A freelancer wants to send an invoice, track expenses, and be ready for tax time without running a finance department. We weighted price and simplicity most, then ranked the five tools that fit a solo professional best.
Reviewed by M. HALLORAN·Updated JUNE 2026·How we vet
Tools compared5
Criteria weighted5
Last reviewedJune 2026
Paid placements0
How we ranked the field
For freelancers we weight price and simplicity above all, since a solo professional needs to get paid and stay tax ready, not learn double entry accounting. See the full rubric →
Price and free tier30%
Ease of use25%
Invoicing20%
Tax and reporting15%
Integrations10%
01
RANK
★ Editor’s Choice
Wave
Best free
Free double entry accounting and unlimited invoicing with no client cap, which is rare and ideal for a freelancer. Pro adds bank imports and receipt scanning for a few dollars a month. Payments and payroll cost extra, but for solo books the free tier is hard to beat.
The freelancer favorite for a reason: invoicing, expense tracking, and time logging are fast and feel made for one person billing clients. The Lite plan is affordable but caps you at five clients, so count your roster before choosing a tier.
Free under fifty thousand dollars in revenue and inexpensive above it, with a polished mobile app for logging expenses on the move. It does more than most freelancers need, which is upside as you grow. The wider Zoho suite is where it shines.
Aimed squarely at sole proprietors who want Schedule C ready books and easy quarterly tax estimates. It links to the wider QuickBooks world if you incorporate later. It is lighter than Simple Start, so it suits a freelancer over a growing company.
The Early plan is inexpensive and the product is a pleasure, but its invoice and bill caps bite a busy freelancer quickly. The reason to start here is knowing you will scale, since Xero grows into a full team tool without a migration.