[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":4249},["ShallowReactive",2],{"compare-index":3},[4,455,816,1191,1580,1963,2347,2720,3097,3479,3894],{"id":5,"title":6,"body":7,"competitor":44,"date":443,"description":444,"extension":445,"logo":446,"meta":447,"navigation":448,"path":449,"pricingChecked":450,"seo":451,"stem":452,"updated":453,"__hash__":454},"comparisons\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-akaunting.md","Billebly vs Akaunting: full accounting or simple invoicing?",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":422},"minimark",[10,14,22,27,146,150,153,160,164,167,171,174,177,181,303,311,315,318,329,332,335,339,342,345,349,352,356,359,362,366,369,373,376,380,383,387,390,394,397,401,404,408,412,415],[11,12,13],"p",{},"Akaunting is open-source accounting software for small businesses:\ndouble-entry bookkeeping, invoicing, expense tracking, and an app\nmarketplace for payments, payroll, and more, self-hostable for free or\navailable as a cloud subscription starting at $12\u002Fmonth. Billebly is a\nfree invoicing and payments tool with no accounting layer underneath.\nThis comparison is for anyone deciding whether they actually need real\nbookkeeping or just a simple way to invoice and get paid.",[11,15,16,17,21],{},"The key thing to know before comparing prices: Akaunting markets itself\nas free, but genuine double-entry accounting (the feature that\ndistinguishes it from a plain invoicing tool) is ",[18,19,20],"strong",{},"not included on its\ncheapest tier",". It's a separate paid app or a higher-tier cloud plan.",[23,24,26],"h2",{"id":25},"quick-comparison","Quick comparison",[28,29,30,45],"table",{},[31,32,33],"thead",{},[34,35,36,39,42],"tr",{},[37,38],"th",{},[37,40,41],{},"Billebly",[37,43,44],{},"Akaunting",[46,47,48,60,71,82,92,103,114,124,135],"tbody",{},[34,49,50,54,57],{},[51,52,53],"td",{},"Starting price",[51,55,56],{},"Free",[51,58,59],{},"Free (self-hosted, invoicing only) or $12\u002Fmo (Cloud Standard)",[34,61,62,65,68],{},[51,63,64],{},"Double-entry bookkeeping",[51,66,67],{},"No",[51,69,70],{},"Separate paid app ($9\u002Fmo) or Premium+ cloud plan ($36\u002Fmo)",[34,72,73,76,79],{},[51,74,75],{},"Pricing model",[51,77,78],{},"Free plan with no subscription and a 0.5% fee on payments processed; optional Premium at €9\u002Fmonth (0.2% fee)",[51,80,81],{},"Free core + paid apps, or tiered cloud subscription",[34,83,84,87,89],{},[51,85,86],{},"Self-hosting option",[51,88,67],{},[51,90,91],{},"Yes, free and open source",[34,93,94,97,100],{},[51,95,96],{},"Client portal",[51,98,99],{},"Payment link only, no login",[51,101,102],{},"Separate paid app",[34,104,105,108,111],{},[51,106,107],{},"Time tracking",[51,109,110],{},"Yes, feeds invoices directly",[51,112,113],{},"Separate paid app (Projects)",[34,115,116,119,121],{},[51,117,118],{},"Multi-company support",[51,120,67],{},[51,122,123],{},"Yes, from Premium plan",[34,125,126,129,132],{},[51,127,128],{},"Customer support",[51,130,131],{},"Email only",[51,133,134],{},"Chat\u002Fticket, rated weakly by reviewers (Capterra 2.7\u002F5)",[34,136,137,140,143],{},[51,138,139],{},"Best for",[51,141,142],{},"Fast, simple invoicing and getting paid",[51,144,145],{},"Real double-entry bookkeeping alongside invoicing",[23,147,149],{"id":148},"what-is-akaunting","What is Akaunting?",[11,151,152],{},"Akaunting is a Laravel\u002FVue-built, open-source accounting platform:\ninvoicing, expense tracking, cash flow monitoring, and, as its core\ndifferentiator, real double-entry accounting with a chart of accounts,\nmanual journals, a general ledger, trial balance, and balance sheet\nreports. It's self-hostable for free, or available as Akaunting Cloud,\nand extends functionality through a marketplace of 50+ apps covering\npayments, payroll, inventory, CRM, and more.",[11,154,155,156,159],{},"The honest caveat is in how that functionality is priced. Akaunting's\nfree\u002Fentry tier ($12\u002Fmonth Cloud Standard, or self-hosted core) does\n",[18,157,158],{},"not"," include double-entry accounting, a client portal, payroll, or\ninventory: those are separate paid apps (Double-Entry accounting is\n$9\u002Fmonth or $72\u002Fyear on its own) or require the $36\u002Fmonth Premium cloud\nplan and above. Reviews reflect a split experience: Capterra rates it\n3.8\u002F5 with Ease of Use at 4.1\u002F5, but Customer Service at just 2.7\u002F5, and\nG2's smaller review sample sits at 1.8\u002F5. Common complaints include\nbuggy paid modules, a confusing reporting system, and refund-policy\nfriction once a self-hosted module is downloaded.",[23,161,163],{"id":162},"what-is-billebly","What is Billebly?",[11,165,166],{},"Billebly is a free invoicing and payments tool for freelancers, coaches,\nand consultants: a client list, one-off and recurring invoices, time\ntracking that becomes invoice line items automatically, and a dashboard\nshowing paid, pending, and overdue amounts. It's built to answer one\nquestion quickly, who owes you money and have they paid, rather than to\ndouble as a bookkeeping system. That focus means there's no chart of\naccounts, journal entries, or trial balance to maintain, which is a\ndeliberate choice, not a missing checkbox: it keeps the product simple\nfor the freelancers, coaches, and consultants it's built for. Anyone who\nneeds a general ledger or an accountant-ready set of financial statements\nshould look at dedicated accounting software instead.",[23,168,170],{"id":169},"billebly-vs-akaunting-key-differences","Billebly vs Akaunting: key differences",[11,172,173],{},"The fundamental difference is depth of financial record-keeping. Akaunting\nis built to produce real financial statements, including a balance sheet,\na trial balance, and GAAP-style reporting: the kind of output an\naccountant or a tax authority might actually want to see. Billebly produces a payment status\ndashboard: what's paid, what's outstanding, what's overdue. That's useful\nfor knowing where you stand with clients, but it isn't bookkeeping.",[11,175,176],{},"The other difference is where the cost hides. Akaunting's marketing leads\nwith \"free,\" but the accounting depth that justifies choosing it over a\nsimpler tool is gated behind paid apps or higher cloud tiers. Billebly's\nfree plan includes the whole core product, and the tradeoff is that\nthere's no accounting layer to eventually unlock, because it was never\npart of the product.",[23,178,180],{"id":179},"features-comparison","Features comparison",[28,182,183,194],{},[31,184,185],{},[34,186,187,190,192],{},[37,188,189],{},"Feature",[37,191,41],{},[37,193,44],{},[46,195,196,207,216,225,235,245,255,265,274,283,292],{},[34,197,198,201,204],{},[51,199,200],{},"Client & prospect tracking",[51,202,203],{},"Basic client list",[51,205,206],{},"Yes",[34,208,209,212,214],{},[51,210,211],{},"One-off invoices",[51,213,206],{},[51,215,206],{},[34,217,218,221,223],{},[51,219,220],{},"Recurring \u002F subscription billing",[51,222,206],{},[51,224,206],{},[34,226,227,230,232],{},[51,228,229],{},"Estimates\u002Fquotes",[51,231,206],{},[51,233,234],{},"Separate app",[34,236,237,240,242],{},[51,238,239],{},"Time tracking → invoice line items",[51,241,206],{},[51,243,244],{},"Separate app (Projects)",[34,246,247,250,252],{},[51,248,249],{},"Double-entry accounting (ledger, trial balance, balance sheet)",[51,251,67],{},[51,253,254],{},"Separate app or Premium+ plan",[34,256,257,260,262],{},[51,258,259],{},"Expense tracking",[51,261,67],{},[51,263,264],{},"Yes, core feature",[34,266,267,269,272],{},[51,268,96],{},[51,270,271],{},"Payment link, no login",[51,273,254],{},[34,275,276,279,281],{},[51,277,278],{},"Multi-company management",[51,280,67],{},[51,282,123],{},[34,284,285,288,290],{},[51,286,287],{},"Self-hosting",[51,289,67],{},[51,291,91],{},[34,293,294,297,300],{},[51,295,296],{},"Payment processing",[51,298,299],{},"Stripe, built in",[51,301,302],{},"Via separate apps (Stripe, PayPal, others)",[304,305,308],"callout",{"title":306,"type":307},"When Akaunting's accounting depth is actually worth it","tip",[11,309,310],{},"If you're managing real books, working with an accountant who needs a\nproper ledger, or need GAAP-style financial statements, Akaunting's\ndouble-entry accounting covers that ground. It's a specific, narrower\nneed though: most freelancers, coaches, and consultants just want to\nknow who owes them money and get paid quickly, which is exactly what\nBillebly is built for, without an accounting layer to configure or pay\nextra for on top of it.",[23,312,314],{"id":313},"pricing-comparison","Pricing comparison",[11,316,317],{},"Akaunting self-hosted: free open-source core, but true double-entry\naccounting still costs extra even if self-hosted: $72\u002Fyear or a $756\none-time lifetime license for the Double-Entry app. Akaunting Cloud:\n$12\u002Fmonth (Standard, billed monthly) or $8\u002Fmonth annually, covering 1\ncompany and 1,000 invoices but not double-entry accounting or the client\nportal. $36\u002Fmonth (Premium) or $24\u002Fmonth annually includes double-entry\naccounting and the client portal. $84\u002Fmonth (Elite) adds payroll and\ninventory. $218\u002Fmonth (Ultimate) targets accountants managing multiple\nclient companies. Self-hosting requires PHP\u002FLaravel server management;\nthere's no automatic updates on self-hosted installs.",[11,319,320,321,328],{},"Source: ",[322,323,327],"a",{"href":324,"rel":325},"https:\u002F\u002Fakaunting.com\u002Fpricing",[326],"nofollow","Akaunting's pricing page",".",[11,330,331],{},"Billebly: free plan, no subscription. A 0.5% platform fee on payments\nactually processed, plus Stripe's standard rate (roughly 1.5% + €0.25 for\ncards, less for bank methods). No monthly minimum. An optional Premium\nplan costs €9\u002Fmonth (excl. VAT) and lowers the platform fee to 0.2%.",[11,333,334],{},"The practical comparison: if what you actually want is invoicing and\npayment collection, Akaunting's $12\u002Fmonth Standard plan doesn't even\ninclude the accounting depth that's its main selling point; you'd need\n$36\u002Fmonth (Premium) to get double-entry accounting, or pay for the app\nseparately on top of self-hosting. Billebly's free plan costs nothing\nuntil a payment is processed, at any usage level, because it isn't trying\nto sell you accounting software in the first place.",[23,336,338],{"id":337},"invoicing-and-billing","Invoicing and billing",[11,340,341],{},"Both support one-off and recurring invoices. Akaunting adds automated\nrecurring bills and payment reminders as core features, plus estimates\nand a client portal as separate apps. Billebly's recurring invoices\ncharge automatically until manually stopped, with an alert if a payment\nfails, and quotes\u002Festimates are built into the core product: clients\ncan accept a quote and it converts directly into an invoice, while\nAkaunting's estimates live in a separate add-on app.",[11,343,344],{},"Where Akaunting pulls ahead: once double-entry accounting is active,\ninvoices post directly into a real ledger, so revenue reporting and tax\nprep have accurate underlying books. Where Billebly pulls ahead: nothing\nto configure or pay extra for: the invoice-to-payment path works\nimmediately, with no app marketplace to shop through first.",[23,346,348],{"id":347},"payments","Payments",[11,350,351],{},"Akaunting itself doesn't charge a transaction commission; payments run\nthrough separate marketplace apps (Stripe, PayPal Express, and others),\neach charging its own standard processor rate, with no Akaunting markup.\nBillebly processes through Stripe directly, with a 0.5% platform fee (0.2%\non Premium) plus Stripe's rate, supporting cards, iDEAL, SEPA, Klarna,\nAmazon Pay, and bank transfers depending on the client's location.",[23,353,355],{"id":354},"ease-of-use","Ease of use",[11,357,358],{},"Reviewers are consistent that Akaunting's basic invoicing and expense\ntracking are genuinely approachable, even for non-accountants: Capterra\nrates Ease of Use at 4.1\u002F5. That changes once double-entry accounting,\npayroll, or multiple paid apps enter the picture: one reviewer described\nthe reporting system as \"either way too complex, or inept.\" Self-hosting\nadds a separate technical learning curve (server setup, no auto-updates),\nand customer support is a consistently weak point across review\nplatforms (Capterra 2.7\u002F5 for support specifically).",[11,360,361],{},"Billebly has no comparable complexity to grow into: add a client, build\nan invoice, send a link, check the dashboard, with no app marketplace or\naccounting module to eventually configure.",[23,363,365],{"id":364},"which-is-better-for-freelancers","Which is better for freelancers?",[11,367,368],{},"A freelancer who wants real books, because they're managing significant\nrevenue, working with an accountant who needs a proper ledger, or simply\nprefer GAAP-style reporting, is better served by Akaunting, once\ndouble-entry accounting is actually turned on (Premium plan or the\nseparate app). A freelancer who just wants to invoice, get paid, and see\na clear picture of what's owed, without accounting jargon or an app\nmarketplace to navigate, will find Billebly closer to what they actually\nneed.",[23,370,372],{"id":371},"which-is-better-for-small-businesses","Which is better for small businesses?",[11,374,375],{},"A small business that wants multi-company management, payroll, and\ninventory alongside real bookkeeping is better served by Akaunting's\nhigher-tier cloud plans, which were built for exactly that. Billebly is\nbuilt for solo operators and small client rosters, not multi-company or\npayroll management, and that's a deliberate scope decision rather than\nan oversight: it keeps the product fast and simple for the freelancer or\nsmall practice billing clients directly. A business that's grown past\nthat, with multiple entities or a payroll to run, will need the depth\nAkaunting's higher tiers provide.",[23,377,379],{"id":378},"who-should-choose-akaunting","Who should choose Akaunting?",[11,381,382],{},"A small business or freelancer who wants genuine double-entry\nbookkeeping (a chart of accounts, journal entries, a trial balance,\nGAAP-style financial statements) and is willing to either self-host or\npay for the cloud tier (or app) that actually includes it.",[23,384,386],{"id":385},"who-should-choose-billebly","Who should choose Billebly?",[11,388,389],{},"A freelancer, coach, or consultant who doesn't need a general ledger and\njust wants clients, invoices, time tracking, and payment status handled\nsimply, without shopping through an app marketplace to assemble the\nfunctionality they need.",[23,391,393],{"id":392},"is-billebly-a-good-akaunting-alternative","Is Billebly a good Akaunting alternative?",[11,395,396],{},"For double-entry accounting, no: that's Akaunting's core purpose, and\nBillebly doesn't attempt it at any tier. For simple invoicing and payment\ncollection, yes, and arguably more directly, since Akaunting's cheapest\ncloud tier doesn't even include the accounting features that justify\nchoosing accounting software in the first place. Someone using\nAkaunting's Standard plan purely to invoice and get paid, without\ndouble-entry accounting active, is likely paying for infrastructure they\naren't using, and would find Billebly simpler and cheaper for that exact\njob. Someone relying on Akaunting's ledger, trial balance, or multi-\ncompany reporting is not a good candidate to switch.",[23,398,400],{"id":399},"akaunting-alternatives","Akaunting alternatives",[11,402,403],{},"Within open-source and budget accounting software, Akaunting competes\nwith tools like Wave, Frappe Books, and, for more established mainstream\noptions, QuickBooks Online and Xero. Each trades off self-hosting,\naccounting depth, and price differently. If real bookkeeping is the\nactual goal, those are the right comparison set. If the appeal was\nsimply \"free,\" but the daily need is closer to \"invoice and get paid,\"\nwithout ever touching a chart of accounts, Billebly is worth trying\nbefore assembling an Akaunting setup around apps you may not need.",[405,406],"faq-block",{":faqs":407},"[{\"question\":\"Is Akaunting's accounting really free?