Guides · Comparison · Facts checked 2026-09-05
Wave vs Pocket Business: which free invoicing app costs less?
Both are genuinely free to invoice from. The difference is what a card payment costs and what comes with it — and the answer depends on the size of your average invoice.
Wave is the free invoicing app most people name first, and it has earned that: unlimited invoices on the free plan, real double-entry bookkeeping included, and a long track record. If you have narrowed it down to Wave or us, this page gives you the numbers rather than adjectives.
The fee structures, side by side
| Wave (Starter, free) | Pocket Business (Free) | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $0 | $0 |
| Invoices | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Card payment | 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction | Stripe's rate (2.9% + 30¢ in the US) + 0.5% to us, capped at $25 |
| Total on a $60 invoice | $2.34 | $2.34 ($2.04 Stripe + 30¢ us) |
| Total on a $120 invoice | $4.08 | $4.08 |
| Total on a $500 invoice | $15.10 | $17.30 |
| Total on a $2,000 invoice | $58.60 | $68.30 |
| Bookkeeping | Included | Reports (revenue, P&L, AR aging) and CSV export; no bank feeds |
| Paid plan | Pro $19/mo — removes the per-transaction fee for some payment types, adds features | Starter $9.99 / Pro $24.99 — our-domain email, receipt scanning, logo, seats |
Wave figures read from waveapps.com/pricing on the date at the top of this page; Stripe's US card rate from stripe.com/pricing. Both change; check before deciding.
The crossover is about $120. Below that average invoice, the two cost the same to within cents. Above it, Wave's flat 60¢ is cheaper than our 0.5%, and the gap widens with the invoice. If you write $2,000 invoices and everyone pays by card, Wave saves you real money.
Where Wave is better
- Accounting. Wave's free plan is a real ledger with bank connections; ours is reports off the invoices and payments, plus a CSV export for your bookkeeper.
- Large invoices paid by card, for the reason in the table.
- Maturity. Wave has been doing this for well over a decade.
Where Pocket Business is better
- Getting paid in person. A QR code the customer scans and a cash till, free, with no reader. Wave is built around emailed invoices.
- Starting without an account. The builder writes a complete invoice or estimate before you sign up; sign up to keep it.
- Estimates that become the invoice on acceptance, without retyping.
- Per-trade templates — ready-made line items for forty trades, written in each trade's own words.
- Small-ticket sellers. At a $20 sale the two cost the same, but our till is built for ringing up a basket at a stall.
The short version
Want bookkeeping in the same app, or your invoices are large and card-paid? Wave. Want to get paid on the job or at a stall, start without an account, and send estimates that convert? Pocket Business. Both are free to try, and neither caps your invoices.
Common questions
Does Pocket Business do bookkeeping?
It does reports — revenue by period, profit and loss against expenses you record, and accounts-receivable aging — and exports CSV for an accountant. It does not connect to your bank or do double-entry accounting; that is deliberately out of scope.
Can I use both?
Yes, and some people should: invoice and take payments here, and keep the books in an accounting product. Our CSV export is built for exactly that hand-off.