There’s no better feeling then getting paid. That moment — when you get a notification that your bank account just received an influx of cash — is hard to beat.
And for companies and private contractors alike, the best way to get paid is to implement an effective invoicing and billing software into your revenue lifecycle.
Businesses use invoice and billing software to easily create and send invoices to customers as a means to request payment for products or services they have provided. Through the use of this software, companies reduce the time spent on manually sending and receiving payments, and ensure that each payment is accurately recorded.
For each product we provide:
For products with G2 verified user reviews, we have included:
These products have more than 440 validated user reviews on G2 as of April 19, 2019. They only represent a small portion of the more than 330 billing and invoicing software offerings listed on our platform. Whenever possible, the products are ranked by user satisfaction.
The list we’ve outlined below includes the top billing and invoicing software that specifically provide free offerings. The free versions may only support one user or one project, but they’re truly free offerings. Scaling, however, will often require full investment.
Product reviews and G2 star ratings were updated as of April 19, 2019.
Product Name: Wave
G2 Star Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews: 171
Wave invoicing is 100% free, no trials, no limitations, and no hidden fees. Their free software includes invoicing, accounting, and receipt scanning. What customers really like about Wave is it's ease of use, as Wave ranked as the second easiest software to use in our small-business accounting category. On top of this, Wave has great customizable invoice templates and offers a great recurring billing feature.
Image courtesy of Wave
“I really like that I can set up recurring invoices for my monthly clients, and that the invoices ship out on the correct day ensuring that I get paid in a timely manner. I also enjoy the monthly expenditure tracking that is included in this web app.”
— Wave review by Corey D.
“I think the fees for accepting payments online is slightly too high. We only use that feature once in a while since we can get better rates through other methods. Being an online-based accounting platform puts some security risk into the equation. We never know if Wave will get breached or if our passwords will get stolen.”
— Wave review by Russell O.
Product Name: ZipBooks
G2 Crowd Star Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews:70
User review data reveals that ZipBooks beats out market leader Quickbooks Pro in ease of use, ease of setup, quality of support, ease of doing business with and meeting requirements. The data speaks for itself: ZipBooks is a robust free billing software that allows users to add expenses, track time, create projects, create tasks within projects, print accounting reports, send invoices and receive payments in the application, and set recurring invoices.
Image courtesy of Zipbooks
“I love the fact that I can set up and send an invoice in a few minutes, pulling in existing products and services (complete with description). The addition of a time tracker was unexpected and very appreciated! I use it to keep track of the hours spent on certain projects with those clients that prefer hourly payment over per-project pricing. ZipBooks also allows for past hours tracked that are unpaid to be automatically pulled into a new or an existing invoice, making it super simple to make sure everything is included in an invoice before sendoff. The invoices are simple, clean, beautiful and there is an 'include PDF' option when sending out the invoice to clients (for those that prefer to print out and save their invoices). The customer support is phenomenal — the support staff is friendly and helpful.”
— ZipBooks review by Diego L.
“I would love more documentation. There are things that are incredibly intuitive about the application, but there are also things that don't make sense unless you know exactly what to do. The support team really help with that though, as they are always quick to respond.
— ZipBooks review by Mike W.
“If you are on the fence, try out the basic FREE plan first, to set up your business (it won't take more than a few minutes), and then play around with the invoicing software. You'll see that it's super simple, easy, and quick to create a beautiful, clean invoice. When you feel like you got the hang of it (again, won't take you but a few minutes) go to their pricing page and decide which plan you need. I'm on the Smarter plan, valued at $15/month. It's perfect for me and my small business.”
— Zipbooks review by Diego L.
Product Name: Zoho Invoice
G2 Star Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews: 86
Zoho Invoice offers a forever free plan that is perfect for businesses with less than 5 customers. If you're a small business that is just starting out then this is the way to go, as Zoho offers great features such as invoice template customization, workflow automation, and easy collaboration within their client portal.
Image courtesy of Zoho Invoice
“I absolutely love that Zoho Invoice has a free, full-featured plan. The only thing that it does not include is a custom domain and you are limited to invoicing no more than five customers at any given time. I also cannot get over the fact that it works seamlessly with Zoho Inventory. As of right now, my business only has two customers that we invoice, so this software and plan is a perfect match for us!”
— Zoho Invoice review by Joshua K.
