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Your startup is making great strides, but does your manual billing process hold you back?
The logistics of processing subscriptions and chasing payments by hand can quickly become a nightmare. Imagine if Netflix used a manual billing system. You probably can’t—not with its millions of subscribers around the globe, each with their own plan, payment method, and billing cycle.
Many budding subscription-based startups face this reality. With a growing base, managing subscriptions can become more overwhelming. Customers don’t get notifications about their upcoming payments and the process of getting your money slows down.
To speed things up without testing your bank account, we suggest free billing software. These tools automate the monotonous stuff, so you can spend more time doing what you love – running your business.
We've put together a list of the top free invoice software and reviewed their features and G2 user feedback to help you choose the best one for you.
At G2, we rank software solutions using a proprietary algorithm that considers customer satisfaction and market presence via authentic user reviews. Our market research analysts and writers spend weeks testing solutions against multiple criteria set for a software category. We give you unbiased software evaluations – that's the G2 difference! We don’t accept payment or exchange links for product placements on this list. Please read our G2 Research Scoring Methodology for more details.
The free invoice software list below contains real user reviews from the best free billing software category page. Please note that within the context of this list, software that requires payment after a free trial is considered free.
To be included in this category, a solution must:
This data was pulled from G2 in 2024. Some reviews may have been edited for clarity.
While cloud-based solutions dominate the market, QuickBooks Desktop Pro still holds its ground for businesses that prefer on-premise invoice app. Renowned for its long-standing presence in the market, it offers invoice processing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, and inventory management.
Pros of QuickBooks Desktop Pro |
Cons of QuickBooks Desktop Pro |
| Offers a high degree of customization | Lacks advanced automation features for invoicing and bill payments |
| Locally installed, offering full control over data | On-premise installation and maintenance can be time-consuming |
| Comprehensive accounting features, including payroll and vendor management | Requires regular updates and system maintenance |
“QuickBooks Desktop Pro is an excellent choice for managing the financial aspects of a new business. With its broad user base and extensive usage, you can easily find staff skilled in its features. It also simplifies sharing critical financial information with your CPA. The software offers great flexibility, allowing you to export reports and data to Excel or PDF.”
- QuickBooks Desktop Pro Review, Bert H.
“One aspect of QuickBooks that I find challenging is that it allows for modifications to entries. Unlike many accounting systems, which maintain a permanent audit trail for all processed transactions, QuickBooks doesn’t always ensure that changes are tracked in a way that guarantees accountability. As your business expands and more individuals get involved in accounting, you'll likely need a system with a robust audit trail feature to ensure that every action is recorded and verifiable. This feature will help maintain the integrity of your financial records and support accurate auditing.”
- QuickBooks Desktop Pro Review, Bert H.
BigTime primarily works as a time and expense management software, but it has billing capabilities. It tracks payments and billable hours, offers advanced resource allocation, generates professional invoices, and manages project profitability.
Pros of BigTime |
Cons of BigTime |
| Strong time-tracking capabilities | Complex to set up and configure |
| Integrated project management features | Mobile app lacks compared to the desktop version |
| Comprehensive expense tracking and reporting | Reporting features limited |
“The implementation process with BigTime was excellent. Our implementer was very accommodating and helped us get started smoothly. Since February, BigTime has proven easy to use and well-suited to our firm's unique specialty and project structure. Our implementer played a key role in setting up our projects effectively. We are now exploring analytics and reporting and look forward to leveraging this data to enhance our efficiency and success.”
“The reporting section needs improvement. Although the information is displayed, it’s hard to understand and verify because there isn’t enough detail on how the fields calculate the numbers. Additionally, I dislike how useful features are offered as new standalone products rather than being integrated into updates for existing customers.”
- BigTime Review, Kunal S.
FreshBooks targets freelancers and small business owners with its cloud-based invoicing and accounting software. It offers invoicing, time tracking, expense tracking, and payment processing, as well as a friendly user interface.
Pros of FreshBooks |
Cons of FreshBooks |
| Strong invoicing and payment features | Difficult to implement new workflows or processes. |
| Strong mobile invoicing app for on-the-go invoicing | Lacks advanced features for complex financial management |
| User-friendly interface for small businesses | Limited inventory management features |
“I've been using FreshBooks for six months and love how easy it is to match bank and Square feeds, restore transactions, and upload comma-separated values (CSV) files. Reports and navigation are smooth. Overall, I prefer FreshBooks and look forward to using it more with clients.”
- FreshBooks Review, Stephanie P.
“I recently experienced a delay with automated clearing house (ACH) payments via Stripe, which took a week to clear – problematic for my business that relies on ACH due to high credit card payment fees. FreshBooks’ deposit feature, while useful for maintaining accurate accounts, locks invoices until deposits clear, which is impractical for urgent payments. I have to use workarounds and manually record deposits, but FreshBooks' flexibility is a significant advantage.”
- FreshBooks Review, M.A.
BILL AP/AR manages accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR). It handles invoice creation, payment processing, and reconciliation. With AI-powered automation, it transforms AP into a strategic function and provides data-driven insights to optimize cash flow.
Pros of BILL AP/AR |
Cons of BILL AP/AR |
| Strong focus on automating AP and AR processes | Limited customization options for complex business needs |
| Supports various payment methods, including automated clearing house (ACH) | Learning curve for advanced features |
| Strong integration capabilities | User interface is complex for new users. |
“The platform's integration of both AP and AR functions is a significant advantage, benefiting from a network effect where numerous customers and vendors are already on board, streamlining the information exchange. Its user-friendly interface and easy setup are complemented by seamless integration with QuickBooks Online.”
- BILL AP/AR Review, Ariel N.
