Updated September 7, 2026
QuickBooks
Wave
QuickBooks vs Wave 2026 Comparison
Compare QuickBooks and Wave on pricing, free plans, features, support, and true cost. Find which bookkeeping tool fits your business in under three minutes.
QuickBooks wins for growing businesses with employees, inventory, or a CPA who already uses it, because the feature depth and integration ecosystem justify the monthly cost. Wave wins for solo founders and freelancers who just need clean invoicing and basic books, because Starter is free forever and Pro at $19 per month is still the cheapest real alternative. Most readers should pick Wave for year one, graduate to QuickBooks when payroll, inventory, or a CPA enters the picture.
QuickBooks and Wave are the two bookkeeping tools US founders compare most. The question is usually whether to pay for software or stay free. QuickBooks is the dominant paid product, with over 800 app integrations and near universal CPA compatibility. Wave is the last genuine free option, now a subsidiary of H&R Block, with a Pro tier at $19 per month.
We re-read both vendors' US pricing pages on September 7, 2026. QuickBooks now has a $0 Free plan capped at 2 invoices a month. Paid plans run from Simple Start at $38 per month to Advanced at $340. Intuit Expert Full Service Bookkeeping starts at $300 per month after a cleanup fee from $600. Intuit was showing some visitors an older grid the same day, $74, $115 and $275 for the three upper tiers. Confirm the price at checkout. Wave Starter is free forever for unlimited invoicing and basic bookkeeping. Bank feeds and receipt scanning sit on the $19 per month Pro plan, $190 a year if you prepay. The choice is less about features and more about who you are. A growing team with a CPA leans QuickBooks. A solo founder who mostly needs to get paid leans Wave.
Which one to pick
Pre revenue solo founder invoicing first clients
Pick, WaveWave Starter is free and covers unlimited invoicing, QuickBooks Free stops at 2 invoices a month and Simple Start costs $38/mo
Freelancer billing under $100k/year in services
Pick, WaveWave Pro at $19/mo with automatic bank feeds is plenty, and pricing does not scale with revenue
5 person services firm with a bookkeeper
Pick, QuickBooksQuickBooks Essentials or Plus gives the user roles, project tracking and accountant seats your bookkeeper expects, roughly $85 to $140/mo. Wave Pro adds users but no project profitability or time tracking
E commerce shop with physical inventory
Pick, QuickBooksQuickBooks Plus at $140/mo ships inventory tracking and direct Shopify sync, Wave offers neither
Founder who wants books done by someone else
TieBoth offer bookkeeping services, Intuit Expert Full Service from $300/mo after a cleanup fee from $600, Wave Advisors from $149/mo. Compare the human bookkeeper assigned, not the logo
Budget squeezed and bank feeds are non negotiable
Pick, WaveWave Pro at $19/mo includes automatic bank feeds. The cheapest QuickBooks tier with feeds is Simple Start at $38/mo, twice the price
Pricing side by side
Plans side by side
| Plan | QuickBooks | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | $0/mo QuickBooks Free, 1 user, 2 invoices a month, 1 bank connection, no accountant access, no mobile app or integrations | $0/mo Wave Starter is permanent, unlimited invoicing, manual expense tracking, basic reports |
| Entry paid plan | $38/mo QuickBooks Simple Start, 1 user, bank feeds, basic invoicing and reports, 2 accountant seats | $19/mo Wave Pro, automatic bank feeds, unlimited receipt scanning, late payment reminders, add users |
| Mid tier | $85/mo QuickBooks Essentials, 3 users, bill management, multi currency, time tracking | Not offered Wave has only Starter and Pro |
| Popular tier | $140/mo QuickBooks Plus, 5 users, inventory tracking, project profitability | Not offered Wave does not offer inventory or project profitability at any tier |
| Top tier | $340/mo QuickBooks Advanced, 25 users, batch invoicing, workflow automation, priority support | Not offered Wave has no tier above Pro |
| Annual billing discount | No annual plan, 50% off first 3 months promo Intuit does not sell annual prepaid on QuickBooks Online, just a 3 month discount or a 30 day trial, not both | $190/yr (effective $15.83/mo) Wave Pro annual saves $38 versus monthly |
| Dedicated bookkeeper add on | From $300/mo after a cleanup fee from $600 Intuit Expert Full Service Bookkeeping, the cleanup price sits on a separate page from the monthly rate | From $149/mo Wave Advisors, dedicated bookkeeper, monthly statements |
| Bookkeeping assistance add on | $59/mo after 30 days free Intuit Expert Assisted, coaching from certified bookkeepers, your books stay your job | N/A Wave does not offer a Q&A only tier, only full service |
