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Nextcloud Is Free Forever If You Host It Yourself
There is no free tier and no gigabyte count. The software is free, unlimited and yours, provided you have somewhere to run it.
OneDrive Free Is 5GB, and Word Already Knows Your Name
Five gigabytes is small on its own. Bundled with free Word, Excel and PowerPoint in the browser, it becomes the cheapest way into Office.
Google Drive Free Is 15GB, and Gmail Is Already Spending It
The 15GB is not Drive's. It is shared with Gmail and Photos, and email alone can consume most of it without you ever uploading a file.
Dropbox Free Is 2GB. That Is Two Hundred Photos and an Empty Inbox.
Two gigabytes was generous in 2014 and is a rounding error now. Dropbox Basic has not moved, and the ceiling arrives faster than most people expect.
Akaunting Has No Free Cloud Tier, Only an Open Source Escape
The free version exists, it just is not hosted. Akaunting sells the server, the backups and the accountant seat rather than the software.
FreeAgent Is Free, but Only If You Bank With NatWest
The most conditional free tier in the directory. It is genuinely free software, attached to a genuine bank account.
FreshBooks Has No Free Plan, and Its Entry Tier Caps at Five Clients
The cheapest plan allows five billable clients. That single line decides whether FreshBooks is cheap or expensive for you.
Xero Has No Free Plan, and Its Cheapest Tier Caps Invoices
Twenty invoices a month on the entry plan is the detail most people miss. Xero sells accounting, and it counts billing separately.
Zoho Books Is Free Until You Earn $50,000
A revenue threshold rather than a user count. The free tier expires on business success, which is the most honest upgrade trigger in the category.
Harvest Free Gives One Seat and Two Projects, Forever
Two projects is not a free tier for a business. It is a free tier for someone deciding whether to bill by the hour.
ZipBooks Starter Is Free With No Invoice or Customer Cap
The most permissive free tier in this category on paper. One bank connection is the limit that decides whether it holds.
Invoice Ninja Is Free Forever, But Only for Five Clients
An unusual shape: the invoicing is unlimited, the client list is not. Five clients is a freelancer's starting month, not a business.
Wave Is Free Forever Because You Pay Per Payment
Unlimited everything, no user cap, no invoice count. The revenue comes from the money moving through the account rather than the software.