Accounting & Invoicing

Contents

1. 01WelcomeWhat these tools do, how many we grade and what to know before choosing
2. 02Our top threeThe three we'd look at first, and who each one suits
3. 03What they costWhat paid plans start at, the best buy at each budget and the free plans
4. 04The gradesThe highest graded, and how the whole category does on each subject
5. 05Keep or make?Which are worth paying for, and which you could make yourself
6. 06Every toolAll of them, best graded first, with what each costs
7. 07Quick answersThe questions people ask when choosing, each answered in a line or two
8. 08About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it

ToolGPA put this guide together from each tool’s own pages, their app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on the Accounting & Invoicing page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 18, 2026.

Books, bank feeds, invoices and bills for a small business or a freelancer, ready for tax time.

Before you choose, here are 7 things to know about accounting and invoicing tools, worked out from every one we grade.

1. 1

   We grade 21 accounting and invoicing tools

   10 of them are free or have a free plan, and 10 more let you try before paying. Everything in this guide comes from their own pages and our grades.

2. 2

   Paid plans start at $21 a month in the middle

   From $2.07 (Odoo) to $59 (Manager.io), going by what each one's paid plans start at.

3. 3

   Best value: Zoho Books and Zoho Invoice

   Nothing on our chart scores higher than these without costing more.

4. 4

   16 of 21 have iPhone and Android apps

   21 run in a web browser and 4 have a Windows app. Check the one you need before you fall for anything.

5. 5

   The middle GPA is 2.4

   3 score 3.0 or higher. The highest is Zoho Invoice, at 3.6.

6. 6

   Best free option: Zoho Invoice

   Zoho Invoice has the highest GPA of the free ones, 3.6. Free invoicing app from Zoho for freelancers and small businesses.

7. 7

   21 worth keeping, 0 you could make

   By our keep-or-make rules, 21 do something you couldn't reasonably build yourself, 0 are simple enough to make with an AI app builder, and 0 are a close call.

Part 02 · Top three

Our top three

The three we'd look at first, and who each one suits

The three accounting and invoicing tools we'd look at first. First place suits the most people; second and third are the best picks for the people it leaves out. Each has an Insider's Guide of its own.

1. 1st

   

   3.4GPA

   Zoho Books

   Free plan · from $15/mo

   For: Most small businesses

   Zoho Books keeps double-entry books with invoices, quotes, expenses, bank reconciliation, 1099s and 50+ reports, free for businesses under $50K revenue a year, with 1 user plus an accountant. Standard is $15 an organization a month, billed annually ($20 monthly), for 3 users, and adds bank feeds, sales tax and API access. It runs on the web, Windows, iPhone and Android. Its iPhone and iPad app averages 4.8 from about 5,200 ratings. Know the limits: plans cap users at 3, 5, 10, 10 or 15, with more at $3 a user a month, invoices and bills are capped each year, and warehouses and Amazon, eBay and Etsy channels need Elite at $120 a month.

   The Zoho Books Insider’s Guide

2. 2nd

   

   3.2GPA

   Odoo

   Free plan · from $31.10/mo

   For: Teams of any size that want to pay nothing

   Odoo's One App Free plan gives you its Accounting app on Odoo Online for unlimited users and several companies, with no time limit. It connects to more than 28,000 banks, captures bills and receipts, follows up late payers, and comes with charts of accounts, taxes and e-invoicing set up by country. It runs on the web, iPhone and Android. It is second because it asks more of you: it is a wider business suite, and adding a second app moves every user, an outside accountant included, to a paid plan at $24.90 a user a month billed yearly for the first 12 months, then $31.10. AI bill scanning uses credits bought separately, and implementation services are not included.

   The Odoo Insider’s Guide

3. 3rd

   

   3.6GPA

   Zoho Invoice

   Free

   For: Freelancers who only need to send invoices

   Zoho Invoice is free for every business, with no paid plan: quotes, one-off and recurring invoices, payment reminders, online payments, a customer portal, expenses and time on projects, for up to 2 users, 2 organizations, 3 projects and 500 invoices a year. It runs on the web, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, and its iPhone and iPad app averages 4.9 from about 14,900 ratings. It is third because it does a smaller job than the two above: it keeps no books and hands that to Zoho Books or QuickBooks, every invoice carries Powered by Zoho Invoice branding, and an account left inactive for more than 180 days is deleted.

   The Zoho Invoice Insider’s Guide

Going by our grades, Zoho Books and Zoho Invoice give the most for the money among accounting and invoicing tools: no tool on this chart scores higher without costing more.

Paid plans start at a middle price of $21 a month across the 20 that charge, from $2.07 (Odoo) to $59 (Manager.io). 1 more costs nothing at all.

5 of the 21 score above the category's average while starting at or below its middle price. 4 cost more than the middle price and score below the average.

Every tool gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. Here are the 12 highest graded accounting and invoicing tools, then how the whole category does on each subject.

Tool	Value	Free	Features	Ease	Platforms	GPA
Zoho Invoice	A	A	C	A	A	3.6
Zoho Books	B	B	B	A	A	3.4
Odoo	A	A	B	C	B	3.2
Found	C	B	C	A	B	2.8
Manager.io	A	A	C	C	C	2.8
Square Invoices	D	A	C	A	B	2.8
FreshBooks	D	C	B	A	B	2.6
Xero	C	C	B	B	B	2.6
Bonsai	C	C	C	C	A	2.4
Dext	C	C	D	A	B	2.4
Moxie	B	C	C	C	B	2.4
Plutio	C	C	C	C	A	2.4

Some software does something you couldn’t reasonably build yourself. Some is simple enough that an AI app builder could make the core of it in an afternoon. Here’s where accounting and invoicing tools land, by the same rules for every tool.

• 21

  Keep it

  It does something you could not reasonably make for yourself, or it costs nothing.

• 0

  Your call

  You could make the core of it, and you would give something up.

• 0

  You could make this

  What it does is the kind of thing an AI app builder makes well, and it charges every month.

Every accounting and invoicing tool we grade, with its GPA and what it costs. Each one has a page of its own on toolgpa.com, with its Insider’s Guide.

1. 1Zoho InvoiceFree3.6
2. 2Zoho BooksFree plan · from $15/mo3.4
3. 3OdooFree plan · from $31.10/mo3.2
4. 4FoundFree plan · from $35/mo2.8
5. 5Manager.ioFree plan · from $59/mo2.8
6. 6Square InvoicesFree plan · from $49/mo2.8
7. 7FreshBooksFree trial · from $23/mo2.6
8. 8XeroFree trial · from $27/mo2.6
9. 9BonsaiFree trial · from $9/mo2.4
10. 10DextFree trial · from $25.21/mo2.4
11. 11MoxieFree trial · from $10/mo2.4
12. 12PlutioFree trial · from $15.83/mo2.4
13. 13QuickBooks OnlineFree plan · from $38/mo2.4
14. 14WaveFree plan · from $19/mo2.4
15. 15ZipBooksFree plan · from $15/mo2.4
16. 16AkauntingFree plan · from $72/yr2.2
17. 17FreeAgentFree trial · from $27/mo2.2
18. 18KashooFree trial · from $30/mo2.2
19. 19Patriot AccountingFree trial · from $20/mo2.0
20. 20ShoeboxedFrom $8.08/mo2.0
21. 21SynderFree trial · from $52/mo1.8

ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.

Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.

• 3,189

  tools graded

• 94

  categories

• 426

  price changes on record

• 579

  apps priced in 12 countries