\",\"answer\":\"The core software is free and open source, but true double-entry accounting (chart of accounts, journal entries, trial balance, balance sheet) is a separate paid app, roughly $9\u002Fmonth or $72\u002Fyear, or requires Akaunting's $36\u002Fmonth Premium cloud plan and above.\"},{\"question\":\"Can I self-host Akaunting for free?\",\"answer\":\"Yes, the core is free and open source (MIT-style license, PHP\u002FLaravel), but you're responsible for server setup, updates, and backups, and advanced apps like Double-Entry accounting or Payroll still cost extra even when self-hosted.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Akaunting charge fees on invoice payments?\",\"answer\":\"No transaction commission from Akaunting itself; payments run through separate apps like Stripe or PayPal, which charge their own standard processing rates.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Billebly have double-entry bookkeeping?\",\"answer\":\"No, Billebly focuses on a payment status dashboard (paid, pending, overdue) instead of a chart of accounts, journal entries, or financial statement reporting. That keeps it fast and simple for freelancers who mainly need to know who owes them money; pair it with an accountant or dedicated bookkeeping software if you need financial statements too.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do Akaunting's G2 and Capterra ratings differ so much?\",\"answer\":\"Capterra shows 3.8\u002F5 from 28 reviews, while G2 shows 1.8\u002F5 from a smaller sample of 12 reviews. The gap is worth noting but the G2 sample is small enough that it shouldn't be treated as fully representative on its own.\"}]",[23,409,411],{"id":410},"final-verdict","Final verdict",[11,413,414],{},"For most freelancers, coaches, and consultants, the actual daily need is\nsending invoices and getting paid, not maintaining a chart of accounts,\nand Billebly does that one job for free, with no accounting layer to\neventually pay for. If you need real bookkeeping, including a proper\nledger, a trial balance, and GAAP-style financial statements, Akaunting\ncan do that, but be clear-eyed that it costs more than the entry price\nonce you add the app or plan that actually delivers it.",[416,417],"cta-banner",{"button-label":418,"description":419,"href":420,"title":421},"Start for free","Billebly skips the accounting layer entirely: add a client, send an invoice, and track what's paid, with no app marketplace to shop through.","https:\u002F\u002Fapp.billebly.com\u002Fregister","Don't need a general ledger, just invoices that get paid?",{"title":423,"searchDepth":424,"depth":425,"links":426},"",2,3,[427,428,429,430,431,432,433,434,435,436,437,438,439,440,441,442],{"id":25,"depth":424,"text":26},{"id":148,"depth":424,"text":149},{"id":162,"depth":424,"text":163},{"id":169,"depth":424,"text":170},{"id":179,"depth":424,"text":180},{"id":313,"depth":424,"text":314},{"id":337,"depth":424,"text":338},{"id":347,"depth":424,"text":348},{"id":354,"depth":424,"text":355},{"id":364,"depth":424,"text":365},{"id":371,"depth":424,"text":372},{"id":378,"depth":424,"text":379},{"id":385,"depth":424,"text":386},{"id":392,"depth":424,"text":393},{"id":399,"depth":424,"text":400},{"id":410,"depth":424,"text":411},"2026-08-26","A comparison of Billebly and Akaunting for freelancers and small businesses deciding between double-entry accounting software and a focused invoicing and payments tool.","md","\u002Fimages\u002Fcompare\u002Fakaunting.svg",{},true,"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-akaunting","2026-09",{"title":6,"description":444},"compare\u002Fvs-akaunting","2026-09-28","0qBasLnc3_i1WXw_UF8YI37DAd6QSbENwcvJpNu8XIY",{"id":456,"title":457,"body":458,"competitor":480,"date":808,"description":809,"extension":445,"logo":810,"meta":811,"navigation":448,"path":812,"pricingChecked":450,"seo":813,"stem":814,"updated":453,"__hash__":815},"comparisons\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-bonsai.md","Billebly vs Bonsai: which is right for freelancers?",{"type":8,"value":459,"toc":790},[460,463,466,468,556,560,563,566,568,571,574,578,581,584,587,589,697,703,705,708,715,718,721,723,726,729,731,734,736,739,742,744,747,749,752,756,759,761,764,768,771,775,778,781,783,786],[11,461,462],{},"Bonsai is a broad freelance-business suite: CRM, proposals, contracts,\ninvoicing, time tracking, and light tax tooling, all under one\nsubscription. Billebly covers a narrower slice of that job (clients,\ninvoices, time tracking, and payment status) for free. This comparison is\nfor freelancers deciding whether they want one subscription running the\nwhole client relationship, or a focused, no-cost way to bill and get paid.",[11,464,465],{},"The headline difference: Bonsai is built to be the operating system for a\nfreelance business, contracts and taxes included. Billebly starts once\nthere's work to bill, and stays free the whole way through.",[23,467,26],{"id":25},[28,469,470,481],{},[31,471,472],{},[34,473,474,476,478],{},[37,475],{},[37,477,41],{},[37,479,480],{},"Bonsai",[46,482,483,492,501,510,520,528,537,546],{},[34,484,485,487,489],{},[51,486,53],{},[51,488,56],{},[51,490,491],{},"$15\u002Fuser\u002Fmo (Basic), or $9\u002Fuser\u002Fmo billed annually",[34,493,494,496,498],{},[51,495,75],{},[51,497,78],{},[51,499,500],{},"Monthly\u002Fannual subscription per user, tiered by feature",[34,502,503,505,507],{},[51,504,200],{},[51,506,203],{},[51,508,509],{},"Full CRM with pipeline",[34,511,512,515,517],{},[51,513,514],{},"Contracts & e-signature",[51,516,67],{},[51,518,519],{},"Yes, lawyer-vetted templates",[34,521,522,524,526],{},[51,523,107],{},[51,525,110],{},[51,527,110],{},[34,529,530,533,535],{},[51,531,532],{},"US tax tools (1099s, quarterly estimates)",[51,534,67],{},[51,536,206],{},[34,538,539,542,544],{},[51,540,541],{},"Banking (Bonsai Cash\u002FCard, US only)",[51,543,67],{},[51,545,206],{},[34,547,548,550,553],{},[51,549,139],{},[51,551,552],{},"Just invoicing, time tracking, and getting paid",[51,554,555],{},"Running the whole freelance business, contracts and taxes included",[23,557,559],{"id":558},"what-is-bonsai","What is Bonsai?",[11,561,562],{},"Bonsai (hellobonsai.com) is a freelance-business management platform built\naround the idea that a solo operator shouldn't need five separate tools to\npitch, contract, bill, and get paid by a client. It bundles a CRM and\npipeline, a proposal and contract builder with e-signatures and\nlawyer-drafted templates, invoicing with recurring billing, time tracking,\nexpense tracking, and, for US freelancers specifically, tools aimed at\n1099 income and quarterly estimated tax tracking. Some plans also add\nBonsai Cash and a Bonsai Card, a banking layer available to US users\nthrough a partner bank.",[11,564,565],{},"That breadth is genuinely useful if you use most of it: reviewers\nconsistently point to the contracts and proposals as Bonsai's strongest\nfeature, since they remove a real legal and admin burden for solo\nfreelancers. The tradeoff is the subscription itself. Plans start at $15\nper user per month (Basic), or $9 billed annually, climbing to $59 per\nuser per month for the top tier, and that cost applies every month\nregardless of how much you actually bill.",[23,567,163],{"id":162},[11,569,570],{},"Billebly is a free invoicing and payments tool for freelancers, coaches,\nand consultants. It covers a client list, invoice creation (one-off and\nrecurring), time tracking that turns logged hours into invoice line items\nautomatically, and a payment dashboard showing what's paid, pending, and\noverdue. Clients pay through a hosted link with no account required, and\nnone of that loop sits behind a plan tier or a setup step.",[11,572,573],{},"That focus is a deliberate choice, not a gap: Billebly is built to do the\nbilling-and-payment job well rather than to be a full freelance-business\noperating system, so it leaves the CRM pipeline, contract builder, and\ntax tooling to tools built for that purpose. The payoff for staying\nnarrow is price: the free plan has no subscription, and no cost in a\nmonth where nothing gets billed.",[23,575,577],{"id":576},"billebly-vs-bonsai-key-differences","Billebly vs Bonsai: key differences",[11,579,580],{},"The real difference isn't feature count, it's scope and pricing model.\nBonsai is a subscription business-operating system: sales pipeline,\ncontracts, taxes, and billing all in one login. Billebly is a\nbilling-and-payment-status tool: it assumes you already have a way to\npitch and contract clients, or don't need one, and just want the part\nwhere hours become invoices and invoices get paid.",[11,582,583],{},"The pricing models pull in opposite directions too. Bonsai's cost is\nfixed per month regardless of how much you bill, useful if you're using\nthe contracts, CRM, and tax tools regularly. On Billebly's free plan,\ncost is zero until a payment is actually processed, so a slow month costs\nnothing and a busy month costs a small, predictable percentage.",[11,585,586],{},"Billebly skips the contract, e-signature, and US tax layer entirely: it's\nbuilt for the moment work turns into an invoice, not for running the\nlegal and tax side of a freelance business. That leaves contracts and\nquarterly tax tracking to Bonsai and dedicated tax software, and keeps\nBillebly free and simple for the billing job it does cover.",[23,588,180],{"id":179},[28,590,591,601],{},[31,592,593],{},[34,594,595,597,599],{},[37,596,189],{},[37,598,41],{},[37,600,480],{},[46,602,603,611,620,628,636,644,652,662,670,678,687],{},[34,604,605,607,609],{},[51,606,200],{},[51,608,203],{},[51,610,509],{},[34,612,613,616,618],{},[51,614,615],{},"Proposals & contracts with e-signature",[51,617,67],{},[51,619,519],{},[34,621,622,624,626],{},[51,623,211],{},[51,625,206],{},[51,627,206],{},[34,629,630,632,634],{},[51,631,220],{},[51,633,206],{},[51,635,206],{},[34,637,638,640,642],{},[51,639,239],{},[51,641,206],{},[51,643,206],{},[34,645,646,648,650],{},[51,647,259],{},[51,649,67],{},[51,651,206],{},[34,653,654,657,659],{},[51,655,656],{},"Quotes\u002Festimates",[51,658,206],{},[51,660,661],{},"Yes, via proposals",[34,663,664,666,668],{},[51,665,532],{},[51,667,67],{},[51,669,206],{},[34,671,672,674,676],{},[51,673,541],{},[51,675,67],{},[51,677,206],{},[34,679,680,682,684],{},[51,681,96],{},[51,683,271],{},[51,685,686],{},"Branded client portal",[34,688,689,692,694],{},[51,690,691],{},"Team\u002Fcollaborator seats",[51,693,67],{},[51,695,696],{},"Yes, on higher tiers",[304,698,700],{"title":699,"type":307},"When Bonsai's extra depth is worth paying for",[11,701,702],{},"If you're a US-based freelancer who wants contracts, client onboarding,\nand quarterly tax tracking handled inside the same tool you invoice from,\nBonsai's subscription genuinely earns its keep. That's a specific need\nthough, not the daily reality for most freelancers, coaches, and\nconsultants, who mainly need invoices sent and payments tracked, the part\nBillebly already covers for free.",[23,704,314],{"id":313},[11,706,707],{},"Bonsai: priced per user per month. Basic is $15 billed monthly or $9\nbilled annually, Essentials $25 or $19, Premium $39 or $29, and Elite $59\nor $49 with a 3-user minimum. There's no free plan, but a 7-day free\ntrial is available. On top of the\nsubscription, payments processed through Bonsai carry their own\nprocessing fee, in line with standard card-processing rates. Check\nBonsai's current pricing page before committing, since tiers and features\nshift over time.",[11,709,320,710,328],{},[322,711,714],{"href":712,"rel":713},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.hellobonsai.com\u002Fpricing",[326],"Bonsai's pricing page",[11,716,717],{},"Billebly: free plan, no subscription. A 0.5% platform fee applies only to payments\nprocessed through the platform, plus Stripe's standard processing fee\n(roughly 1.5% + €0.25 for cards, less for bank methods like iDEAL\u002FSEPA).\nYou choose whether you or the client absorbs the platform fee. There's no\nminimum, no seat fee, and nothing charged for invoices that go unpaid or\nunsent. An optional Premium plan costs €9\u002Fmonth (excl. VAT) and lowers\nthe platform fee to 0.2%.",[11,719,720],{},"For a freelancer with a light or seasonal client load, Bonsai's monthly\nfee applies whether or not an invoice goes out that month. On Billebly's\nfree plan, cost tracks activity instead, so a quiet month costs nothing,\nand a busy month costs a small, predictable percentage rather than a\nfixed subscription.",[23,722,338],{"id":337},[11,724,725],{},"Both tools generate one-off and recurring invoices, and both let tracked\ntime flow directly onto an invoice as billable line items without manual\nre-entry. Bonsai's invoicing is tied into its proposal and contract flow,\nso a signed proposal can carry its line items straight into an invoice.\nBillebly's quotes work similarly on a smaller scale: a client accepts a\nquote and it converts directly into an invoice, without a contract or\ne-signature step attached.",[11,727,728],{},"Where Bonsai pulls ahead: contracts, tax categorization, and expense\ntracking baked into the same billing flow. Where Billebly pulls ahead:\nnothing extra to configure or pay for if all you need is the\nquote-to-invoice-to-payment path, with no subscription required to get\ninvoices sent and tracked.",[23,730,348],{"id":347},[11,732,733],{},"Bonsai processes payments through its own integrated gateway (built on\nstandard card networks, with ACH available in the US), at rates broadly\nin line with typical card-processing pricing, layered on top of the\nsubscription. Billebly processes through Stripe, with a 0.5% platform\nfee (0.2% on Premium) plus Stripe's processing rate, and supports cards,\niDEAL, SEPA, Klarna, Amazon Pay, and bank transfers depending on the\nclient's location, which gives it noticeably broader payment-method\ncoverage outside the US than Bonsai's US-centric banking features.",[23,735,355],{"id":354},[11,737,738],{},"Bonsai's onboarding involves more setup than a simple invoicing tool,\nsince there's a CRM, proposal templates, and tax settings to configure\nbefore the platform reflects how you actually work. Reviewers generally\ndescribe that setup as worthwhile once done, particularly for the\ncontract and tax pieces, but it's a real investment of time up front.",[11,740,741],{},"Billebly's setup is intentionally shallow: add a client, build an\ninvoice, send one payment link, track status on a dashboard. There are\nno contract templates to review, and nothing in that flow is gated behind\na higher tier: it all works on the free plan.",[23,743,365],{"id":364},[11,745,746],{},"A US-based freelancer who wants contracts, proposals, and quarterly tax\ntracking handled in the same place they invoice from will get real,\nongoing use out of Bonsai, and the subscription pays for itself in saved\nadmin time. A freelancer, coach, or consultant outside the US, or one\nwhose contracts and taxes are already handled elsewhere, and who mainly\nneeds invoices sent and payments tracked, has less use for that layer and\nwill find Billebly cheaper and simpler for the exact task they need done.",[23,748,372],{"id":371},[11,750,751],{},"Bonsai's higher tiers add team seats and shared client access, which\nsuits a small agency that wants shared visibility into contracts and\nbilling. Billebly is built for a single operator by design, with no team\nor multi-user layer to configure in the first place. For a freelancer,\ncoach, or one-person consultancy, that focus is exactly the point: no\nseats to manage, no permissions to set up, just billing that works for\none person.",[23,753,755],{"id":754},"who-should-choose-bonsai","Who should choose Bonsai?",[11,757,758],{},"A US-based freelancer or small agency that wants contracts, proposals,\ntax tracking, and invoicing under one subscription, and is willing to pay\nmonthly for that breadth regardless of billing volume.",[23,760,386],{"id":385},[11,762,763],{},"A freelancer, coach, or consultant who already has contracts and tax\ntracking handled elsewhere (or doesn't need them), doesn't want a monthly\nsubscription for software they might use lightly some months, and wants\nthe invoicing-time tracking-payment loop to just work without configuring\na CRM or a contract template first.",[23,765,767],{"id":766},"is-billebly-a-good-bonsai-alternative","Is Billebly a good Bonsai alternative?",[11,769,770],{},"Yes, for the invoicing and payment layer specifically: if the main things\nyou use Bonsai for are sending invoices, tracking time against clients,\nand seeing what's been paid, Billebly's free plan does that same job\nwithout a subscription. Someone paying $15 to $25 per user per month for Bonsai mainly to invoice\nand get paid, with the CRM, contracts, and tax tools sitting mostly\nunused, is a good candidate to switch and put that subscription cost back\nin their pocket. For contracts, US tax tracking, and banking, Billebly\nstays out of that lane on purpose, so someone relying on those features\ndaily is better off staying put.",[23,772,774],{"id":773},"bonsai-alternatives","Bonsai alternatives",[11,776,777],{},"Bonsai sits in a crowded category of all-in-one freelancer platforms,\nalongside tools like Moxie, Dubsado, Plutio, and HoneyBook, each with its\nown mix of CRM depth, automation, and price. If the appeal of that\ncategory is specifically the contract-to-invoice pipeline, those are\nworth comparing directly. If the appeal was mainly \"one subscription\ninstead of several tools\" but the actual daily use is closer to \"send\ninvoices and track payments,\" a narrower tool like Billebly is worth\ntrying before committing to another subscription.",[405,779],{":faqs":780},"[{\"question\":\"Does Bonsai have a free plan?