Shoeboxed vs Wave
We give Shoeboxed a 2.0 GPA and Wave a 2.4, out of 4.0. Shoeboxed grades higher on value for money and ease of use. Wave grades higher on the free plan and features. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Shoeboxed
Receipt scanning by app or mail-in envelope, with mileage tracking
Wave
Free invoicing and bookkeeping for US and Canadian small businesses
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAShoeboxedFair | 2.4GPAWaveFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BGraded against its own alternatives, since it captures receipts rather than keeping books. Starter is $8.08 a month billed yearly ($9 monthly) for up to 3 users, a third of Dext's $25.21. But that's 50 digital scans and no QuickBooks or Xero sync, which needs Pro at $24.75. | CPro is $19 a month, or $190 a year, between the cheaper quarter of accounting tools at $15 and the middle at $23. It buys bank feeds, receipt capture, late reminders and lower card fees. Fair, not a steal. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free. There's no free plan or trial, and the card is charged at sign-up. The 30-day money-back guarantee isn't a trial, and it ends once a Magic Envelope has been shipped. | BStarter is free with unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping records, plus a dashboard and reports. One person could live on that. The catch is typing in bank transactions by hand, because bank feeds need Pro. |
| Features | DNext to its alternatives it does one slice of the job, and does it fully: receipts by app, email, upload or mailed envelope, checked by staff and sorted into tax categories, plus GPS mileage. But it keeps no books, so you'll still want accounting software. | CInvoices, online payments, bookkeeping, bank feeds, receipt scanning and payroll as an add-on. The basics are there, but the listing shows no time tracking, projects or inventory, and Wave serves only US and Canadian businesses. |
| Ease of use | B4.52 from 1,821 App Store ratings. Snap a receipt, or stuff the paper ones in an envelope and post it, and staff check what was read. There's not much to learn. | C4.37 from 6,664 App Store ratings, which is decent but below most accounting apps here. Live chat and email support come only with Pro or a paid add-on, on weekdays. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with QuickBooks Online, Xero, Gmail, Wave, Evernote and Dropbox, though the QuickBooks, Xero and Gmail links need Pro. There's no desktop app, which keeps it off an A. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with connections to Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Google Sheets, Capsule CRM and Make. Most third-party integrations need Pro, and there's no desktop app. |
| Best for | posting off paper receipts instead of scanning them | free invoicing and books in the US or Canada |
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: Shoeboxed and Wave. How we grade
Price against what you get
Shoeboxed starts at $8.08 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Wave starts at $19 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Shoeboxed starts $10.92 a month lower. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 2 score higher than Shoeboxed for less, and 5 score higher than Wave 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
- Shoeboxed starts at $8.08 per month, billed annually at $97 ($9 billed monthly). Wave starts at $19 per month, billed monthly.
- Wave has a free plan. Shoeboxed does not.
- Wave also covers invoicing and payroll.
At a glance
| Shoeboxed | Wave | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8.08 per month, billed annually at $97 ($9 billed monthly) | $19 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | Starter plan: unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records, a dashboard and reports, and invoicing in the mobile app. Bank transactions are entered by hand. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Shoeboxed, Inc. | Wave Financial Inc. |
| Price read from | shoeboxed.com | waveapps.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Shoeboxed
- Self-employed people who keep paper receipts and would rather mail them than scan them
- Freelancers and drivers who want mileage and receipts in one record for tax time
- Bookkeepers collecting paper receipts from small business clients
Wave
- Sole proprietors in the US or Canada who mainly need to send invoices
- New businesses that want free bookkeeping before paying for bank feeds
- Owners who would rather hand the books to a bookkeeper
Worth knowing
Shoeboxed
- There is no free plan or free trial: the card is charged at sign-up, with a 30-day money-back guarantee that ends once a Magic Envelope has been shipped.
- Scans past a plan's allowance cost extra, from $0.07 to $0.19 per digital scan and $0.77 to $2 per paper scan, and extra envelopes are $9 each.
- QuickBooks Online, Xero and Gmail sync need Pro or higher, and Starter keeps digital scans for 3 years rather than for as long as the account is active.
