WaveApps Review: What Wave's Free Plan Covers and What Pro Adds
Wave's Starter plan is free with unlimited invoices; Pro is $19 a month. What each covers, what payroll costs, and when Wave stops being enough.
Wave is double-entry accounting and invoicing software with a Starter plan that costs nothing and carries no cap on invoices, estimates, bills or bookkeeping records, so it suits sole proprietors and freelancers whose books are a bank account, invoices and expenses. This WaveApps review finds the limits in what Wave does not do at any price: no inventory, no time tracking, no project costing and no audit trail. Skip it if you hold stock, bill by the hour, or need several people working in the file on the free plan.
The short version: Wave Starter is a genuine free ledger, paid for through card processing fees. Pro at $19 a month adds automatic bank imports, extra user roles and integrations, and payroll is $40 a month plus $6 per person, now with tax filing in all 50 states.
Wave at a glance
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | Own general ledger with invoicing, cloud-based |
| Best for | Sole proprietors and freelancers with simple, service-based books |
| Pricing | Starter $0; Pro $19 a month or $190 a year, as of September 2026 |
| Users included | Owner, plus free payroll-manager and Block Advisors tax-pro access; admin, editor and viewer roles on Pro |
| Notable limits | Automatic bank import only on Pro; receipt scanning is a paid add-on |
| Payroll | Built-in add-on, $40 a month plus $6 per active employee and $6 per contractor paid |
| Not ideal for | Product sellers, hourly billers, businesses with several staff in the books |
What Wave does
Invoicing and estimates
Both plans create unlimited estimates, invoices and bills, send them as links or PDFs, and invoice from the mobile app. With online payments turned on, you can take deposits through estimates. Pro adds sending invoices automatically through Wave, removing Wave branding from footers, attachments on invoices and estimates, and automated late-payment reminders. Recurring invoices with automatic card payments need either Pro or Wave’s online payments feature.
Bookkeeping and bank transactions
Wave keeps double-entry books with unlimited bookkeeping records on both plans, and its reports show month-to-month and year-to-year comparisons. How transactions arrive is the real difference between the plans. On Starter you enter bank transactions yourself. On Pro, Wave imports them automatically through Plaid, then merges and categorizes them. Wave notes that not every bank is supported by Plaid, so it cannot guarantee a connection.
Online payments
Card acceptance is optional and requires a separate application and approval. On Starter the rate is 2.9% plus $0.60 per transaction for Visa, Mastercard and Discover, and 3.4% plus $0.60 for American Express. On Pro the $0.60 is waived for the first ten transactions each month, after which the Starter rates apply.
Receipts
Receipt scanning is a paid add-on on both plans: $11 a month or $96 a year on Starter, $8 a month or $72 a year on Pro. It captures unlimited receipts through the mobile app, desktop or email and turns them into bookkeeping records with optical character recognition.
Payroll
Wave writes its own payroll. In the US it costs $40 a month plus $6 per active employee and $6 per independent contractor paid, with unlimited free direct deposits. Wave’s tax service, which pays and files state and federal payroll taxes automatically, is now offered in all 50 states at the same price; before April 2, 2025, it was not. Two details to know: the automatic filing excludes 1099 filings, although Wave generates 1099-NEC forms along with W-2s and W-3s; and employees get a portal for pay stubs and tax forms.
Users and accountant access
Wave lets you give a partner, collaborator or accountant access as a payroll manager or as a Block Advisors tax pro at no cost. Admin, editor and viewer roles, the ones a bookkeeper would need to work in the books, are Pro features. Third-party integrations also require Pro or one of the paid add-ons.
Bookkeeping service
Wave Advisors provides a dedicated bookkeeper, monthly financial statements and onboarding from other software, starting at $149 a month, with Pro features included except mobile receipts.
Wave pricing
List prices as of September 2026. Both plans have the same unlimited invoicing; the difference is automation, users and support.
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $0 | Unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records; mobile invoicing; online payments at 2.9% + $0.60 |
| Pro | $19/mo or $190/yr | Automatic bank import, auto-merge and categorization, late-payment reminders, branding removal, admin, editor and viewer roles, integrations, $0 fixed fee on the first 10 card payments a month, live human support |
| Add-on | Starter | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt scanning | $11/mo or $96/yr | $8/mo or $72/yr |
| Payroll (US) | $40/mo + $6 per employee + $6 per contractor | Same |
| Wave Advisors bookkeeping | From $149/mo | From $149/mo |
Wave’s pricing page shows an introductory rate of $9.50 a month for the first three months of Pro for new monthly subscribers. That is a promotion; budget on $19. The annual Pro price of $190 works out to about $15.83 a month. The free Starter plan is the trial: there is no separate trial period to sign up for.
