Yes. Wave's Starter plan is free for unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping; you only pay processing fees of 2.9% plus $0.60 if customers pay by card. Pro costs $19 a month or $190 a year and adds bank transaction imports, receipt capture and reminders. Payroll is a separate add-on from $25 a month.

How much does Wave cost?

Wave publishes 3 plans: Pro at $19/mo, Payroll at $25/mo, Advisors at $149/mo. Every figure is read from the vendor's own pricing page; the pricing section above shows the source sentence for each tier.

Does Wave have a free plan?

Yes. Wave offers a free tier with limits; paid plans unlock higher usage or team features.

What are the closest alternatives to Wave?

In the same category we track FreshBooks, Xero and QuickBooks. Each has its own review page with verified pricing, and the comparison links above show them side by side.

What are the main drawbacks of Wave?

The trade-offs we noted: Feature depth is limited; Support is limited on the free product; Availability varies by country.

When should you not use Wave?

Skip Wave if: You take card payments on the free plan and object to 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction; You need inventory, multi-currency ledgers or advanced reporting; You want a dedicated bookkeeper on a budget — Advisors start at $149/month.

Finance Tools

Wave

Free accounting and invoicing.

What it is

Wave offers free accounting and invoicing for very small businesses, making money on payments and payroll instead. For a sole trader or a very small firm the free ledger and invoicing genuinely cover the job. It stops being enough once you need inventory, multi-currency or an accountant working in the file alongside you.

Wave pricing

Wave publishes 3 plans. Paid tiers start at $19/mo.

Wave plans and published prices, taken from the vendor’s pricing page.
Plan	Price	What the vendor’s page says
Pro	$19/mo	Pro $19/month or $190/year: bank imports, auto-categorisation, receipts, reminders; discounted processing
Payroll	$25/mo	Payroll from $25–$40/month; Advisors from $149–$199/month
Advisors	$149/mo	Payroll from $25–$40/month; Advisors from $149–$199/month

Prices read from the vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-08. Vendors change plans without notice — check the source before you budget. Source

Cheaper alternatives to Wave — same category, ordered by verified starting price.

Key features

Double-entry accounting
Keeps a real ledger with reconciliation rather than a spreadsheet.
Invoicing
Sends invoices and recurring bills with online payment links.
Receipt capture
Scans receipts and files them against expenses.

Strengths and trade-offs

What works well

Accounting and invoicing at no cost
Simple enough to use without training
Payments integrated

Where it falls short

Feature depth is limited
Support is limited on the free product
Availability varies by country

Who it is for

Freelancers and micro businesses with simple books.

Pick it or skip it

Pick Wave if

Freelancers and very small businesses that want free invoicing and bookkeeping
Owners who want bank imports and receipt capture for $19/month or $190/year
US and Canadian businesses that want payroll as an add-on

Skip it if

You take card payments on the free plan and object to 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction
You need inventory, multi-currency ledgers or advanced reporting
You want a dedicated bookkeeper on a budget — Advisors start at $149/month

Our verdict

Hard to argue with free for simple needs. Growth will push you to paid accounting.

Closest alternatives we track

Same category, ordered by verified starting price.

Frequently asked questions

Is Wave free?: Yes. Wave's Starter plan is free for unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping; you only pay processing fees of 2.9% plus $0.60 if customers pay by card. Pro costs $19 a month or $190 a year and adds bank transaction imports, receipt capture and reminders. Payroll is a separate add-on from $25 a month.
How much does Wave cost?: Wave publishes 3 plans: Pro at $19/mo, Payroll at $25/mo, Advisors at $149/mo. Every figure is read from the vendor's own pricing page; the pricing section above shows the source sentence for each tier.
Does Wave have a free plan?: Yes. Wave offers a free tier with limits; paid plans unlock higher usage or team features.
Who is Wave best for?: Freelancers and micro businesses with simple books.
What are the closest alternatives to Wave?: In the same category we track FreshBooks, Xero and QuickBooks. Each has its own review page with verified pricing, and the comparison links above show them side by side.
What are the main drawbacks of Wave?: The trade-offs we noted: Feature depth is limited; Support is limited on the free product; Availability varies by country.
When should you not use Wave?: Skip Wave if: You take card payments on the free plan and object to 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction; You need inventory, multi-currency ledgers or advanced reporting; You want a dedicated bookkeeper on a budget — Advisors start at $149/month.

What we checked

Public APIOffers a documented API you can build against.No
Mobile appHas a native app for iOS or Android, not just a mobile website.Yes
Open source / self-hostableSource is open and the tool can be run on your own infrastructure.No
SSO (SAML)Supports SAML single sign-on on at least one plan.No

“Not checked” means exactly that — we have not verified it, and we do not guess.

Evidence and freshness

Status: Vendor pricing page verifiedReviewed: 2026-09-08

Wave — Pricing ↗
Checked 2026-09-08 · Supports: Starter free: unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping; card payments 2.9% + $0.60, Pro $19/month or $190/year: bank imports, auto-categorisation, receipts, reminders; discounted processing, Payroll from $25–$40/month; Advisors from $149–$199/month

Limit: Vendor pricing page was reviewed by an editor on this date; this record is not a ToolCompare benchmark. Prices and limits change.

Compare Wave with alternatives

See all Wave alternatives ranked →

Tools that do the same job as Wave

Same job, different pricing. Verified starting price first.

Browse all tools we track →

More Finance Tools tools: see the full Finance Tools category

Work at Wave? Embed the verified-pricing badge

We read this pricing from Wave’s own pricing page on 2026-09-08. The badge says that and nothing more: no rating, no payment. How the badge works

HTML

<a href="https://toolcompare.net/tools/wave" title="Wave pricing on ToolCompare"><img src="https://toolcompare.net/api/badge/wave" alt="Wave pricing verified by ToolCompare" width="291" height="28"></a>

Markdown (README, docs)

[![Wave pricing verified by ToolCompare](https://toolcompare.net/api/badge/wave)](https://toolcompare.net/tools/wave)