The short answer. Wave is the strongest free competitor here and deserves credit for it: unlimited invoices and real bookkeeping at $0. The catch is what Starter withholds. Custom branding and automated late payment reminders sit behind the $19 Pro plan, and Wave is built primarily for the US and Canada. Invoice Forever gives you branding and reminders for nothing, and knows the tax rules for 61 countries.
What Wave costs
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $0/month | Unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping records |
| Pro | $19/month | $190/year. Adds branding, reminders, bank import |
| Wave Advisors | From $149/month | Bookkeeping done for you |
| Invoice Forever | $0/month | Everything, unlimited, with no paid tier to move to |
Prices read from Wave's own pricing page on 23 July 2026. Vendors change pricing often, so check the current figures before deciding. If something here is out of date, please tell us and it gets fixed.
Their free option
Genuinely generous: unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping. Excluded from the free plan are automatic bank transaction import and categorisation, receipt scanning, logo and brand customisation, and automated late payment reminders. Card payments cost 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction.
Where Wave is genuinely better
Writing a comparison page that finds no merit in the competitor would be a waste of your time, so here is the honest list.
- Real double-entry bookkeeping included at no cost, which is remarkable for a free product.
- Integrated card and bank payments, so clients pay the invoice directly and it reconciles automatically.
- Bank feeds on the Pro plan pull transactions in automatically.
- Receipt scanning, so a photo of a receipt becomes an expense record.
- A long track record and a large user base in North America.
Where Invoice Forever is the better answer
- Your logo and branding are free here. On Wave, brand customisation is a Pro feature at $19 a month.
- Automated late payment reminders are free here, and also behind Wave's Pro plan.
- Tax rules, currency and required fields built in for 61 countries. Wave is strongest in the US and Canada.
- A free EN 16931 / Peppol e-invoice export, which matters as the EU mandates arrive and which Wave does not offer.
- No payment-processing cut, because we do not handle your money at all.
So which one
Pick Wave if: You are in the US or Canada, you want bookkeeping and invoicing together for free, and you want clients to pay by card inside the invoice.
Pick Invoice Forever if: You are outside North America, you invoice in multiple countries or currencies, or you want your own branding and payment reminders without paying $19 a month.
Trying it costs nothing and needs no account. The invoice generator is open right now, so you can make a real invoice with your own details and see whether the output is good enough before moving anything.
Questions people ask
Is Wave actually free?
The Starter plan is genuinely free and includes unlimited invoices and bookkeeping. It excludes brand customisation, automated late payment reminders, receipt scanning and automatic bank import, which are on the $19 per month Pro plan. Accepting card payments costs 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction on either plan.
Can I use my own logo on a free Wave invoice?
Logo and brand customisation is listed as a Pro plan feature. On Invoice Forever, uploading your logo and branding every document is free, because there is no paid tier for it to live in.
Does Wave work outside the US and Canada?
It can be used more widely, but its payments, bank connections and tax handling are built around the US and Canada. If you invoice across Europe or elsewhere, a tool with per-country tax rules and an EU e-invoice export will fit better.