Bigcapital vs Invoice Ninja (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Invoice Ninja grades higher than Bigcapital: 2.8 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Bigcapital grades higher on features. Invoice Ninja grades higher on value for money, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Bigcapital
Open-source accounting you host yourself, with a cloud version planned
Invoice Ninja
Invoicing, expenses and time tracking with a free plan
Which one is for you
Pick Bigcapital if
- Fits if you can run Docker and want your books on your own server
- Works for developers who want open-source accounting they can modify
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't want to run a server, as the cloud version is only 'coming soon'
- Not for you if you need paid support, since none is published
- Watch out: you handle updates, backups and security yourself
- Watch out: AGPL-3.0 source-sharing rules apply if you modify and offer it to others
Pick Invoice Ninja if
- Fits if you're a freelancer with 5 clients or fewer and want invoicing for free
- Works for people who'd like to self-host their invoicing
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you have more than 5 clients: the free plan stops there
- Skip it if you want the API, branding removed or payment reminders for free, as they're Pro
- Not for you if you need bank sync or PEPPOL e-invoicing but don't want Enterprise
- Watch out: self-hosting is under the Elastic License v2, not an open-source license
- Too light for bookkeeping: it's invoicing, expenses and time, not a ledger
How we grade them
| 2.2GPABigcapitalFair | 2.8GPAInvoice NinjaGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CFree under AGPL-3.0, but only if you host it yourself, which needs a server. No paid plans are published. | BPro is $14 a month billed monthly ($140 a year), inside the category's cheaper quarter. Enterprise starts at $18 for 1 to 2 users and rises with user count. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree to run with no limits listed, though the only way to run it today is your own server. | BA free plan with 5 clients, unlimited invoices, online payments, recurring invoices and expenses. A freelancer can live on it until the sixth client. |
| Features | BSales and purchase invoicing, general ledger, bank reconciliation, inventory, multi-currency and branches. Nothing core is missing. | CInvoices, payments, time tracking, expenses and e-invoicing, but no ledger, and e-invoicing is Enterprise only. |
| Ease of use | DSelf-hosting with Docker, and updates and backups are yours. | CNo store rating on record. It's a web app where you build templates and connect payment gateways, with self-hosting as an option. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only. It runs on macOS, Windows or Linux servers and the site names no integrations. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, with Stripe, PayPal, Square, Zapier, Make and QuickBooks, and a REST API on Pro. |
| Best for | self-hosted open-source bookkeeping | free invoicing for a handful of clients |
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: Bigcapital and Invoice Ninja. How we grade
Price against what you get
Bigcapital has no paid plan and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Invoice Ninja starts at $14 a month and scores 2.7.
Invoice Ninja scores higher, and starts $14 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, none scores higher than Bigcapital for less, and 2 score higher than Invoice Ninja 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
- Bigcapital is open source, according to its own site.
- Bigcapital also covers reports, bookkeeping and inventory.
- Invoice Ninja also covers time tracking, expense tracking and quotes and estimates.
At a glance
| Bigcapital | Invoice Ninja | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $14 per month, billed monthly ($140 billed annually) |
| Free plan | The self-hosted edition is free under the AGPL-3.0 license; you pay only for your own server. | Up to 5 clients with unlimited invoices, 11 templates, online payments, recurring invoices, expenses and projects. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Bigcapital Technology, Inc. | Invoice Ninja |
| Price read from | bigcapital.app | invoiceninja.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Bigcapital
- Bigcapital Cloud is marked as coming soon, so the only way to run it today is to self-host.
- Self-hosting means you handle servers, updates and backups yourself.
- The AGPL-3.0 license has network-use source-sharing terms that apply if you modify and offer it to others.
- The site publishes no paid plans or support tiers.
Invoice Ninja
- The free plan stops at 5 clients; the API, branding removal and payment reminders need Pro.
- Bank sync and e-invoicing are Enterprise only, and Enterprise is priced by number of users.
- Self-hosted use is under the Elastic License v2, not an open-source license; reselling it as a service needs a separate agreement.
- Paid plans carry a 30-day money-back promise, per the pricing page.
Key features
Bigcapital
- Sales and purchase invoicing
- Creates customizable sales invoices and purchase invoices, and tracks receivable and payable accounts.
- General ledger and reports
- Keeps a general ledger and runs financial reports such as balance sheet, profit and loss and cash flow statements.
- Bank feeds and reconciliation
- The site lists bank feed syncing and bank reconciliation among its accounting modules.
- Multi-currency accounting
- Records transactions and manual journals in different currencies and uses exchange rates for conversion.
- Inventory and expenses
- Tracks inventory items and expense accounting alongside sales, with accrual and cash accounting both listed.
- Teams and branches
- Role-based permissions limit what each invited accountant or teammate can view or edit, and branches and warehouses sit in one ledger.
Invoice Ninja
- Invoices, quotes and recurring billing
- Create invoices with 11 templates, take deposits and partial payments, and set up recurring or automatic billing.
- Online payments
- Clients pay from a portal with gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, Square and GoCardless.
- Time tracking and projects
- Track billable time against projects, view them on Kanban boards and invoice the hours.
- Expenses and vendors
- Record expenses and vendors, and run reports on invoices, expenses and profit and loss on paid plans.
- E-invoicing
- Enterprise includes PEPPOL network access with 250 credits and bank account sync through Yodlee or GoCardless.
- Self-hosting
- The source code is on GitHub under the Elastic License v2, so you can run it on your own server using Docker.
Plans
Bigcapital
Self-hosted$0
Free under AGPL-3.0; you run it yourself with Docker on macOS, Windows or Linux.
Invoice Ninja
Free$0
Up to 5 clients, unlimited invoicing, online payments, recurring invoices, expenses and time tracking.
Ninja Pro$14
per month, billed monthly ($140 billed annually)
Unlimited clients, removes Invoice Ninja branding, REST API access, late-payment reminders and profit and loss reports.
Enterprise$18
per month for 1-2 users, billed monthly
Everything in Pro plus bank sync, e-invoicing with PEPPOL, user permissions and up to 100 users; $300 a month at 51-100 users.
Premium BusinessCustom
Priority support, a developer concierge, invoice design service and data migration help; from $280 a year, sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
Bigcapital
No public discounts listed.
Invoice Ninja
- Annual discount
Two months free on annual billing
Paying yearly costs $140 for Pro instead of $14 a month, which the pricing page presents as two months free.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Bigcapital or Invoice Ninja?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Bigcapital is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $14 a month for Invoice Ninja. Bigcapital is free, and Invoice Ninja starts at $14 per month, billed monthly ($140 billed annually).
Which has a free plan, Bigcapital or Invoice Ninja?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Bigcapital and Invoice Ninja have a free plan.
Which platforms do Bigcapital and Invoice Ninja run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Invoice Ninja lists macOS, Windows, Linux, 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.