\",\"answer\":\"No permanent free plan, though a 7-day free trial is available. After that, plans start at $15 per user per month (Basic), or $9 per user per month billed annually.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Bonsai charge payment processing fees on top of the subscription?\",\"answer\":\"Yes. Payments processed through Bonsai carry their own processing fee, in addition to the monthly subscription cost.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Billebly have contracts or e-signatures like Bonsai?\",\"answer\":\"No. Billebly leaves contracts and e-signatures out on purpose, since it's built for the moment work turns into an invoice, not for running the legal side of client onboarding. Freelancers who need that layer typically pair a contract tool with Billebly for billing.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Billebly offer US tax tools like quarterly estimates or 1099 tracking?\",\"answer\":\"No, Billebly focuses on invoicing and payment status rather than tax categorization. Freelancers who need quarterly tax estimates or 1099 tracking should keep dedicated tax software alongside Billebly.\"},{\"question\":\"Is Billebly available outside the US, unlike Bonsai's banking features?\",\"answer\":\"Yes. Billebly has no country restriction and processes payments through Stripe with support for cards, iDEAL, SEPA, Klarna, Amazon Pay, and bank transfers depending on the client's location, while Bonsai's banking add-ons (Bonsai Cash and Bonsai Card) are US-only.\"}]",[23,782,411],{"id":410},[11,784,785],{},"For most freelancers, coaches, and consultants, the bottleneck isn't a\nmissing contract builder or tax dashboard, it's getting an invoice out,\ntracking the hours behind it, and knowing what's been paid. Billebly's\nfree plan does exactly that, with nothing to configure and no cost until\nmoney actually moves. If you're a US-based freelancer who genuinely relies on\ncontracts, proposals, and quarterly tax tracking day to day, Bonsai's\nsubscription is worth it for that breadth. Most other freelancers,\nespecially those outside the US or who already have contracts and taxes\nhandled elsewhere, are better served starting free and adding paid tools\nonly once a real gap shows up.",[416,787],{"button-label":418,"description":788,"href":420,"title":789},"Skip the subscription and the setup. Add a client, send an invoice, and see what's paid without configuring a CRM or a contract template first.","Just need invoicing, time tracking, and payment status?",{"title":423,"searchDepth":424,"depth":425,"links":791},[792,793,794,795,796,797,798,799,800,801,802,803,804,805,806,807],{"id":25,"depth":424,"text":26},{"id":558,"depth":424,"text":559},{"id":162,"depth":424,"text":163},{"id":576,"depth":424,"text":577},{"id":179,"depth":424,"text":180},{"id":313,"depth":424,"text":314},{"id":337,"depth":424,"text":338},{"id":347,"depth":424,"text":348},{"id":354,"depth":424,"text":355},{"id":364,"depth":424,"text":365},{"id":371,"depth":424,"text":372},{"id":754,"depth":424,"text":755},{"id":385,"depth":424,"text":386},{"id":766,"depth":424,"text":767},{"id":773,"depth":424,"text":774},{"id":410,"depth":424,"text":411},"2026-08-12","A comparison of Billebly and Bonsai for freelancers who need invoicing and payments without a full freelance-business suite.","\u002Fimages\u002Fcompare\u002Fbonsai.png",{},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-bonsai",{"title":457,"description":809},"compare\u002Fvs-bonsai","08YRE9dUBPh1L0EKpdHKRgR5d5rcWQmo9EKfi21wEJc",{"id":817,"title":818,"body":819,"competitor":841,"date":443,"description":1183,"extension":445,"logo":1184,"meta":1185,"navigation":448,"path":1186,"pricingChecked":1187,"seo":1188,"stem":1189,"updated":453,"__hash__":1190},"comparisons\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-dubsado.md","Billebly vs Dubsado: deep client workflows or simple billing?",{"type":8,"value":820,"toc":1165},[821,824,827,829,939,943,946,949,951,954,958,961,964,966,1072,1078,1080,1083,1090,1093,1096,1098,1101,1104,1106,1109,1111,1114,1117,1119,1122,1124,1127,1131,1134,1136,1139,1143,1146,1150,1153,1156,1158,1161],[11,822,823],{},"Dubsado is a client-management CRM built for service-based businesses:\nlead capture, interactive proposals, contracts, scheduling, deeply\ncustomizable workflow automation, invoicing, and payments, starting at\n$35\u002Fmonth. Billebly covers a narrower slice (clients, invoices, time\ntracking, and payment status) for free. This comparison is for anyone\nweighing Dubsado's depth of customization against Billebly's simplicity,\nespecially given how much setup time Dubsado is known to require.",[11,825,826],{},"The core tradeoff: Dubsado can be configured to match almost any client\nworkflow exactly, but reviewers consistently describe that configuration\nas taking real time: 15 to 20 hours or more for a first full setup.\nBillebly skips that configuration step entirely. There is nothing to\nbuild, so the invoicing and payment flow works as soon as a client is\nadded, which is exactly the point for anyone who doesn't need a\ncustom-built client journey.",[23,828,26],{"id":25},[28,830,831,842],{},[31,832,833],{},[34,834,835,837,839],{},[37,836],{},[37,838,41],{},[37,840,841],{},"Dubsado",[46,843,844,853,862,873,882,891,901,910,919,930],{},[34,845,846,848,850],{},[51,847,53],{},[51,849,56],{},[51,851,852],{},"$35\u002Fmo (Starter)",[34,854,855,857,859],{},[51,856,75],{},[51,858,78],{},[51,860,861],{},"Monthly\u002Fannual subscription",[34,863,864,867,870],{},[51,865,866],{},"Setup time",[51,868,869],{},"Minutes",[51,871,872],{},"Often 15-20+ hours for full workflow setup",[34,874,875,878,880],{},[51,876,877],{},"Lead capture & CRM",[51,879,203],{},[51,881,206],{},[34,883,884,886,888],{},[51,885,615],{},[51,887,67],{},[51,889,890],{},"Yes, interactive with live pricing",[34,892,893,896,898],{},[51,894,895],{},"Workflow automation",[51,897,67],{},[51,899,900],{},"Yes, Premier plan only ($55\u002Fmo)",[34,902,903,905,907],{},[51,904,107],{},[51,906,110],{},[51,908,909],{},"Added in 3.0 rebuild (Nov 2025)",[34,911,912,914,916],{},[51,913,96],{},[51,915,99],{},[51,917,918],{},"Branded portal, all plans",[34,920,921,924,927],{},[51,922,923],{},"Free trial",[51,925,926],{},"Not applicable, free plan is free forever",[51,928,929],{},"21 days (as of Nov 2025+)",[34,931,932,934,936],{},[51,933,139],{},[51,935,552],{},[51,937,938],{},"Highly customized, automated client workflows",[23,940,942],{"id":941},"what-is-dubsado","What is Dubsado?",[11,944,945],{},"Dubsado runs the client relationship from \"first hello to final payment\":\nlead capture forms, interactive proposals where a client picks packages\nand pricing updates live, e-signature contracts, scheduling, invoicing\nwith payment plans, and a visual workflow builder (\"Flows,\" rebuilt in\nDubsado 3.0, released November 2025) that automates emails, invoice\ngeneration, and task assignment based on client actions. It's aimed at\nsolo service providers and small teams (photographers, planners,\ndesigners, coaches) who want a fully branded, automated client\nexperience.",[11,947,948],{},"Dubsado's defining trait, repeated across G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius,\nis depth of customization paired with a genuinely steep learning curve.\nCapterra scores its Ease of Use at just 3.7\u002F5 despite a 4.2\u002F5 overall\nrating. Reviewers describe \"a severe learning curve\" and setup as \"a\nmajor endeavor.\" This is corroborated by an entire cottage industry of\npaid \"Dubsado Specialists\" who charge $500-2,000+ specifically to\nconfigure new accounts. Workflow automation is also gated to the Premier\nplan ($55\u002Fmonth); the cheaper Starter plan doesn't include it, which\nseveral reviewers say makes Starter feel underpowered for what Dubsado is\nknown for.",[23,950,163],{"id":162},[11,952,953],{},"Billebly is a free invoicing and payments tool built for freelancers,\ncoaches, and consultants who want to invoice and get paid without running\na CRM. It covers a client list, one-off and recurring invoices, time\ntracking that becomes invoice line items automatically, and a dashboard\nshowing paid, pending, and overdue amounts, and all of it is usable\nwithin minutes of signing up. It deliberately leaves out lead capture,\nproposals, contracts, and a workflow builder: that's Dubsado's job, and\nbuilding it into Billebly would mean reintroducing the same setup\noverhead Billebly exists to avoid.",[23,955,957],{"id":956},"billebly-vs-dubsado-key-differences","Billebly vs Dubsado: key differences",[11,959,960],{},"Dubsado is built for businesses that want a fully custom, automated\nclient journey and are willing to invest real setup time to get there.\nBillebly is built for businesses that want the billing part working\ntoday, with nothing to build first.",[11,962,963],{},"That difference shows up most clearly in time-to-value. Dubsado's power\ncomes from its blank-canvas workflow builder: nothing is pre-built, so\nevery automation is constructed from scratch, which is exactly why setup\ncommonly takes many hours. Billebly skips the workflow builder by design,\nso there's also nothing to build: the invoice-to-payment flow works the\nmoment a client is added.",[23,965,180],{"id":179},[28,967,968,978],{},[31,969,970],{},[34,971,972,974,976],{},[37,973,189],{},[37,975,41],{},[37,977,841],{},[46,979,980,989,998,1006,1015,1025,1034,1043,1052,1062],{},[34,981,982,984,986],{},[51,983,200],{},[51,985,203],{},[51,987,988],{},"Full CRM with lead capture forms",[34,990,991,993,995],{},[51,992,615],{},[51,994,67],{},[51,996,997],{},"Yes, interactive with live package pricing",[34,999,1000,1002,1004],{},[51,1001,211],{},[51,1003,206],{},[51,1005,206],{},[34,1007,1008,1010,1012],{},[51,1009,220],{},[51,1011,206],{},[51,1013,1014],{},"Yes (distinct from payment plans)",[34,1016,1017,1020,1022],{},[51,1018,1019],{},"Payment plans \u002F deposits",[51,1021,67],{},[51,1023,1024],{},"Yes, with automated reminders",[34,1026,1027,1029,1031],{},[51,1028,239],{},[51,1030,206],{},[51,1032,1033],{},"Yes, added in the 3.0 rebuild",[34,1035,1036,1038,1040],{},[51,1037,96],{},[51,1039,271],{},[51,1041,1042],{},"Branded, password-protected, all plans",[34,1044,1045,1047,1049],{},[51,1046,895],{},[51,1048,67],{},[51,1050,1051],{},"Yes, Premier plan only",[34,1053,1054,1057,1059],{},[51,1055,1056],{},"Accounting integration",[51,1058,67],{},[51,1060,1061],{},"QuickBooks Online, Premier plan only",[34,1063,1064,1067,1069],{},[51,1065,1066],{},"Zapier",[51,1068,67],{},[51,1070,1071],{},"Premier plan only",[304,1073,1075],{"title":1074,"type":307},"When Dubsado's extra depth is worth it",[11,1076,1077],{},"Most freelancers, coaches, and consultants just need to invoice a client\nand get paid, which Billebly handles with no setup at all. But if the\nbusiness runs on a fully branded, automated client journey (custom\nproposals, e-signature contracts, and a workflow that fires off emails\nand tasks automatically) and there's budget for the setup time, or for a\nDubsado Specialist to handle it, Dubsado's customization depth covers\nground that Billebly intentionally leaves out.",[23,1079,314],{"id":313},[11,1081,1082],{},"Dubsado: $35\u002Fmonth (Starter) covers contracts, invoicing, payment plans,\nforms, and client portals, but not automated workflows, scheduling, or\nZapier\u002FQuickBooks. $55\u002Fmonth (Premier) adds all of that. Both are also\nsold as annual lump sums ($335\u002Fyear Starter, $525\u002Fyear Premier). As of\nNovember 2025, new signups get a 21-day free trial with full Premier\naccess; the older \"free forever up to 3 clients\" trial only applies to\naccounts created before that date. Additional team members beyond 3 cost\n$25-60\u002Fmonth depending on team size, and each additional brand costs\n$10\u002Fmonth.",[11,1084,320,1085,328],{},[322,1086,1089],{"href":1087,"rel":1088},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.dubsado.com\u002Fpricing",[326],"Dubsado's pricing page",[11,1091,1092],{},"Billebly: free plan, no subscription. A 0.5% platform fee on payments\nactually processed, plus Stripe's standard rate (roughly 1.5% + €0.25 for\ncards, less for bank methods). No monthly minimum, no per-seat cost. An\noptional Premium plan costs €9\u002Fmonth (excl. VAT) and lowers the platform\nfee to 0.2%.",[11,1094,1095],{},"The practical cost question with Dubsado is less about the sticker price\nand more about which plan you actually need: Starter is criticized by\nreviewers as underpowered because the automation that makes Dubsado worth\nusing lives in Premier. Budget for $55\u002Fmonth if that's the real target.\nOn Billebly's free plan, cost tracks billing activity with no fixed floor\neither way.",[23,1097,338],{"id":337},[11,1099,1100],{},"Dubsado distinguishes recurring invoices (same amount, repeating\nschedule) from payment plans (one total split into installments with\nautomated reminders), a more granular structure than Billebly offers.\nIts proposals function as quotes: a client selects packages and the\ninvoice total updates live before conversion. Billebly has no proposal or\nestimate step and invoices directly.",[11,1102,1103],{},"Dubsado's ACH fee structure (0.8%, capped at $5) is favorable for\nhigh-ticket invoices compared to flat-percentage card fees. Time tracking\nwas historically minimal in Dubsado and was substantially expanded in the\n3.0 rebuild, including a real-time earnings widget. It's worth checking\nthe current state directly if this matters to your workflow, since it's a\nrecent change.",[23,1105,348],{"id":347},[11,1107,1108],{},"Dubsado Payments (built on Stripe) supports cards, ACH, Klarna, Affirm,\nand Tap to Pay, plus PayPal and Square as alternatives. Fees vary by\ncountry: US domestic cards are 2.9% + $0.30, EEA domestic cards are as\nlow as 1.5% + €0.25, and ACH is 0.8% capped at $5. Dubsado Payments\ncurrently supports 38 countries, a substantial list, but not universal.\nBillebly processes through Stripe only, with a 0.5% platform fee (0.2% on\nPremium) on top of Stripe's rate, supporting cards, iDEAL, SEPA, Klarna,\nAmazon Pay, and bank transfers depending on location.",[23,1110,355],{"id":354},[11,1112,1113],{},"This is the most heavily documented weakness in Dubsado's own reviews.