Square Invoices vs Wave
We give Square Invoices a 2.8 GPA and Wave a 2.4, out of 4.0. Square Invoices grades higher on the free plan and ease of use. Wave grades higher on value for money. 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.
Square Invoices
Free invoicing, estimates and contracts inside Square's payment plans
Wave
Free invoicing and bookkeeping for US and Canadian small businesses
How we grade them
| 2.8GPASquare InvoicesGood | 2.4GPAWaveFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DPlus is $49 a location a month, where the dearest tenth of accounting tools starts. For invoicing it mostly buys a lower card fee, 2.9% instead of 3.3%, plus batch invoices and payment schedules. That fee cut only pays for itself past about $12,000 a month in card payments. | 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 | AUnlimited invoices, recurring invoices, deposits, reminders, estimates and contracts cost nothing a month, with no cap. You pay per payment instead: 3.3% + 30¢ on an online card, and 1% on a bank transfer. | 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 | CInvoices on any schedule, deposits, auto-pay, estimates, e-signed contracts, a project workspace and cards, Cash App Pay, ACH or Afterpay. It does invoicing fully, but that's the smaller job: it keeps no books and takes one currency only. | 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 | A4.8 from 93,229 App Store ratings, the top band in this category. If you already take payments with Square, invoices sit in the same account. | 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, Afterpay, Cash App Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay. 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 | free invoicing for businesses already on Square | 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: Square Invoices and Wave. How we grade
Price against what you get
Square Invoices starts at $49 a month and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Wave starts at $19 a month and scores 2.3.
Square Invoices scores higher, and starts $30 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 3 score higher than Square Invoices 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
- Square Invoices starts at $49 per location / month, billed monthly. Wave starts at $19 per month, billed monthly.
- Wave also covers bookkeeping, expense tracking and payroll.
At a glance
| Square Invoices | Wave | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $49 per location / month, billed monthly | $19 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | Square Free: unlimited invoices, recurring invoices, deposits, reminders, estimates, contracts and projects. Online card payments cost 3.3% + 30¢. | 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 | 30-day free trial of Square Plus or Square Premium | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Block, Inc. | Wave Financial Inc. |
| Price read from | squareup.com | waveapps.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Square Invoices
- Service businesses that want to send invoices without a monthly fee
- Businesses already taking in-person payments with Square
- Contractors who send estimates and contracts before billing
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
Square Invoices
- Invoices come with Square's general plans, which also cover point of sale and bookings; Plus and Premium are charged per location.
- Each payment has a fee: invoice card payments are 3.3% + 30¢ on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus or Premium, ACH 1% ($1 minimum).
- It does not keep books: Square sends payments to QuickBooks Online or Xero, and it accepts one currency only.
- Square Payroll is a separate product, from $35 a month plus $6 per person paid.
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
Square Invoices
- Invoices and recurring billing
- Send unlimited invoices by email, text or link, on daily to yearly schedules, with deposits, automatic reminders and auto-pay from a saved card.
- Ways to pay
- Customers pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App Pay, ACH bank transfer or Afterpay, online or in person.
- Estimates and contracts
- Send estimates and e-signature contracts built from reusable templates. Plus adds multi-package estimates and automatic conversion to invoices.
- Project workspace
- Keep each job's invoices, estimates, contracts and notes in one place and track what is paid, unpaid or overdue.
- Payment schedules and batch invoices
- Square Plus splits one invoice into milestone payments and sends one invoice to many customers at once.
- Fast access to funds
- Transfers to your bank arrive the next business day for free, or instantly for a fee, or land at once in a Square Checking account.
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
Square Invoices
Square Free$0
Unlimited and recurring invoices, deposits, reminders, estimates, contracts with e-signature and a project workspace. You pay only processing fees.
Square Plus$49
per location / month, billed monthly
Adds batch invoices, milestone payment schedules, custom templates and fields, multi-package estimates, lower online card fees and a $10 ACH fee cap.
Square Premium$149
per location / month, billed monthly
Everything in Plus, with the lowest in-person card fees and 24/7 phone support.
Square ProCustom
For businesses processing over $250,000 a year: custom pricing and processing fees, onboarding help and account management.
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
Square Invoices
No public discounts listed.
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.
