Best Invoicing Software for Freelancers in 2026: 9 Tools and What They Really Cost

What Is Invoicing Software for Freelancers?

Invoicing software for freelancers creates and sends invoices, takes the client’s payment online, chases late payers with reminders, and keeps a record of who owes what. The better tools also turn tracked hours into invoice lines and handle recurring invoices for retainer clients.

What to check before you pick one

• The card fee on every payment. A freelancer who invoices $3,000 a month pays roughly $1,050 a year in card fees on most tools, which is more than the entry plan of every tool on this list.
• Client limits on the cheap plans. FreshBooks Lite stops at 5 billable clients, the free Invoice Ninja plan at 5 clients and AgencyKit Starter at 10.
• Whether it works in your country. Wave only serves businesses in the US and Canada, and Stripe only pays out in the countries it supports.
• Time to invoice, if you bill hourly. Hours tracked in the same tool become invoice lines without retyping.
• Recurring invoices and automatic reminders for retainer clients and late payers.

The Best Invoicing Software for Freelancers at a Glance

The starting prices for the best invoicing software for freelancers, as listed on each vendor’s page on October 8 and 9, 2026, in US dollars:

The 9 Best Invoicing Tools for Freelancers, Reviewed

1. AgencyKit: best for hourly billing and clients outside the US

AgencyKit is a client-to-cash tool where the invoice is the last step of the same record that holds the proposal, the contract and the tracked hours. AgencyKit costs $9 a month on Starter, $39 on Agency and $69 on Agency Pro, or $90, $390 and $690 a year, billed per account rather than per user.

Every AgencyKit plan includes branded PDF invoices, recurring invoices, a tax or VAT rate, multi-currency and time tracking, and billable hours flow straight onto the invoice. Online payments start on the $39 Agency plan, where the client pays through your own Stripe, PayPal or Paymob account and AgencyKit adds no fee of its own on top of the gateway’s rate. On Agency, signing a contract can raise the first invoice automatically.

Where it falls short: AgencyKit Starter at $9 a month caps you at 10 clients and 50 invoices and has no online payments, so a freelancer who wants card payments needs Agency at $39. AgencyKit isn’t accounting software: there are no bank feeds and no tax filing, so you still need an accountant or a tool like QuickBooks for the books.

Pick AgencyKit if you bill by the hour, work with clients in more than one currency, take payments through Paymob or PayPal as well as Stripe, or want the proposal, contract and invoice on one record.

2. Zoho Invoice: the best completely free invoicing software

Zoho Invoice costs nothing and has no paid plan; Zoho calls it a forever-free invoicing solution for small businesses and freelancers. Zoho Invoice includes quotes, recurring invoices, automatic payment reminders, expense tracking, time logging with projects, a self-service customer portal and multiple payment options.

Where it falls short: Zoho Invoice is built around invoices and quotes, so contracts and a sales pipeline live in other Zoho apps such as Zoho CRM. A business that outgrows Zoho Invoice can move to Zoho’s paid Zoho Billing.

Pick Zoho Invoice if you want free invoicing with time tracking and a client portal and don’t need proposals or contracts in the same tool.

3. Wave: free invoicing, but only in the US and Canada

Wave’s Starter plan costs $0 for unlimited invoices and estimates, and card payments cost 2.9% + $0.60 each (3.4% + $0.60 for American Express). Wave Pro costs $19 a month or $190 a year per business and drops the fixed $0.60 on the first 10 card payments each month, removes Wave branding and automates late-payment reminders.

Where it falls short: Wave has served only businesses in the US and Canada since November 2020, and Wave’s Help Center says users outside those two countries can no longer send invoices or reminders through Wave. Wave online payments also need approval, including identity verification and a credit review.

Pick Wave if your business is in the US or Canada and you want free invoicing with basic bookkeeping.

4. Invoice Ninja: free for up to 5 clients, with your own payment gateway

Invoice Ninja’s free plan allows up to 5 clients with unlimited invoices, and Invoice Ninja Pro costs $14 a month or $140 a year for unlimited clients. Invoice Ninja Enterprise is priced by users, from $18 a month for 1 or 2 users. Clients pay through a gateway you connect, such as Stripe, PayPal, Square or GoCardless, with a Pay Now button on the invoice.

Invoice Ninja has native apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android, and every paid plan comes with a 30-day money-back promise.

Pick Invoice Ninja if you have a handful of clients and want to choose your own payment gateway.