- It captures receipts and mileage but does not keep books; cancelling means calling the billing team rather than doing it in the account.
Wave
- Wave describes itself as serving businesses in the US and Canada, and its pricing page shows prices only in US and Canadian dollars.
- Payroll costs $40 a month in the US plus $6 per active employee and $6 per contractor paid (Canada: $25 CAD base).
- Bank feeds, automatic reminders and most third-party integrations need Pro; Starter has no bank import.
- Live chat and email support come only with Pro or a paid add-on, Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 4:45 PM Eastern.
Key features
Shoeboxed
- Magic Envelope mail-in scanning
- Mail paper receipts and documents in a postage-paid envelope; staff in Durham scan and categorize them, then shred them or send them back, as you choose.
- Several ways to send receipts
- Snap receipts in the iOS and Android app, forward them to an account email address, drag them in from a computer, or import e-receipts with Gmail sync on Pro and up.
- Human-checked data extraction
- OCR pulls the vendor, total, date, sales tax and payment type, and Shoeboxed staff check the result before it lands in the account.
- Tax categories and expense reports
- Receipts are sorted into 15 standard tax categories or your own, and reports with the receipt images attached can be exported, shared or printed.
- Automatic mileage tracking
- The mobile app logs business trips by GPS in the background and sends a daily summary to confirm. It is included on every plan.
- Accounting software sync
- Pro and higher connect to QuickBooks Online and Xero; every plan exports CSV, and receipts can also go to Wave, Evernote and Dropbox.
Wave
- Invoices and estimates
- Unlimited invoices and estimates on the free plan. Pro removes Wave branding, adds reusable message templates and sends automatic late payment reminders.
- Online payments
- Customers pay invoices by card or bank payment once online payments are approved; deposits can be collected through estimates.
- Bookkeeping and bank feeds
- Unlimited bookkeeping records on every plan. Pro imports bank transactions through Plaid, then merges and categorizes them.
- Receipt capture
- Receipts uploaded from the mobile app, desktop or email become records by OCR. Included in Pro, or $8 a month on Starter.
- Wave Payroll
- Pays employees and contractors, with tax filing in all 50 US states and CRA remittances in Canada. A separate add-on.
- Wave Advisors
- Wave's in-house bookkeepers can keep the books for you or coach you to do them yourself, from $149 a month.
Plans
Shoeboxed
Starter$8.08
per month for up to 3 users, billed annually ($9 billed monthly)
50 digital scans a month, 20 paper scans a year, 1 Magic Envelope a year and 3 years of scan storage. Billed as $97 a year.
Pro$24.75
per month for up to 5 users, billed annually ($29 billed monthly)
250 digital and 50 paper scans a month, an envelope each quarter, Gmail receipt sync, QuickBooks Online and Xero, and phone support.
Plus$66.42
per month for up to 10 users, billed annually ($79 billed monthly)
1,000 digital and 150 paper scans a month, a Magic Envelope every month and priority support. Billed as $797 a year.
Paper Plus$166.42
per month for up to 10 users, billed annually ($179 billed monthly)
For heavy paper volume: 5,000 digital and 300 paper scans a month and 2 Magic Envelopes a month. Billed as $1,997 a year.
Wave
Starter$0
Unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and records. Card payments cost 2.9% plus $0.60 each, and bank transactions are not imported automatically.
Pro$19
per month, billed monthly
Bank feeds with auto-categorizing, unlimited receipt capture, late payment reminders, more users and card fees of 2.9% with no fixed fee on the first 10 a month.
Wave Advisors$149
per month and up
Pro features plus a dedicated bookkeeper who keeps the books and prepares monthly financial statements. Mobile receipts are not included.
Ways to pay less
Shoeboxed
- Annual discount
Save 11% to 19% with yearly billing
Starter is $97 a year against $9 a month, Pro $297 against $29 and Plus $797 against $79; the pricing page gives the saving as 11%, 17% and 19%.
Wave
- Annual discount
Save $38 with annual Pro billing
Pro costs $190 a year when billed annually, against $228 for twelve monthly payments of $19.
