Bench vs Wave (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Wave grades higher than Bench: 2.4 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Bench grades higher on features. Wave grades higher on value for money, the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Bench
Bookkeeping done by an assigned bookkeeper, with optional tax filing
Wave
Free invoicing and bookkeeping for US and Canadian small businesses
Which one is for you
Pick Bench if
- Fits if you'd rather pay someone to do the monthly books than do them yourself
- Makes sense if you're a small US business that also wants tax filing from the same provider
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're a small outfit: $399 a month for the base plan and $649 with tax filing
- Skip it if you want a free plan or a trial, because there's neither
- Not for you if your business is outside the US
- Watch out: monthly tax pricing needs a 12-month commitment, and bigger QuickBooks plans start at $999 a month
- Watch out: Bench paused operations in December 2024 and resumed in January 2025 under Employer.com
Pick Wave if
- Fits if you're a sole trader in the US or Canada who mostly sends invoices
- Works for owners who'd pay Wave's own bookkeepers, from $149 a month, to keep the books
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if your business is outside the US or Canada
- Skip it if you bill by the hour, as there's no time tracking, projects or inventory on the listing
- Tight if you stay free, since every bank transaction is typed in by hand and card fees are 2.9% plus $0.60
- Watch out: live chat and email support need Pro or a paid add-on, and run weekdays 9 AM to 4:45 PM Eastern only
- Pricey if you add payroll, at $40 a month in the US plus $6 per employee and per contractor paid
How we grade them
| 1.6GPABenchWeak | 2.4GPAWaveFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$199 a month for Light and $399 for the base plan, against $26 in the middle for this category. A person does the work, but that's still the dearest tenth. | CPro is $19 a month, or $190 a year, between the cheaper quarter of accounting tools at $15 and the middle at $23. It buys bank feeds, receipt capture, late reminders and lower card fees, at a price in the middle of the range. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial on the pricing page. The 20% discount only comes with paying for 12 months at once. | BStarter is free with unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping records, plus a dashboard and reports. One person could live on that. The catch is typing in bank transactions by hand, because bank feeds need Pro. |
| Features | BMonthly books, year-end financials, tax filing, catch-up work and a QuickBooks Online option from one provider. The listing shows no gap in the bookkeeping job. | CInvoices, online payments, bookkeeping, bank feeds, receipt scanning and payroll as an add-on. The basics are there, but the listing shows no time tracking, projects or inventory, and Wave serves only US and Canadian businesses. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It's a service, so you hand over account access and answer your bookkeeper's questions instead of learning software. | C4.37 from 6,664 App Store ratings, below most accounting apps here. Live chat and email support come only with Pro or a paid add-on, on weekdays. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, for US businesses only. It reads your accounts, and works inside QuickBooks Online on the QBO plans. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with connections to Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Google Sheets, Capsule CRM and Make. Most third-party integrations need Pro, and there's no desktop app. |
| Best for | hands-off monthly bookkeeping for US businesses | free invoicing and books in the US or Canada |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Bench and Wave. How we grade
Price against what you get
Bench starts at $199 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Wave starts at $19 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Wave starts $180 a month lower. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 16 score higher than Bench for less, and 8 score higher than Wave for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Wave also covers invoicing, expense tracking and payroll.
At a glance
| Bench | Wave | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $199 per month, billed monthly (Bookkeeping Light) | $19 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | Starter plan: unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records, a dashboard and reports, and invoicing in the mobile app. Bank transactions are entered by hand. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Bench Accounting | Wave Financial Inc. |
| Price read from | bench.co | waveapps.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Bench
- Bench serves U.S.-based businesses; it is a service with a monthly fee, not software you run yourself.
- The base Bookkeeping plan is $399 a month, and Complexity 3 QuickBooks plans start at $999 a month.
- Monthly tax pricing needs a 12-month commitment bought at least 3 months before the filing deadline.
- Bench paused operations in December 2024 and resumed in January 2025 under Employer.com.
Wave
- Wave describes itself as serving businesses in the US and Canada, and its pricing page shows prices only in US and Canadian dollars.
- Payroll costs $40 a month in the US plus $6 per active employee and $6 per contractor paid (Canada: $25 CAD base).
- Bank feeds, automatic reminders and most third-party integrations need Pro; Starter has no bank import.