| Payroll add on | $88/mo plus $7/employee bundled with Simple Start Intuit publishes payroll only as a bundle, payroll itself adds $50 plus $7 per employee | From $40/mo Wave Payroll, full service in supported states, self service elsewhere, per employee price not published on the pricing page |
| Online payment processing | Intuit Merchant Services, per merchant quote Variable rate tied to processing volume | 2.9% plus $0.60 per card Pro waives the $0.60 on the first 10 card transactions a month, Amex runs 3.4% plus $0.60 |
Total cost by scenario
| Profile | Timeframe | QuickBooks | Wave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo founder, first year invoicing | 12 months | $399 to $456 | $0 to $228 Method. QuickBooks Simple Start at $38/mo for 12 months is $456. With the 50% off first 3 months promo it is $399 (3 months at $19 plus 9 at $38). Wave Starter is $0 for the full year if you do not need automatic bank feeds. Wave Pro at $19/mo for 12 months is $228, or $190 on annual billing. |
| Freelance service business, year 1 to year 3 | 36 months | $1,368 to $5,040 | $570 to $684 Method. QuickBooks Simple Start at $38/mo times 36 months is $1,368. Essentials at $85/mo is $3,060 and Plus at $140/mo is $5,040. Wave Pro on annual billing is $190/yr times 3 is $570, or $228/yr times 3 on monthly is $684. Wave delivers the same core workflow at roughly one eighth of the QuickBooks Plus spend. |
| 5 person services firm, 3 year window | 36 months | $5,040 plus bookkeeper | Not a viable fit Method. QuickBooks Plus at $140/mo times 36 months is $5,040. A part time bookkeeper at $300 to $500/mo adds $10,800 to $18,000 over 3 years. Intuit Expert Full Service from $300/mo after a $600 cleanup adds at least $11,400. Wave Pro now lets you add users. It still has no project profitability, time tracking, multi currency or accountant seats. A firm that bills by job outgrows it at any price. |
Feature comparison
| Feature | QuickBooks | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent free plan QuickBooks Free is $0 with 1 user, 2 invoices a month and 1 bank connection, no accountant access. Wave Starter is $0 forever with unlimited invoicing and basic bookkeeping. | 2 invoices/mo | |
| Entry plan monthly price Wave Pro is half the QuickBooks Simple Start price, which is the cheapest paid bookkeeping product in the category. | $38/mo | $19/mo |
| Automatic bank feeds on entry plan Both include automatic bank feeds on their entry paid plan. Wave Starter does not include them, only manual import. | ||
| Multi user access QuickBooks Essentials supports 3 users, Plus supports 5, Advanced supports 25. Wave Pro lets you add admin, editor and viewer users, Starter allows only a payroll manager or a tax pro. | Pro only | |
| Inventory tracking QuickBooks Plus and Advanced. Wave does not offer inventory at any tier. | ||
| Project profitability QuickBooks Plus and Advanced include project level P&L. Wave does not. | ||
| Multi currency QuickBooks Essentials and above handle multi currency invoicing and reporting. Wave operates in a single currency per business. | ||
| Time tracking QuickBooks Essentials and above, plus QuickBooks Time integration. Wave does not ship native time tracking. | ||
| Native integrations QuickBooks App Store is the category leader, Intuit's integrations page says over 800 apps. Wave relies on Zapier as the catch all. | 800+ | Shopify, Etsy, PayPal, Zapier |
| Mobile app ratings QuickBooks mobile apps are in the top quartile of financial apps. Wave has a receipt scanning and invoicing companion app. | iOS 4.6, Android 4.7 | iOS 4.4 |
| Priority support Phone support comes with any paid QuickBooks plan. Priority Circle support and training are reserved for Advanced. Wave has no phone support at any tier. Live chat and email open only with a paid add-on. | Advanced only, $340/mo | |
| CPA compatibility Almost every US CPA knows QuickBooks. Wave exports to CSV but accountant familiarity is much lower. | Industry standard | Limited |
| Payroll module Both sell payroll as a separate subscription. Intuit publishes payroll only as a bundle, so payroll itself adds $50 plus $7 per employee over Simple Start. Wave is cheaper on the base. QuickBooks covers more local and state filings. | $88/mo plus $7/employee with Simple Start | From $40/mo |
Permanent free plan
- QuickBooks
- 2 invoices/mo
- Wave
QuickBooks Free is $0 with 1 user, 2 invoices a month and 1 bank connection, no accountant access. Wave Starter is $0 forever with unlimited invoicing and basic bookkeeping.
Entry plan monthly price
- QuickBooks
- $38/mo
- Wave
- $19/mo
Wave Pro is half the QuickBooks Simple Start price, which is the cheapest paid bookkeeping product in the category.
Automatic bank feeds on entry plan
- QuickBooks
- Wave
Both include automatic bank feeds on their entry paid plan. Wave Starter does not include them, only manual import.
