Invoice Ninja vs InvoiceOcean (2026): which should you pick?

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

Pick InvoiceOcean if

• Fits if you send around 3 invoices a month and want to stay free
• Works for a small shop that wants a warehouse module and bank imports later

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you send more than 3 invoices a month on the free plan
• Skip it if you want reports on the free plan, because they aren't included
• Watch out: recurring invoices and bank imports are Professional, $18 a month
• Watch out: monthly prices on the page are for a 12-month subscription and exclude tax, and Basic allows 1 user

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.

InvoiceOcean

• The free plan stops at 3 invoices a month, and reports are not included.
• The listed monthly figures are for a 12-month subscription, in net amounts before tax.
• Basic allows only 1 user; 3 users need Professional and unlimited users need Enterprise.

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.

InvoiceOcean

Invoices and expense records

Issue invoices from templates with a custom logo, send them online and record expense documents. Invoice counts are capped at 3 a month on the free plan.

Recurring invoices

Set documents to be issued at fixed intervals. The vendor's comparison table lists this from the Professional plan up.

Bank payment imports

Import a payment file exported from the bank and have payments matched to invoices from the data in the documents.

Warehouse module

Track stock through warehouse documents issued in the system. Professional covers 3 warehouses; Enterprise has no limit.

Reports and charts

Reports on sales, clients and products, shown with charts for chosen periods. Not included on the free plan.

Accountant access and mobile app

Share documents and reports with an accountant without sending files, and use the Android and iOS app on the go.

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.

InvoiceOcean

• Free$0

  3 invoices a month and 1 user; expense documents, clients and products are unlimited.

• Basic$9

  per month, billed yearly ($12 billed monthly)

  Unlimited invoices, 1 user, reports and multiple departments.

• Professional$18

  per month, billed yearly ($24 billed monthly)

  3 users, 3 companies, warehouse management, bank payment imports and recurring invoices.

• Enterprise$30

  per month, billed yearly ($40 billed monthly)

  Unlimited users and warehouses, custom domain and access limited to set IP addresses.

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.

InvoiceOcean

• Annual discount

  Save 25% with yearly billing

  InvoiceOcean's pricing page shows a 25% saving when a plan is paid for 12 months instead of month by month.