Billed vs Wave

Wave has been one of the most recognizable names in free business software since its founding in Toronto in 2010. Originally built as a free alternative to QuickBooks, Wave attracted millions of small business owners by removing the subscription fee from invoicing and double-entry accounting entirely. The company was acquired by H&R Block in 2019, which added tax-filing synergies to the platform. Wave monetizes through payment processing fees and optional paid add-ons like payroll and professional bookkeeping — not monthly subscriptions for core features.

Billed takes a different approach. It is an invoicing and project management platform built for freelancers, agencies, and small businesses that want billing, time tracking, expense management, and projects unified in a single workspace. Rather than anchoring on accounting, Billed anchors on the billing workflow: create a project, track your time, log expenses, and convert everything into a polished invoice without switching tools.

This comparison is for anyone weighing the two platforms honestly. Wave's free price tag is a genuine advantage — particularly for bootstrapped businesses. But free comes with trade-offs in feature depth, support, and the hidden costs of bolting on third-party tools for the capabilities Wave lacks. Below, we break down every meaningful dimension so you can decide which tool actually fits your workflow.

Company Background

Wave launched in 2010 with a mission to give micro-businesses the financial tools they need at zero cost. By 2019 it had attracted over 4 million users, primarily in the United States and Canada. The H&R Block acquisition added resources and tax expertise, but Wave's product direction has remained focused on accounting-first workflows for very small businesses. The platform now includes invoicing, accounting, banking, payroll (paid), and payment processing.

Billed was built from the ground up for service professionals — freelancers, consultants, designers, developers, and small agencies — who bill clients for their time and expertise. Its core thesis is that invoicing should not live in isolation from the work it represents. By combining invoicing with time tracking, project management, expense management, and client portals, Billed eliminates the multi-tool overhead that service businesses typically face.

User Experience and Onboarding

Wave's onboarding is refreshingly simple. You create an account, connect your bank, and you are inside a clean dashboard showing income, expenses, and outstanding invoices. The interface is uncluttered because Wave intentionally limits its feature set. Most users can send their first invoice within ten minutes. The flip side is that the simplicity is structural — once you outgrow what Wave offers, there is no upgrade path within the platform for features like time tracking or project management.

Billed's onboarding is similarly fast. Most users send their first invoice in under five minutes. The dashboard surfaces active projects, pending invoices, tracked hours, and recent expenses in a single view. Because Billed includes more functionality — projects, timers, tasks, team collaboration — the interface has more depth, but the layout keeps things organized by context rather than overwhelming you with options. The learning curve is gentle, and optional features stay out of your way until you need them.

For pure invoicing with minimal setup, both tools are excellent. The gap appears when your needs expand beyond sending bills.

Invoicing

Both Wave and Billed support unlimited invoices on their free tiers, which is rare and genuinely useful. You can create professional invoices with your logo, custom colors, line items, taxes, and discounts on either platform. Recurring invoices are available on both, letting you automate billing for retainer clients or subscription services.

Where Billed pulls ahead is multi-currency support. Wave handles invoicing primarily in USD and CAD. If you work with international clients who prefer to pay in their local currency, Billed lets you set per-client currencies and automatically reflects the correct amounts on invoices. Billed also offers deeper template customization, allowing you to adjust layouts, add custom fields, and tailor the invoice appearance to match your brand more precisely.

Wave's invoicing includes automatic payment reminders and the ability to accept online payments directly from the invoice. Billed matches these capabilities and adds features like invoice scheduling, deposit requests, and the option to attach files to invoices — useful for creative professionals who deliver work alongside the bill.

For a solopreneur sending straightforward domestic invoices, both tools handle the job well. For anyone invoicing internationally or wanting tighter control over invoice presentation, Billed offers more flexibility.

Online Payments

Wave processes payments through its own integrated gateway. Credit card transactions cost 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction, and ACH bank payments cost 1% per transaction with a $1 minimum. These rates are competitive but not configurable — you cannot bring your own payment processor or negotiate volume discounts.

Billed integrates with Stripe and PayPal, letting you choose your preferred payment gateway. Standard Stripe rates are 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction — notably lower per-transaction than Wave's $0.60 fixed fee, which adds up on smaller invoices. PayPal integration gives your clients an additional payment method, which can reduce payment friction for international clients who already have PayPal accounts.

The practical difference matters most for businesses processing high invoice volumes or smaller transactions. On a $100 invoice, Wave charges $3.50 in processing fees versus Stripe's $3.20 through Billed. On a $50 invoice, Wave charges $2.05 versus Stripe's $1.75. Those differences compound over hundreds of monthly transactions.