“The interface can get too simple and once you select a currency for a contact, it is fixed and in order to change it, you must delete the whole contact and repeat throughout the process, a very big hassle, also there is no clear way to send automatic follow-up invoices.”
— Zoho Invoice review by Sean F.
“I strongly recommend other small enterprises to use this software to do their invoices. It is not only that is easy to use, but also that you can combine it with other Zoho extensions, which gives you a lot of functionalities in only one program.”
— Zoho Invoice review by Esteve V.
Product Name: Invoice Ninja
G2 Star Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews: 43
Invoice Ninja is an open source invoicing platform that was built with freelancers and small businesses in mind. With their open source platform, Invoice Ninja offers businesses to self host the platform on their own servers. This allows users more customization over their invoice, quote and email templates. If self-hosting is not in your interest you can always utilize their free web version which offers recurring invoicing, project management, and over 40 payment gateway integrations.
Image courtesy of Invoice Ninja
“The ability to create professional-looking invoices quickly, mark off payments and provide a portal to my clients so that they can see all invoices and payments. It is easy to go in and amend invoices and partially pay invoices. It supports online payments but I don't use that at present.”
— Invoice Ninja review by Thomas O.
“Being cloud-based it can sometimes have delays which has caused me some issues such as sending out the same invoice more than once. It doesn't seem possible to enter a single payment for multiple invoices but they are continually improving the system.”
— Invoice Ninja review by Thomas O.
“I think it's important to make sure you have someone who can help you install it if you decide to self-host. If you're just using the online version, you're good to go.”
— Invoice Ninja review by Tim C.
Product Name: Invoicely
G2 Star Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews: 14
Invoicely offers a great program for small businesses that handle a lot of clients. This program allows users to send unlimited invoices to an unlimited number of businesses, as well as track business performance with real-time reports.
Image courtesy of Invoicely
“I'm a freelancer and I need to spend a minimal amount of time invoicing. I've tried various solutions (too many to name here, but Billings was my weapon of choice on the Mac) and none come close to Invoicely. Love the interface, how quickly you can jump back between settings and invoices in case you forgot something. I am using the free version as a trial but will upgrade without a doubt, it's a steal at $9.99/month.”
— Invoicely review by Christian S.
“I don't like that it wasn't easy to get credit card payments set up. The limits were cumbersome to work around. The companion piece, Eversign, should be integrated with the main dashboard. I would also like a better integration with credit card payments like Wave.”
— Invoicely review by a user in marketing and advertising
“If you’re just using it for a one-time thing like me then I'd go for it because of its ease of use. If you intend on using this regularly, I'd compare it to other software.”
— Invoicely review by user in management consulting
Product Name: and.co
G2 Star Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews: 18
And.co offers a barebones free plan that is ideal for freelancers. Their smart invoicing app automatically create invoices based on your projects and proposals. Then the app will also automatically notify you of when it's time to invoice based on what stage you are at within the project
Image courtesy of and.co
“The option to build a signable contract with an invoice and deposit all at once is very handy. It looks professional and allows my clients to pay with Stripe OR PayPal, an advantage over PP alone.”
— and.co review by an anonymous user
“The invoices are not as customizable as I would like. I haven't found a way to make them blend in with my current business theme.”
— and.co review by Angel A.
“Go for it! Make sure that it has all the features you need and then jump in and you'll be able to replace so many different systems for one, simple, integrated system. I went from using four different programs to manage my clients to using ONE — and.co!”
— and.co review by an anonymous user
Product Name: PayPal Invoicing
G2 Star Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 stars
Total Number of Reviews: 13
According to research by Paypal, 78% of PayPal invoices are paid within one day of sending the invoice. This displays how effective the software is, and the speed with which customers pay them back. Paypal also allows users to send unlimited invoices for free with no setup or monthly fee for online invoicing. 
Image courtesy of Paypal
“Love how easy this invoicing system is. I was able to customize with my company logo and there are plenty of options on what to include/exclude from invoicing. Invoice previews are a great available option here as well - integrates so nicely with my existing PayPal account! Super easy invoice lookup and notifications when invoices are paid/unpaid/need reminders.”
— PayPal Invoicing review by Taylor H.
“One minor thing they could improve upon, is adding more customization to the invoice options, but that is just me being picky. Overall, I have no complaints and PayPal invoicing definitely serves its purpose.”