\nCapterra's Ease of Use score (3.7\u002F5) sits notably below its overall\nrating (4.2\u002F5); G2 and TrustRadius echo the same pattern, describing \"a\nsteep learning curve,\" setup as \"a major endeavor,\" and reporting that\nsome users spend their entire trial period just configuring their first\nworkflow. The Dubsado 3.0 rebuild (visual Flows builder, universal\nsearch, redesigned dashboard) was built specifically to address this, but\nreviewers still describe it as one of the steepest learning curves among\nfreelance CRMs.",[11,1115,1116],{},"Billebly has no equivalent setup: add a client, build an invoice, send a\nlink, check the dashboard.",[23,1118,365],{"id":364},[11,1120,1121],{},"A freelancer running high-touch, branded client engagements (where a\npolished proposal, a custom contract, and automated onboarding matter to\nhow the business is perceived) is well-served by Dubsado, provided\nthey're willing to spend the setup time or budget for a specialist. Most\nfreelancers, though, are optimizing for something simpler: get the\ninvoice out, get paid, know where things stand. A freelancer who wants to\nbe fully operational the same day, with no multi-hour configuration\nprocess standing between them and their first invoice, will find Billebly\nbuilt specifically for that.",[23,1123,372],{"id":371},[11,1125,1126],{},"A small team (up to Dubsado's per-seat pricing tiers) that wants shared\naccess to a customized, automated client pipeline is better served by\nDubsado's Premier plan with additional seats. Billebly is built for solo\noperators rather than shared logins or role-based access, and that\nnarrow focus is exactly what keeps it simple and free. A business that\nspecifically needs multi-user access should plan around Dubsado (or\nanother team-oriented tool) instead.",[23,1128,1130],{"id":1129},"who-should-choose-dubsado","Who should choose Dubsado?",[11,1132,1133],{},"A service business that wants deep customization of proposals,\ncontracts, and automated workflows, and is willing to invest real setup\ntime, either their own or a paid specialist's, to build a client journey\nthat matches their exact process.",[23,1135,386],{"id":385},[11,1137,1138],{},"A freelancer, coach, or consultant who wants to be sending invoices and\ntracking payments the same day they sign up, without configuring a\nworkflow builder or evaluating which plan unlocks automation.",[23,1140,1142],{"id":1141},"is-billebly-a-good-dubsado-alternative","Is Billebly a good Dubsado alternative?",[11,1144,1145],{},"For customizable proposals, contracts, and automated workflows, no:\nthat's Dubsado's core strength and the reason its steep learning curve\nis tolerated by the people who use it well. For the invoicing and\npayment-collection piece specifically, yes. Someone paying $35-55\u002Fmonth\nmainly to invoice and get paid, without using Dubsado's workflow builder\nor proposal customization, is a strong candidate to switch and skip the\nsetup time entirely. Someone relying on a heavily configured Dubsado Flow\nis not: that setup investment doesn't transfer.",[23,1147,1149],{"id":1148},"dubsado-alternatives","Dubsado alternatives",[11,1151,1152],{},"Dubsado competes most directly with HoneyBook, Plutio, and Moxie, each\ntrading off CRM depth, automation, and ease of setup differently.\nHoneyBook is generally considered faster to set up with a similar\nautomation ambition; Plutio adds project management on top. If the appeal\nof this category was specifically the automated, branded client journey,\nthose are the right comparison set. If the setup time itself is the pain\npoint, and the actual daily need is closer to \"invoice and get paid,\" a\ntool like Billebly is worth trying first.",[405,1154],{":faqs":1155},"[{\"question\":\"How long does Dubsado take to set up?\",\"answer\":\"Reviewers commonly report 15 to 20+ hours for a full first setup, which is why a paid \\\"Dubsado Specialist\\\" industry exists specifically to configure new accounts. The Dubsado 3.0 rebuild aims to reduce this, but reviewers still describe it as one of the steepest learning curves among freelance CRMs.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Dubsado still have a free plan?\",\"answer\":\"Not for new signups as of November 2025. New accounts get a 21-day free trial with full Premier access. The older \\\"free forever up to 3 clients\\\" model only applies to accounts created before that date.\"},{\"question\":\"What's the difference between Dubsado's recurring invoices and payment plans?\",\"answer\":\"Recurring invoices repeat the same amount on a schedule (for ongoing retainers). Payment plans split one project total into installments with automated reminders. Dubsado treats these as two distinct features.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Billebly have workflow automation like Dubsado?\",\"answer\":\"No, Billebly doesn't include a workflow builder. It focuses instead on making the invoicing and payment side automatic where it counts: recurring invoices charge on schedule, and you get alerted if a recurring payment fails, which covers what most freelancers actually need without a Flows-style builder to set up.\"},{\"question\":\"Is Billebly available in the same countries as Dubsado Payments?\",\"answer\":\"Billebly doesn't publish a specific country restriction, while Dubsado Payments currently supports 38 named countries. Confirm current coverage on each provider's site before relying on either for a specific country.\"}]",[23,1157,411],{"id":410},[11,1159,1160],{},"For most freelancers, coaches, and consultants, the actual need is\nsimpler than a full CRM: invoice a client, track the hours behind it,\nknow what's been paid. Billebly gets you there the same day, for free,\nwith nothing to configure first. If your business specifically depends on\na fully customized, automated client journey (proposals, contracts, and\nworkflows built to match your exact process), Dubsado's depth is\ngenuinely hard to match, and the setup time is the price of that depth,\nbut that's a narrower need than most people reading this comparison\nactually have.",[416,1162],{"button-label":418,"description":1163,"href":420,"title":1164},"No setup time, no automation to configure. Add a client and send your first invoice in minutes.","Skip the workflow builder and start invoicing today",{"title":423,"searchDepth":424,"depth":425,"links":1166},[1167,1168,1169,1170,1171,1172,1173,1174,1175,1176,1177,1178,1179,1180,1181,1182],{"id":25,"depth":424,"text":26},{"id":941,"depth":424,"text":942},{"id":162,"depth":424,"text":163},{"id":956,"depth":424,"text":957},{"id":179,"depth":424,"text":180},{"id":313,"depth":424,"text":314},{"id":337,"depth":424,"text":338},{"id":347,"depth":424,"text":348},{"id":354,"depth":424,"text":355},{"id":364,"depth":424,"text":365},{"id":371,"depth":424,"text":372},{"id":1129,"depth":424,"text":1130},{"id":385,"depth":424,"text":386},{"id":1141,"depth":424,"text":1142},{"id":1148,"depth":424,"text":1149},{"id":410,"depth":424,"text":411},"A comparison of Billebly and Dubsado for service businesses deciding between a highly customizable client-management CRM and a focused invoicing and payments tool.","\u002Fimages\u002Fcompare\u002Fdubsado.png",{},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-dubsado","2026-08",{"title":818,"description":1183},"compare\u002Fvs-dubsado","uX0EubozBHTHaB-8ch3Hiry_P0XiNIykSAuqHixFqzA",{"id":1192,"title":1193,"body":1194,"competitor":1219,"date":443,"description":1573,"extension":445,"logo":1574,"meta":1575,"navigation":448,"path":1576,"pricingChecked":450,"seo":1577,"stem":1578,"updated":453,"__hash__":1579},"comparisons\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-frappe-books.md","Billebly vs Frappe Books: offline bookkeeping or online invoicing?",{"type":8,"value":1195,"toc":1555},[1196,1202,1205,1207,1319,1323,1326,1333,1335,1338,1342,1345,1348,1350,1461,1467,1469,1472,1479,1482,1485,1487,1490,1492,1499,1501,1504,1507,1509,1512,1514,1517,1521,1524,1526,1529,1533,1536,1540,1543,1546,1548,1551],[11,1197,1198,1199],{},"Frappe Books is a free, open-source, offline-first desktop accounting\napp: double-entry bookkeeping, invoicing, and financial reports, stored\nentirely on your own device with no cloud component. Billebly is a free,\nonline invoicing and payments tool built around a hosted payment link\nclients can pay from any device. This comparison matters most for one\nspecific reason: Frappe Books, by design, ",[18,1200,1201],{},"has no way to collect online\npayment on an invoice.",[11,1203,1204],{},"If getting paid online is part of what you need from either tool, that\nsingle fact should drive the decision more than any feature list.",[23,1206,26],{"id":25},[28,1208,1209,1220],{},[31,1210,1211],{},[34,1212,1213,1215,1217],{},[37,1214],{},[37,1216,41],{},[37,1218,1219],{},"Frappe Books",[46,1221,1222,1231,1242,1253,1264,1272,1282,1291,1301,1309],{},[34,1223,1224,1226,1228],{},[51,1225,53],{},[51,1227,56],{},[51,1229,1230],{},"Free, no paid tier",[34,1232,1233,1236,1239],{},[51,1234,1235],{},"Deployment",[51,1237,1238],{},"Cloud, accessible anywhere",[51,1240,1241],{},"Desktop app, local device only",[34,1243,1244,1247,1250],{},[51,1245,1246],{},"Online payment collection",[51,1248,1249],{},"Yes, via Stripe",[51,1251,1252],{},"Not available",[34,1254,1255,1258,1261],{},[51,1256,1257],{},"Sending invoices to clients",[51,1259,1260],{},"Hosted payment link",[51,1262,1263],{},"Export\u002Fprint as PDF",[34,1265,1266,1268,1270],{},[51,1267,64],{},[51,1269,67],{},[51,1271,264],{},[34,1273,1274,1277,1280],{},[51,1275,1276],{},"Multi-currency invoicing",[51,1278,1279],{},"Not stated",[51,1281,206],{},[34,1283,1284,1286,1288],{},[51,1285,96],{},[51,1287,271],{},[51,1289,1290],{},"None",[34,1292,1293,1296,1298],{},[51,1294,1295],{},"Multi-device \u002F team access",[51,1297,1279],{},[51,1299,1300],{},"No, single device, local file",[34,1302,1303,1305,1307],{},[51,1304,107],{},[51,1306,110],{},[51,1308,67],{},[34,1310,1311,1313,1316],{},[51,1312,139],{},[51,1314,1315],{},"Getting invoices paid online",[51,1317,1318],{},"Free, private, offline bookkeeping",[23,1320,1322],{"id":1321},"what-is-frappe-books","What is Frappe Books?",[11,1324,1325],{},"Frappe Books is a free, open-source (AGPL-3.0) desktop application built\nby the team behind ERPNext: real double-entry accounting (chart of\naccounts, journal entries, a general ledger, trial balance, balance\nsheet), sales and purchase invoicing, basic inventory tracking, and\nmulti-currency support, all running locally with data stored in a single\nSQLite file on your own computer. There's no cloud version and no\nsubscription of any kind: it's fully free, for anyone comfortable\ninstalling a desktop app.",[11,1327,1328,1329,1332],{},"The offline-first design is both its main appeal and its central\nlimitation. Data privacy and full ownership are genuine strengths for\nanyone wary of storing financial records on a vendor's servers. But the\nsame design means Frappe Books' own documentation confirms invoices can\nonly be exported or printed as a PDF: there's no built-in way to email\nan invoice from inside the app, no client portal, and ",[18,1330,1331],{},"no payment\ngateway of any kind",", confirmed directly in Frappe Books' payments\ndocumentation, which only covers manually recording bank or cash\ntransfers. It's also single-device: no native multi-user access, no\nmobile app, and no sync between devices, so backups are entirely the\nuser's responsibility.",[23,1334,163],{"id":162},[11,1336,1337],{},"Billebly is a free, cloud-based invoicing and payments tool for\nfreelancers, coaches, and consultants: a client list, one-off and\nrecurring invoices, time tracking that becomes invoice line items\nautomatically, and a dashboard showing paid, pending, and overdue\namounts. Clients pay through a hosted link from any device, with no\naccount required, so the whole loop from sending an invoice to getting\npaid happens in one place, without a separate accounting layer to\nmaintain. It's purpose-built for the billing and payment side of running\na solo business, not for producing financial statements, so there's no\ndouble-entry ledger to set up or keep balanced.",[23,1339,1341],{"id":1340},"billebly-vs-frappe-books-key-differences","Billebly vs Frappe Books: key differences",[11,1343,1344],{},"The clearest difference is where each tool lives and what that implies.\nFrappe Books runs locally, which means real data ownership and privacy,\nbut also means no client-facing payment link, no access from a second\ndevice, and no email-sending built in: an invoice becomes a PDF you send\nyourself, and payment is something you record after it happens elsewhere.\nBillebly is a hosted, online tool built specifically so a client can open\na link and pay immediately, from any device, without an account.",[11,1346,1347],{},"The other difference is depth of bookkeeping versus speed of billing.\nFrappe Books produces real financial statements a bookkeeper would\nrecognize. Billebly instead gives a straightforward payment status view,\nwhat's paid, what's pending, what's overdue, kept simple on purpose so a\nfreelancer can check it in seconds instead of interpreting a ledger.\nNeither tool is a lesser version of the other; they're solving different\nproblems from opposite directions.",[23,1349,180],{"id":179},[28,1351,1352,1362],{},[31,1353,1354],{},[34,1355,1356,1358,1360],{},[37,1357,189],{},[37,1359,41],{},[37,1361,1219],{},[46,1363,1364,1372,1380,1389,1397,1405,1414,1424,1432,1440,1450],{},[34,1365,1366,1368,1370],{},[51,1367,249],{},[51,1369,67],{},[51,1371,206],{},[34,1373,1374,1376,1378],{},[51,1375,211],{},[51,1377,206],{},[51,1379,206],{},[34,1381,1382,1384,1386],{},[51,1383,220],{},[51,1385,206],{},[51,1387,1388],{},"Not documented",[34,1390,1391,1393,1395],{},[51,1392,656],{},[51,1394,206],{},[51,1396,1388],{},[34,1398,1399,1401,1403],{},[51,1400,1276],{},[51,1402,1279],{},[51,1404,206],{},[34,1406,1407,1410,1412],{},[51,1408,1409],{},"Online payment collection (Stripe\u002FPayPal)",[51,1411,206],{},[51,1413,1252],{},[34,1415,1416,1419,1421],{},[51,1417,1418],{},"Emailing invoices from the app",[51,1420,206],{},[51,1422,1423],{},"Not documented, PDF export only",[34,1425,1426,1428,1430],{},[51,1427,96],{},[51,1429,271],{},[51,1431,1290],{},[34,1433,1434,1436,1438],{},[51,1435,239],{},[51,1437,206],{},[51,1439,67],{},[34,1441,1442,1445,1447],{},[51,1443,1444],{},"Multi-device access",[51,1446,1279],{},[51,1448,1449],{},"No, single local device",[34,1451,1452,1455,1458],{},[51,1453,1454],{},"Cost",[51,1456,1457],{},"Free plan, small fee on payments processed; optional Premium at €9\u002Fmonth (0.2% fee)",[51,1459,1460],{},"Fully free, no paid tier at all",[304,1462,1464],{"title":1463,"type":307},"A narrow case where Frappe Books fits better",[11,1465,1466],{},"Most freelancers, coaches, and consultants comparing these two just want\nan invoice sent and paid without friction, which is exactly what Billebly\nis built for. The exception is the specific case of wanting free, private,\noffline double-entry bookkeeping (full data ownership on your own device,\nno vendor servers involved) and never needing to collect payment through\nthe tool itself. That's a real but niche need, and Frappe Books covers it\nwith genuine accounting depth.",[23,1468,314],{"id":313},[11,1470,1471],{},"Frappe Books: completely free, no paid tier of any kind, download and\ninstall directly from GitHub, Homebrew, or Flatpak. No hosted or cloud\nversion exists; don't confuse this with Frappe Cloud or ERPNext, which\nare separate, paid products from the same company.",[11,1473,320,1474,328],{},[322,1475,1478],{"href":1476,"rel":1477},"https:\u002F\u002Ffrappe.io\u002Fbooks",[326],"the Frappe Books product page (no paid plans)",[11,1480,1481],{},"Billebly: also free, on a free plan with no subscription. A 0.5%\nplatform fee applies only to payments actually processed through the\nplatform, plus Stripe's standard processing rate (roughly 1.5% + €0.25\nfor cards, less for bank methods). No monthly minimum. An optional\nPremium plan costs €9\u002Fmonth (excl. VAT) and lowers the platform fee to\n0.2%.",[11,1483,1484],{},"Both are free at the entry point, but the comparison isn't really about\nprice: it's about what each free tool actually does. Frappe Books costs\nnothing and produces real books; Billebly's free plan costs nothing until\na client actually pays, and produces a paid invoice with the money\nalready collected.",[23,1486,338],{"id":337},[11,1488,1489],{},"Frappe Books creates Sales Invoices with customizable print templates and\nmulti-currency support, but generates them as local PDFs: the official\ndocumentation only describes printing or saving as PDF, with no\ndocumented way to email an invoice from inside the app. There's no\nrecurring invoicing or quotes\u002Festimates feature documented anywhere in\nFrappe Books' official docs. Billebly supports recurring invoices that\ncharge automatically until stopped, with alerts on failed payments, sends\ninvoices as a shareable payment link rather than a file to forward\nmanually, and has a quotes feature that converts an accepted quote\ndirectly into an invoice.",[23,1491,348],{"id":347},[11,1493,1494,1495,1498],{},"This is the deciding factor for most people comparing these two tools.