Invoice Ninja vs Invoicera (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 Invoicera if

• Fits if you bill by the project, time or contract, with approvals before invoices go out
• Makes sense if you already keep books in QuickBooks or Xero

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want it to replace your accounting software: it is a billing layer
• Pricey if you are one person, since the entry price is $50 a month
• Watch out: add-ons cost extra, a 5-user pack is $20 a month and an extra entity $30
• Watch out: GST and e-invoicing features are for India-registered entities, and India has its own rupee price list
• Tight if you pay monthly, at roughly 20% above the yearly rate

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.

Invoicera

• It is a billing layer, not a replacement ledger: the vendor says QuickBooks or Xero can stay responsible for the books.
• Monthly billing is available at roughly 20% above the annual rate, and the page does not state the monthly figures.
• Add-ons are billed annually: 5-user pack $20 a month, extra entity $30, priority support $50 (Operate, Grow), integration pack $75.
• India accounts use a separate rupee price list plus 18% GST; GST and e-invoicing features are for India-registered entities.

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.

Invoicera

Recurring and contract billing

Schedules, retainers and agreed terms produce invoices automatically; recurring invoices start on Operate.

Project, time and usage billing

Approved hours, milestones and entered or imported usage quantities turn into invoices; project and time billing starts at Grow.

Approval workflows

Outgoing invoices can be reviewed before clients see them: single-step on Operate, multi-step from Grow.

Collections and reconciliation

Reminders by overdue stage, a client portal for paying or disputing, and payment-to-invoice matching on Scale.

Multi-entity control

Several legal entities with their own rules sit under one login, with group visibility.

AI-drafted wording

Drafts invoice line descriptions and reminder messages for a person to review; people keep the approval and send decisions.

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.

Invoicera

• Operate$50

  per month for 1 entity, 5 users, billed annually ($600/year)

  3,000 invoices a year; recurring invoices, client portal, single-step approval, reminders, QuickBooks and Xero links.

• Grow$125

  per month for 3 entities, 10 users, billed annually ($1,500/year)

  12,000 invoices a year; adds project, time, milestone and retainer billing, multi-step approval and collections workflows.

• Scale$250

  per month for 10 entities, 20 users, billed annually ($3,000/year)

  48,000 invoices a year; adds invoice-to-payment reconciliation, deeper multi-entity controls and priority support.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom entities, invoice volume and users on an annual agreement, with implementation and an account manager.

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.

Invoicera

No public discounts listed.