ZipBooks vs Zoho Invoice
We give ZipBooks a 2.4 GPA and Zoho Invoice a 3.6, out of 4.0. Zoho Invoice grades higher on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
ZipBooks
Browser-based invoicing and bookkeeping with a free starter plan
Zoho Invoice
Free invoicing app from Zoho for freelancers and small businesses
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAZipBooksFair | 3.6GPAZoho InvoiceExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CSmarter is $15 a month, right at the cheaper quarter of accounting tools, with recurring billing, several bank accounts and time tracking. But reconciling accounts and locking finished books need Sophisticated at $35, above the dearer quarter at $31.10. | AIt's free, and it's a real invoicing app: 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 | BStarter is free for good: unlimited invoices, customers and vendors, card payments through Square or PayPal, basic reports and 1 connected bank account. One person could live on that. Recurring invoices, reminders and time tracking need Smarter. | 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 and quotes in 100+ currencies, bank transactions sorted by learned rules, cash or accrual reports, 1099 tracking, time tracking and payroll through Gusto. The listing names the gaps: the phone app is gone, and some bank connections outside the US may not sync. | 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, as there's no app. Rules that learn how you sort transactions save some clicking, but there's still a bank to connect and bookkeeping to learn. | 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 | BWeb only, since ZipBooks discontinued its phone app and points you to the browser. What lifts it is the connections: Square, PayPal, Stripe, Gusto and Slack. | AWeb, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, with Zoho Payments, PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, Zoho CRM, HubSpot, Slack and QuickBooks. That's every device plus a real list of connections. |
| Best for | free invoicing and simple books in a browser | 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: ZipBooks and Zoho Invoice. How we grade
Price against what you get
ZipBooks starts at $15 a month and scores 2.3 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 $15 a month lower. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 3 score higher than ZipBooks 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
- ZipBooks starts at $15 per month, billed monthly. Zoho Invoice is free.
- Only Zoho Invoice lists iOS, Android, Windows and macOS apps.
- ZipBooks also covers bookkeeping.
At a glance
| ZipBooks | Zoho Invoice | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $15 per month, billed monthly | Free |
| Free plan | Starter plan: unlimited invoices, customers and vendors, card payments through Square or PayPal, basic reports and 1 connected bank account. Free with no time limit. | 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 | 30-day free trial of the paid features, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | ZipBooks | Zoho |
| Price read from | zipbooks.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
ZipBooks
- Freelancers who want free invoicing with basic books
- Small service businesses that bill for time
- Bookkeepers who manage several client accounts from one dashboard
Zoho Invoice
- Freelancers who send fewer than 500 invoices a year
- Small businesses that want free invoicing on phone and desktop
- Teams already using Zoho CRM or Zoho Books
Worth knowing
ZipBooks
- There is no mobile app: ZipBooks discontinued it and its help center points phone users to the browser.
- The free plan connects 1 bank account; team members need Smarter, which allows 5, and unlimited users need Sophisticated.
- The Accountant plan for bookkeeping firms is priced by number of clients on a separate page, with no figure in its page text.
- ZipBooks is in English only, and its help center says some bank connections outside the US may not sync.
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
ZipBooks
- Invoices and quotes
- Custom invoices and quotes with taxes, discounts and over 100 currencies. Recurring invoices, auto-billing and payment reminders start on Smarter.
- Online payments
- Customers pay invoices by card through a connected Square, PayPal or Stripe account.
- Bookkeeping with auto-categorizing
- Bank transactions land in one list and are categorized by learned rules, with custom categories and 1099 tracking for vendors.
- Tags and reports
- Income statement and balance sheet on cash or accrual basis. Sophisticated adds tags by location or project and reports built on them.
- Time tracking and projects
- Track time live or by hand at fixed or hourly rates and pull the entries onto invoices, from the Smarter plan.
- Payroll through Gusto
- Payroll is handled by Gusto, which connects to ZipBooks as an integration.
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
ZipBooks
Starter$0
Unlimited invoices, customers and vendors, Square or PayPal payments, basic reports and 1 bank account.
Smarter$15
per month, billed monthly
Adds recurring invoices with auto-bill, automatic reminders, saved line items, several bank accounts, time tracking and 5 team members.
Sophisticated$35
per month, billed monthly
Adds tagging by location, project or custom field, reconciliation, locked books, document sharing, tag-based reports and unlimited users.
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.