\n",[18,1496,1497],{},"Frappe Books has no payment gateway integration at all",": its\nPayments feature only records manual bank or cash transfers after the\nfact, confirmed directly in its official documentation. There's no\nStripe, PayPal, or payment-link capability, which fits its offline-first,\nno-server design but means a client can never pay a Frappe Books invoice\nonline through the tool itself. Billebly processes payments through\nStripe, with a 0.5% platform fee (0.2% on Premium) plus Stripe's rate,\nsupporting cards, iDEAL, SEPA, Klarna, Amazon Pay, and bank transfers\ndepending on the client's location.",[23,1500,355],{"id":354},[11,1502,1503],{},"Frappe Books is generally praised for a clean, modern interface and an\nintuitive setup flow (choose a local storage location, pick a\ncountry-specific chart of accounts), though some users report bugs like\na broken date picker and, in at least one case, database corruption after\nan update, which is worth weighing given backups are the user's own\nresponsibility on a local file. It requires installing a desktop\napplication, which is a small but real extra step compared to a browser-\nbased tool.",[11,1505,1506],{},"Billebly requires no installation: add a client, build an invoice, send a\nlink, check the dashboard, from a browser on any device.",[23,1508,365],{"id":364},[11,1510,1511],{},"A freelancer who wants free, private, offline bookkeeping (and who\neither doesn't need to collect payment online or already has another way\nto do it) is well-served by Frappe Books' real accounting depth. A\nfreelancer who wants a client to be able to open a link and pay\nimmediately, from any device, without a manual step afterward, needs\nBillebly (or another tool with actual payment collection) since Frappe\nBooks structurally can't do that.",[23,1513,372],{"id":371},[11,1515,1516],{},"Neither tool is built for a team, but for different reasons. Frappe\nBooks is explicitly single-device with no multi-user access, a\nconsequence of its local-file design. Billebly is deliberately scoped\naround a single operator, freelancers, coaches, and consultants billing\nclients directly, rather than a team managing shared books, so it keeps\nthe invoicing and payment flow fast instead of adding permissions, roles,\nand shared access on top of it. A small business that needs several\npeople working from the same accounting or invoicing system will want\nsoftware built for that from the ground up; solo operators are exactly\nwho both tools, and Billebly especially, are designed for.",[23,1518,1520],{"id":1519},"who-should-choose-frappe-books","Who should choose Frappe Books?",[11,1522,1523],{},"A freelancer or small business owner who wants genuinely free, offline,\nprivate double-entry bookkeeping on their own device, is comfortable\nwith a desktop app and manual backups, and doesn't need clients to pay\nonline through the tool itself.",[23,1525,386],{"id":385},[11,1527,1528],{},"A freelancer, coach, or consultant who wants clients to be able to pay an\ninvoice online immediately, from any device, without a manual step\nafterward, and who doesn't need a general ledger or offline data\nstorage to go with it.",[23,1530,1532],{"id":1531},"is-billebly-a-good-frappe-books-alternative","Is Billebly a good Frappe Books alternative?",[11,1534,1535],{},"For getting an invoice paid online, yes, unambiguously: Frappe Books\ncannot collect online payment at all, so anyone using it to bill clients\nand hoping for a \"pay now\" experience will hit a hard limitation. Billebly\nsends a hosted payment link a client can pay from any device, in seconds,\nwhich is the piece most freelancers, coaches, and consultants actually\nneed day to day. The one case Billebly isn't trying to cover is offline,\nprivate, free double-entry bookkeeping: it keeps a simple payment status\nview on purpose, rather than a full ledger, so it stays fast and easy to\nuse instead of doubling as accounting software. If full bookkeeping depth\nis a hard requirement, Frappe Books (or dedicated accounting software) is\nthe right tool for that specific job, alongside or instead of Billebly.",[23,1537,1539],{"id":1538},"frappe-books-alternatives","Frappe Books alternatives",[11,1541,1542],{},"Within free and open-source bookkeeping software, Frappe Books is\nusually compared to Akaunting, GnuCash, and Manager.io, and to Frappe's\nown larger product, ERPNext, which is cloud-hostable and does include\npayment gateway support through a separate Frappe framework app. If real\noffline bookkeeping is the goal, those are the right comparison set. If\nthe actual need is getting paid online, and full accounting depth isn't\nrequired, a hosted, payment-capable tool like Billebly solves a\ndifferent, narrower problem that Frappe Books was never built for.",[405,1544],{":faqs":1545},"[{\"question\":\"Can Frappe Books collect online payments from clients?\",\"answer\":\"No. Frappe Books' documentation confirms its Payments feature only records manual bank or cash transfers after the fact. There's no Stripe, PayPal, or payment-link integration in the desktop app.\"},{\"question\":\"Can I email an invoice directly from Frappe Books?\",\"answer\":\"Not according to official documentation, which only describes printing or exporting an invoice as a PDF. You would need to send that PDF to a client through your own email separately.\"},{\"question\":\"Is Frappe Books the same as ERPNext or Frappe Cloud?\",\"answer\":\"No, these are separate products. Frappe Books is a free, offline desktop app with no cloud component. ERPNext is a much larger, cloud-hostable open-source ERP from the same company, and Frappe Cloud is a separate paid hosting service. Don't confuse the three.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Frappe Books work across multiple devices?\",\"answer\":\"No. Data is stored locally in a single SQLite file on one device, with no native multi-device sync or team access.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Billebly have double-entry bookkeeping like Frappe Books?\",\"answer\":\"No, Billebly shows a payment status dashboard (paid, pending, overdue) instead of a chart of accounts, journal entries, or financial statement reports. That's a deliberate choice: it keeps the tool focused on getting invoices sent and paid quickly, and most freelancers pair it with a separate accountant or bookkeeping tool for the small number of times a year they need full financial statements.\"}]",[23,1547,411],{"id":410},[11,1549,1550],{},"For most freelancers, coaches, and consultants, the deciding fact is\nsimple: Frappe Books structurally cannot collect payment on an invoice,\nwhile Billebly sends a hosted payment link a client can pay immediately,\nfrom any device, with no account and no manual follow-up. That's the\npart that actually gets you paid, and on Billebly's free plan it costs nothing\nuntil a payment is processed. Frappe Books remains a genuinely good choice in one\nspecific situation: you want free, private, offline double-entry\nbookkeeping on your own device and you already have another way to\ncollect payment. Outside of that narrower need, Billebly's combination of\nfast invoicing and built-in online payment is the better fit.",[416,1552],{"button-label":418,"description":1553,"href":420,"title":1554},"Frappe Books can't collect payment on an invoice. Billebly sends a hosted payment link clients can pay from any device, no account required.","Need clients to actually pay online?",{"title":423,"searchDepth":424,"depth":425,"links":1556},[1557,1558,1559,1560,1561,1562,1563,1564,1565,1566,1567,1568,1569,1570,1571,1572],{"id":25,"depth":424,"text":26},{"id":1321,"depth":424,"text":1322},{"id":162,"depth":424,"text":163},{"id":1340,"depth":424,"text":1341},{"id":179,"depth":424,"text":180},{"id":313,"depth":424,"text":314},{"id":337,"depth":424,"text":338},{"id":347,"depth":424,"text":348},{"id":354,"depth":424,"text":355},{"id":364,"depth":424,"text":365},{"id":371,"depth":424,"text":372},{"id":1519,"depth":424,"text":1520},{"id":385,"depth":424,"text":386},{"id":1531,"depth":424,"text":1532},{"id":1538,"depth":424,"text":1539},{"id":410,"depth":424,"text":411},"A comparison of Billebly and Frappe Books for freelancers deciding between free, offline double-entry accounting software and a tool built to collect payments online.","\u002Fimages\u002Fcompare\u002Ffrappe-books.png",{},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-frappe-books",{"title":1193,"description":1573},"compare\u002Fvs-frappe-books","P_493QrxgTuhq-CqlhhxUJRdxjg4D0pK02NQ8rKTTKI",{"id":1581,"title":1582,"body":1583,"competitor":1605,"date":443,"description":1956,"extension":445,"logo":1957,"meta":1958,"navigation":448,"path":1959,"pricingChecked":1187,"seo":1960,"stem":1961,"updated":453,"__hash__":1962},"comparisons\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-honeybook.md","Billebly vs HoneyBook: clientflow platform or simple invoicing?",{"type":8,"value":1584,"toc":1938},[1585,1588,1591,1593,1701,1705,1708,1715,1717,1720,1724,1727,1730,1733,1735,1846,1852,1854,1857,1864,1866,1869,1871,1874,1877,1879,1882,1884,1887,1890,1892,1895,1897,1900,1904,1907,1909,1912,1916,1919,1923,1926,1929,1931,1934],[11,1586,1587],{},"HoneyBook is a \"clientflow management\" platform built for photographers,\nevent planners, designers, and coaches: lead capture, proposals,\ncontracts, scheduling, workflow automation, invoicing, and payments in one\nsubscription, currently available in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia.\nBillebly covers a narrower slice (clients, invoices, time tracking, and\npayment status) for free. This comparison is for service businesses\nweighing a full client-pipeline platform against a simpler billing tool,\nand it matters even more if you're outside HoneyBook's four supported\ncountries.",[11,1589,1590],{},"The headline difference: HoneyBook manages the entire client\nrelationship from first inquiry to final payment. Billebly starts at the\ninvoice and manages getting paid, with no country restriction and a free\nplan that needs no subscription.",[23,1592,26],{"id":25},[28,1594,1595,1606],{},[31,1596,1597],{},[34,1598,1599,1601,1603],{},[37,1600],{},[37,1602,41],{},[37,1604,1605],{},"HoneyBook",[46,1607,1608,1617,1626,1637,1647,1655,1663,1672,1681,1692],{},[34,1609,1610,1612,1614],{},[51,1611,53],{},[51,1613,56],{},[51,1615,1616],{},"$36\u002Fmo (Starter), ~$29\u002Fmo billed annually",[34,1618,1619,1621,1623],{},[51,1620,75],{},[51,1622,78],{},[51,1624,1625],{},"Monthly\u002Fannual subscription + payment processing fees",[34,1627,1628,1631,1634],{},[51,1629,1630],{},"Country availability",[51,1632,1633],{},"Not restricted",[51,1635,1636],{},"US, Canada, UK, Australia only",[34,1638,1639,1642,1644],{},[51,1640,1641],{},"Lead capture & CRM pipeline",[51,1643,203],{},[51,1645,1646],{},"Yes, with customizable stages",[34,1648,1649,1651,1653],{},[51,1650,615],{},[51,1652,67],{},[51,1654,206],{},[34,1656,1657,1659,1661],{},[51,1658,107],{},[51,1660,110],{},[51,1662,1252],{},[34,1664,1665,1667,1669],{},[51,1666,895],{},[51,1668,67],{},[51,1670,1671],{},"Yes, from Essentials plan ($59\u002Fmo)",[34,1673,1674,1676,1678],{},[51,1675,96],{},[51,1677,99],{},[51,1679,1680],{},"Branded portal",[34,1682,1683,1686,1689],{},[51,1684,1685],{},"Recent price history",[51,1687,1688],{},"Free plan has stayed free since launch",[51,1690,1691],{},"Feb 2025: Starter rose from $19 to $36\u002Fmo",[34,1693,1694,1696,1698],{},[51,1695,139],{},[51,1697,552],{},[51,1699,1700],{},"Managing the full client pipeline for service businesses",[23,1702,1704],{"id":1703},"what-is-honeybook","What is HoneyBook?",[11,1706,1707],{},"HoneyBook is built around the \"clientflow\": capturing a lead, sending a\ncombined proposal-contract-invoice (\"Smart File\"), collecting a deposit\nor payment plan, and automating the follow-up in between: reminders,\ntask creation, pipeline stage changes, all triggered by client actions\nlike signing a contract. It's most heavily used by wedding and event\nprofessionals, though its marketing reaches broader service categories:\nconsultants, coaches, home services, and personal trainers.",[11,1709,1710,1711,1714],{},"The automation and client-facing polish are HoneyBook's clearest\nstrengths, and G2 reviewers rate it around 4.4\u002F5. The tradeoffs are\nspecific and worth knowing before comparing prices: ",[18,1712,1713],{},"HoneyBook has no\nnative time tracking at all",", no real bookkeeping (QuickBooks Online\nintegration, Essentials plan and up, is the recommended path for actual\naccounting), and payment processing fees (from 2.7% + $0.10 for cards, 1.5%\nfor ACH) stack on top of the subscription. HoneyBook raised its Starter\nprice from $19 to $36\u002Fmonth in February 2025, an increase multiple\nreview sites flagged as the reason a lot of \"HoneyBook alternatives\"\nsearches exist today. It also only operates in four countries as of this\nwriting.",[23,1716,163],{"id":162},[11,1718,1719],{},"Billebly is a free invoicing and payments tool for freelancers, coaches,\nand consultants, built around the part of the job that actually determines\nwhether you get paid: a client list, one-off and recurring invoices, time\ntracking that becomes invoice line items automatically, and a dashboard\nshowing paid, pending, and overdue amounts. It's deliberately scoped to\nthat job rather than the full client pipeline, so there's no lead capture,\nproposals, or workflow automation to configure, learn, or pay for. For\nfreelancers, coaches, and consultants whose leads and client conversations\nalready happen elsewhere (in person, by email, through referrals), that\nnarrower focus means less setup and a free tool that does the billing part\nwell, instead of a partial CRM bolted onto invoicing.",[23,1721,1723],{"id":1722},"billebly-vs-honeybook-key-differences","Billebly vs HoneyBook: key differences",[11,1725,1726],{},"HoneyBook manages the relationship before the invoice even exists: leads,\nproposals, contracts, scheduling. Billebly assumes that part is already\nhandled, whether by a conversation, a separate proposal tool, or simply\nbecause the work doesn't need that level of process, and picks up at invoicing.",[11,1728,1729],{},"The other major difference is geography and cost structure. HoneyBook is\na fixed monthly subscription available in four countries, with payment\nfees layered on top. Billebly has no country restriction stated, and its\nfree plan has no subscription; cost is a small percentage of what's\nactually processed.",[11,1731,1732],{},"One concrete functional gap: HoneyBook has no time tracking at all. In\nBillebly, hours logged against a client pull directly onto an invoice as\nbillable line items, with nothing to re-enter by hand.",[23,1734,180],{"id":179},[28,1736,1737,1747],{},[31,1738,1739],{},[34,1740,1741,1743,1745],{},[37,1742,189],{},[37,1744,41],{},[37,1746,1605],{},[46,1748,1749,1758,1768,1777,1785,1793,1802,1811,1819,1828,1837],{},[34,1750,1751,1753,1755],{},[51,1752,200],{},[51,1754,203],{},[51,1756,1757],{},"Full CRM with pipeline stages",[34,1759,1760,1763,1765],{},[51,1761,1762],{},"Lead capture forms",[51,1764,67],{},[51,1766,1767],{},"Yes, limited by plan tier",[34,1769,1770,1772,1774],{},[51,1771,615],{},[51,1773,67],{},[51,1775,1776],{},"Yes, bundled as \"Smart