invoices in zap and help you create custom workflows, and make data-driven financial forecasts.

What is better than FreshBooks?

  • Multi-lingual 
  • Easy to create invoice
  • Supports 30+ payment methods

What is missing?

  • No live support
  • Easy learning curve
Pros
  • Easy to import expense files
  • Handle multiple businesses
Cons
  • Inability to add categories on-the-fly

So that was the list of handpicked FreshBooks alternatives for you to get your business accounting done smartly.

However, this list is just to get you to know your options for the FreshBooks accounting software. We haven’t listed every feature of the listed software. We recommend you try them once before you make the commitment.

Now, if you have missed questions, here are the frequently asked questions with their answers.

Finding Alternative? Try InvoiceOwl

Manage multiple companies, sync your estimates & invoices with Quickbooks, and get the benefit of third-party integrations with InvoiceOwl.

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Frequently Asked Questions
  1. What is better than FreshBooks?

    You will get plenty of options that can be proved better than FreshBooks for your business. However, if you are a contractor wanting to streamline your accounting processes, InvoiceOwl can be far way better than FreshBooks for you.
  2. Is Xero better than FreshBooks?

    It really depends on the nature and size of your business. FreshBooks is generally great for very small businesses like freelancers and self-employed professionals. However, Xero suits a wide range of businesses from small to large businesses.
  3. What are the disadvantages of FreshBooks?

    FreshBooks is not perfect just like anything and that’s why it has many customers not happy with what it has to offer. But one of the most common ones across businesses is its cost.
  4. Is there a free version of FreshBooks?

    No, FreshBooks offers no such free version.
  5. Is FreshBooks free?

    No, FreshBooks is not free. You need to buy subscription plans to use it. However, it does provide a free trial.
  6. What’s the difference between QuickBooks and FreshBooks?

    QuickBooks is a complete accounting solution best for large-scale organizations, while FreshBooks suits freelancers and small size businesses more.
  7. What is the difference between Xero and FreshBooks?

    Xero is a better option for product-based companies that are more focused on selling goods or materials. And on the other hand, service-based small businesses prefer FreshBooks for accounting tasks.
  8. How long is FreshBooks’ free trial?

    You can use FreshBooks for 30 days if you sign up for the free trial.

Conclusion

In conclusion, contractors looking for an accounting and invoicing solution have a variety of alternatives besides FreshBooks. Xero, Wave, Zoho Invoice, and QuickBooks are a few renowned choices. But what could turn a gem for you is InvoiceOwl. It is budget-friendly software with all the features that Freshbooks shortfall.  Explore our estimating and invoicing software for FREE TRIAL to see how it could turn the tables for you. 

Author Bio
Jeel Patel
Jeel Patel
Founder

Jeel Patel is the founder of InvoiceOwl, a top-rated estimating and invoicing software that simplifies the invoicing and estimating processes for contractor businesses. Jeel holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from the University of Toronto, which has provided him with a strong foundation in business principles and practices. With understanding of the challenges faced by contractors, he conducted extensive research and developed a tool to streamline the invoicing and estimating processes for contractors. Read More

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