Business ToolsThe most widely supported small business accounting platform in North America.
- Best for
- US and Canadian small businesses whose accountant works in QuickBooks
- Pricing
- Verify current pricing · Free trial
- Rating
- 4.3/5
FreshBooks
Invoicing-first accounting aimed at freelancers and service businesses.
4.0/5Editorial score — our assessment of fit and value
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- Best for
- Freelancers, consultants and small service businesses billing time
- Less suitable for
- Product businesses needing inventory and complex accounting
- Free option
- Free trial
What FreshBooks is
FreshBooks approaches accounting from the invoice rather than the ledger, which suits freelancers, consultants and small service businesses whose bookkeeping is mostly billing time and expenses.
Time tracking, proposals, retainers and project profitability are all built in, and the interface is the friendliest of the mainstream accounting tools.
It is less suited to product businesses with inventory, and billable client counts are capped by plan.
Key features
- Professional invoicing with online payments
- Time tracking tied to projects and invoices
- Expense capture and receipt scanning
- Proposals and retainers
- Project profitability reporting
The trade-off
Where FreshBooks helps, and where it costs you
What works well
- Best-in-class invoicing workflow
- Very approachable interface
- Good fit for billable-hours businesses
What to watch
- Billable client limits by tier
- Extra team members cost more
- Weaker for inventory and product businesses
FreshBooks pricing
- Starting price
- Verify current pricing
- Free option
- Free trial
- How it is charged
- Monthly tiers limited by number of billable clients, with additional team members charged per seat.
Always confirm pricing on the vendor's own pricing page before you buy — rates vary by region, billing term and current promotion.
Alternatives
If FreshBooks is not the right fit
Other business tools options worth putting on the same shortlist.
Business Tools
Business ToolsCloud accounting with unlimited users — strong in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
- Best for
- UK, Australian and New Zealand businesses, and any team needing multiple users
- Pricing
- Verify current pricing · Free trial
- Rating
- 4.3/5