Files\"",[34,1778,1779,1781,1783],{},[51,1780,239],{},[51,1782,206],{},[51,1784,1252],{},[34,1786,1787,1789,1791],{},[51,1788,211],{},[51,1790,206],{},[51,1792,206],{},[34,1794,1795,1797,1799],{},[51,1796,220],{},[51,1798,206],{},[51,1800,1801],{},"Yes, all plans",[34,1803,1804,1807,1809],{},[51,1805,1806],{},"Payment plans & autopay",[51,1808,67],{},[51,1810,1801],{},[34,1812,1813,1815,1817],{},[51,1814,96],{},[51,1816,271],{},[51,1818,1680],{},[34,1820,1821,1823,1825],{},[51,1822,895],{},[51,1824,67],{},[51,1826,1827],{},"Yes, Essentials plan and up",[34,1829,1830,1832,1834],{},[51,1831,1056],{},[51,1833,67],{},[51,1835,1836],{},"QuickBooks Online, Essentials plan and up",[34,1838,1839,1841,1843],{},[51,1840,259],{},[51,1842,67],{},[51,1844,1845],{},"Yes (\"HoneyBook Balance\"), with Plaid bank sync",[304,1847,1849],{"title":1848,"type":307},"When HoneyBook's extra depth is worth it",[11,1850,1851],{},"For a specific slice of service businesses (typically photographers,\nevent planners, and other high-touch client work with a long lead-to-booking\nprocess) HoneyBook's lead capture, proposals, and automated follow-up\ngenuinely save time. If that describes how you win clients, it's worth\nthe subscription. Most freelancers, coaches, and consultants don't run\nthat kind of pipeline, though: their leads come from referrals or\nconversations that happen outside any CRM, and what they actually need\nis to invoice correctly and get paid fast. That's exactly what Billebly\ndoes for free, plus the time tracking HoneyBook doesn't offer at all.",[23,1853,314],{"id":313},[11,1855,1856],{},"HoneyBook: $36\u002Fmonth (Starter, billed monthly) or roughly $29\u002Fmonth\nbilled annually. $59\u002Fmonth (Essentials) or roughly $49\u002Fmonth annually\nadds scheduling, automation, and the QuickBooks integration. $129\u002Fmonth\n(Premium) or roughly $109\u002Fmonth annually removes team-member limits and\nadds advanced reporting. A free trial is advertised on HoneyBook's\npricing page (verify current length before relying on it, as trial terms\nhave varied). On top of the subscription, every payment carries a\nprocessing fee (from 2.7% + $0.10 for cards, 1.5% for ACH), so the\npractical monthly cost is the plan price plus a percentage of whatever\ngets collected.",[11,1858,320,1859,328],{},[322,1860,1863],{"href":1861,"rel":1862},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.honeybook.com\u002Fpricing",[326],"HoneyBook's pricing page",[11,1865,331],{},[11,1867,1868],{},"For a service business billing a moderate, steady volume, HoneyBook's\n$36 to $59\u002Fmonth is a fixed cost on top of processing fees, useful if you're\nusing the pipeline, proposals, and automation regularly. On Billebly's\nfree plan, cost tracks activity with no fixed floor: cheaper for anyone\nwhose actual need is narrower than HoneyBook's full clientflow, and\navailable outside HoneyBook's four supported countries.",[23,1870,338],{"id":337},[11,1872,1873],{},"Both support recurring invoices and payment plans in some form. HoneyBook's\nproposals double as quotes: a client selects packages, and pricing\nupdates live before converting into a contract and invoice. Billebly also\nhas a quotes feature: send a quote, the client accepts it, and it\nconverts directly into an invoice, though without HoneyBook's bundled\ncontract and package-selection step. HoneyBook\nsupports autopay (charging a saved payment method automatically on\ninstallment due dates) and split payment plans; Billebly's recurring\ninvoices charge on a set schedule until manually stopped, with automatic\nalerts on failed payments.",[11,1875,1876],{},"The clearest asymmetry: HoneyBook has no time tracking, so hourly or\nproject-based billing that depends on logged hours requires a separate\ntool. Billebly builds that connection in directly.",[23,1878,348],{"id":347},[11,1880,1881],{},"HoneyBook uses its own integrated processing (built on standard card\nnetworks plus ACH), at rates from 2.7% + $0.10 for cards and 1.5% for ACH,\nwith no separate platform fee beyond the subscription. It states no\nhidden international or premium-card fees. Billebly processes through\nStripe, adding a 0.5% platform fee (0.2% on Premium) plus Stripe's rate,\nsupporting cards, iDEAL, SEPA, Klarna, Amazon Pay, and bank transfers\ndepending on location. HoneyBook's ACH deposits reportedly take 7 to 8\nbusiness days; neither company publishes a guaranteed payout speed for\ncard payments.",[23,1883,355],{"id":354},[11,1885,1886],{},"HoneyBook reviewers describe a real but manageable learning curve, offset\nby a \"free file setup service\" where HoneyBook's team converts existing\ndocuments into templates. Common friction points cited: a sometimes\nfidgety Smart File builder and a pipeline structure that doesn't always\nmatch how a specific business actually works. Support is chat\u002Femail only,\nwith no phone line, which some reviewers flag as slow during the initial\nramp-up.",[11,1888,1889],{},"Billebly's setup has no equivalent ramp: add a client, build an invoice,\nsend a link, check the dashboard. There's no pipeline structure to learn\nbecause there isn't one.",[23,1891,365],{"id":364},[11,1893,1894],{},"A freelancer or solo service provider who wants leads captured, proposals\nsent, and follow-up automated, with the budget for a subscription plus\nprocessing fees, is well-served by HoneyBook, assuming they're in one of\nits four supported countries. A freelancer whose leads and proposals\nhappen elsewhere, who logs time against client work, and who mainly needs\nto invoice and get paid will find HoneyBook's pipeline and automation\nlayer unused, and Billebly closer to the actual job.",[23,1896,372],{"id":371},[11,1898,1899],{},"A small service business (a design studio, an events team) that wants\nshared pipeline visibility and automated client communication across\nmultiple team members is better served by HoneyBook's Essentials or\nPremium tiers, which support multiple team members and more advanced\nreporting. Billebly is built for solo operators by design: one login, one\nperson's client list and invoices, no team-permission layer to configure.\nThat focus keeps it free and simple for the freelancer, coach, or\nconsultant working alone, but a business that needs shared logins across\na team should plan on HoneyBook or a similar multi-user platform instead.",[23,1901,1903],{"id":1902},"who-should-choose-honeybook","Who should choose HoneyBook?",[11,1905,1906],{},"A service business (photographer, planner, designer, coach) in the US,\nCanada, UK, or Australia that wants leads, proposals, contracts,\nscheduling, and automated follow-up bundled into one subscription, and is\ncomfortable with payment processing fees stacked on top.",[23,1908,386],{"id":385},[11,1910,1911],{},"Most freelancers, coaches, and consultants: anyone whose leads and client\nconversations already happen outside a formal pipeline, who wants time\ntracking built directly into invoicing, and who would rather pay a small\npercentage of what's actually collected than a fixed monthly fee. It's\nalso the only option for service providers outside HoneyBook's four\nsupported countries, since Billebly has no country restriction at all.",[23,1913,1915],{"id":1914},"is-billebly-a-good-honeybook-alternative","Is Billebly a good HoneyBook alternative?",[11,1917,1918],{},"For most freelancers, coaches, and consultants, yes. The invoicing and\npayment-collection job, which is what determines whether you actually get\npaid, is fully covered, for free, with time tracking built in that\nHoneyBook doesn't offer at any price. Someone paying $36+\u002Fmonth mainly to\nsend invoices and get paid, without regularly using the lead pipeline,\nproposals, or automation, is a strong candidate to switch, especially\noutside the US\u002FCanada\u002FUK\u002FAustralia footprint where HoneyBook isn't\navailable at all. The exception is a service business that genuinely\nrelies on HoneyBook's lead capture and automated clientflow day to day;\nfor that narrower, specific use case, HoneyBook's depth is worth keeping.",[23,1920,1922],{"id":1921},"honeybook-alternatives","HoneyBook alternatives",[11,1924,1925],{},"HoneyBook competes with other client-management platforms (Dubsado,\nPlutio, Moxie), each with a different balance of CRM depth, automation,\nand price, plus its own transaction-fee structure. If the appeal is\nspecifically the lead-to-contract pipeline, those are the direct\ncomparison set. If the recurring price increase or the country\nrestriction is the actual pain point, and daily use is closer to\n\"invoice and get paid,\" a narrower, free tool like Billebly is worth\ntrying before committing to another subscription.",[405,1927],{":faqs":1928},"[{\"question\":\"Is HoneyBook available outside the US, Canada, UK, and Australia?\",\"answer\":\"Not currently. HoneyBook expanded to the UK and Australia in May 2026, alongside its existing US and Canada coverage, but it's still not available worldwide.\"},{\"question\":\"Why did HoneyBook's price increase in 2025?\",\"answer\":\"HoneyBook raised its Starter plan from $19 to $36\u002Fmonth in February 2025, its first price increase in roughly a decade, according to third-party pricing trackers. This is frequently cited as a reason people search for alternatives.\"},{\"question\":\"Does HoneyBook have time tracking?\",\"answer\":\"No. HoneyBook has no native time-tracking feature, which several 2026 review articles specifically flag as a gap for hourly-billing service providers. Billebly builds this in directly: logged hours become invoice line items automatically.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Billebly have proposals or contracts like HoneyBook?\",\"answer\":\"No, Billebly doesn't handle the lead-to-contract process. It's focused on invoicing an existing client relationship well, so freelancers and coaches whose leads and agreements already happen elsewhere (referrals, email, a conversation) can bill and get paid without paying for or learning a pipeline tool they won't use.\"},{\"question\":\"Are HoneyBook's payment processing fees separate from the subscription?\",\"answer\":\"Yes. HoneyBook charges from 2.7% + $0.10 per card transaction and 1.5% for ACH, on top of the monthly subscription price.\"}]",[23,1930,411],{"id":410},[11,1932,1933],{},"For most freelancers, coaches, and consultants, Billebly is the better\nstarting point: it covers the part of the job that decides whether you\nget paid (invoicing, payment collection, and knowing what's outstanding)\nfor free, with time tracking built in that HoneyBook doesn't offer at\nany price, no subscription on the free plan, and no country restriction. If you're outside\nthe US, Canada, UK, or Australia, it's not even a contest, since HoneyBook\nisn't available to you at all. The narrower case for HoneyBook is real but\nspecific: a service business that needs leads captured, proposals sent,\nand follow-up automated across the full client journey, and is in a\ncountry it supports, gets genuine value from that subscription. Everyone\nelse is likely paying for a pipeline they don't use.",[416,1935],{"button-label":418,"description":1936,"href":420,"title":1937},"Billebly handles the billing side (clients, invoices, time tracking, and payment status) on a free plan, with no subscription or country restriction.","Need invoicing and time tracking, not a full clientflow platform?",{"title":423,"searchDepth":424,"depth":425,"links":1939},[1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955],{"id":25,"depth":424,"text":26},{"id":1703,"depth":424,"text":1704},{"id":162,"depth":424,"text":163},{"id":1722,"depth":424,"text":1723},{"id":179,"depth":424,"text":180},{"id":313,"depth":424,"text":314},{"id":337,"depth":424,"text":338},{"id":347,"depth":424,"text":348},{"id":354,"depth":424,"text":355},{"id":364,"depth":424,"text":365},{"id":371,"depth":424,"text":372},{"id":1902,"depth":424,"text":1903},{"id":385,"depth":424,"text":386},{"id":1914,"depth":424,"text":1915},{"id":1921,"depth":424,"text":1922},{"id":410,"depth":424,"text":411},"A comparison of Billebly and HoneyBook for service businesses deciding between a full client-management platform and a focused invoicing and payments tool.","\u002Fimages\u002Fcompare\u002Fhoneybook.png",{},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-honeybook",{"title":1582,"description":1956},"compare\u002Fvs-honeybook","tLI8Mt47nGiYaJOC34OWm13F6DxWZ_wNQqQ-o5YUWu4",{"id":1964,"title":1965,"body":1966,"competitor":1992,"date":443,"description":2340,"extension":445,"logo":2341,"meta":2342,"navigation":448,"path":2343,"pricingChecked":450,"seo":2344,"stem":2345,"updated":453,"__hash__":2346},"comparisons\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-kimai.md","Billebly vs Kimai: time tracking or invoicing and payments?",{"type":8,"value":1967,"toc":2322},[1968,1971,1978,1980,2077,2081,2084,2099,2101,2104,2108,2111,2114,2116,2229,2236,2238,2241,2248,2251,2254,2256,2259,2261,2267,2269,2272,2275,2277,2280,2282,2285,2289,2292,2294,2297,2301,2304,2308,2311,2314,2316,2319],[11,1969,1970],{},"Kimai is an open-source time-tracking platform, either self-hosted for\nfree or run as Kimai Cloud starting at roughly €4\u002Fuser\u002Fmonth, built\naround accurately recording and reporting billable hours. Billebly is a\nfree invoicing and payments tool built around getting an invoice out and\ncollecting payment on it. This comparison exists because the two tools\nsolve genuinely different problems, and the honest answer to \"which is\nbetter\" depends entirely on which problem you actually have.",[11,1972,1973,1974,1977],{},"The one fact that should drive this decision more than any other:\n",[18,1975,1976],{},"Kimai has no way to collect online payment on an invoice."," Its only\npayment integration is for customers paying Kimai itself for a Cloud\nsubscription, not for a Kimai user's own clients to pay them.",[23,1979,26],{"id":25},[28,1981,1982,1993],{},[31,1983,1984],{},[34,1985,1986,1988,1990],{},[37,1987],{},[37,1989,41],{},[37,1991,1992],{},"Kimai",[46,1994,1995,2004,2013,2024,2033,2042,2050,2060,2068],{},[34,1996,1997,1999,2001],{},[51,1998,53],{},[51,2000,56],{},[51,2002,2003],{},"Free (self-hosted) or ~€4\u002Fuser\u002Fmo (Cloud)",[34,2005,2006,2008,2010],{},[51,2007,75],{},[51,2009,78],{},[51,2011,2012],{},"Free open source, or per-user cloud subscription",[34,2014,2015,2018,2021],{},[51,2016,2017],{},"Time tracking depth",[51,2019,2020],{},"Basic, feeds invoices",[51,2022,2023],{},"Extensive: multi-timer, kiosk mode, LDAP\u002FSAML, approval workflows",[34,2025,2026,2028,2030],{},[51,2027,1246],{},[51,2029,1249],{},[51,2031,2032],{},"Not available at all",[34,2034,2035,2038,2040],{},[51,2036,2037],{},"Recurring invoices",[51,2039,206],{},[51,2041,67],{},[34,2043,2044,2046,2048],{},[51,2045,656],{},[51,2047,206],{},[51,2049,67],{},[34,2051,2052,2055,2057],{},[51,2053,2054],{},"Access control",[51,2056,1279],{},[51,2058,2059],{},"LDAP, SAML SSO, 2FA",[34,2061,2062,2064,2066],{},[51,2063,86],{},[51,2065,67],{},[51,2067,91],{},[34,2069,2070,2072,2074],{},[51,2071,139],{},[51,2073,1315],{},[51,2075,2076],{},"Accurate, auditable time tracking for teams",[23,2078,2080],{"id":2079},"what-is-kimai","What is Kimai?",[11,2082,2083],{},"Kimai is open-source (AGPL-3.0) time-tracking software, self-hostable for\nfree or available as a managed Kimai Cloud service (roughly €4-5 per\nuser\u002Fmonth). It's built for freelancers, agencies, and teams whose core\nneed is recording billable hours accurately: multi-timer or single-timer\ntracking, a punch-in\u002Fpunch-out kiosk mode, enterprise-grade access\ncontrol (LDAP\u002FActive Directory, SAML SSO, two-factor authentication), and\nreporting broken down by user, client, project, or activity.",[11,2085,2086,2087,2090,2091,2094,2095,2098],{},"Kimai does include invoicing, generated from tracked billable time, but\nit's explicitly a secondary feature. There's ",[18,2088,2089],{},"no recurring invoicing",",\n",[18,2092,2093],{},"no quotes or estimates",", and, most importantly for anything billing-\nrelated, ",[18,2096,2097],{},"no way for a client to pay an invoice online through the\nplatform",". Kimai's own documentation confirms its Stripe integration\nexists solely so a Kimai user can pay for their