FreshBooks
Free trialInvoicing, time tracking and bookkeeping for freelancers and small firms that bill clients for their work.
Best for freelancers and service businesses that bill a modest number of clients for time or projects
Facts checked November 4, 2026
The short answer
FreshBooks suits consultants, designers, agencies and contractors who want to track hours, send the invoice and chase late payers from one place. Reminders, late fees, deposits and recurring invoices come on every plan, and time you log lands on the invoice without retyping. The plans are priced by billable clients, so Lite stops at five, and bank reconciliation and accountant access only start on Plus. Each extra team member adds $11 a month, which makes it a costly choice once you have staff.
Choose it if
- You bill clients for hours or projects and want logged time to flow straight onto the invoice
- You want automatic payment reminders and scheduled late fees without paying for a higher plan
- You send proposals and run client retainers, and would rather keep them next to your invoices (Plus and up)
- You work alone or with one or two people, so the $11 per extra team member stays small
- You track mileage and snap receipts on your phone and want them in the same books
Skip it if
- You have more than five clients, counting past ones you've archived, and want the cheapest plan
- You sell physical products and need inventory tracking
- You plan to add several staff, because each one costs $11 a month on top of the plan
- You want a free plan; FreshBooks has a 30-day trial and nothing free after it
- Your accountant needs bank reconciliation and direct access on the cheapest plan, which Lite does not include
Main features
Invoices with reminders and late fees
Send unlimited branded invoices, set them to repeat, and let FreshBooks email late payers and add a late fee on the date you choose. All of this is on Lite.
Time tracking that bills itself
Start a timer in the browser, the mobile app or the Chrome extension, or log hours afterward. Logged time pulls onto the client's invoice, and you can see how your team spends its hours.
Online payments
Clients pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, US bank transfer or a buy-now-pay-later option such as Affirm. AutoPay lets a client opt in once and pay each new invoice automatically.
Estimates, proposals and retainers
Estimates come on every plan and can ask for a deposit. Plus adds proposals with e-signatures and client retainers for monthly hours.
Expenses, receipts and mileage
FreshBooks imports bank transactions on every plan, and the phone app tracks your mileage as you drive. From Plus, a receipt photo fills in the merchant, total and tax for you.
Bookkeeping and reports
Every plan has tax-time and business health reports. Plus adds double-entry reports, bank reconciliation and a login for your accountant.
Project profitability
Premium compares the time and expenses on each project with what you billed, so you can see which jobs made money.
Bill Pay
Pay vendor bills from FreshBooks by ACH or mailed check. FreshBooks says there is no monthly fee on any plan for the rest of 2026; each payment costs $0.50 to $5.
Payroll through Gusto
An add-on built with Gusto runs unlimited payrolls with direct deposit, files federal and state payroll taxes and records each pay run in your books.
Claude connector
A free, read-only connector lets you ask Claude questions about your invoices, expenses and cash flow. It cannot change anything in your account or send invoices.
Pricing
Regular US prices, billed monthly, checked November 4, 2026. Yearly billing costs $248.40 for Lite, $464.40 for Plus and $756 for Premium. Extra team members cost $11 a month each, Advanced Payments $20 a month (included on Select) and FreshBooks Payroll $40 a month plus $6 per person. On November 4, 2026 new customers who bought straight away got 80% off for four months, so Lite cost $4.60 a month in that period; FreshBooks says the offer cannot be combined with the free trial. Online card payments cost from 2.9% plus $0.30 and US bank transfers 1%.
Lite
$23 / month
5 billable clients, unlimited invoices, estimates, time tracking and expenses, recurring invoices, reminders, late fees and bank import
Plus
$43 / month
50 billable clients, plus proposals, retainers, e-signatures, bank reconciliation, double-entry reports, accountant access and receipt scanning
Premium
$70 / month
Unlimited billable clients, plus project profitability, accounts payable, bill scanning and custom email templates
Select
Quote / month
Everything in Premium, plus lower card fees, capped ACH fees, 2 team members, unbranded client emails and dedicated phone support
Reviews
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Alternatives to FreshBooks
| Product | Choose it instead if | Starts at |
|---|---|---|
| Xero | You are adding staff and want an accounting tool with no per-user license fees | $27 a month (Early) |
| Zoho Invoice | You only need invoicing and can live with 500 invoices a year on a free plan for two users | Free |
Questions people ask
How much does FreshBooks cost?
