Zoho Books vs Zoho Invoice
We give Zoho Books a 3.4 GPA and Zoho Invoice a 3.6, out of 4.0. Zoho Books grades higher on features. Zoho Invoice grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Zoho Books
Online accounting from Zoho, with a free plan and six paid tiers
Zoho Invoice
Free invoicing app from Zoho for freelancers and small businesses
How we grade them
| 3.4GPAZoho BooksVery good | 3.6GPAZoho InvoiceExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStandard is $15 a month billed yearly ($20 monthly) for the whole business with 3 users, right at the cheaper quarter of this category. It already has bank feeds, sales tax, 1099 e-filing and API access. | 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 | BFree for businesses under $50K revenue a year: 1 user plus an accountant, 1,000 invoices a year, bank reconciliation, 1099s and 50+ reports. One person could live on it, though automatic bank feeds need Standard. | 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 | BInvoices, bills, bank feeds, sales tax, 1099s, projects, multiple currencies, inventory up to warehouses and batch tracking, budgets, custom modules and AI that answers questions about the books. That covers the whole job. | 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 | A4.81 from 5,247 App Store ratings, the top band for accounting apps. Receipt autoscans work on every plan, the free one included, which saves typing. | 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, Windows, iPhone and Android, with an API from Standard up and links to Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Etsy and the rest of Zoho. That's the full spread. | 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 | a real free plan with room to grow | 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: Zoho Books and Zoho Invoice. How we grade
Price against what you get
Zoho Books starts at $15 a month and scores 3.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zoho Invoice has no paid plan and scores 3.3.
Zoho Books scores higher, and starts $15 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, none scores higher than Zoho Books 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
- Zoho Books starts at $15 per organization / month, billed annually. Zoho Invoice is free.
- Only Zoho Invoice lists a macOS app.
- Zoho Books also covers bookkeeping.
- Zoho Invoice also covers time tracking.
At a glance
| Zoho Books | Zoho Invoice | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $15 per organization / month, billed annually | Free |
| Free plan | Free plan for businesses with under $50K revenue a year: 1 user plus 1 accountant, invoices, quotes, expenses, bank reconciliation, 1099s and 50+ reports, with email support. | 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 | 14-day free trial of the paid plans | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Zoho | Zoho |
| Price read from | zoho.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Zoho Books
- Very small businesses that want a free plan with real double-entry books
- Companies already using other Zoho apps
- Growing product businesses that will need inventory and warehouses later
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
Zoho Books
- The free plan stays free only while revenue is under $50K a financial year, and paid add-ons other than autoscans cannot be added to it.
- Each plan caps users at 3, 5, 10, 10 or 15; more cost $3 per user a month, or $2.50 billed annually.
- Every plan caps invoices and bills a year: 1,000 on Free, 5,000 on Standard, 10,000 on Professional and 25,000 on Premium.
- These are US prices; Zoho lists separate editions for 18 countries plus a global one, including the UK, Canada, India and Australia.
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
Zoho Books
- Invoicing and online payments
- Quotes, invoices, recurring invoices, retention payments and automatic reminders, with a customer portal for paying online.
- Banking and reconciliation
- Reconcile accounts on every plan. Automatic bank feeds start on Standard, along with recurring expenses and period locking.
- US tax and 1099s
- Track sales and use tax, manage W-9s and 1099 contractors, and e-file 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC forms from Standard up.
- Projects and inventory
- Professional adds timesheets, project profitability and basic inventory. Elite adds warehouses, serial and batch tracking and shipping labels.
- Automation and customization
- Workflows, approvals and custom roles from Professional; custom modules, buttons and functions from Premium; Blueprints on Elite.
- AI in accounting
- Ask questions about the books in plain English, spot anomalies and automate collections, plus receipt autoscans on every plan.
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
Zoho Books
Free$0
Revenue under $50K a year. 1 user and 1 accountant, up to 1,000 invoices a year, recurring invoices, payment reminders and 1099 filing.
Standard$15
per organization / month, billed annually
$20 billed monthly. 3 users, bank feeds, sales and use tax, 1099 e-filing, custom reports, API access and 5,000 invoices a year.
Professional$40
per organization / month, billed annually
$50 billed monthly. 5 users, sales and purchase orders, multiple currencies, timesheets, project profitability, retainers and inventory.
Premium$60
per organization / month, billed annually
$70 billed monthly. 10 users, fixed assets, budgets, cash flow forecasting, a vendor portal and custom modules.
Elite$120
per organization / month, billed annually
$150 billed monthly. 10 users, advanced inventory with warehouses and batch tracking, Etsy, eBay and Amazon channels, and up to 2 Shopify stores.
Ultimate$240
per organization / month, billed annually
$275 billed monthly. 15 users and built-in business intelligence with 50+ prebuilt visualizations, KPI tracking and embeddable reports.
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
Zoho Books
- Annual discount
Save up to 25% with yearly billing
Yearly billing cuts Standard from $20 to $15 a month, Professional from $50 to $40, Premium from $70 to $60, Elite from $150 to $120 and Ultimate from $275 to $240.
Zoho Invoice
No public discounts listed.