own Cloud subscription,\nnot to collect payment from that user's clients. Reviewers also describe\nthe UI as dated and reporting as light on visuals, though the underlying\ntime data and access control are consistently rated as strong.",[23,2100,163],{"id":162},[11,2102,2103],{},"Billebly is a free invoicing and payments tool for freelancers, coaches,\nand consultants: a client list, one-off and recurring invoices, time\ntracking that feeds directly into invoice line items, and a dashboard\nshowing paid, pending, and overdue amounts. Clients pay through a hosted\nStripe-powered link, no account required, the one piece Kimai can't offer\nat any price. Time tracking is deliberately simple: log hours against a\nclient, bill them, done. There's no kiosk mode, LDAP, or team reporting\nlayered on top, because Billebly is built for one operator getting paid\nquickly, not a team logging shift hours across departments.",[23,2105,2107],{"id":2106},"billebly-vs-kimai-key-differences","Billebly vs Kimai: key differences",[11,2109,2110],{},"The single most important difference is structural, not a matter of\npreference: Kimai tracks time and can generate a basic invoice from it,\nbut has no mechanism to collect payment on that invoice. Billebly does\nthe opposite: it treats time tracking as a feeder into billing, and\npayment collection is the core of the product.",[11,2112,2113],{},"If your bottleneck is turning tracked hours into a paid invoice without a\nseparate step to collect the money, Billebly does that natively, and\nKimai structurally cannot, no matter how it's configured. If your\nbottleneck is accurately tracking hours across a team, with proper\naccess control and audit-friendly reporting, that's a narrower, team-\nspecific need Kimai was purpose-built for, and Billebly focuses its\neffort elsewhere instead of trying to match it.",[23,2115,180],{"id":179},[28,2117,2118,2128],{},[31,2119,2120],{},[34,2121,2122,2124,2126],{},[37,2123,189],{},[37,2125,41],{},[37,2127,1992],{},[46,2129,2130,2139,2148,2157,2167,2176,2184,2193,2202,2211,2219],{},[34,2131,2132,2135,2137],{},[51,2133,2134],{},"Multi-timer \u002F kiosk time tracking",[51,2136,67],{},[51,2138,206],{},[34,2140,2141,2144,2146],{},[51,2142,2143],{},"Time entries → invoice line items",[51,2145,206],{},[51,2147,206],{},[34,2149,2150,2153,2155],{},[51,2151,2152],{},"LDAP \u002F SAML \u002F 2FA access control",[51,2154,67],{},[51,2156,206],{},[34,2158,2159,2162,2164],{},[51,2160,2161],{},"Approval workflows for timesheets",[51,2163,67],{},[51,2165,2166],{},"Yes, via plugin",[34,2168,2169,2171,2173],{},[51,2170,211],{},[51,2172,206],{},[51,2174,2175],{},"Yes, basic",[34,2177,2178,2180,2182],{},[51,2179,220],{},[51,2181,206],{},[51,2183,67],{},[34,2185,2186,2189,2191],{},[51,2187,2188],{},"Quotes \u002F estimates",[51,2190,206],{},[51,2192,67],{},[34,2194,2195,2198,2200],{},[51,2196,2197],{},"Online payment collection on invoices",[51,2199,1249],{},[51,2201,1252],{},[34,2203,2204,2206,2208],{},[51,2205,200],{},[51,2207,203],{},[51,2209,2210],{},"Customer records tied to projects",[34,2212,2213,2215,2217],{},[51,2214,287],{},[51,2216,67],{},[51,2218,91],{},[34,2220,2221,2224,2226],{},[51,2222,2223],{},"Accounting integrations",[51,2225,67],{},[51,2227,2228],{},"None found (no QuickBooks\u002FXero)",[304,2230,2233],{"title":2231,"type":2232},"One specific job Kimai does that Billebly doesn't try to","warning",[11,2234,2235],{},"If you're running a team that needs multi-user time tracking with real\naccess control, meaning LDAP\u002FSAML SSO, approval workflows, or a\npunch-clock kiosk, Kimai has genuinely deep tooling for that and Billebly\ndoesn't attempt to match it. It's a narrow, team-scale need though: most\nfreelancers, coaches, and consultants working solo, or with a contractor\nor two, don't need SSO or approval chains, they need hours logged and\ninvoices paid. Billebly covers that part, including the one thing Kimai\nstructurally can't do at all: actually collecting the payment.",[23,2237,314],{"id":313},[11,2239,2240],{},"Kimai self-hosted: free and open source, unlimited users, but you host\nand maintain the server yourself (PHP, MySQL\u002FMariaDB, Docker or manual\nsetup). Kimai Cloud: €3.99\u002Fuser\u002Fmonth (Standard) or €4.99\u002Fuser\u002Fmonth\n(Professional), or €2.99 and €3.99 per user per month billed annually,\nwith a 30-day free trial and no card required. Expense tracking is a\nProfessional-tier add-on; an invoicing add-on (Invoice+) unlocks\ne-invoice formats but not recurring billing or quotes.",[11,2242,320,2243,328],{},[322,2244,2247],{"href":2245,"rel":2246},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.kimai.org\u002Fen\u002Fpricing",[326],"Kimai's pricing page",[11,2249,2250],{},"Billebly: free plan, no subscription. A 0.5% platform fee on payments\nactually processed, plus Stripe's standard rate (roughly 1.5% + €0.25 for\ncards, less for bank methods). There's no per-user cost, since Billebly is\npriced for a single operator rather than a per-seat team plan. An optional\nPremium plan costs €9\u002Fmonth (excl. VAT) and lowers the platform fee to\n0.2%.",[11,2252,2253],{},"For a team of five tracking time, Kimai Cloud runs roughly €20-25\u002Fmonth\nregardless of billing volume, which is reasonable if time tracking and\naccess control are the actual need. For a single freelancer whose main\ncost driver is what gets billed and collected, Billebly's free plan\ncharges an activity-based fee with no fixed floor and no per-seat cost to\nplan around, which fits a one-person or small-team billing workflow far\nbetter than a per-user subscription built for larger teams.",[23,2255,338],{"id":337},[11,2257,2258],{},"This is where the two tools diverge most. Kimai generates invoices from\nbillable timesheet entries using a configurable template, with\nsequential numbering and PDF\u002FDOCX export. It's functional, but built\naround a one-off document, not a payment process. There are no recurring invoices\nand no quotes\u002Festimates in the core product. Billebly supports recurring\ninvoices that charge automatically until stopped, with alerts on failed\npayments, and has a quotes feature that converts an accepted quote\ndirectly into an invoice; both are missing entirely from Kimai. Both\ntools convert tracked time into invoice line items automatically.",[23,2260,348],{"id":347},[11,2262,1494,2263,2266],{},[18,2264,2265],{},"Kimai has no payment gateway for collecting money from a user's own\nclients."," This is confirmed directly from Kimai's documentation, where\nthe only payment-related feature is Stripe billing for Kimai's own Cloud\nsubscription. Getting paid on a Kimai-generated invoice means sending it\nand waiting for a bank transfer, with no online payment link at all.\nBillebly processes payments through Stripe, with a 0.5% platform fee (0.2%\non Premium) plus Stripe's rate, supporting cards, iDEAL, SEPA, Klarna,\nAmazon Pay, and bank transfers depending on the client's location.",[23,2268,355],{"id":354},[11,2270,2271],{},"Kimai Cloud is straightforward to start (30-day trial, no card needed),\nbut reviewers describe the interface as dated and reporting as light on\nvisual charts; exporting to Excel is the suggested workaround for deeper\nanalysis. Self-hosting requires real technical competence: Linux, PHP,\nand database administration, which is a genuine barrier for non-technical\nfreelancers.",[11,2273,2274],{},"Billebly's setup has no equivalent technical barrier: add a client, build\nan invoice, send a link, check the dashboard.",[23,2276,365],{"id":364},[11,2278,2279],{},"A freelancer who bills primarily by the hour and wants precise,\nauditable time records, particularly across multiple ongoing clients or\nprojects, will get real value from Kimai's tracking depth, as long as\nthey're comfortable generating a basic invoice and collecting payment\nmanually or through a separate tool. A freelancer whose priority is\ngetting an invoice paid quickly and automatically, with time tracking as\na secondary convenience, is better served by Billebly.",[23,2281,372],{"id":371},[11,2283,2284],{},"A small team that needs shared time tracking with proper access control\n(who can see what, approval workflows, SSO) is well served by Kimai,\nwhich was built with exactly that in mind. Billebly is built around a\ndifferent kind of small business: the solo operator or very small outfit\nwhose priority is sending invoices and getting paid, not managing shared\ntimesheets across staff. That focus is deliberate, not an oversight, and\nit's why Billebly stays free and simple instead of carrying the overhead\nof team permissions and SSO that most solo businesses never touch.",[23,2286,2288],{"id":2287},"who-should-choose-kimai","Who should choose Kimai?",[11,2290,2291],{},"A team or agency whose core operational need is accurate, auditable time\ntracking across multiple users, with proper access control and\nreporting, and who either already have a separate way to collect\npayment, or don't need to collect payment through the same tool at all.",[23,2293,386],{"id":385},[11,2295,2296],{},"A freelancer or small operation whose priority is turning billable work\ninto a paid invoice, with time tracking as a useful but secondary\nfeature, and who wants clients to be able to pay online without a\nseparate payment step.",[23,2298,2300],{"id":2299},"is-billebly-a-good-kimai-alternative","Is Billebly a good Kimai alternative?",[11,2302,2303],{},"For deep time tracking (access control, kiosk mode, team-scale\nreporting), no. Billebly's time tracking is intentionally basic and isn't\ntrying to replace what Kimai does for teams. For getting paid, yes,\nunambiguously: Kimai has no online payment collection at all, so anyone\nusing Kimai specifically to bill clients and hoping to collect payment\nthrough the platform will hit a wall Billebly doesn't have. If payment\ncollection matters to you at all, Billebly (or a payment-capable tool\ngenerally) is worth adding alongside or instead of Kimai.",[23,2305,2307],{"id":2306},"kimai-alternatives","Kimai alternatives",[11,2309,2310],{},"Within time tracking specifically, Kimai competes with Toggl Track,\nClockify, and Harvest. Each has its own balance of price, integrations,\nand polish, and Kimai's own comparison content positions itself as the\ncheapest of that group. None of those alternatives solve the payment-\ncollection gap either; they're time trackers, not billing tools. If the\nactual goal is getting invoices paid rather than tracking hours more\nprecisely, a dedicated invoicing and payments tool like Billebly is a\ndifferent category entirely, not a like-for-like swap.",[405,2312],{":faqs":2313},"[{\"question\":\"Can Kimai collect online payments from clients?\",\"answer\":\"No. Kimai's only payment integration is for customers paying Kimai for their own Cloud subscription. There's no Stripe, PayPal, or payment-link feature for a Kimai user to collect money from their own clients.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Kimai support recurring invoices?\",\"answer\":\"No, not natively. Kimai can trigger invoice generation on a schedule via cron automation, but this creates new invoices rather than automatically charging a saved payment method the way a subscription-billing tool does.\"},{\"question\":\"Is Kimai really free?\",\"answer\":\"The self-hosted, open-source version is fully free with unlimited users, but you have to host and maintain the server yourself. Kimai Cloud, the managed version, starts at roughly €4\u002Fuser\u002Fmonth.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Billebly have time tracking as good as Kimai's?\",\"answer\":\"No, and it isn't trying to be. Kimai's time tracking is built for teams, with multi-timer support, kiosk mode, and access control like LDAP and SAML SSO. Billebly's time tracking is simpler by design: log hours against a client and bill them, so the hours you log turn straight into a paid invoice without extra setup.\"},{\"question\":\"Should I use Kimai and Billebly together?\",\"answer\":\"It's possible in principle, but there's no built-in integration between them, so time entries wouldn't transfer automatically. For most freelancers, it's simpler to pick the tool that matches the bigger need: Kimai for team time-tracking depth, Billebly for getting invoices paid online.\"}]",[23,2315,411],{"id":410},[11,2317,2318],{},"For most freelancers, coaches, and consultants, this comes down to one\nquestion: do you need clients to be able to pay you online? Kimai can't\ndo that at all, full stop, so if getting paid through the platform\nmatters, Billebly is the right call, and it's free with no setup\nrequired. If your core need is instead accurate, auditable time tracking\nacross a team, such as access control, approval workflows, or kiosk\nmode, that's a specific, narrower job Kimai was built for, and Billebly\ndoesn't try to compete there.",[416,2320],{"button-label":418,"description":2321,"href":420,"title":1554},"Kimai can't collect payment on an invoice. Billebly logs time, builds the invoice, and gets it paid through a hosted link, with no subscription on the free plan.",{"title":423,"searchDepth":424,"depth":425,"links":2323},[2324,2325,2326,2327,2328,2329,2330,2331,2332,2333,2334,2335,2336,2337,2338,2339],{"id":25,"depth":424,"text":26},{"id":2079,"depth":424,"text":2080},{"id":162,"depth":424,"text":163},{"id":2106,"depth":424,"text":2107},{"id":179,"depth":424,"text":180},{"id":313,"depth":424,"text":314},{"id":337,"depth":424,"text":338},{"id":347,"depth":424,"text":348},{"id":354,"depth":424,"text":355},{"id":364,"depth":424,"text":365},{"id":371,"depth":424,"text":372},{"id":2287,"depth":424,"text":2288},{"id":385,"depth":424,"text":386},{"id":2299,"depth":424,"text":2300},{"id":2306,"depth":424,"text":2307},{"id":410,"depth":424,"text":411},"A comparison of Billebly and Kimai for freelancers and teams deciding between deep time-tracking software and a tool built around invoicing and getting paid.","\u002Fimages\u002Fcompare\u002Fkimai.png",{},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-kimai",{"title":1965,"description":2340},"compare\u002Fvs-kimai","KKICkuasbvtJfNG7eRRjX5FF2SZgOlGVGk9fZHH_yb8",{"id":2348,"title":2349,"body":2350,"competitor":2711,"date":2712,"description":2713,"extension":445,"logo":2714,"meta":2715,"navigation":448,"path":2716,"pricingChecked":450,"seo":2717,"stem":2718,"updated":453,"__hash__":2719},"comparisons\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-mollie.md","Billebly vs Mollie Invoicing: which is right for freelancers?",{"type":8,"value":2351,"toc":2693},[2352,2355,2358,2360,2461,2465,2468,2471,2473,2476,2480,2483,2486,2489,2491,2600,2606,2608,2611,2618,2621,2624,2626,2629,2632,2634,2637,2639,2642,2645,2647,2650,2652,2655,2659,2662,2664,2667,2671,2674,2678,2681,2684,2686,2689],[11,2353,2354],{},"Mollie is a large European payments company (Amsterdam-based, serving\nmerchants across the EU and UK) whose invoicing tool is one feature\nlayered on top of its payment processing, built to help existing Mollie\nmerchants turn a payment link into a proper invoice. Billebly is built\nthe other way around: a client and billing workflow first, with Stripe\nunderneath handling the actual money movement. This comparison is for\nfreelancers and consultants deciding whether they need a payments\ncompany's invoicing add-on or a dedicated billing tool built around\nclients and time.",[11,2356,2357],{},"The headline difference: Mollie Invoicing exists to support a payments\naccount that already processes transactions. Billebly exists to run the\nclient-to-invoice-to-payment loop as the main product, with no payments\naccount required first.",[23,2359,26],{"id":25},[28,2361,2362,2373],{},[31,2363,2364],{},[34,2365,2366,2368,2370],{},[37,2367],{},[37,2369,41],{},[37,2371,2372],{},"Mollie Invoicing",[46,2374,2375,2384,2393,2402,2410,2420,2430,2441,2452],{},[34,2376,2377,2379,2381],{},[51,2378,53],{},[51,2380,56],{},[51,2382,2383],{},"Free (cost is per-transaction)",[34,2385,2386,2388,2390],{},[51,2387,75],{},[51,2389,78],{},[51,2391,2392],{},"No subscription, per-transaction processing fees",[34,2394,2395,2397,2399],{},[51,2396,200],{},[51,2398,203],{},[51,2400,2401],{},"No