FreshBooks vs Xero Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| FreshBooks | Xero | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $23/mo | $25/mo |
| Number of plans | 4 | 3 |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | flat-rate | flat-rate |
Lite
- Send invoices to 5 clients
- Track expenses in real time
- Create and send estimates
- Get paid with credit and debit cards, ACH bank transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Buy Now, Pay Later
- Generate tax-time reports
Plus
Popular- Send invoices to 50 clients
- Track expenses in real time
- Create estimates, proposals, and client retainers
- Get paid with credit and debit cards, ACH bank transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Buy Now, Pay Later
- Generate tax-time reports
- Run financial and accounting reports
- Expense receipt scanning
- Give your accountant access
Premium
- Send invoices to unlimited clients
- Track expenses in real time
- Create estimates, proposals, and client retainers
- Get paid with credit and debit cards, ACH bank transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Buy Now, Pay Later
- Generate tax-time reports
- Run financial and accounting reports
- Bill receipt scanning with the ability to add line items
- Give your accountant access
- Check project profitability
- Customize your email templates
Select
- Send invoices to unlimited clients
- Track expenses in real time
- Create estimates, proposals, and client retainers
- Access lower credit card transaction fees and capped bank transfer (ACH) fees
- Generate tax-time reports
- Run financial and accounting reports
- Bill receipt scanning with automatic capture of multi-line items
- Give your accountant access
- Check project profitability
- Customize email templates and remove FreshBooks branding
- Import your data via Easy Switch
- Gain access to dedicated phone support
- Add 2 Team Member accounts for no extra charge
Early
- Send quotes and 20 invoices†
- Accept online invoice payments^
- 5 bills
- Reconcile bank transactions
- Smart Document Capture
- View real-time reports
- W-9 + 1099 management
- Sales tax
- Visualize performance with basic graphs
- 30 day cash flow forecast
- Make online bill payments (Domestic - Free ACH)
- Make online bill payments (Cross Border)
Growing
- Send invoices and quotes
- Accept online invoice payments^
- Automate bill entry and track bills
- Auto-reconcile bank transactions (Beta)
- Smart Document Capture
- View real-time reports
- W-9 + 1099 management
- Sales tax
- Visualize performance with graphs
- 60 day cash flow forecast
- Make online bill payments (Domestic - Free ACH)
- Make online bill payments (Cross Border)
- Customize performance dashboards
- Tailored financial health scorecards
Established
Popular- Send invoices and quotes
- Accept online invoice payments^
- Automate bill entry and track bills
- Auto-reconcile bank transactions (Beta)
- Smart Document Capture
- View real-time reports
- W-9 + 1099 management
- Sales tax
- Visualize performance with graphs
- 180 day cash flow forecast
- Make online bill payments (Domestic - Free ACH)
- Make online bill payments (Cross Border)
- Customize performance dashboards
- Tailored financial health scorecards
- Analyze KPIs and ratios
- Use multiple currencies
- Track time and costs for projects
- Employee expense and mileage claims
- Benchmark against the industry
- Make online bill payments (International)
FreshBooks vs Xero FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- FreshBooks starts lower at $23/mo, compared to $25/mo for Xero.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Neither has a free plan. But FreshBooks and Xero offer a free trial.
- How do they charge?
- Both use a flat-rate model, so the comparison is straightforward — it comes down to features and limits at each price point.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. FreshBooks: FreshBooks sits in the mid-market of small business accounting, priced above Wave (free) but below QuickBooks's more complex tiers — they're going after freelancers and service-based small businesses who find QuickBooks overkill. The aggressive 90% off for 6 months promo suggests they're actively competing on acquisition cost to pull users away from alternatives. Xero: At $25–$90/mo, Xero sits in the same ballpark as QuickBooks Online but positions slightly more premium on the low end while staying competitive at the top. They're clearly targeting small-to-mid businesses that have outgrown spreadsheets and want a polished, accountant-friendly platform — not the budget-first crowd.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for FreshBooks and Xero and let you know when something moves.