Wave
Wave is a completely free accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning platform designed for small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs who need professional financial tools without any subscript...
Rating
4.3 / 5
Pricing
Free (core features)
Features
5 Key Features
Category
Accounting Software
About Wave
Wave is a completely free accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning platform designed for small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs who need professional financial tools without any subscription cost. Unlike 'freemium' products that limit features, Wave's core accounting and invoicing functionality is 100% free with no user limits, generating revenue instead through optional paid services like payment processing and payroll. Wave includes double-entry accounting, financial reporting (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow), unlimited invoicing, and receipt scanning through its mobile app. Trusted by over 2 million small business owners, Wave is the go-to recommendation for micro-businesses and solopreneurs who need legitimate accounting software but aren't ready to invest in paid solutions like QuickBooks.
Key Features
Pricing
Free (core features)
Free TierPricing may vary based on plan, number of users, and add-ons. Visit the official website for the most up-to-date pricing information.
View full pricing detailsCompare Wave with Alternatives
See how Wave stacks up against other Accounting Software tools
Best Alternatives to Wave
Compare Wave with top-rated alternatives in the Accounting Software category
Wave
CURRENTRecommended Tools
Top-rated Accounting Software alternatives hand-picked based on ratings and features.
Stripe
Accounting Software
Stripe is the leading online payment processing platform for internet businesses, powering millions of companies from startups to Fortune 500s including Amazon, Google, and Shopify. Its developer-friendly APIs and comprehensive documentation have made it the default payment infrastructure for the tech industry, supporting credit cards, bank transfers, digital wallets, and 135+ currencies. Beyond payments, Stripe has expanded into a complete financial infrastructure platform with Stripe Atlas (business incorporation), Stripe Capital (business loans), Stripe Tax (automatic tax calculation), and Stripe Billing (subscription management). Stripe processes hundreds of billions of dollars annually and continues to innovate with products like Revenue Recognition, Financial Connections for bank account verification, and Stripe Climate for carbon removal.
Ramp
Accounting Software
Ramp is a corporate card and finance automation platform that has become one of the fastest-growing fintech companies by focusing on a simple value proposition: helping businesses spend less money. Its AI-powered spend management automatically identifies duplicate subscriptions, negotiates better rates with vendors, and surfaces cost-saving opportunities — saving the average customer 5% on total spend. Ramp provides unlimited free corporate cards with 1.5% cashback, automatic receipt matching, and real-time expense categorization that syncs directly to your accounting software. With built-in procurement workflows, vendor management, and price intelligence from its network of 25,000+ businesses, Ramp goes beyond expense tracking to actively help companies optimize their spending.
Brex
Accounting Software
Brex is a corporate card and spend management platform designed for startups and growing companies, offering credit cards with no personal guarantee required and up to 20x higher limits than traditional business cards. Its software platform combines corporate cards, expense management, bill pay, travel booking, and business banking into a unified financial stack that eliminates the need for multiple separate tools. Brex's real-time expense tracking and automatic receipt matching means employees never have to file expense reports, while admins get instant visibility into company spending with custom budgets and approval policies. Backed by $1.2 billion in funding and trusted by over 20,000 companies including DoorDash, Airbnb, and Scale AI, Brex has redefined corporate finance for the startup era.
FreshBooks
Accounting Software
FreshBooks is a cloud accounting software designed specifically for self-employed professionals and small service-based businesses that need professional invoicing, time tracking, and expense management without accounting complexity. Its invoicing engine is considered the best in the industry, with customizable templates, automatic payment reminders, late fees, deposit requests, and the ability to accept credit cards and ACH payments directly on invoices. FreshBooks tracks time against projects and automatically converts billable hours into invoices, making it particularly popular with freelancers, consultants, lawyers, and agencies. With automatic expense categorization, mileage tracking, and double-entry accounting reports that satisfy accountants, FreshBooks bridges the gap between simple bookkeeping apps and full accounting software.
Zoho Books
Accounting Software
Zoho Books is a comprehensive online accounting platform that's part of the Zoho ecosystem of 45+ business applications, offering seamless integration with Zoho CRM, Inventory, Payroll, and other tools. It provides end-to-end accounting automation including invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, project accounting, and inventory management at prices significantly lower than QuickBooks and Xero. Zoho Books' workflow automation engine lets you set up rules for recurring invoices, payment reminders, approval workflows, and more, reducing manual accounting tasks dramatically. With support for multiple currencies, tax systems in 180+ countries, and compliance with VAT, GST, and sales tax regulations worldwide, Zoho Books is an excellent choice for businesses operating internationally or those already invested in the Zoho ecosystem.
QuickBooks Online
Accounting Software
QuickBooks Online by Intuit is the most popular small business accounting software in the world, used by over 7 million businesses to manage invoicing, expenses, payroll, and tax preparation. It connects to over 750 business apps and automatically imports bank transactions for easy categorization and reconciliation, saving hours of manual bookkeeping. QuickBooks' receipt capture feature uses AI to extract data from photographed receipts and match them to transactions, while its tax categorization helps maximize deductions at tax time. With a massive ecosystem of accountants and bookkeepers trained on QuickBooks, finding professional support is easier than with any other accounting platform, making it the default recommendation for most small businesses in the US.
Compare Alternatives
See how Wave stacks up against top alternatives with detailed side-by-side comparisons.
Wave vs Others
Head-to-Head: Accounting Software Alternatives
Compare the top Accounting Software tools against each other.