Both platforms let clients pay directly from the invoice via a pay-now button, and both update the invoice status automatically when payment clears.

Accounting and Bookkeeping

This is Wave's strongest category by a wide margin. Wave includes free double-entry accounting — the gold standard for business bookkeeping. You get a chart of accounts, bank connections for automatic transaction imports, bank reconciliation, journal entries, and a full suite of financial reports including profit and loss, balance sheet, and sales tax summaries. For micro-businesses that want to handle their own books without paying for QuickBooks or Xero, Wave is genuinely hard to beat.

Billed is not an accounting platform and does not try to be. It tracks income through invoices and expenses through its expense management module, which gives you a clear picture of cash flow and project profitability. But it does not offer double-entry bookkeeping, bank reconciliation, or journal entries. If you need formal accounting, you will pair Billed with a dedicated tool or hand your records to an accountant at year-end.

For businesses whose primary pain point is bookkeeping, Wave is the obvious choice. For businesses whose primary pain point is the billing workflow — tracking time, managing projects, getting invoices out the door — Billed solves the daily problem while leaving accounting to a specialist tool.

Time Tracking

Wave does not include time tracking. If you bill by the hour — as many freelancers, consultants, lawyers, and agencies do — you need a separate tool like Toggl, Harvest, or Clockify. That separate tool costs money (typically $9–13 per user per month), and it creates a manual handoff: you track time in one app, then re-enter the hours in Wave to create an invoice. This workflow introduces friction, delays, and the risk of billing errors from manual data transfer.

Billed includes time tracking natively. Start a timer from any project, task, or client. Pause and resume throughout the day. When you are ready to bill, select the unbilled time entries and convert them into invoice line items in a few clicks. Hourly rates are set per project or per team member, and the invoice math is handled automatically.

For fixed-price work, time tracking is optional but still valuable — it tells you whether a project is profitable relative to the hours invested. For hourly work, built-in time tracking is not a nice-to-have; it is essential to accurate billing. The cost of adding a third-party time tracker to Wave often exceeds Billed's entire paid plan price.

Expense Management

Both platforms let you track business expenses, categorize them, and attach receipt images. Wave connects to your bank account and automatically imports transactions, which you then categorize and reconcile. This bank-connected approach is convenient for seeing all spending in one place and is tightly integrated with Wave's accounting module.

Billed takes a project-centric approach to expenses. You log expenses against specific projects and clients, attach receipts, and categorize by type. When it is time to invoice, you can include billable expenses directly on the client's invoice — useful for agencies that pass through costs like software subscriptions, travel, or subcontractor fees. Billed does not connect directly to bank feeds, so expense entry is manual or via receipt upload.

If your primary need is categorizing all business spending for tax purposes, Wave's bank-connected approach is more automated. If your primary need is tracking project-specific costs and billing them back to clients, Billed's approach fits better.

Integrations and Ecosystem

Wave offers integrations with a handful of tools including PayPal, Etsy, and Shoeboxed for receipt scanning. The H&R Block acquisition added tax-filing integrations. However, Wave's integration ecosystem is notably smaller than competitors like QuickBooks or Xero. There is a limited API, and Zapier connections extend reach somewhat, but deep native integrations are few.

Billed integrates with Stripe and PayPal for payments, and connects with popular tools through its API. The integration philosophy differs: Wave tries to be an all-in-one financial hub (accounting, invoicing, payments, payroll), while Billed focuses on being the best billing-and-project tool that plays nicely with your existing accounting software.

Neither platform matches the integration depth of QuickBooks or Xero, but for most small businesses, the essential integrations — payment processing, basic data export, and receipt capture — are covered by both. If your business relies heavily on a connected app ecosystem with dozens of native integrations, neither Wave nor Billed will fully satisfy that need, and a platform like QuickBooks or Xero may be worth evaluating despite the higher cost.

Mobile Experience

Wave offers mobile apps for iOS and Android that let you create invoices, capture receipts via camera, and view financial reports. The invoicing app is well-designed for quick invoice creation on the go, though some features available on the web are missing from the mobile apps.

Billed provides mobile-optimized access for invoicing, time tracking, and expense capture. The time tracking feature is particularly valuable on mobile — start a timer when you arrive at a client site and stop it when you leave, without needing your laptop. Expense receipt capture via the camera works on both platforms.

