QuickBooks vs Wave Accounting: Features, Pricing and Verdict
QuickBooks costs $38 to $340 a month while Wave starts free and tops out at $19. We compare pricing, features, payroll and limits to find the better fit.
By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-10T04:29:00+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-10T04:29:00+00:00
QuickBooks vs Wave Accounting: Features, Pricing and Verdict
QuickBooks Online and Wave are the two accounting tools small businesses compare most. QuickBooks is the full-featured standard. Wave is the free starting point. The real difference is not the headline price. It is what each tool charges for, and where each one stops. This comparison uses published prices from both vendors.
QuickBooks vs Wave Accounting at a glance
| Attribute | QuickBooks Online | Wave Accounting |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, 1 user, 2 invoices a month | Yes, Starter, unlimited invoices |
| Cheapest paid plan | Simple Start, $38 a month | Pro, $19 a month or $190 a year |
| Top plan | Advanced, $340 a month | Pro, $19 a month |
| Users included | 1 to 25 by plan | Single user on Starter; roles on Pro |
| Automatic bank imports | Every paid plan | Pro only |
| Card payment fee | Set by QuickBooks Payments | 2.9% plus $0.60 per transaction |
| Bank payment fee | Varies by plan | 1% per transaction, $1 minimum |
| Payroll | Separate, from $50 plus $7 per employee | Add-on, $40 plus $6 per employee |
| Availability | Wide, including US and Canada | Payments and payroll in US and Canada only |
How the pricing really works
QuickBooks Online has five US plans. Free costs $0 and covers 1 user and 2 invoices a month. Simple Start costs $38 a month for 1 user. Essentials costs $85 for 3 users. Plus costs $140 for 5 users. Advanced costs $340 for 25 users. New customers get 50% off for the first 3 months, or a 30-day free trial. The user cap forces each upgrade. A second user moves you from Simple Start to Essentials.
Wave has two plans. Starter costs $0. It includes unlimited estimates, invoices, bills, and bookkeeping records. Pro costs $19 a month, or $190 a year. Pro adds automatic bank imports, auto-categorisation, receipt capture, and late-payment reminders. The Pro fee is charged per business, not per owner.
Wave's real cost is payment processing, not the subscription. Card payments cost 2.9% plus $0.60 per transaction on Starter. American Express costs 3.4% plus $0.60. On Pro, the $0.60 fixed fee is waived on the first 10 card transactions each month. Bank payments cost 1% per transaction with a $1 minimum on both plans. On a $1,000 invoice, a card payment costs $29.60 and a bank transfer costs $10.
What each tool actually does
QuickBooks Online covers invoicing, bills, bank feeds, payroll, and the monthly close in one subscription. Essentials adds multiple currencies, time entry, and enhanced reports. Plus adds projects, inventory, budgeting, and purchase orders. Advanced adds custom roles, workflow automation, and a custom report builder. Payroll is a separate subscription on every plan.
Wave covers invoicing and double-entry bookkeeping well. Its interface is simple. A business with no accounting background can use it. The limits are real. Starter has no automatic bank feeds. You enter transactions by hand. Receipt capture costs $8 a month as a standalone add-on, or comes with Pro. Multi-user access needs Pro. Wave's payments and payroll only work in the US and Canada.
Payroll and add-ons
QuickBooks Workforce Payroll starts at $50 a month plus $7 per employee. Premium and Elite tiers cost more per employee. Wave Payroll costs a $40 base fee plus $6 per active employee and $6 per contractor paid, each month. Wave Advisors bookkeeping starts at $149 a month. Both tools charge extra for payroll. Neither includes it in the base plan.
Who should choose which tool
- Pick Wave Starter if you are a freelancer or sole trader who invoices a few clients a month.
- Pick Wave Pro if you want automatic bank imports and receipt capture for $19 a month.
- Pick QuickBooks Simple Start if you need a second user or an accountant login.
- Pick QuickBooks Essentials if you bill time or manage bills for a small team.
- Pick QuickBooks Plus if you track inventory, projects, or budgets.
- Pick QuickBooks Advanced if you have 6 to 25 users or need custom permissions.
Reporting and tax time
QuickBooks Online scales its reporting with the plan. Simple Start offers general business reports. Essentials adds enhanced reports. Plus adds comprehensive reports, budgets, and project profitability. Plus can also report by class, location, or project. Essentials cannot. Advanced adds a custom report builder, forecasting, and custom KPI dashboards. That reporting ladder is the main reason to upgrade beyond Essentials.
Wave includes standard financial reports on every plan, including the free Starter plan. You get profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow reports without paying. Wave does not match QuickBooks on depth. It has no project profitability reporting and no budgeting tools. For a freelancer at tax time, Wave's reports are enough. For a business with projects and inventory, QuickBooks Plus earns its price here.
Hidden costs to watch
Neither tool includes everything in the headline price. QuickBooks charges extra for payroll and payment processing. Payroll starts at $50 a month plus $7 per employee. Wave charges extra for card payments, payroll, and receipt capture outside Pro. Card payments cost 2.9% plus $0.60 per transaction. Payroll costs $40 a month plus $6 per employee. Receipt capture costs $8 a month as a standalone add-on.
Work out your real monthly cost before you choose. A freelancer who takes 20 card payments a month pays $12 in fixed per-transaction fees on Starter (20 times $0.60), plus 2.9% of each payment. On Pro, the first 10 card transactions carry no fixed fee. That saves $6 a month at most. The card discount alone does not pay for Pro. Buy Pro for the bank imports and receipt capture, not for the card discount.
Getting started checklist
- List how many people need access to the books.
- Check whether you need payroll, inventory, or project tracking.
- Try the free plan first. Wave Starter is free with no time limit. QuickBooks Free covers 1 user and 2 invoices a month.
- Connect your bank feed and check that transactions import cleanly.
- Send a test invoice and confirm the payment flow works.
- Invite your accountant before tax time, not during it.
What year one actually costs
QuickBooks runs a 50% discount for the first 3 months. Simple Start costs $19 a month for 3 months, then $38. Year one comes to $399. Year two costs $456 at full price. Plus costs $70 a month for 3 months, then $140. Year one comes to $1,470. Year two costs $1,680. You can take a 30-day free trial instead of the discount, but not both.
Wave Pro costs $19 a month, or $190 a year on annual billing. Year one on annual billing is $190. Year one on monthly billing is $228. The annual plan saves $38. Starter costs $0 in either year. Add card fees on top. A business that takes $5,000 a month in card payments pays about $145 a month in processing fees on either Wave plan, before the fixed per-transaction charge. The subscription is the small part of the Wave bill. The processing is the large part.
Bottom line
Wave is the cheapest way to run real books. Starter is free and genuinely useful. Pro at $19 a month is a bargain for a one-person business. QuickBooks is the better tool once you grow. It handles more users, more complexity, and more reporting. It costs far more. A solo freelancer should start with Wave. A business with staff, inventory, or projects should budget for QuickBooks.
This is a research-based assessment. Prices were checked against published vendor pages and may change. No hands-on testing was performed.