On November 4, 2026 FreshBooks cost $23 a month for Lite, $43 for Plus and $70 for Premium, billed monthly in US dollars. Select is priced by quote. Yearly billing takes 10% off, and each extra team member adds $11 a month.
Does FreshBooks have a free plan?
No. You get a 30-day free trial with no credit card, and the trial lets you bill as many clients as you need. After it ends you choose a paid plan, and FreshBooks keeps your data if you don't.
What counts as a billable client?
Every active or archived client in your account counts toward the limit of five on Lite and 50 on Plus. Deleting a client frees the slot, and you keep access to that client's past invoices.
Can I use the 80% discount and the free trial together?
No. FreshBooks says its promotional discounts cannot be combined with the free trial, so you either try it free for 30 days or buy straight away at the reduced price. After four months the monthly price returns to the regular rate.
What are the FreshBooks payment processing fees?
Card payments start at 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, US bank transfers cost 1%, and buy-now-pay-later payments cost 6% plus $0.30. Instant Payouts, which move your money in minutes, cost 1.5%. Select customers get lower card fees and capped bank transfer fees.
Can my accountant use FreshBooks?
Yes, from the Plus plan. Plus adds accountant access, bank reconciliation and double-entry accounting reports, which most accountants will want at tax time. Lite does not include them.
Is there a FreshBooks mobile app?
Yes, for iPhone and iPad on iOS 15 or later and for Android 7.0 or later. You can send invoices, log time, photograph receipts and track mileage from the app, but reports are only on the desktop.
How do I contact FreshBooks support?
Support is free during office hours by phone or email ticket, and you start both through FreshBot, the help center's chatbot. FreshBot and the help articles are open around the clock, and logged-in users see a phone number for their region.
Sources we checked 15
- freshbooks.com/pricing for US plans and prices, yearly prices and 10% discount (page data), billable client limits, plan comparison table, add-on prices, 80% promotion and its terms, 30-day trial with no card, client limit rules, payment fees, mobile app note checked November 4, 2026
- freshbooks.com for vendor home page checked November 4, 2026
- freshbooks.com/about for founded 2003 by Mike McDerment, Toronto head office, 500K+ businesses, 160+ countries checked November 4, 2026
- freshbooks.com/accept-payments for payment methods, card, ACH, buy-now-pay-later and Instant Payout fees, AutoPay and Advanced Payments checked November 4, 2026
- freshbooks.com/timesheets-and-time-tracking for timer, manual logging, time onto invoices, team time, Chrome extension checked November 4, 2026
- freshbooks.com/mobile-apps for iOS and Android versions, receipts, mileage, reports desktop only checked November 4, 2026
- freshbooks.com/bill-pay for Bill Pay fees and no monthly fee for the rest of 2026 checked November 4, 2026
- freshbooks.com/payroll-software for Payroll price, Gusto partnership, tax filing, direct deposit checked November 4, 2026
- freshbooks.com/ai/claude for free read-only Claude connector checked November 4, 2026
- support.freshbooks.com/hc/en-us/articles/13459529977613 for support channels and hours checked November 4, 2026
- support.freshbooks.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000279027 for apps and integrations (no total count given) checked November 4, 2026
- quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing for QuickBooks Online inventory on Plus (alternatives) checked November 4, 2026
- xero.com/us/pricing-plans for Xero no per-user license fees (alternatives) checked November 4, 2026
- waveapps.com/pricing for Wave free Starter plan with unlimited invoices (alternatives) checked November 4, 2026
- zoho.com/us/invoice/pricing for Zoho Invoice free plan limits (alternatives) checked November 4, 2026