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.
Wave's Starter plan is free with unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records, plus online payment acceptance at 2.9% plus $0.60 per credit card transaction and 3.4% plus $0.60 for American Express. There is no invoice cap and no user cap. Pro is $19 a month and adds automated bank imports, accounting support and discounted processing.1
Wave is the clearest example in this category of a free product subsidised by payment volume. The software costs nothing because the money flow pays for it.
For anyone who invoices and gets paid by card, that is a straightforward trade. For anyone paid by bank transfer, it is close to free money.
What you actually get
| Starter | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $19/mo |
| Invoices | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Bills and records | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Users | No cap stated | No cap stated |
| Card processing | 2.9% + $0.60 | 2.9% + $0 |
| Amex processing | 3.4% + $0.60 | 3.4% + $0 |
| Bank auto-import | No | Yes |
| Receipt capture | No | Yes, unlimited |
| Late reminders | No | Automated |
| Card required | No | Yes |
Above Pro, Wave runs advisor packages from $149 a month for hands-off bookkeeping with an in-house team.
The $0.60 is the fee that matters
Two point nine percent is standard for card processing. The sixty cents on top is not, and it is charged per transaction rather than per dollar.
On a $50 invoice, the fixed fee is 1.2% of the total before the percentage even applies. On a $5,000 invoice it is negligible.
Pro removes the fixed portion entirely, which means Wave's paid tier pays for itself for anyone taking more than about thirty card payments a month.
Unlimited really is unlimited
There is no invoice count, no client count and no stated user cap on Starter. Compare Zoho Invoice at 500 invoices a year and Invoice Ninja at five clients.
The bookkeeping side is also unlimited: bills, records and the underlying ledger are all included at zero.
This is a genuine double-entry accounting product, not just an invoice generator, and it is free.
What Pro actually adds
Automated bank transaction imports and categorisation are the substantive addition, and they are the difference between bookkeeping that takes an evening a month and one that takes minutes.
Unlimited digital receipt capture, automated late-payment reminders and the zero-fee card pricing round it out.
Accounting support is included on Pro, which for a small business replaces some of what an accountant charges for.
Where the free tier thins out
Without bank imports, every transaction is entered by hand. Wave supports it, but the manual route is where most people give up.
Mobile receipt capture is explicitly excluded on the Pro comparison, which is worth noting before assuming the free tier covers expense photos.
Advisor-led bookkeeping is a separate service entirely and priced from $149.
How it compares
Zoho Invoice is free forever but caps at 500 invoices a year and two users.
ZipBooks gives unlimited invoices with one bank connection and free vendor management.
Harvest is free for one seat and two projects, which is a far smaller allowance.
Akaunting has no free cloud tier at all, only a paid trial. FreeAgent is free but only behind a NatWest group bank account.
On breadth of accounting at zero cost, nothing here matches Wave.
When it is enough
A freelancer or small business that wants real double-entry bookkeeping, unlimited invoicing and no subscription.
Anyone paid mostly by bank transfer, for whom the processing fee never applies and the product is genuinely free.
A business that invoices many small amounts and wants unlimited invoices without an annual cap.
When it stops being enough
When manual transaction entry stops being tolerable, which is usually the first busy month.
When card volume makes the $0.60 per transaction exceed $19 a month, at which point Pro is both cheaper and better.
When you need inventory, payroll or multi-currency at depth, none of which Wave covers at this level.
Frequently asked questions
Is Wave really free?
Yes. Starter is $0 with unlimited invoices and bookkeeping records. Revenue comes from payment processing fees.
How many invoices can I send?
Unlimited. There is no invoice cap on the Starter plan.
What are the payment fees?
2.9% plus $0.60 per credit card transaction, and 3.4% plus $0.60 for American Express.
Does Wave include accounting?
Yes. Double-entry bookkeeping, bills and records are part of the free plan.
Is bank import included free?
No. Automated bank transaction import is a Pro feature at $19 a month.
How much is Wave Pro?
$19 a month, which also removes the fixed $0.60 card fee.
Starter allowances, processing rates, the Pro feature list and advisor pricing verified against Wave's pricing page on 20 October 2026.
Sources
- Wave pricing: www.waveapps.com/pricing. Used for: Starter is $0 with unlimited invoices; revenue comes from payment processing.
All sources are the vendor's own plan or documentation pages, checked on 20 October 2026. Plan terms change without notice, so confirm current limits before you rely on them.
