Invoicing Software for Startups Compared

What to check for a startup
The tools

A startup's invoicing has to keep up as pricing and customers change: monthly subscriptions, annual prepayments with a discount, one-off setup fees, and customers who pay online or need a reminder. It also needs records your accountant can use. This page sets out what five tools say about those features on their own websites.

Billed publishes this page, and Billed is listed first. The other four tools are in alphabetical order. The page doesn't rank them. Each description quotes the vendor's own pages, opened on October 29, 2026. Prices and plans change, so check each vendor's pricing page for current details.

What to check for a startup

Recurring invoices for monthly or annual plans, so you don't rebuild each one.
Discounts, such as a lower price for paying a year upfront.
Online payments from the invoice, and reminders for late payers.
Time tracking, if you bill services or setup work by the hour.
Expenses and reports you can export and send to your accountant.
Team access, if more than one person sends invoices.
Currencies, if you bill customers abroad.

The tools

Billed

From Billed's own product pages:

Recurring billing: "For clients you bill on a schedule, set up a recurring profile once" (invoice software), and the recurring invoices page says Billed "creates a recurring profile for your customer and keeps all the payments and invoices related to that profile in one place".
Discounts and currencies: "Give a client a discount on an invoice, or create coupons" and "Choose different currency for each invoice or customer."
Payments: "Billed integrates with Stripe to enable online payments on invoices" and "Add your Paypal account to Billed to start accepting payments via Paypal on your invoices" (accept payments).
Follow-up: "Invoice reports show which invoices are paid, partially paid or past due, and you can see who owes you money and send them a payment reminder."
Time: "Log time for each task as you work, and see how much time goes into each project" (time tracking).
Expenses: each expense records "who you paid, when, how much and which category it belongs to, with the receipt attached to the same entry" (expenses and receipts).
Reports: "All reports in Billed can be exported for use with your accountant, bookkeeper, or tax software" (financial reporting). See also pricing.

FreshBooks

From FreshBooks' invoice software page:

"Recurring invoicing, time tracking, project management and reporting all seamlessly work together with this one, easy-to-use tool."
"Automate your entire billing workflow, from recurring invoices and card-on-file payments to sending reminders and charging late fees."

QuickBooks Online

From QuickBooks' invoicing page:

"Set up recurring invoices to auto-send every day, week, month, or year."
"Send customers an invoice they can pay online right away."
Under its "Add billable hours" feature, the page says you can "Automatically add billable hours to invoices with QuickBooks’ billing and invoicing software and Google Calendar."

Xero

From Xero's send invoices page:

"Customers can pay online straight from the invoice."
"Xero emails payment reminders for you, before or after the due date."
The same page lists "Recurring invoices" among its features.

Zoho Invoice

From Zoho Invoice's features page:

"Create recurring invoices for transactions that occur at regular intervals, so you don't have to create them individually every time."
"Effortlessly track time and bill your clients for hours spent on their projects."
"Offer your clients access to all their transactions in one place with the collaborative customer portal."
"Pick the payment gateway that suits you and start collecting payments online, on time."

Worked example: one month of invoices

The startup and figures here are a sample, invented for this example.

A software startup invoices three kinds of customer in one month:

Monthly subscriptions: 8 customers × $299 = $2,392.
Annual prepayment with a 10% discount:
- list price for the year: $3,000;
- discount: 10% × $3,000 = $300;
- invoice: $3,000 − $300 = $2,700.
Setup fee for a new customer: $1,500, with 50% invoiced upfront: 50% × $1,500 = $750. The other $750 is invoiced next month when setup finishes.
Month total invoiced: $2,392 + $2,700 + $750 = $5,842.

For this startup, the features that matter are recurring invoices for the monthly and annual plans, a discount on one invoice, and online payments with reminders so the $5,842 gets collected. Run your own month through the same check before choosing a tool.

Keeping track of what's owed

However you invoice, track which invoices are paid in full, paid in part or overdue, and follow up on the overdue ones. If you plan to charge late fees, check the rules where you and your customers are first. See how to manage cash flow, how to accept online payments and how to price your services.

When this guide isn't for you

This page covers invoicing for early-stage startups and small teams. If you run usage-based billing at scale, or need revenue recognition for audited financial statements, compare dedicated billing and accounting systems and ask your accountant.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a startup look for in invoicing software?

Recurring invoices for subscription plans, discounts, online payments from the invoice, reminders, time tracking if you bill services by the hour, and reports you can export and send to your accountant.

Can these tools send recurring invoices?

All five tools describe or list recurring invoices on the pages quoted here. Check each vendor's own pages for the schedules it supports.

Can customers pay online from the invoice?

All five tools describe online payments on the pages quoted here. Check which payment methods and providers each one supports for your customers.

Do these tools show prices on this page?

No. Prices and plans change, so check each vendor's own pricing page.

Which of these tools should a startup choose?

This page doesn't rank them. The right choice depends on how you price, whether more than one person sends invoices, whether you bill time, and each vendor's current plans, so compare their pages and try them with your own month of invoices.

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Invoicing Software for Startups in 2026: Five Tools Compared