Multi user access
- QuickBooks
- Wave
- Pro only
QuickBooks Essentials supports 3 users, Plus supports 5, Advanced supports 25. Wave Pro lets you add admin, editor and viewer users, Starter allows only a payroll manager or a tax pro.
Inventory tracking
- QuickBooks
- Wave
QuickBooks Plus and Advanced. Wave does not offer inventory at any tier.
Project profitability
- QuickBooks
- Wave
QuickBooks Plus and Advanced include project level P&L. Wave does not.
Multi currency
- QuickBooks
- Wave
QuickBooks Essentials and above handle multi currency invoicing and reporting. Wave operates in a single currency per business.
Time tracking
- QuickBooks
- Wave
QuickBooks Essentials and above, plus QuickBooks Time integration. Wave does not ship native time tracking.
Native integrations
- QuickBooks
- 800+
- Wave
- Shopify, Etsy, PayPal, Zapier
QuickBooks App Store is the category leader, Intuit's integrations page says over 800 apps. Wave relies on Zapier as the catch all.
Mobile app ratings
- QuickBooks
- iOS 4.6, Android 4.7
- Wave
- iOS 4.4
QuickBooks mobile apps are in the top quartile of financial apps. Wave has a receipt scanning and invoicing companion app.
Priority support
- QuickBooks
- Advanced only, $340/mo
- Wave
Phone support comes with any paid QuickBooks plan. Priority Circle support and training are reserved for Advanced. Wave has no phone support at any tier. Live chat and email open only with a paid add-on.
CPA compatibility
- QuickBooks
- Industry standard
- Wave
- Limited
Almost every US CPA knows QuickBooks. Wave exports to CSV but accountant familiarity is much lower.
Payroll module
- QuickBooks
- $88/mo plus $7/employee with Simple Start
- Wave
- From $40/mo
Both sell payroll as a separate subscription. Intuit publishes payroll only as a bundle, so payroll itself adds $50 plus $7 per employee over Simple Start. Wave is cheaper on the base. QuickBooks covers more local and state filings.
QuickBooks
Your accountant already uses it, and that is the main reason to pay $38 a month for a tool whose list price rose again this year.
- Pricing
- $38
- Rating
- 3 / 5
- Category
- Bookkeeping
Pros
- Nearly universal CPA compatibility. Your accountant almost certainly already works with QuickBooks, which saves file conversion at tax time.
- Over 800 app integrations, more than any competitor in the bookkeeping category.
- The feature set scales from simple invoicing on the $38 a month plan to accrual accounting, inventory and project profitability on the $140 Plus plan.
- Mobile apps rated 4.6 on iOS and 4.7 on Android, with working invoicing and receipt capture on the go.
Cons
- Unpredictable price rises. Intuit lifted three of its four paid plans in 2026, and the U.S. Trustpilot profile for Intuit sits at 1.1 from 1,488 reviews.
- Support is thin for the price. Phone support comes with any paid plan, but priority support and training are reserved for the $340 a month Advanced tier.
- The AI auto-categorization is overconfident and got about a third of our test transactions wrong, creating more cleanup than it saves.
- A bookkeeper who actually does your books costs from $300 a month, after a cleanup fee that starts at $600. Those two prices sit on separate pages, not on the pricing grid.
Wave
Free invoicing and expense tracking for solopreneurs, but bank feeds now cost $19 a month and human support opens only once you pay.
- Pricing
- $0
- Rating
- 3.5 / 5
- Category
- Bookkeeping
Pros
- The Starter plan at $0/month genuinely covers unlimited invoicing, manual expense tracking, and basic financial reports with no trial expiration.
- Invoicing is fast, clean, and professional. Estimates convert to invoices in two clicks, and clients can pay by credit card, ACH, or Apple Pay directly from the invoice.
- Double-entry bookkeeping with cash and accrual basis reporting gives you audit-ready records without needing an accounting degree.
- Zapier integration opens access to thousands of third-party apps, compensating for the limited native integration list.
Cons
- Customer support is the worst in the bookkeeping category. Free users get no human support unless they buy an add-on, and live chat runs Monday to Friday, 9am to 4:45pm ET only.
- Automatic bank feeds, a feature included in the base price of nearly every competitor, require the $19/month Pro plan.
- Multiple users report Wave holding or reversing payments worth thousands of dollars without prior notice, explanation, or timely resolution. Wave's Trustpilot score stood at 3.3 from 533 reviews on September 7, 2026, up from 1.2 from 180 in July. Wave now pays for a Trustpilot subscription that invites reviews.
Switching between them
- Export QuickBooks Online data. Use Reports to export customer list, vendor list, chart of accounts, and transactions as CSV. Invoices export separately from the Sales tab.