“The AR system falls short, often plagued by persistent glitches that prove challenging for both users and support to resolve. It appears less developed and maintained compared to other systems, with recent feature enhancements causing more issues than they solved, resulting in a frustrating cycle of incremental progress.”
- BILL AP/AR Review, Samuel D.
Salesforce Revenue Cloud uses advanced analytics, contract lifecycle management, and revenue recognition capabilities to help businesses maximize revenue, improve forecasting, and reduce operational costs.
Pros of Salesforce Revenue Cloud |
Cons of Salesforce Revenue Cloud |
| Strong integration with Salesforce CRM | Complex to implement and configure |
| Comprehensive quote-to-cash functionality | Integration with enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions is technically challenging |
| Highly customizable to fit specific business needs | Can be very expensive, especially for smaller businesses |
“Salesforce Revenue Cloud is essential for managing customer relationships, covering everything from quoting to billing. It enhances transparency throughout the sales cycle, improving customer engagement and analyzing sales trends for future planning. Users appreciate the real-time data in a cloud interface, which provides detailed insights into product histories and sales numbers. This centralized approach enables efficient management of complex deals and helps businesses control revenue generation effectively.”
- Salesforce Revenue Cloud Review, Aashish P.
“Unlike many other Salesforce modules, Billing is a foundational platform that requires substantial effort and consulting to implement. Configure, price, quote (CPQ) focuses on data rather than settings, so consider using a deployment tool like Gearset to transfer configurations between environments. While CPQ enables grouping items in quotes, price rules cannot be applied to these groups, necessitating custom scripts for such functionality.”
- Salesforce Revenue Cloud Review, Jean-Francois T.
Wave, designed for small businesses, makes it easier to customize bills with free invoice templates, set up recurring billing, and offer your customers online payment options. It integrates with Wave's accounting software for optimized bookkeeping.
Pros of Wave |
Cons of Wave |
| Intuitive interface for quick setup and operation | Costly features like time tracking and inventory management |
| Tailored invoice templates to match business branding | Underwhelming reporting capabilities |
| Connects with Wave's accounting software | Potential for data migration issues |
“As a small business, I can handle all my monthly billing quickly and easily, and it's free! I only pay when I choose to accept online payments, and I can turn off online payments for big invoices to avoid the fees. As long as they keep the current pricing structure, they've got my business forever.”
- Wave Review, Peter V.
“The stats on the dashboard can be confusing, and more explanations would be helpful. The way discounts are handled is also frustrating, as they show up as a 100% price income plus a partial return, which complicates the stats. To avoid this, I no longer use the discount feature and simply charge a lower price directly. Additionally, I don't like that the invoice number appears in the reference line when sending, but I'm glad it can be deleted – thanks, Wave!”
- Wave Review, Elli C.
Xero, well-known for its user-friendly interface and integration capabilities, caters to small businesses. Cloud-based, it offers invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, and inventory management.
Pros of Xero |
Cons of Xero |
| Comprehensive accounting features with real-time bank feeds | No built-in payroll feature in some regions |
| Multi-currency support is available in higher plans | Can have a steep learning curve for new users |
| Strong integration capabilities | Limited inventory management features |
“Xero enhances productivity by integrating seamlessly with various third-party apps and services, such as payroll software, CRM systems, and payment processors. It automates key accounting tasks like bank reconciliations, invoicing, and expense tracking, saving time and reducing the risk of errors.”
- Xero Review, Md. Habibur R.
“The new invoicing screen slows down my workflow, and while I understand I need to adjust, it’s challenging when busy. Additionally, in the contacts area, it would be helpful to have a report that identifies contacts without any associated transactions (bills, invoices, etc.). This would make it easier to clean up unused contacts.”
If you feel overwhelmed by the wealth of information about free invoice software solutions, this comparison table will help you with the most important aspects:
|
Software |
G2 rating |
Free plan |
Paid plan |
|
QuickBooks Desktop Pro |
4.3/5 |
Free trial available |
Starting at $47 per year |
|
BigTime |
4.5/5 |
Free trial available |
Starting at $15 per month |
|
FreshBooks |
4.5/5 |
Free trial available |
Starting at $7.60 per month |
|
BILL AP/AR |
4.4/5 |
Free trial available |
Starting at $45 per user per month |
|
Salesforce Revenue Cloud |
4.2/5 |
Free trial available |
Starting at $200 per user per month |
|
Wave |
4.3/5 |
Available |
Starting at $16 per month |
|
Xero |
4.3/5 |
Free trial available |
Starting at $14.50 per month |
Essential features of free invoice software include easy customization, multiple payment options, automated payment reminders, expense tracking, and basic reporting. Additional features like recurring invoices, time tracking, and inventory management can be valuable depending on your business needs.
Free invoice software providers generally prioritize data security, but check their security measures. Look for features like data encryption, secure logins, and regular security updates.
Free invoice software offers core invoicing functionalities but may have restrictions on features, users, storage, or advanced reporting. Some might include advertisements or limited support options. Explore paid billing software.
Consider your business size and industry, as different sectors have unique invoicing needs. Evaluate factors such as ease of use, customization options, payment gateways, integration capabilities, customer support, and user reviews. It helps to test multiple options to find the software that best aligns with your requirements.
By embracing a free invoice solution, you're not just lowering costs. You’re reclaiming precious hours that can be invested in customer acquisition, product development, or simply enjoying a better work-life balance.
Don't let invoicing become a bottleneck. Choose a solution that empowers you to scale your business.
Your time and resources are valuable – invest them wisely.
Check out invoice management software solutions and accelerate payment approvals.
Edited by Aisha West
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