FreshBooks

In short

FreshBooks is cloud accounting and invoicing software aimed at freelancers and small service businesses, combining invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking and light project profitability in one app rather than a full enterprise accounting suite. It publishes named monthly tiers rather than quoting every business individually, and offers a trial with no credit card required so an owner can test the workflow before committing. Its ceiling on billable clients and its lighter job-costing depth compared with a platform like QuickBooks Online are the main things to weigh before picking it.

Key features for service businesses

| Billable client cap | Limits how many active clients a business can invoice on a given tier | Lite (lowest), rising through Plus, unlimited on Premium and Select |

| Double-entry accounting reports and bank reconciliation | Adds fuller accounting reports and the ability to reconcile bank transactions against the books | Plus and up |

| Project profitability tracking | Tracks profitability on a per-project basis rather than just overall income and expense | Premium and up |

| Proposals and client retainers | Sends formal proposals and sets up retainer agreements with fixed pricing and hours tracked against them | Plus and up |

| Online payment acceptance | Accepts cards, ACH transfers, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and a buy-now-pay-later option directly on an invoice | All tiers |

| Dedicated onboarding and phone support | Adds a customized onboarding process and dedicated phone support instead of standard support channels | Select |

Who it's for

FreshBooks fits a freelancer or a small service team, typically a handful of people, that wants invoicing, expense capture and basic project profitability in one app without running a full accounting department. Its client-count tiers and included time tracking make it a natural fit for a service business that bills clients directly for hours or fixed-scope work, rather than one managing inventory, multiple job sites or a large crew's payroll inside the same tool.

Who should look elsewhere

A business managing job costing across multiple crews, needing multi-user permissions with role-based access, or running deep inventory tracking should look at QuickBooks Online instead, since it carries more depth in all three areas and a far larger field service integration ecosystem. A business that only needs to send invoices and collect payment, without any bookkeeping behind it, may find a lighter tool like Square Invoices is enough on its own.

What it does well

FreshBooks automates the invoicing loop end to end: recurring invoices and card-on-file payments go out on schedule, reminders and late fees apply automatically to slow payers, and invoice layout, fonts, colors and imagery can be customized to match a business's branding.

Client retainers let a service business set a fixed pricing arrangement and track hours against it, which suits a business doing ongoing work for the same client rather than one-off jobs.

The platform explicitly targets freelancers and small service teams across industries like construction and consulting, with a trial that requires no credit card to start, lowering the friction to test it before switching from a current tool.

Time tracked against a project or client, whether through the web timer, mobile app or browser extension, can be pulled directly onto an invoice and billed to that client, which removes a manual step between logging hours and billing for them, and a manager can see at a glance how the whole team is spending its time.

Limits to know

The entry Lite tier caps billable clients fairly low, and a business at or near that cap has to move up a tier before it can take on new active clients, which is a real planning constraint rather than a minor inconvenience. Job costing, multi-user access and inventory tracking are shallower than a platform built around larger teams, and the top Select tier, with unlimited features and dedicated support, is quoted individually rather than published, so a fast-growing business cannot see that ceiling's terms upfront.

What to check on pricing

FreshBooks' tiers differ mainly in billable client caps, accounting report depth, project profitability tracking, and support level, not in whether core invoicing works, which is available from the entry tier up. A promotional discounted rate is often available for new subscribers before regular pricing applies, so the gap between what a business pays in its first months and what it pays afterward is worth checking directly rather than assuming the two stay the same; both are shown on the pricing table on this page.

Alternatives and when they fit

• QuickBooks Online if your business needs deeper job costing, multi-user role permissions, or the wider field service integration ecosystem most trades apps sync with.
• Square Invoices if all you actually need is to send invoices and collect online payment, without full bookkeeping, expense tracking or project profitability behind it.
• Xero if your bookkeeper already works in Xero, or you want a comparable bank feed and reporting model built by a different vendor than either FreshBooks or Intuit.

How we reviewed it

We checked FreshBooks' pricing page for the named tier structure, billable client caps and feature differences between Lite, Plus, Premium and Select, and its invoicing features page for the specific automation, payment methods and customization it documents. We separately reviewed the FreshBooks homepage for how it positions itself toward freelancers and small service teams and its stated trial terms. We did not rely on any third-party review site for feature claims in this review, and we did not restate specific dollar figures shown on the pricing page.