Wave
VerifiedFree accounting, invoicing, and payroll software for small businesses in the US and Canada
See all screenshots - Deployment Cloud Based
- Starting price Free
- Free trial Available
- Best for Freelancers, Startups, SMEs
What is Wave?
Wave is a financial management platform built for small business owners, freelancers, and sole proprietors, offering free accounting and invoicing software alongside paid add-ons for payroll, payments, and bookkeeping support. Its core accounting and invoicing tools are free with no subscription required, letting users create unlimited invoices and estimates, track expenses, connect bank accounts, and generate financial reports. Wave Payroll is a separate paid add-on available in the United States and most Canadian provinces (excluding Quebec), handling employee pay runs, direct deposit, tax calculations, and in many US states, automatic tax payment and filing.
The Pro plan adds automatic bank transaction import and categorization, unlimited receipt scanning, invoice customization, and payment discounts. Wave also offers optional bookkeeping coaching and dedicated bookkeeper services through Wave Advisors. The product is entirely web-based, with a mobile app for invoicing on the go, and is aimed at very small businesses and self-employed users who need straightforward, low-cost financial tools rather than a full HR suite.
Key Features of Wave
Wave lists 10 documented features, including Free double-entry accounting and bookkeeping, Unlimited invoice and estimate creation with customizable branding and Online invoice payments via credit card, bank transfer, and Apple Pay. The list below covers what the product does rather than how it is marketed.
- Free double-entry accounting and bookkeeping
- Unlimited invoice and estimate creation with customizable branding
- Online invoice payments via credit card, bank transfer, and Apple Pay
- Automatic bank transaction import and categorization (Pro plan)
- Receipt scanning and expense tracking
- Payroll with direct deposit for employees and contractors (US and Canada, add-on)
- Automatic payroll tax calculations, payments, and filings in supported US states
- W-2/1099 (US) and T4/T4A (Canada) tax form generation
- Employee self-serve portal for pay stubs and tax documents
- Cash flow, profit and loss, and other financial reports
Wave Pricing
Wave lists 2 plans, starting free and running to $19.
Starter
Free
per month
Unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records, with the option to accept online payments at 2.9 percent plus $0.60 per credit card transaction.
Pro
$19
USD/month, billed monthly
Everything in Starter plus added automation; billed annually it is $190 USD per year, and a promotion offers $9.50 USD per month for the first 3 months.
Wave Specifications
Wave is available on web app and has iOS and Android apps. It has a free trial and has a free plan.
- Deployment
- Cloud Based
- Billing cycle
- Monthly
- Desktop
- Web App
- Mobile
- iOS
- Android
- Languages
- English
- Built for
- Freelancers
- Startups
- SMEs
- Support
- Live Support
- Integrations
- Wave integrates its own accounting, invoicing, payments, and payroll modules together; third-party integrations are limited (Wave does not offer an extensive app marketplace like larger competitors).
- Public API
- No
- Free trial
- Yes
- Free plan
- Yes
- Runs in browser
- Yes
- Customisable
- Yes
- Website
- waveapps.com
Wave Videos
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Wave Comparisons
Side by side comparisons of Wave against 3 other Payroll Software options listed here.
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Alternatives to Wave
Other Accounting software recorded on the same fields.