5. FreshBooks: invoicing with accounting built in

FreshBooks costs $23 a month on Lite for 5 billable clients, $43 on Plus for 50 and $70 on Premium for unlimited clients, with a 30-day free trial and no credit card. FreshBooks counts archived clients toward the limit, and each extra team member costs $11 a month. A first-year offer on Lite was running when we checked.

FreshBooks includes estimates, e-signatures, recurring invoices, scheduled late fees, automatic reminders, deposits, proposals and client retainers, alongside double-entry accounting.

Pick FreshBooks if you want invoicing and bookkeeping in one product and have few enough clients for Lite or Plus.

6. QuickBooks Online: invoicing inside full accounting

QuickBooks Online lists Simple Start at $38 a month for 1 user, Essentials at $85 for 3 users, Plus at $140 for 5 and Advanced at $340 for 25, with a discount for new customers when we checked.

Pick QuickBooks Online if your accountant already works in it and invoicing is one part of keeping full books.

7. Moxie: the cheapest invoicing plus proposals and contracts

Moxie costs $12 a month on Starter, $25 on Pro and $40 on Teams, or $10, $20 and $32 a month billed yearly. Moxie Starter already includes invoicing and payments, proposals and contracts, time tracking and a sales pipeline, which is more than most tools put on their entry plan.

Pick Moxie if you work alone and want invoicing plus proposals and contracts for the lowest price.

8. Bonsai: invoicing with accounting and tax tools

Bonsai charges per user: $15 a month on Basic, $25 on Essentials, $39 on Premium and $59 on Elite, or $9, $19, $29 and $49 billed yearly. Proposals and contracts start on Bonsai Essentials, and the Bonsai free trial lasts 7 days.

Pick Bonsai if you’re solo and want invoicing, bookkeeping and tax tools behind one login.

9. HoneyBook: invoicing for creative services

HoneyBook costs $29, $49 or $109 a month billed yearly, or $36, $59 and $129 monthly, and every plan includes invoices, online payments, proposals, contracts and a client portal. HoneyBook card payments cost from 2.9% + 25¢ each, and bank transfers (ACH) cost 1.5%.

Pick HoneyBook if you’re a photographer, designer or planner and the client experience is part of what you sell. See our HoneyBook pricing guide for every plan.

What Invoicing Really Costs a Freelancer: Plan Plus Card Fees

Here is the yearly cost of invoicing for a freelancer who sends one $3,000 invoice a month and is paid by a domestic card, on the tools that print their card fee. These totals are our own arithmetic from each vendor’s published rates, not figures the vendors publish.

Card fees come to roughly $1,050 a year on every tool in the table, so the difference between invoicing tools is the plan price and what the plan does, not the fee. Stripe charges 2.9% + 30¢ for a domestic card, plus 1.5% for an international card and another 1% when currency conversion is needed, so a client paying from another country can cost you 5.4% + 30¢ on a Stripe-based tool. Asking a large client to pay by bank transfer cuts the fee more than switching software does.

Can You Use Invoicing Software Outside the US?

Yes, but check two things: whether the software serves your country, and whether its payment gateway pays out there. Wave is the clearest limit on this list, because Wave serves only businesses in the US and Canada and has stopped letting businesses elsewhere send invoices through it.

Tools that connect to your own gateway give you more room outside the US. Invoice Ninja works with Stripe, PayPal, Square, GoCardless and others, and AgencyKit works with Stripe, PayPal and Paymob, which serves businesses in Egypt and the Middle East. AgencyKit also invoices in multiple currencies on every plan.

Is There Free Invoicing Software for Freelancers?

Yes. Zoho Invoice is completely free with no paid plan, Wave Starter is free for businesses in the US and Canada, and Invoice Ninja is free for up to 5 clients. The card fee on each online payment still applies on every free tool, so free invoicing software is free to use, not free to get paid through.

For a one-off invoice, our free freelance invoice template and the free invoice generator need no account at all.

How to Choose Invoicing Software as a Freelancer

• If you want to pay nothing for the software, start with Zoho Invoice, or with Wave if you’re in the US or Canada.
• If you have five clients or fewer, Invoice Ninja’s free plan or FreshBooks Lite covers you.
• If your accountant lives in QuickBooks, invoice from QuickBooks Online.
• If you also send proposals and contracts and work alone, Moxie Starter at $10 to $12 a month is the cheapest all-in-one.
• If you’re a creative business that sells on client experience, HoneyBook is the polished pick.
• If you bill hourly, invoice in several currencies, or take payments through Paymob or PayPal, AgencyKit puts the hours, the proposal, the contract and the invoice on one record.

Choosing a CRM at the same time? Our guide to the best CRM for freelancers compares seven tools on price, and how to send an invoice as a freelancer covers what every invoice needs.