Head to head · Accounting

QuickBooks Online vs Wave

QuickBooks Online gives you full double entry accounting, deep reporting and a path to scale. Wave gives you genuinely free core accounting and invoicing, which is hard to beat for freelancers and very small teams. Here is how they compare, and which one fits your books.

Reviewed by M. HALLORAN·Updated JANUARY 2026·How we vet
★ Our pick
QuickBooks Online
92 /100
vs
Challenger
Wave
88 /100
◂ QuickBooks Online Advantage Wave ▸
QuickBooks Online leads on depth and scale · Wave wins outright on price for the smallest teams.

These are affiliate links marked rel=“sponsored”. We may earn a commission if you buy · it never affects our scores or who wins. Disclosure.

How they score

Criteria QuickBooks Online Wave Winner
Ease of use
86
88
Wave
Reporting depth
90
72
QuickBooks Online
Value for money
76
96
Wave
Scales with you
92
64
QuickBooks Online
App ecosystem
92
60
QuickBooks Online
US accountant reach
95
74
QuickBooks Online

Scores are our editorial assessment against the VettedSaaS rubric · not vendor supplied.

Choose QuickBooks Online if…
+You expect to grow past basic books and invoicing
+You want deep reporting, classes and project costing
+Your accountant expects QuickBooks files
+You need inventory or a large app ecosystem
Choose Wave if…
+You are a freelancer or side business watching every dollar
+You mainly need invoicing and simple bookkeeping
+You want unlimited income and expense tracking for free
+You can add payroll or payments only when you need them

Feature by feature

✓ full  ·  ∼ partial  ·  — none
Capability QuickBooks Online Wave
Free plan Starter
Unlimited users collaborators
Built in inventory Plus
Project and job costing Plus
Built in payroll add on add on
Built in invoicing
US accountant network

Feature support verified as of June 2026 · check the vendor for current details.

Pricing, side by side

Per month, before promos
QuickBooks Online Our pick
Simple Start $38
Essentials $75
Plus $115
Wave Challenger
Starter $0
Pro $19
Payroll add on from $40

Pricing as of June 2026 · check the vendor for current pricing. Intuit raised QuickBooks Online prices 15 to 20 percent in 2025. Wave Pro is $19 a month, or about $16 a month billed annually; payroll runs from $40 a month plus $6 per employee, and card payments cost 2.9 percent plus 60 cents per transaction.