Home / Do the Books / FreshBooks
The invoicing-led ledger priced by how many clients you bill — $23 for 5 clients, with real accounting (reconciliation, double-entry reports, accountant access) starting at $43.
The polished billing machine for client-based solos: start on the 30-day trial, but budget for Plus at $43 — that is the tier where FreshBooks is honestly your ledger, and watch the client cap as your roster grows.
Visit FreshBooks ↗ Compare all do the books agents
FreshBooks is an invoicing-first ledger priced by billable clients: $23 for 5 clients buys billing and tracking, while $43 for 50 clients adds the reconciliation, double-entry reports and accountant access that make it complete books.
Your work is client-billed — especially by the hour — and you want invoicing, time tracking, expenses and books in one polished tool, with your accountant able to log in.
You bill many small one-off clients (the cap counts archived clients too), you need a free tier, or you want bank feeds and books without a per-client meter.
Workflows are built only from verified capabilities in our listing research — no vendor copy, nothing invented.
Starts You finish work tracked in FreshBooks
You get An accurate invoice built from the work itself
Unbilled hours and lost expenses stop leaking revenue
Starts An invoice passes its due date
You get Follow-up that happens without an awkward email from you
Cash flow improves while the client relationship stays friendly
Starts Bank transactions import automatically
You get Books your accountant can trust, closed monthly
Approval You confirm matches; reconciliation is a review, not a black box
Year-end stops being a reconstruction project
Starts Tax time or a question you cannot answer (Plus and up)
You get An accountant working in your system instead of from exports
The books conversation happens where the numbers live
No plan commitment up front; a 30-day money-back guarantee also covers purchases.
Lite's 5-client cap includes archived clients — if your roster is anywhere near it, start on Plus.
Automated bank import runs on every plan; set late fees and reminders once.
Accountant access is free for them and is the point where FreshBooks becomes your full ledger.
Time to first useful result: Same day — 30-day free trial, start invoicing in minutes · no-code 5/5
Priced per account by billable-client count: Lite $23/month (5 clients), Plus $43/month (50 clients), Premium $70/month (unlimited clients), Select custom. Annual billing is 10% off (Lite $248.40/year, Plus $464.40/year, Premium $756/year). Every plan is single-user at base: extra team members cost $11/month each, Advanced Payments is $20/month (included on Select), and payroll is $40/month plus $6/month per user. Introductory promotions (80% off for the first months at check) are not the renewal price.
$23/month billed monthly; $248.40/year billed annually (10% off)
Flat / month · $23/mo for one person
$43/month billed monthly; $464.40/year billed annually (10% off)
Flat / month · $43/mo for one person
$70/month billed monthly; $756/year billed annually (10% off)
Flat / month · $70/mo for one person
Custom — talk to sales
Custom / quoted · $null/mo for one person
| Plan | Published price | Solo monthly | Billed by | Limits & overage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | $23/month billed monthly; $248.40/year billed annually (10% off) | $23/mo | Flat / month | No bank reconciliation or double-entry accounting reports · No accountant access · No automatic receipt data capture |
| PlusSolo pick | $43/month billed monthly; $464.40/year billed annually (10% off) | $43/mo | Flat / month | Extra team members are $11/month each · Accounts payable and project profitability are Premium features |
| Premium | $70/month billed monthly; $756/year billed annually (10% off) | $70/mo | Flat / month | Extra team members are $11/month each |
| Select | Custom — talk to sales | $null/mo | Custom / quoted | Sales-quoted pricing |
Client count, not usage: the 6th billable client forces Lite to Plus ($23 to $43) and the 51st forces Plus to Premium ($43 to $70), and archived clients count toward the cap — a solo with many small one-off clients pays for headcount, not features.