What forces an upgrade
Nothing on Wave is metered by volume, so the push to Pro is workflow. The usual triggers are the hours spent typing bank transactions in by hand, a bookkeeper who needs a login with editing rights, a connection to another app, or wanting a person rather than an AI chatbot to answer a question.
What a small business pays
A freelancer on Starter who photographs receipts pays $11 a month, $96 a year on annual billing, plus card fees. A two-person service business with one employee on payroll that wants bank feeds and receipt capture pays Pro at $19, receipts at $8, and payroll at $40 plus $6: $73 a month, or $876 a year.
Limitations
No inventory, time tracking or project costing. NerdWallet’s review records none of the three, and no mileage tracking either. A product seller has to keep stock on a spreadsheet, and an hourly business has to track time in another tool.
No audit trail. NerdWallet notes that Wave has no audit trails, which makes cleanup and review by an outside accountant harder.
The free plan lost its automation. Automatic bank feeds and receipt scanning moved behind paid tiers after Pro launched in January 2024, according to NerdWallet. Starter still works, but it means manual entry.
Support is thin on Starter. NerdWallet reports that live human support requires Pro or another paid service, and free users get an AI chatbot.
Few integrations, and none on bare Starter. NerdWallet lists the lack of built-in third-party integrations as a drawback; Wave’s pricing page makes integrations a Pro or paid add-on feature.
No published multi-currency support. Wave’s pricing, accounting and invoicing pages do not describe multi-currency features, so confirm with Wave before relying on it for foreign-currency invoices.
Payroll stops short of 1099 filing. Wave generates 1099-NEC forms but its automatic tax filing excludes them, so contractor filings are a separate step.
Who Wave is for
Wave fits when:
- You are the only person in the books, or the only other person is a tax preparer or payroll manager.
- You sell services, fixed fees or digital products and hold no stock.
- You do not bill by the hour or measure profit by job.
- Your software budget is close to zero, and you can either enter bank transactions yourself or pay $19 a month to stop.
Look elsewhere if you hold inventory, bill time, need project profitability or multi-currency, want a bookkeeper editing the books without paying for Pro, or expect an outside accountant to rely on an audit trail. If you want an accountant to take over the books, our directory lists CPA firms.
How Wave compares
- QuickBooks Online: inventory, job costing, several named users and free accountant seats, from $38 a month for Simple Start. See Wave vs QuickBooks.
- FreshBooks: time tracking on every plan and proposals and retainers from Plus, from $23 a month with billable-client caps. See Wave vs FreshBooks.
- Zoho Books: also free, while revenue stays under $50,000, with an accountant seat and projects at $50.
- Xero: a fuller ledger with no per-user license fees, from $25 a month ($27 from October 1, 2026) with tight caps on the entry plan.
- Kick: another free option, capped at 250 transactions a year.
Our comparison index and accounting software hub cover the wider field.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Wave really free?
The Starter plan is free with no time limit and no cap on invoices, estimates, bills or bookkeeping records. Wave earns from card processing at 2.9% plus $0.60 a transaction, from the $19 Pro plan, from receipt scanning at $11 a month on Starter, and from payroll at $40 a month plus $6 per person.
What does Wave Pro add?
Automatic import, merging and categorization of bank transactions, automated late-payment reminders, branding removal, admin, editor and viewer user roles, third-party integrations, live human support and a waived $0.60 fee on the first ten card payments a month. It costs $19 a month or $190 a year as of September 2026.
Does Wave payroll work in every state?
Yes. Since April 2, 2025, Wave’s payroll tax service has been available in all 50 states at one price: $40 a month plus $6 per active employee and $6 per contractor paid. It pays and files state and federal payroll taxes, but excludes 1099 filings.
Can an accountant work in Wave?
Yes, with limits. On the free plan you can give an accountant access as a Block Advisors tax pro or a payroll manager. A bookkeeper who needs to edit transactions needs an admin or editor role, which requires Pro.
Does Wave track inventory or time?
No. Wave has no inventory, time tracking or project costing on any plan. A business that needs any of those should look at QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks or Zoho Books.
Sources
6 links
- Wave pricing
- Wave payroll
- Wave accounting features
- Wave invoicing features
- NerdWallet: Wave review (cited for missing inventory, time, project and mileage tracking, audit trails, integrations and support)
- Xero: US price changes from October 1, 2026
