Wave vs Zoho Books Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Wave | Zoho Books | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $19/mo | $20/mo |
| Number of plans | 2 | 6 |
| Free plan | ||
| Free trial | — | |
| Pricing model | flat-rate | flat-rate |
STARTER Plan
- Create unlimited estimates, invoices, bills, and bookkeeping records
- Option to accept online payments 2.9% + $0.60 per credit card transaction 3.4% + $0.60 per Amex transaction
- Invoice on-the-go with the mobile app
- Manage cash flow and customers in one dashboard
Pro Plan
Popular- Option to accept online payments at a discounted rate 2.9% + $0** per credit card transaction 3.4% + $0** per Amex transaction
- Auto-import bank transactions***
- Auto-merge and categorize bank transactions
- Digitally capture unlimited receipts and track expenses
- Automate late payment reminders
- And more!
FREE
- Create invoices, quotes, expenses & journals
- Receipt autoscans
- Sales receipts
- Manage vendors
- Mileage tracking
- Accept online payments
- Enable self-service customer portal
- Retention payments
- Automate payment reminders
- Bank reconciliation
- Setup recurring invoices
- W-9 management
- Track 1099 contractors
- Prepare and file 1099s
- P&L, Balance Sheet & 50+ Reports
STANDARD
- Progress invoicing
- Track sales tax and use tax
- E-File 1099-MISC & 1099-NEC
- Connect bank feeds
- Setup recurring expenses
- Enable transaction period locking
- Add custom fields
- Create custom reports
- Create journal templates
- API Access
PROFESSIONAL
- Track sales and purchase orders
- Record multi-currency transactions
- Bill timesheets
- Project profitability
- Manage retainers
- Track inventory
- Create price lists
- Setup sales and purchase approvals
- Customize business workflows
- Collaborate with users (chat, voice, video and screen sharing)
- Create custom user roles
PREMIUM
- Revenue recognition - Basic
- Fixed asset management
- Profit Margin
- Manage budgets
- Cashflow forecasting
- Enable self-service vendor portal
- Set up custom domain
- Create business-specific custom modules
- Add custom button
- Create custom field validation rules
- Embed contextual web pages/apps
- Manage custom functions
ELITE
- Revenue recognition - Advanced
- Dashboard customization
- Advanced Inventory Control
- Manage warehouses
- Composite items
- Track serial numbers
- Batch tracking
- Print shipping label
- Track shipments
- Connect online sales channels (Etsy, eBay, Amazon)
- Integrate Shopify stores (Up to 2)
- Track bin locations
ULTIMATE
- Advanced analytics
- 50+ Pre-built data visualization
- Add and track KPIs for your business
- Analyze along with other data sources (with Zoho Analytics add-on)
- Collaboratively create reports with colleagues
- Embed reports in web sites/applications
- Records/Rows (3 Million)
Wave vs Zoho Books FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Wave starts lower at $19/mo, compared to $20/mo for Zoho Books.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- 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. Wave: Wave is firmly the budget-friendly play in small business accounting — going up against QuickBooks Simple Start (~$35/mo) and FreshBooks (~$19/mo), they're competitive on price but lead with the free tier as the real hook. They're targeting bootstrapped founders and solopreneurs who flinch at $50+/mo tools. Zoho Books: Zoho Books is the aggressive underdog play against QuickBooks and Xero — a free tier that actually works, and paid plans that undercut competitors at nearly every level. They're going after cost-conscious SMBs and bootstrapped businesses who don't want to pay Intuit prices.
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