Wave vs Xero
We give Wave a 2.4 GPA and Xero a 2.6, out of 4.0. Wave grades higher on the free plan. Xero grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Wave
Free invoicing and bookkeeping for US and Canadian small businesses
Xero
Cloud accounting for small businesses, with unlimited users
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAWaveFair | 2.6GPAXeroGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CEarly is $27 a month, between this category's middle at $23 and its dearer quarter at $31.10, and it stops at 20 invoices and 5 bills. No limits means Growing at $59. Users are unlimited on every plan, though, which helps once a team is involved. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | COne month free on any plan, but you give up the 80%-off-for-3-months offer to take it. There's no free plan, and the listing doesn't say whether a card is needed for the trial. |
| Features | 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. | BBank reconciliation, invoices and quotes, Tap to Pay, bill capture, free ACH bill payments, cash flow forecasts, Syft analytics, the JAX assistant and Gusto payroll. Multiple currencies need Established, but the whole job is here. |
| Ease of use | 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. | B4.65 from 1,689 App Store ratings, just under the top band. Auto-reconcile, which takes away the most clicking, is part of Growing and Established and a $5 a month add-on on Early. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, plus an app store with Gusto, Stripe, Syft, Dext, A2X and Mercury. There's no desktop app, which is what keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | free invoicing and books in the US or Canada | small businesses that work with an accountant |
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: Wave and Xero. How we grade
Price against what you get
Wave starts at $19 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Xero starts at $27 a month and scores 3.0.
Xero scores higher, and starts $8 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 5 score higher than Wave for less, and 3 score higher than Xero 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
- Wave starts at $19 per month, billed monthly. Xero starts at $27 per month, billed monthly.
- Wave has a free plan. Xero does not, though it has a free trial.
At a glance
| Wave | Xero | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $19 per month, billed monthly | $27 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | 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. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | One month free on any plan, taken instead of the 3-month discount |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Wave Financial Inc. | Xero Limited |
| Price read from | waveapps.com | xero.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Xero
- Small businesses that want every staff member and adviser in the books at no extra cost
- Businesses that work with an accountant who already uses Xero
- Companies that bill or pay in several currencies, on Established
Worth knowing
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.
Xero
- The advertised prices are 80% off for the first 3 months; plans then renew at $27, $59 or $97 a month.
- Early stops at 20 invoices and 5 bills, and its graphs and cash flow forecast are the basic ones.
- US payroll costs $36 a month plus $6 per employee or contractor, and is not offered to Xero's US mobile-only subscribers.
- These are US prices; Xero sells in other countries, including New Zealand, Australia and the UK, on separate regional sites.
Key features
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.
Xero
- Bank reconciliation
- Match bank transactions to invoices and bills. Auto-reconcile is part of Growing and Established, and a $5 a month add-on on Early.
- Invoices, quotes and online payments
- Send invoices and quotes with a payment service attached, and take card payments in person with Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android.
- Bills and Smart Document Capture
- Bills and receipts are pulled into Xero from documents, and standard ACH bill payments in US dollars are included on every plan.
- Cash flow forecasts and analytics
- Forecasts run 30, 60 or 180 days ahead depending on the plan, and Syft analytics, dashboards and health scorecards are built in.
- JAX assistant
- Xero's AI assistant answers questions about the business's numbers and handles routine bookkeeping tasks.
- Xero Payroll, powered by Gusto
- Full-service payroll that calculates, files and pays federal and state taxes across all 50 states, without leaving Xero.
Plans
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.
Xero
Early$27
per month, billed monthly
Advertised at $5.40 a month for the first 3 months. Quotes, 20 invoices, 5 bills, bank reconciliation, sales tax and a 30-day cash flow forecast.
Growing$59
per month, billed monthly
Advertised at $11.80 a month for the first 3 months. No invoice or bill limits, auto-reconcile, dashboards, budgets and a 60-day forecast.
Established$97
per month, billed monthly
Advertised at $19.40 a month for the first 3 months. Adds multiple currencies, project time and costs, expense claims and a 180-day forecast.
Ways to pay less
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.
Xero
- Other savings
80% off the first 3 months
New US customers buying their first organization pay 20% of the base plan price for 3 months, then the regular monthly price. Add-ons are not discounted.
- Other savings
Two months of Xero Payroll free
Xero's payroll page offers two months free to try Xero Payroll, which then costs $36 a month plus $6 per employee or contractor.