— PayPal Invoicing review by Mariah K.
“Out of all the ways for payments, this is by far one of the fastest, easiest, and safest ways for means of transporting payments online today. Highly recommend to anyone and everyone.”
— PayPal invoicing review by Mariah K.
Product Name: Due.com
G2 Star Rating: 3.1 out of 5.0 stars
Total number of reviews: 10
Due.com touts itself as a free online invoicing software for business of all sizes. While it is free to signup with due.com, some users claim that the free version was limited and that they quickly had to upgrade to their paid version.
Image courtesy of Due.com
“This is without a doubt the most useful invoice application for people who run side businesses or side gigs and need a simple way to look professional and make keeping track of finances easier. You do not have to be a financial expert to use this! It also allows my customers to use credit cards which is great for them! I can easily keep track of payments and look them up or search at a later date for reference.”
— Due.com review by Megan N.
“The credit card processing fee seems high, but if you have a high volume of credit card invoices then it is worth it. There should be more customizability options for your invoices, giving them a more personal touch.”
— Due.com review by Megan N.
“If you want a program that is easy to use and solves multiple business problems, this is a great choice.”
— Due.com review by Joshua W.
Product Name: Invoicera
G2 Star Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars
Total number of reviews: 3
Invoicera offers a starter/free forever plan that offers users up to 3 clients and multiple businesses for invoicing. On top of this, Invoicera offers a free 15 day trial of their paid plan, so if you're looking to upgrade, make sure to check this out first.
Image courtesy of Invoicera
“We have been using Invoicera for two years now. Any small business should start with this tool to manage customer invoicing. No-problem tool, works as described.”
— Invoicera review by Palash B.
“This tool does not provide complete accounting and may find it difficult if competing with accounting tools like QuickBooks Online, etc.”
— Invoicera review by Palash B.
“We have been able to track, manage and monitor customer invoices. Benefits are greater visibility into the revenue flow and planning, timely collection.”
— Invoicera review by Palash B.
Product Name: Express Invoice
G2 Star Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars
Total number of reviews: 6
Express Invoice is an easy to use software that gives users the ability to create estimates, invoices and manage customer accounts. Express invoice also has a reporting functionality that allows users to keep track of payments, overdue accounts, sales team performance and more.
Image courtesy of Express Invoice
“I love Express Invoice because it is very user-friendly, I find that it is very easy to use. It gives me a professional polished invoice to send to my customers. I tried other invoicing software, but I like this one the best.”
— Express Invoice review by Eydie S.
“The previous software that I used (no longer available and will not run on Windows 10) allowed for setting up your own templates using a Word document. This allowed for more complete customization of the documents, but was also quite complex. Express Invoice allows for decent customization of the invoice, but there is much less available in customizing the quote. These are the two documents I use regularly.”
— Express Invoice review by Danny C.
“It is an inexpensive product that works as advertised. I believe that you can get a free trial. It isn't a complete accounting package. It is for creating and managing invoices. I believe that the one-time cost is $49. There is also other software available from NCH that will allow you to build a complete accounting package.”
— Express Invoice review by Danny C.
Product Name: Hiveage
G2 Star Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars
Total number of reviews: 6
Hiveage is an invoicing software that offers invoicing, quoting, time tracking, expense tracking and basic reporting of income. While their starter package starts at $15 a month, Hiveage offers a free invoice generator and demo.
Image courtesy of Hiveage logo
“This software makes sending estimates and invoices so easy! I've been using them for 5 years and have always loved the simplicity and organization. Customer service is quick and awesome too.”
— Hiveage review by a user in libraries
“Lack of reports, difficult to navigate to your network to make a simple change while in the middle of editing an invoice.”
— Hiveage review by a user in information technology and services
“Great, easy-to-use invoicing software that contains all the functionality of higher-priced invoicing systems such as custom themes, recurring invoices, offline payments, etc.”
— Hiveage review by a user in information technology and services
From invoice template generation to setting up recurring billing, invoicing and billing software can help streamline how your company sends and receives payments.
If you work in a specific industry and are looking for software that caters to your line of work, be sure to take a look at insurance billing software, legal billing software, medical billing software and subscription billing software.
Track all of your invoices, all in one place. Sign up for your free G2 Track plan and get unlimited spend tracking, monthly spending reports, and more.
* Please note: Reviews may have been edited for spelling and grammar.
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