Price record · 2026-11-05: First listing check, 2026-11-05, on freshbooks.com/pricing — read in full this run, comparison table included: Lite $23.00, Plus $43.00, Premium $70.00 per month billed monthly, Select custom; billable clients 5 / 50 / unlimited / unlimited. Annual billing is 10% off ($248.40 / $464.40 / $756 per year per the vendor's published annual figures). DISCLOSED PROMOTION: the page was running 80% off for the first 4 months ($4.60 / $8.60 / $14.00) — a limited-time introductory offer that was NOT used as the price in this listing. Add-ons read on the same page: Advanced Payments $20/month, team members $11/month each, payroll $40/month plus $6/month per user.
The same fields on every deep listing in this job, so agents compare field by field. “Not verified” means our research has not confirmed it yet — it never means “doesn't have it.”
FreshBooks grew up as invoicing software and it shows in the pricing: you do not pay for features so much as for billable clients. Lite at $23 a month covers 5 billable clients with unlimited invoices and estimates, unlimited expenses, unlimited time tracking, automated bank import, recurring invoices, late payment reminders and tax-time reports — enough to bill and track, but deliberately not a full ledger: there is no bank reconciliation, no double-entry accounting reports, no receipt data capture and no accountant access on Lite. Plus at $43 a month, covering 50 billable clients, is where FreshBooks becomes the books: double-entry reports, bank reconciliation, automatic expense receipt capture, proposals, client retainers and free access for your accountant all start here, which is why Plus is this listing's solo pick for anyone whose FreshBooks is their actual ledger. Premium at $70 a month removes the client cap and adds accounts payable and project profitability; Select is custom-priced with two team member seats, lower card rates and a dedicated account manager. Annual billing takes 10% off (Lite $248.40 a year, Plus $464.40, Premium $756). The add-on menu matters to the real bill: extra team members are $11 a month each on every plan, Advanced Payments is $20 a month (included on Select), and payroll runs $40 a month plus $6 per user. The client-count model cuts both ways — a solo with three steady clients gets a polished billing machine for $23, while a freelancer with many small one-off clients can be pushed up a tier by headcount alone, and archived clients count toward the cap. A 30-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee soften the start; the pricing page's 80%-off introductory offer is a promotion, not the price you renew at.
Solo Fit stays the public score: the qualitative roll-up of these four published inputs under the How We Rank method. Prices are published plainly per plan, so clarity is high; it is held back by the client-count scaling rule and an add-on menu (team seats, Advanced Payments, payroll) that decides the real bill.
The difference: Wave starts free with unlimited clients and charges $19/month for its bank feed; FreshBooks starts at $23, caps clients per tier, and is the more polished invoicing and time-tracking machine.
The difference: Found is a free bank account whose books cover money inside it; FreshBooks is a standalone ledger beside any bank, priced by how many clients you bill.
The difference: QuickBooks Online is the deeper general ledger with the widest accountant familiarity; FreshBooks is narrower, friendlier for client billing, and priced by client count instead of feature depth.
Lite is $23/month for up to 5 billable clients, Plus is $43/month for up to 50, and Premium is $70/month for unlimited, checked on freshbooks.com/pricing on 2026-11-05. Annual billing takes 10% off. Extra team members are $11/month each, and the introductory 80%-off offer on the page is a promotion, not the renewal price.
Lite bills and tracks well but is not a full ledger: bank reconciliation, double-entry accounting reports, receipt capture and accountant access all start on Plus at $43/month. If FreshBooks is your actual bookkeeping system rather than just your invoicing tool, Plus is the honest tier.
Lite allows 5 billable clients and Plus 50; Premium and Select are unlimited. The count includes archived clients, so a freelancer with many past one-off clients can hit the cap on history rather than current work — that headcount, not usage, is what moves you up a tier.
There is no free-forever plan. There is a 30-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee on purchases, both stated on the pricing page checked on 2026-11-05.
FreshBooks is not in a published stack yet — stacks are edited buying guides, and memberships are added only when the combination has been worked through.
Compare all do the books agents → · How we rank → · Get a weekly shortlist →