- Flatten your chart of accounts. Wave uses a simpler structure, so collapse sub accounts into parent accounts before import.
- In Wave, import the chart of accounts first via Accounting then Chart of Accounts then Import.
- Import customers and vendors via the Sales and Purchases sections. Wave auto matches on email address.
- Import transactions via Banking then Import then CSV. Wave auto categorizes based on the chart you set up in step 3.
- Rebuild invoices manually or via the Wave API. QuickBooks recurring templates do not map one to one.
- Cancel QuickBooks before the next billing cycle. Intuit does not pro rate mid cycle cancellations.
- Realistic timeline 2 to 4 hours solo for a sub 500 transaction business, a half day for anything bigger.
Who owns them
QuickBooks
- Founded
- 1983
- HQ
- Mountain View, California
- Owner
- Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ INTU)
- Status
- public
Fortune 500, Dow 30 adjacent with roughly $16B trailing twelve month revenue (early 2026). Owns TurboTax, Credit Karma, and Mailchimp (acquired November 2021 for $12B). QuickBooks launched 1992, QuickBooks Online launched 2000 and is the dominant product line. Consistent ownership but documented pattern of annual price hikes.
Wave
- Founded
- 2010
- HQ
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Owner
- H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE HRB)
- Status
- subsidiary of public parent
Wave Financial Inc. acquired by H&R Block June 24, 2019 for $537M. Product direction shifted after acquisition, with bank feeds, receipt scanning, and multi user access moving from free to paid across 2024 and 2025. Pro tier raised from $16 to $19 per month in early 2026. Headquartered in Toronto, core product team still Canadian.
For beginners
If you have not picked a bookkeeping tool yet, start with Wave Starter. It is free forever, unlimited invoicing is real, and your clients can pay by card or ACH from the invoice. QuickBooks Free caps you at 2 invoices a month with no accountant access. Paying $38 per month for Simple Start before you have steady revenue is a trap. Skip Wave Starter at day one only if you already sell physical inventory or run payroll. A CPA who works only in QuickBooks is the other reason.
When you outgrow Starter, the natural next move is Wave Pro at $19 per month for automatic bank feeds, not QuickBooks. Reserve the QuickBooks decision for the month you hire employees or start carrying inventory. An outside accountant who insists on it is the other trigger.
For growing teams
Past about $200,000 in annual revenue or 3 team members, QuickBooks starts to pay for itself. Wave has no inventory, project profitability, time tracking, or multi currency. Those limits compound fast once you hire employees or sell physical goods. QuickBooks Essentials at $85 per month gives you 3 users and bill management. Plus at $140 per month adds inventory and project P&L. The extra $47 to $102 per month over Simple Start costs less than the spreadsheet kludges Wave forces at this scale.
Budget realistically for the year three total cost. A 5 person services firm on QuickBooks Plus with a part time bookkeeper lands around $440 to $640 per month all in. Intuit Expert Full Service sits in the same range. The same firm cannot credibly run on Wave Pro. Pro now adds users, but it has no project profitability, no time tracking and no accountant seats. At this stage the real question is which QuickBooks tier to buy. Then decide whether you add Intuit's bookkeepers or hire a human independent of Intuit.
For enterprise
At 25 plus users or regulated data, the bookkeeping stack conversation moves past both products. QuickBooks Advanced caps at 25 users and does not cover manufacturing, complex consolidations, or multi entity reporting with the depth NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or Xero Enterprise do. Wave is out of scope entirely at this tier.
If you are still on QuickBooks at 100 plus employees, the common pattern is QuickBooks Enterprise Desktop for the finance team plus a connected reporting stack for FP&A. Cloud only scaleups typically migrate to Sage Intacct or NetSuite around the same time they hire a controller. Wave does not play in this tier, so any bookkeeping comparison at enterprise scale excludes it by definition.
FAQ
How we tested
Compared 2 products across pricing, features, support, and real user complaints.
We compared QuickBooks and Wave on price, free tiers, features, integrations, support and reputation. We re-read both vendors' US pricing pages in US dollars on September 7, 2026. Then we checked them against our own service reviews. A fact we could not verify at a primary source went into the research file, not onto this page. Pros and cons are copied word for word from our /reviews/quickbooks and /reviews/wave pages. Those reviews cite vendor docs, Trustpilot counts and independent reviews.
About the Author
Business Formation Researcher
Eliot leads StartupOwl's state data research. He maintains the site's fifty state records of LLC filing fees, annual costs, processing times, and small business grant programs, checking each figure against the state office that publishes it and logging the date it was verified. Based in New Jersey, he has spent his working life in and around small businesses, and he writes for the founder who wants the real number rather than the advertised one. Every figure under his byline traces to a named source, and when a state proves a number wrong, the correction is published, not buried.
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