- Live chat and email support come only with Pro or a paid add-on, Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 4:45 PM Eastern.
Key features
Bench
- Assigned bookkeeper
- Each business is matched with a bookkeeper who reconciles accounts transaction by transaction and can be reached by phone, message or video call.
- Monthly books and year-end financials
- Plans deliver up-to-date monthly books and year-end tax-ready financial statements, with reviews by multiple bookkeepers each month.
- Business tax filing
- The tax plans add filing of business income tax returns by licensed tax professionals, with up to four advisory calls a year.
- Catch-up bookkeeping
- Past months that were never reconciled can be cleaned up; the page says catch-up for the current year is free with an annual plan.
- Work inside QuickBooks Online
- A separate QBO plan has Bench's bookkeepers work in your existing QuickBooks account instead of Bench's own software.
- Read-only account access
- Bench says it connects to financial accounts with read-only access to import transactions for bookkeeping.
Wave
- Invoices and estimates
- Unlimited invoices and estimates on the free plan. Pro removes Wave branding, adds reusable message templates and sends automatic late payment reminders.
- Online payments
- Customers pay invoices by card or bank payment once online payments are approved; deposits can be collected through estimates.
- Bookkeeping and bank feeds
- Unlimited bookkeeping records on every plan. Pro imports bank transactions through Plaid, then merges and categorizes them.
- Receipt capture
- Receipts uploaded from the mobile app, desktop or email become records by OCR. Included in Pro, or $8 a month on Starter.
- Wave Payroll
- Pays employees and contractors, with tax filing in all 50 US states and CRA remittances in Canada. A separate add-on.
- Wave Advisors
- Wave's in-house bookkeepers can keep the books for you or coach you to do them yourself, from $149 a month.
Plans
Bench
Bookkeeping Light$199
per month, billed monthly
Monthly books for micro businesses with $250K a year or less in revenue; 20% off with annual payment.
Bookkeeping$399
per month, billed monthly
Monthly books, year-end tax-ready financials and unlimited contact with your bookkeeper; $3,830 a year if paid annually.
Bookkeeping + Tax$649
per month, billed monthly
Bookkeeping plus business income tax filing and up to four tax advisory calls a year; $6,230 a year if paid annually.
Full-service tax$300
per month, 12-month commitment
Tax filing and year-round advisory without bookkeeping; $2,880 a year if paid annually.
QBO Bookkeeping: Complexity 1$399
per month, billed monthly
Cash-basis books kept inside your own QuickBooks Online, up to 500 transactions a month.
QBO Bookkeeping: Complexity 2$699
per month, billed monthly
Cash or accrual books in your QuickBooks Online, up to 2,000 transactions a month.
Wave
Starter$0
Unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and records. Card payments cost 2.9% plus $0.60 each, and bank transactions are not imported automatically.
Pro$19
per month, billed monthly
Bank feeds with auto-categorizing, unlimited receipt capture, late payment reminders, more users and card fees of 2.9% with no fixed fee on the first 10 a month.
Wave Advisors$149
per month and up
Pro features plus a dedicated bookkeeper who keeps the books and prepares monthly financial statements. Mobile receipts are not included.
Ways to pay less
Bench
- Annual discount
Save 20% on a 12-month plan
Bench's pricing page lists 20% off its bookkeeping, tax and QuickBooks plans when you pay for 12 months at once.
Wave
- Annual discount
Save $38 with annual Pro billing
Pro costs $190 a year when billed annually, against $228 for twelve monthly payments of $19.
- Other savings
Half off Pro for the first 3 months
New Pro subscribers paying monthly on Wave's website pay $9.50 a month for the first three months, saving $28.50, then the listed $19 a month.
- Other savings
Black Friday: Wave Advisors from $134 a month
Bookkeeping plans bought from November 2 to November 30, 2026 start at $134 a month instead of $149, with up to 25% off two-year plans and $30 to $40 off coaching sessions.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Bench or Wave?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Wave is cheaper to start with: $19 a month, against $199 a month for Bench. Bench starts at $199 per month, billed monthly (Bookkeeping Light), and Wave starts at $19 per month, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Bench or Wave?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Wave has a free plan. Bench does not.
Which platforms do Bench and Wave run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Wave lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.