Wave
Zoho Books
| Feature | Wave | Zoho Books |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $16/mo | Free / from $15/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | freelancers, solopreneurs, micro-businesses, side-hustlers | small-businesses, freelancers, zoho-users, international-businesses |
| Founded | 2010 | 2011 |
| Accounting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Receipt Scanning | ✓ | ✗ |
| Bank Connections | ✓ | ✗ |
| Financial Reports | ✓ | ✗ |
| Payroll Addon | ✓ | ✗ |
| Payments Addon | ✓ | ✗ |
| Expenses | ✗ | ✓ |
| Banking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tax Compliance | ✗ | ✓ |
| Inventory | ✗ | ✓ |
| Project Accounting | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Wave Pros
- Core accounting and invoicing completely free
- Unlimited income and expense tracking
- Receipt scanning with OCR included
- Simple enough for non-accountants
✗ Wave Cons
- Payroll and payments are paid add-ons
- No inventory or project tracking
- Limited integrations compared to competitors
✓ Zoho Books Pros
- Free plan available
- Zoho ecosystem
- Good automation
- Multi-currency
✗ Zoho Books Cons
- Revenue limits on free
- Limited third-party integrations
- Complex for beginners
The Verdict
Wave is built for freelancers and solopreneurs, with a focus on accounting and invoicing. Zoho Books targets small businesses and freelancers and leads with invoicing and expenses.
Pricing is close: Zoho Books starts at $15/mo versus $16/mo for Wave — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, Wave offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Zoho Books takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Both tools are a solid fit for freelancers — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.