Elorus vs Invoice Ninja (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Invoice Ninja grades higher than Elorus: 2.8 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Invoice Ninja grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Elorus
Invoicing, time tracking and expenses in one cloud app
Invoice Ninja
Invoicing, expenses and time tracking with a free plan
Which one is for you
Pick Elorus if
- Fits if you invoice up to 5 clients and want time tracking free
- Works for agencies that bill from tracked time
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you pass 5 active clients, because that is the end of the free plan
- Watch out: limits count clients invoiced in the past 365 days, 25 on Starter and 500 on Standard
- Watch out: the free plan allows 1 user, and extra users are $5 a month on yearly billing
- Skip it if you want a phone app, since none is listed
- Watch out: prices exclude VAT, and the site has a region selector that can show other prices
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
| 2.6GPAElorusGood | 2.8GPAInvoice NinjaGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStarter is $7 a month on yearly billing, inside the category's cheapest quarter. Extra users are $5 a month each on top. | 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 | BA free plan with unlimited invoices for up to 5 active clients, 1 user and time tracking. One person with a few clients can live on that. | 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 | CInvoicing, quotes, time tracking, expenses, a client portal, stock and an API. It leans toward invoicing and projects, with no ledger described on the page. | CInvoices, payments, time tracking, expenses and e-invoicing, but no ledger, and e-invoicing is Enterprise only. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and you set up clients, products and payment connections first. | 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 | BWeb and a browser extension, with Stripe, Braintree, PayPal, Slack, Asana and Jira. No phone or desktop app listed. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, with Stripe, PayPal, Square, Zapier, Make and QuickBooks, and a REST API on Pro. |
| Best for | invoicing and time tracking in one place | 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: Elorus and Invoice Ninja. How we grade
Price against what you get
Elorus starts at $7 a month and scores 2.3 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 $7 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 10 score higher than Elorus 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
- Invoice Ninja is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Elorus also covers inventory.
At a glance
| Elorus | Invoice Ninja | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $7 per month, billed annually ($9 billed monthly) | $14 per month, billed monthly ($140 billed annually) |
| Free plan | Unlimited invoices for up to 5 active clients, 1 warehouse, unlimited products and services, and time tracking. | 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 | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Elorus | Invoice Ninja |
| Price read from | elorus.com | invoiceninja.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Elorus
- Plan limits count active clients, meaning clients invoiced in the past 365 days: 5, 25 and 500 before unlimited.
- Prices exclude VAT; extra users cost $5 a month on annual billing and $6 billed monthly.
- The Free plan allows one user only.
- The site has a region selector (USA, UK, Greece, International); the page read here showed dollar prices.
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
Elorus
- Invoicing and quotes
- Invoices, credit notes, estimates and custom sales documents in many currencies, sent by email with attachments and templates.
- Time tracking
- A live tracker and weekly timesheets, with a Chrome and Firefox extension, and billing of tracked time and expenses to clients.
- Expenses and bills
- Supplier invoices, recurring expenses and bill payments, with expenses tied to projects for cost reporting.
- Client portal and payments
- Clients see invoices and project progress and pay online; the vendor says card payments via PayPal, Braintree and others carry no Elorus commission.
- Automation and API
- Recurring invoices and bills, payment reminders and and a developer API for connecting other systems.
- Stock and warehouses
- Unlimited products and services, delivery notes and internal transfers, with one warehouse on Free and Starter.
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
Elorus
Free$0
Up to 5 active clients and 1 user, with time tracking, 1 warehouse and customer support.
Starter$7
per month, billed annually ($9 billed monthly)
Up to 25 active clients and 1 warehouse. Extra users $5 a month on annual billing. Excludes VAT.
Standard$15
per month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly)
Up to 500 active clients and unlimited warehouses. Marked most popular. Extra users $5 a month annually.
Premium$30
per month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)
Unlimited clients and warehouses. Extra users $5 a month on annual billing, $6 billed monthly.
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
Elorus
- Annual discount
Yearly billing saves $24 to $108 a year
Elorus lists a saving of $24 a year on Starter, $48 on Standard and $108 on Premium when billed annually.
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, Elorus or Invoice Ninja?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Elorus is cheaper to start with: $7 a month, against $14 a month for Invoice Ninja. Elorus starts at $7 per month, billed annually ($9 billed monthly), and Invoice Ninja starts at $14 per month, billed monthly ($140 billed annually).
Which has a free plan, Elorus or Invoice Ninja?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Elorus and Invoice Ninja have a free plan.
Which platforms do Elorus and Invoice Ninja run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Elorus lists a browser extension and 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.