Invoice Ninja vs Zoho Invoice (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Zoho Invoice: it is third in our ranking of accounting and invoicing tools, and it grades higher too, 3.6 against 2.8.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Zoho Invoice grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Invoice Ninja
Invoicing, expenses and time tracking with a free plan
Zoho Invoice
Free invoicing app from Zoho for freelancers and small businesses
Which one is for you
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 Zoho Invoice if
- Fits if you're a freelancer sending fewer than 500 invoices a year
- Works for teams already on Zoho CRM or Zoho Books
Look elsewhere if
- Too light for keeping the books, as it's invoicing only and hands that job to Zoho Books or QuickBooks
- Tight if you track time on more than 3 projects or need more than 2 users, since those are the caps
- Not for you if you only invoice now and then, as an account idle for 180 days gets deleted
- Tight if you send more than 500 invoices a year, as there's no paid plan to move up to
- Watch out: every invoice carries Powered by Zoho Invoice, and Zoho points larger needs to Zoho Billing
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAInvoice NinjaGood | 3.6GPAZoho InvoiceExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | AIt's free, and it covers quotes, recurring invoices, reminders, a customer portal, expenses and time tracking. There's no paid plan at all, where paid plans in this category start around $15 a month. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free plan with 5 clients, unlimited invoices, online payments, recurring invoices and expenses. A freelancer can live on it until the sixth client. | AEverything is free, with nothing held back for a paid tier. The caps are 2 users, 2 organizations, 3 projects and 500 invoices a year, and every invoice says Powered by Zoho Invoice. |
| Features | CInvoices, payments, time tracking, expenses and e-invoicing, but no ledger, and e-invoicing is Enterprise only. | CQuotes, one-off and recurring invoices, reminders, online payments through several gateways, expenses, time on projects and reports. It does invoicing fully, but that's a smaller job than accounting: it hands off to Zoho Books or QuickBooks for the books. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It's a web app where you build templates and connect payment gateways, with self-hosting as an option. | A4.86 from 14,879 App Store ratings, the top band. Making and sending an invoice is the whole job here, so there isn't much to learn. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, with Stripe, PayPal, Square, Zapier, Make and QuickBooks, and a REST API on Pro. | AWeb, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, with Zoho Payments, PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, Zoho CRM, HubSpot, Slack and QuickBooks. That's every device type plus a list of connections. |
| Best for | free invoicing for a handful of clients | free invoicing on every device |
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: Invoice Ninja and Zoho Invoice. How we grade
Price against what you get
Invoice Ninja starts at $14 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zoho Invoice has no paid plan and scores 3.3.
Zoho Invoice scores higher and starts $14 a month lower. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Invoice Ninja for less, and none scores higher than Zoho Invoice 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.
- Invoice Ninja also covers quotes and estimates.
- Zoho Invoice also covers reports.
At a glance
| Invoice Ninja | Zoho Invoice | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $14 per month, billed monthly ($140 billed annually) | Free |
| Free plan | Up to 5 clients with unlimited invoices, 11 templates, online payments, recurring invoices, expenses and projects. | Free for every business: up to 2 users, 2 organizations, 3 projects and 500 invoices a year, with Powered by Zoho Invoice branding. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Invoice Ninja | Zoho |
| Price read from | invoiceninja.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Zoho Invoice
- The free account allows 2 users, 3 projects and 500 invoices a year, and invoices carry Powered by Zoho Invoice branding.
- It is invoicing, not full accounting: it connects to Zoho Books or QuickBooks for the books, and Zoho points larger needs to Zoho Billing.
- Data of an account left inactive for more than 180 days is deleted within the following 20 days, after a warning.
Key features
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.
Zoho Invoice
- Quotes and invoices
- Create quotes, turn them into invoices, and send invoices by email or as PDFs from customizable templates.
- Recurring invoices and reminders
- Schedule invoices that repeat and send automatic payment reminders to customers who have not paid.
- Online payments
- Connect Zoho Payments, PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net and other gateways so customers can pay invoices online.
- Expenses, time and projects
- Record and categorize expenses, log time and bill it to projects, up to three projects on the free account.
- Customer portal and reports
- Customers view and pay their invoices in a self-service portal, and reports cover sales, receivables and expenses.
Plans
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.
Zoho Invoice
Free$0
Quotes, invoices, recurring invoices, reminders, expenses, time tracking, a customer portal and reports, within the caps on users, projects and invoices.
Ways to pay less
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.
Zoho Invoice
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Invoice Ninja or Zoho Invoice?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Zoho Invoice is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $14 a month for Invoice Ninja. Invoice Ninja starts at $14 per month, billed monthly ($140 billed annually), and Zoho Invoice is free.
Which has a free plan, Invoice Ninja or Zoho Invoice?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Invoice Ninja and Zoho Invoice have a free plan.
Which platforms do Invoice Ninja and Zoho Invoice run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Invoice Ninja lists a Linux app. Both list a web app and macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. 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.