Accounting Software · Invoicing Software
FreshBooks review
Invoicing-first accounting for freelancers and service firms, priced by billable client count.
FreshBooks at a glance
- Category
- Accounting Software, Invoicing Software
- Starting price
- $23/month (Lite, 5 billable clients)
- Pricing model
- per plan by billable client count plus per extra user
- Public pricing
- Yes
- Free plan
- No
- Free trial
- Yes
- Contract
- monthly or yearly toggle
- G2 rating
- 4.5 (981 reviews)
- Founded
- 2003
- Headquarters
- Toronto, Canada
- Security
- SOC 2 Type 1 (A-LIGN, announced Feb 2023; report under NDA)
Who FreshBooks is for
Choose FreshBooks if
- Freelancers and service businesses billing a limited number of clients.
- Teams wanting time tracking and invoicing in one tool.
- Buyers who want simple, guided accounting.
Look elsewhere if
- Teams that need many staff seats cheaply ($11 per extra user)
- Businesses needing inventory or deep ledger control.
FreshBooks pricing
| Plan | Price | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | $23/month | 5 billable clients | Intro $4.60/month for 4 months |
| Plus | $43/month | 50 billable clients | Adds accountant access, reconciliation, proposals |
| Premium | $70/month | unlimited clients | Adds accounts payable, project profitability |
| Select | Custom | unlimited clients | 2 team members included, phone support, onboarding |
Extra team member $11/month on every tier; Advanced Payments $20/month (included in Select); FreshBooks Payroll $40/month + $6 per user. Page shows a yearly toggle with 'Extra 10% off' but annual prices were not captured.
What FreshBooks really costs
- Per seat per month
- $11 per extra team member per month.
- Billing
- Monthly and annual.
- Annual discount
- Page mentions an extra 10% off for yearly; exact figures not captured.
- Add-ons
- Extra team member $11/month; Advanced Payments $20/month; Payroll $40/month + $6 per user.
Cheaper per seat than FreshBooks
Xero$0 per user (no per-user license fees per vendor page)
Zoho Books$2.50 per extra user per month (annual billing), $3 monthly.
Harvest$9 (Teams, billed annually) or $11 monthly.
FreshBooks features by buying criteria
| Criterion | What we found |
|---|---|
| Invoicing and billing | Recurring invoices and late payment reminders on all tiers. |
| Bank feeds and reconciliation | Bank reconciliation from Plus. |
| Financial reporting | Financial and double-entry accounting reports from Plus. |
| Expense and bill management | Expense tracking all tiers; bill scanning and accounts payable on Premium. |
| Payroll and sales tax support | FreshBooks Payroll $40/month + $6 per user. |
| Accountant access and integrations | Accountant access from Plus. |
| Pricing model | Client-count tiers plus $11 per extra user. |
| Target company size | Freelancers to small service firms. |
| Recurring invoices and subscriptions | Automated recurring invoices on all tiers. |
| Online payment acceptance | Cards, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay, BNPL; lower fees on Select. |
| Automated payment reminders | Automated late payment reminders on all tiers. |
| Sales tax and multi-currency | Tax-time reports on Lite; multi-currency not verified. |
| Accounting integration | Native accounting from Plus. |
| Time and expense billing | Unlimited time tracking and expenses on all tiers. |
| Branding and templates | Custom email templates on Premium; branding removal on Select. |
What reviewers say about FreshBooks
Praised for
- Very easy invoicing for non-accountants.
- Strong customer support reputation.
- Time tracking integrated with billing.
Common complaints
- Cost for solo users and annual price increases.
- Limited invoice flexibility.
- Access to records after cancelling.
Themes paraphrased from public reviews on G2 and similar sites, not quotes.
What most FreshBooks reviews leave out
- Plans are capped by billable clients (5/50/unlimited), not by users, so Lite stops working once you bill a sixth client.
- Every extra team member costs $11/month on all tiers; only Select includes 2.
- Only SOC 2 Type 1 found (Feb 2023), report available under NDA.
- Advanced Payments is a $20/month add-on except on Select.
- Accounting features like reconciliation start on Plus, not Lite.
FreshBooks alternatives
QuickBooks OnlineSmall businesses that work with an outside accountant who already uses QuickBooks.$38/month (Simple Start, 1 user)- XeroTeams that need unlimited users without per-seat cost.$27/month (Early)
WaveFreelancers and micro businesses wanting free bookkeeping.$0 (Starter); Pro $19/month- Zoho BooksSmall firms already on Zoho CRM or other Zoho apps.$15/month billed annually ($20 monthly) for Standard; Free plan available
- HarvestAgencies and consultancies that bill clients by the hour from tracked time.$9/seat/month billed annually (Teams); Free plan $0
Bill.comFinance teams that run both bill pay and invoicing in one tool with approval chains.$49 per user per month (Essentials)
FreshBooks compared
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from FreshBooks's own pricing, product or documentation pages, G2 and company records, checked on October 24, 2026. Unknown values are left out instead of estimated.