Hey —
Welcome to the first issue of the Freelance Rundown. One email per week. One honest tool comparison. No fluff.
Let's get into it.
This week: FreshBooks vs Wave — which invoicing tool is actually better for freelancers?
If you've googled "best invoicing tool for freelancers," you've seen these two names everywhere. FreshBooks is the polished paid option. Wave is the "free" one.
Except Wave isn't fully free anymore.
In 2024, Wave quietly moved automated reminders, bank imports, and receipt scanning behind a $19/month Pro plan. That means the real comparison isn't $0 vs $23 — it's $19 vs $23. And that $4 difference buys you a lot.
I signed up for both, sent test invoices, dug into the accounting features, and tested the mobile apps. Here's what I found:
FreshBooks wins on invoicing — better templates, auto payment reminders, and built-in time tracking
Wave wins on accounting — real double-entry bookkeeping, balance sheets, and P&L reports at no cost
The payment processing fees are almost identical — FreshBooks is slightly cheaper per credit card transaction
The full breakdown with screenshots, a pricing table, and my verdict:
Quick tool tip
If you use Wave's free Starter plan and miss having auto reminders: set a recurring calendar event for 3 days after each invoice due date. When it fires, manually check Wave for unpaid invoices and send a follow-up. Not as good as FreshBooks doing it automatically, but it costs $0.
Next week
I'm testing Toggl vs Clockify — the two most popular free time trackers for freelancers. If you bill by the hour, you'll want this one.
That's it for this week. If this was useful, forward it to a freelancer friend — that's the best way to help the Rundown grow.
— Ryan
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