Canny Picks / Invoicing
Best invoicing tool under $30 a month
You want to send an invoice, get paid by card, and not think about it again. Three of the four popular tools do that for free or close to it.
Prices checked October 5, 2026 on each company's own pricing page. Written by Canny Software, Palm Desert.
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Wave, free, or $19 a month
The free Starter plan sends unlimited invoices with no client cap. Pro is $19 a month or $190 a year, which keeps you under $30 with room to spare. The catch is the card fee: 2.9% plus 60 cents per payment on Starter, and that 60 cents is double what most processors charge.
Zoho Invoice, free
There is no paid tier at all. You get 500 invoices a year and two users, with Zoho branding on the documents. It suits a shop where one or two people do the billing.
FreshBooks
It is a good product priced for someone else. The $23 Lite plan stops at 5 billable clients, and every team member is another $11 a month. A five-person shop on the Plus plan pays about $87 a month.
What five people actually pay
| Tool | Entry price | Realistic plan | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wave | $0 | Pro, $19 a month | Card fee of 2.9% + 60 cents on the free plan. Receipt scanning costs extra. |
| Zoho Invoice | $0 | $0, if two users is enough | 2 users, 500 invoices a year. Accounts idle for 180 days are deleted. |
| FreshBooks | $23 a month | Plus, $43 plus $11 per added person | 5-client cap on Lite. Promo prices jump to list price. |
| Square | $0 | $0 plus fees | Highest online card rate of the four: 3.3% + 30 cents. |
Per-month prices in US dollars before tax. Annual-billing prices are shown as the monthly equivalent where the company lists them that way.
How to decide in two minutes
If more than two people send invoices, use Wave. If it is just you and a bookkeeper, Zoho Invoice costs nothing and looks polished.
Take card payments on large invoices? Do the math on the fee before you choose. On a $2,000 invoice, 2.9% is $58. Ask customers to pay by bank transfer where the tool offers it.
Common questions
Is Wave really free?
The invoicing and bookkeeping are free on the Starter plan. Wave makes money on payment processing fees and on the $19 Pro plan.
Can I stay under $30 a month with FreshBooks?
Only on the Lite plan at $23, which is limited to 5 billable clients and one user. Most active shops outgrow it fast.
Do I need separate accounting software?
Wave includes basic bookkeeping. Zoho Invoice does not, so you would pair it with Zoho Books or another accounting tool.
Paying for more than one of these?
List everything on the stack audit page and see a free draft of what to cut.