For field-based professionals who need to invoice and track time from a phone, Billed's mobile experience covers more ground. For receipt scanning and quick invoice review, Wave's dedicated apps are solid. If mobile is a critical part of your workflow — for example, if you are a consultant who tracks hours at client sites or a contractor who invoices from job sites — test both mobile experiences during your evaluation period to see which feels more natural for your daily tasks.

Customer Support

Wave's free plan comes with limited support — primarily a self-service knowledge base and community forum. Email support is available but response times can be slow, particularly for free users. Paid add-on users (payroll, professional bookkeeping) receive priority support with faster response times.

Billed offers email and live chat support on all plans, including the free tier. Most inquiries receive a response within a few hours during business days. Paid plan users get priority routing, and agencies on higher tiers can access onboarding assistance.

Support quality matters most when something goes wrong — a payment fails to process, an invoice displays incorrectly, or you need help with a data import. Having responsive support on the free plan is a meaningful differentiator for Billed. For businesses that rely on getting paid promptly, knowing that a support team can help resolve a payment issue within hours rather than days can make a real difference to your cash flow and client relationships.

Pricing Deep Dive

Wave is free for invoicing and accounting. Payment processing fees are 2.9% + $0.60 per credit card transaction and 1% ($1 minimum) for ACH bank payments. Payroll is a paid add-on starting at $20/month plus $6 per employee. Professional bookkeeping services start at $149/month. There are no per-user fees for the core platform because collaboration features are limited.

Billed offers a free plan with unlimited invoicing, client management, and basic features. The Pro plan at $9/month adds time tracking, project management, expense management, recurring invoices, and team collaboration. Higher tiers add features like multiple businesses and priority support. There are no per-user fees on any plan.

The hidden cost of Wave becomes apparent when you add the tools it lacks. A freelancer who needs time tracking ($10/month for Toggl), project management ($10/month for a basic tool), and multi-currency invoicing (not available on Wave at all) is spending $20+/month in add-ons on top of Wave's processing fees. Billed's $9/month plan includes all three natively.

For a business that truly only needs invoicing and accounting with no time tracking or project management, Wave's $0 price is unbeatable — and that is not a minor point. Millions of businesses operate happily on Wave for years without needing anything more. For anyone whose workflow extends beyond basic billing into time tracking, project management, or international invoicing, Billed's all-inclusive pricing is usually cheaper than Wave plus the add-on tools required to fill its gaps. Calculate your real total cost of ownership, not just the sticker price, before deciding.

Who Should Choose Wave

Wave is the right choice for solopreneurs and micro-businesses that need free double-entry accounting above all else. If your accountant requires you to maintain proper books with a chart of accounts, bank reconciliation, and financial statements, Wave delivers those capabilities without a subscription fee. Businesses that send fewer than 20 invoices per month, do not bill by the hour, and operate primarily in USD or CAD will find Wave handles their needs without compromise.

Ecommerce sellers and product-based businesses that need to track inventory costs, categorize transactions from bank feeds, and generate profit-and-loss reports will appreciate Wave's accounting depth. Startups with zero software budget who need something better than spreadsheets for financial management should start with Wave — it is the best free accounting tool available.

Who Should Choose Billed

Billed is the better choice the moment your work involves tracking time, managing projects, or invoicing in multiple currencies. Freelancers and consultants who bill by the hour need time-to-invoice integration that Wave cannot provide. Agencies managing multiple client projects simultaneously need task assignment, project timelines, and per-project profitability tracking — all included in Billed.

Teams of any size benefit from Billed's flat pricing with no per-user fees. A five-person agency pays $9/month total for Billed versus $0 for Wave plus $50+/month in time tracking and project management add-ons. International businesses that invoice clients in euros, pounds, or other currencies need Billed's multi-currency support, which Wave does not offer.

If your daily workflow centers on doing client work and billing for it efficiently, Billed keeps everything in one place.

The Bottom Line

Wave and Billed both offer free invoicing, but they solve fundamentally different problems. Wave is an accounting platform that includes invoicing. Billed is a billing platform that includes project management. Wave gives you the books; Billed gives you the workflow.

For a solopreneur who needs proper accounting at zero cost, Wave is the honest recommendation. For a freelancer, consultant, or agency that bills for their time and manages client projects, Billed removes the need for three or four separate tools and costs less than the add-ons you would bolt onto Wave.

The best way to decide is to try both. Wave's free accounting and Billed's free invoicing plan let you test each platform without financial risk. Start with the tool that solves your biggest daily pain point — if that is bookkeeping, start with Wave. If that is getting paid for your work, start with Billed.

Try Billed free today and see if it fits your workflow.