Invoice Ninja

Overview

Invoice Ninja combines invoicing and payment tools with project, time, and expense management for freelancers and small businesses. For a contractor, that can bring estimates, client billing, tracked work, and payment requests into one workflow. The company says it launched in 2014 and is bootstrapped and founder-run.

It is offered as a hosted service or as software to install on your own server. With self-hosting, invoices, client details, and financial information remain on that server, but securing the server is your responsibility. The hosted and self-hosted choices therefore differ in who manages the environment where the data is stored.

See our guide to Contractor invoicing software for more options to consider alongside project and construction needs.

Key features

Estimates, invoices, and payments

Users can create quotes and invoices, manage products, and preview invoices as PDFs. Quotes can be sent to clients for e-signature and converted into invoices. The product also supports estimates, recurring invoices, and payment requests, useful for contractors who need to prepare a price, bill for completed work, or collect payment over time.

Clients can pay invoices online through supported gateways including Stripe, PayPal, Square, GoCardless, Authorize.net, and Mollie. Online payments are included in the hosted Free plan, so a small business can begin using this part of the workflow without a subscription.

Projects, time, and expenses

Project work can be organized with Kanban boards and task management. Billable time tracking lets users record work and convert tracked time into invoices. Vendors and expenses are also included in the Free plan, alongside projects and time tracking.

Integrations and security

For integrations and automation, the maker lists Zapier, Make, Pabbly, n8n, and Integrately, as well as REST API access and webhooks. API access is a listed Ninja Pro feature.

For the hosted service, Invoice Ninja states that data is encrypted in transit using TLS 1.2 or higher and at rest using AES-256, with multi-factor authentication available. It says the hosted platform has completed a SOC 2 examination and identifies PCI-DSS and GDPR compliance. The SOC 2 report is available to customers and prospective customers under NDA. Self-hosted users need to secure their own server environment.

Pricing

The hosted Free plan costs 0.00 USD per free, billed Forever free. It includes up to five clients, unlimited invoicing, 11 professional invoice templates, online payments, projects, time tracking, vendors, and expenses. The five-client cap may be a constraint as a contractor's customer list grows; Pro and Enterprise add unlimited clients.

The Self-hosted option costs 0.00 USD per free, billed Free to download and self-host. Hosting the server is separately paid. The listed terms include source-code availability and no client limits, invoice caps, or feature paywalls stated. Self-hosted code uses Elastic License v2: it permits business use and modification, but commercial resale or providing it to others as a managed service requires a separate agreement.

Ninja Pro costs 14.00 USD per month, billed monthly, or $140 billed annually. It includes unlimited clients and invoices, API access, custom invoice designs, automatic reminders, reports, and 10 interlinked companies.

Enterprise costs 18.00 USD per month, billed monthly, with price scaling by account users. It lists up to 100 account users, user permissions, bank sync, e-Invoicing and PEPPOL, 250 PEPPOL credits, and document uploads.

Premium Business is listed at 280.00 USD per year, billed From $280/year · Let's talk! It includes Pro and Enterprise features, a developer concierge, direct priority support, invoice design service, data migration assistance, and custom reports. The maker lists community forums and documentation for all plans, with direct priority support for paid plans on its feature comparison.

Platforms

Invoice Ninja offers web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android apps, with data syncing across devices. The listed platform options also include API access and self-hosting. Mobile apps are available for both major mobile platforms, making it possible to access the service across phone, desktop, and web environments.

Who it's for

Invoice Ninja may suit independent contractors and small construction businesses that want estimates, invoices, online payments, recurring billing, expenses, and billable time in one product. Its project boards and task management can help organize work, while converting tracked hours into invoices ties time records to billing.

The hosted Free plan is a practical starting point for a business with no more than five clients. Contractors with larger customer lists can look at Pro or Enterprise, while those who want to manage their own server can consider self-hosting, provided they are prepared to maintain its security and account for separate hosting costs.

Pros and cons

• Pros: The Free plan includes unlimited invoicing, online payments, projects, and time tracking, with a limit of five clients.
• Pros: Quotes can be signed electronically and converted into invoices, and tracked billable time can be invoiced.
• Pros: Hosted, self-hosted, desktop, and mobile options give businesses different ways to deploy and access the product.
• Cons: The hosted Free plan's five-client limit may not fit a growing contractor's customer base.
• Cons: Self-hosting shifts server security to the user, and hosting is a separate cost.
• Cons: Commercial resale or offering the self-hosted code as a managed service requires a separate agreement.

Alternatives

Contractors comparing billing tools can also consider Zoho Invoice, Contractor+, Traddie, Billdu, Bookipi, Joist, Invoicely, and Invoice2go.

Verdict

Invoice Ninja brings estimates, invoicing, payment collection, projects, time tracking, and expenses together, with a Free hosted plan for up to five clients and unlimited invoices. Contractors should weigh that client cap against their workload, then compare the paid plans or self-hosting if they need more room. Its range of apps and hosting choices may suit businesses that want flexibility, while self-hosting requires taking responsibility for server security and costs.