FreshBooks

Review

FreshBooks is accounting software for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small businesses. It suits contractors who bill for client work and want time, expenses, and projects connected to invoicing. Its main trade-off is the cost of scaling: client caps apply on the lower tiers, and double-entry accounting starts at Plus.

Overview

FreshBooks brings invoicing, time tracking, expenses, and project organization together. Invoices can include tracked time and expenses, calculate taxes, and offer configurable payment options; recurring invoices and online payments are also supported. For a small contractor, that can connect job activity to billing without treating each task as a separate system. It is less compelling for a business that needs double-entry accounting but expects to stay on the cheapest plan.

FreshBooks is made by a Toronto-based company founded in 2003. The service is web-based, with iOS and Android apps.

Key features

Invoicing and payments

Invoices can combine time and expenses, with tax calculations and configurable payment options. The pricing page lists card and ACH payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and buy now, pay later options. That range gives contractors several ways to collect payment; the facts do not establish which options are available on each plan.

Time and project management

Time can be tracked against clients and projects, then used to generate invoices. Projects group client work, team members, time, invoices, and expenses, with profitability views. This makes FreshBooks a stronger fit for jobs where labor and costs need to be reviewed alongside billing than for a contractor seeking only a basic invoice maker.

Integrations, security, and support

FreshBooks recommends apps including Acuity, Checkeeper, FreshCurrencies, Income Importer, Mailform, SurePayroll, Employment Hero, and Zapier, which it says connects to more than 1,500 apps. Developers can use an OAuth2 API to build integrations and automate account tasks. FreshBooks says browser traffic uses 256-bit SSL encryption and that it maintains PCI DSS Level 1 compliance with an annual independent audit. It hosts the application on Google Cloud Platform, replicates account data across two geographic locations, and backs it up nightly.

Free support is available during office hours, while self-serve help and FreshBot are available globally around the clock. Contact options vary by region, time, and plan, so this is not a promise of live support at all hours.

Pricing

FreshBooks is paid software with a 30-day trial and no free plan. Its monthly plans are:

• Lite: 23.00 USD per month, billed monthly; includes up to 5 billable clients.
• Plus: 43.00 USD per month, billed monthly; includes up to 50 billable clients and double-entry accounting.
• Premium: 70.00 USD per month, billed monthly; includes unlimited clients and double-entry accounting.
• Select: custom pricing, with unlimited clients and double-entry accounting.

Active and archived clients count toward the Lite and Plus limits, which can make the nominal cap tighter for a contractor with a long client history. Lite is the lower-cost entry point, but gives up double-entry accounting and stops at five billable clients. Plus raises the ceiling to 50 and adds double-entry accounting; Premium removes the client cap for businesses with a larger roster. Select is the unlimited-client option with custom pricing.

Platforms

FreshBooks runs on the web and offers iOS and Android apps; mobile apps require iOS 15 or later or Android 7.0 or later. Some functions, including reporting, are desktop-only, so a contractor who relies on reports while away from a computer should account for that limitation.

Who it's for

FreshBooks is best suited to freelancers and small contractors who bill clients directly, track project time and expenses, and want profitability views alongside invoices. Plus is the practical starting point when double-entry accounting is required; Lite suits a smaller client book where that accounting feature is not needed. Contractors who need a free plan, exceed five clients but want to avoid Plus pricing, or need mobile reporting should look elsewhere.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Time and expenses can flow into invoices: useful for contractors billing for tracked project work rather than only fixed amounts.
• Project profitability views: work, labor time, invoices, and expenses are organized together for a clearer project-level picture.
• Broad payment and integration options: listed payment methods and Zapier’s stated 1,500+ app connections give small businesses ways to fit FreshBooks into existing workflows.
• Unlimited-client tiers: Premium and Select avoid the client caps imposed on Lite and Plus.

Cons

• No free plan: businesses that need ongoing free invoicing must choose another product.
• Client counts include archived records: Lite’s five-client cap and Plus’s 50-client cap can constrain businesses with many past clients.
• Double-entry accounting begins at Plus: the 23.00 USD monthly Lite tier does not include it.
• Some reporting is desktop-only: mobile access does not replace a computer for every task.

Alternatives

For more options, browse contractor invoicing software.

• Traddie is worth considering if its £9.99/month Solo plan, with unlimited quotes and invoices for one user workspace, better fits a single-user quoting and invoicing workflow.
• Invoice Plus offers a free Basic plan capped at 10 invoices per month, with basic expense tracking and offline use in its mobile apps; it is a better fit for a small-volume business that prioritizes a free starting tier.
• Contractor+ has a free-forever plan with basic CRM and up to 250 leads and clients, but caps estimates or invoices at five per month; consider it if that free cap suits your workload.
• Joist is another contractor-invoicing option.
• Zoho Invoice has a free plan for Indian businesses, capped at two users, three projects, and 500 invoices per year; it may suit a business within those limits.
• Invoice Ninja offers a forever-free plan for five clients with unlimited invoicing, making it a candidate for a small client book that needs no trial.
• Billdu is a paid alternative with an annual-billed Lite plan at 4.99 USD per month, including unlimited invoices and 10 clients.
• Bookipi has a free plan capped at three invoices per month and three eSignatures; it is an option for very light invoicing volume.

Verdict

Choose FreshBooks if you are a freelancer or small contractor who wants client invoicing tied to project time, expenses, and profitability views. Its strongest case is keeping billable work and payment collection connected; its main reasons to look elsewhere are the lack of a free plan, client caps on the cheaper tiers, and double-entry accounting’s Plus-and-up entry point.