client list",[34,2403,2404,2406,2408],{},[51,2405,107],{},[51,2407,110],{},[51,2409,1252],{},[34,2411,2412,2415,2418],{},[51,2413,2414],{},"E-invoicing (EN 16931 UBL 2.1)",[51,2416,2417],{},"Yes, auto-generated on every invoice",[51,2419,206],{},[34,2421,2422,2425,2428],{},[51,2423,2424],{},"Peppol network delivery",[51,2426,2427],{},"No (XML emailed alongside the PDF)",[51,2429,206],{},[34,2431,2432,2435,2438],{},[51,2433,2434],{},"Payment methods supported",[51,2436,2437],{},"Cards, iDEAL, SEPA, Klarna, Amazon Pay, bank transfer",[51,2439,2440],{},"Cards, iDEAL, SEPA, Klarna, Bancontact, PayPal, and more",[34,2442,2443,2446,2449],{},[51,2444,2445],{},"Country focus",[51,2447,2448],{},"No restriction",[51,2450,2451],{},"Strongest in NL\u002FBE\u002FDE and broader EU",[34,2453,2454,2456,2458],{},[51,2455,139],{},[51,2457,552],{},[51,2459,2460],{},"B2B\u002FB2G compliance and merchants already on Mollie",[23,2462,2464],{"id":2463},"what-is-mollie","What is Mollie?",[11,2466,2467],{},"Mollie (mollie.com) is a major European payment service provider founded\nin the Netherlands, processing payments for businesses across the EU and\nUK through a wide range of local and international methods: cards,\niDEAL, SEPA Direct Debit, Bancontact, Klarna, PayPal, and more. Invoicing\nis a feature within the broader Mollie dashboard rather than a\nstandalone product: merchants who already process payments through\nMollie can generate and send invoices, set up recurring billing, and\nissue e-invoices in the UBL\u002FPEPPOL format used for B2B and B2G compliance\nin countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, where\nelectronic invoicing mandates are increasingly common.",[11,2469,2470],{},"Mollie doesn't charge a separate subscription for invoicing. Its revenue\ncomes from per-transaction processing fees, which vary by payment method\nand typically include a small percentage plus a fixed component for card\npayments, and a lower flat fee for local bank methods like iDEAL. The\ninvoicing feature itself has no client relationship management, no time\ntracking, and no dashboard oriented around clients, since it's designed\naround transactions rather than a client-and-work workflow.",[23,2472,163],{"id":162},[11,2474,2475],{},"Billebly is a free invoicing and payments tool for freelancers, coaches,\nand consultants, built around the part of the job that actually\ndetermines whether you get paid: a client list, one-off and recurring\ninvoices, time tracking that becomes invoice line items automatically,\nand a dashboard showing paid, pending, and overdue amounts. It's\ndeliberately built as a billing-and-payment workflow first, so there's a\nclient record behind every invoice rather than a payment link with\npaperwork attached. Payments run through Stripe underneath, which keeps\nsetup simple while still supporting cards, iDEAL, SEPA, Klarna, Amazon\nPay, and bank transfers depending on the client's location.",[23,2477,2479],{"id":2478},"billebly-vs-mollie-key-differences","Billebly vs Mollie: key differences",[11,2481,2482],{},"The clearest structural difference is what each tool is built around.\nMollie Invoicing is an add-on to a payments account: it exists to turn a\ntransaction into a paper trail. Billebly is built around a client\nrelationship first, so a client list, logged hours, and invoice history\nall live in one place rather than being reconstructed from a transaction\nlist.",[11,2484,2485],{},"That client-and-billing-workflow-first structure is the main practical\ngap on Mollie's side: Mollie Invoicing has no client list at all, since\nit's built on top of a payment link rather than a client record. Time\ntracking is absent too, so hourly work has nowhere to flow into an\ninvoice automatically.",[11,2487,2488],{},"Billebly's side of the tradeoff is narrower now than it used to be:\nevery invoice already generates an EN 16931 UBL 2.1 e-invoice\nautomatically, emailed alongside the PDF. What it doesn't do is\ntransmit that XML over the Peppol network itself, which is a specific\nrequirement for some B2B and B2G billing in the Netherlands, Belgium,\nand Germany, and Mollie is built for exactly that need. Freelancers and\nconsultants without a Peppol-network delivery obligation get a\ncompliant e-invoice either way; those who need Peppol delivery\nspecifically should treat that as the deciding factor.",[23,2490,180],{"id":179},[28,2492,2493,2503],{},[31,2494,2495],{},[34,2496,2497,2499,2501],{},[37,2498,189],{},[37,2500,41],{},[37,2502,2372],{},[46,2504,2505,2513,2521,2529,2537,2546,2554,2562,2571,2581,2589],{},[34,2506,2507,2509,2511],{},[51,2508,200],{},[51,2510,203],{},[51,2512,2401],{},[34,2514,2515,2517,2519],{},[51,2516,239],{},[51,2518,206],{},[51,2520,1252],{},[34,2522,2523,2525,2527],{},[51,2524,211],{},[51,2526,206],{},[51,2528,206],{},[34,2530,2531,2533,2535],{},[51,2532,220],{},[51,2534,206],{},[51,2536,206],{},[34,2538,2539,2541,2543],{},[51,2540,656],{},[51,2542,206],{},[51,2544,2545],{},"Not a core feature",[34,2547,2548,2550,2552],{},[51,2549,2414],{},[51,2551,2417],{},[51,2553,206],{},[34,2555,2556,2558,2560],{},[51,2557,2424],{},[51,2559,2427],{},[51,2561,206],{},[34,2563,2564,2567,2569],{},[51,2565,2566],{},"Payment methods",[51,2568,2437],{},[51,2570,2440],{},[34,2572,2573,2576,2578],{},[51,2574,2575],{},"Payment dashboard (paid\u002Fpending\u002Foverdue)",[51,2577,206],{},[51,2579,2580],{},"Basic transaction view",[34,2582,2583,2585,2587],{},[51,2584,96],{},[51,2586,271],{},[51,2588,271],{},[34,2590,2591,2594,2597],{},[51,2592,2593],{},"Multi-currency",[51,2595,2596],{},"Depends on payment method",[51,2598,2599],{},"Yes, wide currency support",[304,2601,2603],{"title":2602,"type":307},"When Mollie's Peppol delivery is the right call",[11,2604,2605],{},"Billebly already generates a compliant EN 16931 UBL 2.1 e-invoice for\nevery invoice you send. If you invoice businesses or government\nentities in the Netherlands, Belgium, or Germany and specifically need\nthat XML delivered over the Peppol network rather than emailed\nalongside the PDF, Mollie is built for that requirement. That's a\nnarrower need than \"e-invoicing\" in general, but for the freelancers,\ncoaches, and consultants who have it, it's worth checking before\npicking either tool.",[23,2607,314],{"id":313},[11,2609,2610],{},"Mollie: no subscription fee for the core account or invoicing feature.\nCost is per-transaction and varies by payment method, typically a small\npercentage plus a fixed fee for card payments, and a lower flat fee for\nlocal methods like iDEAL. Check Mollie's current pricing page for exact\nrates by method and country, since they vary and change over time.",[11,2612,320,2613,328],{},[322,2614,2617],{"href":2615,"rel":2616},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.mollie.com\u002Fen\u002Fpricing",[326],"Mollie's pricing page",[11,2619,2620],{},"Billebly: free plan, no subscription. A 0.5% platform fee on payments\nactually processed, plus Stripe's standard processing rate (roughly 1.5% +\n€0.25 for cards, less for bank methods like iDEAL\u002FSEPA). No monthly\nminimum, and you choose whether you or the client absorbs the platform\nfee. An optional Premium plan costs €9\u002Fmonth (excl. VAT) and lowers the\nplatform fee to 0.2%.",[11,2622,2623],{},"Mollie and Billebly's free plan share the same basic shape: no\nsubscription, cost tied to transactions. The practical difference is what\nthat cost buys. With Mollie, it buys broad payment-method coverage and\nPeppol network delivery layered onto a transaction. With Billebly, it buys\na client-centered workflow (a client list, time tracking, and a payment\nstatus dashboard) built around the invoice rather than around the\ntransaction.",[23,2625,338],{"id":337},[11,2627,2628],{},"Both support one-off and recurring invoices, and both generate a\ncompliant UBL-format e-invoice alongside every invoice: Billebly builds\nan EN 16931 UBL 2.1 file automatically and emails it with the PDF,\nwhile Mollie can additionally push that file over the Peppol network\nfor automated processing by business and government recipients that\nrequire delivery through it. Billebly's invoicing also leans on the\nclient relationship: quotes convert directly into invoices once\naccepted, and logged time against a client pulls straight onto an\ninvoice as billable line items, neither of which Mollie Invoicing\noffers.",[11,2630,2631],{},"Where Mollie pulls ahead: Peppol network delivery for B2B\u002FB2G billing\nin NL\u002FBE\u002FDE, and the broadest payment-method coverage of the two. Where\nBillebly pulls ahead: a client list and time tracking built directly\ninto the same flow, so invoicing starts from \"who is this for and what\ndid I do\" rather than from a transaction record.",[23,2633,348],{"id":347},[11,2635,2636],{},"Mollie processes payments directly as a licensed payment service\nprovider, supporting a wide range of methods (cards, iDEAL, SEPA,\nBancontact, Klarna, PayPal, and more) at per-transaction rates that vary\nby method and merchant volume. Billebly processes through Stripe, adding\na 0.5% platform fee (0.2% on Premium) on top of Stripe's rate, supporting\ncards, iDEAL, SEPA, Klarna, Amazon Pay, and bank transfers depending on the\nclient's location. Mollie's method coverage is broader in some markets,\nparticularly for local European methods beyond iDEAL and SEPA; Billebly's\ncoverage is intentionally focused on the methods most relevant to\nfreelance and consulting clients.",[23,2638,355],{"id":354},[11,2640,2641],{},"Mollie's dashboard is built primarily for merchants managing payment\nvolume, with invoicing as a secondary feature inside that view. Setting\nup Peppol delivery correctly involves some configuration, since the\ndelivery requirements are regulatory, not just cosmetic.",[11,2643,2644],{},"Billebly's setup has no equivalent configuration step: add a client,\nbuild an invoice, send a link, check the dashboard. There's no\ntransaction-first interface to navigate, because the whole product is\norganized around clients and invoices from the start.",[23,2646,365],{"id":364},[11,2648,2649],{},"A freelancer or consultant who invoices businesses or government clients\nin the Netherlands, Belgium, or Germany and needs that e-invoice\ndelivered specifically over the Peppol network will get real,\nnecessary value from Mollie. A freelancer, coach, or consultant without\nthat Peppol-delivery requirement, who logs time against client work and\nwants a client list alongside billing, will find Mollie Invoicing's\nlack of a client record and time tracking a real gap, and Billebly\ncloser to the actual job, while still getting a compliant EN 16931\ne-invoice on every invoice.",[23,2651,372],{"id":371},[11,2653,2654],{},"Mollie's broader payment infrastructure and multi-method support suit a\nsmall business already built around processing volume across several\npayment methods and markets. Billebly is built for a single operator by\ndesign, with a client list and invoice-and-payment workflow sized for one\nperson's client roster rather than high transaction volume across a\nteam. For a freelancer, coach, or one-person consultancy, that focus is\nexactly the point: one client list, one invoice flow, nothing extra to\nconfigure.",[23,2656,2658],{"id":2657},"who-should-choose-mollie","Who should choose Mollie?",[11,2660,2661],{},"A freelancer, consultant, or small business that needs its e-invoices\ndelivered over the Peppol network for B2B or B2G compliance in the\nNetherlands, Belgium, or Germany, or that already processes payments\nthrough Mollie and wants invoicing bundled into the same account.",[23,2663,386],{"id":385},[11,2665,2666],{},"A freelancer, coach, or consultant without a Peppol-delivery\nrequirement who wants a client list, time tracking, and a payment status\ndashboard built directly into the invoicing flow, without a subscription\nand without needing a broader payments account first, while still\ngetting a compliant EN 16931 UBL 2.1 e-invoice automatically on every\ninvoice.",[23,2668,2670],{"id":2669},"is-billebly-a-good-mollie-alternative","Is Billebly a good Mollie alternative?",[11,2672,2673],{},"For the client-and-billing workflow, yes: if what you actually need is a\nclient record, time tracking that becomes invoice line items, and a\nclear view of what's paid and outstanding, Billebly does that job more\ndirectly than a payments account's invoicing add-on, and it already\ngenerates a compliant EN 16931 UBL 2.1 e-invoice for every invoice. For\nPeppol network delivery specifically, no, that's Mollie's strength and\nBillebly doesn't transmit over Peppol itself, so anyone with an active\nB2B\u002FB2G Peppol-delivery requirement in NL\u002FBE\u002FDE should stay with Mollie\nor pair Billebly with a Peppol-delivery tool.",[23,2675,2677],{"id":2676},"mollie-alternatives","Mollie alternatives",[11,2679,2680],{},"Mollie competes with other European payment service providers like\nAdyen, Stripe, and Klarna's own merchant tools, each with different\ninvoicing features layered on top of payment processing. If the appeal is\nspecifically e-invoicing compliance or broad local payment-method\ncoverage, those are worth comparing directly. If the appeal was mainly\n\"invoicing bundled with payments\" but the daily need is closer to\n\"track clients, log time, and get paid,\" a client-first tool like\nBillebly is worth trying alongside or instead of a payments account's\ninvoicing feature.",[405,2682],{":faqs":2683},"[{\"question\":\"Does Mollie charge a subscription fee for invoicing?\",\"answer\":\"No. Mollie doesn't charge separately for invoicing or e-invoicing. Cost comes from per-transaction payment processing fees, which vary by method and typically include a small percentage plus a fixed fee for cards, and a lower flat fee for local methods like iDEAL.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Mollie Invoicing have a client list or CRM?\",\"answer\":\"No. Mollie Invoicing is built on top of a payment link rather than a client record, so there's no client list, prospect tracking, or client-level history. Billebly is built the other way around, with a client list behind every invoice.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Billebly support UBL or Peppol e-invoicing?\",\"answer\":\"Yes for UBL: every Billebly invoice automatically generates an EN 16931 UBL 2.1 e-invoice, emailed alongside the regular PDF, at no extra cost. What Billebly doesn't do is transmit that file over the Peppol network itself. Freelancers who specifically need Peppol-network delivery in the Netherlands, Belgium, or Germany should use Mollie or another Peppol-delivery tool for that requirement.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Billebly have time tracking like Mollie doesn't?\",\"answer\":\"Yes. Billebly includes time tracking that turns logged hours into invoice line items automatically, which Mollie Invoicing doesn't offer since it's built around transactions rather than client work.\"},{\"question\":\"Is Billebly cheaper than Mollie?\",\"answer\":\"Mollie and Billebly's free plan have a similar shape: no subscription, cost tied to transactions. On that plan, Billebly charges a 0.5% platform fee plus Stripe's processing rate (an optional Premium plan costs €9\u002Fmonth excl. VAT and lowers the fee to 0.2%), while Mollie's per-method rates vary by payment type and country, so the cheaper option depends on which payment methods you use most and whether you need Peppol network delivery.\"}]",[23,2685,411],{"id":410},[11,2687,2688],{},"For most freelancers and consultants, the daily bottleneck isn't\ne-invoicing compliance, it's keeping track of clients, logging hours\nagainst the right one, and knowing what's been paid. Billebly does\nexactly that for free, with a client list and time tracking built\ndirectly into the invoicing flow, which Mollie's invoicing add-on\ndoesn't offer at all, and it already generates a compliant EN 16931\nUBL 2.1 e-invoice automatically on every invoice. If you have an active\nPeppol-network delivery requirement for B2B or B2G billing in the\nNetherlands, Belgium, or Germany, that's a genuine, non-negotiable\nreason to use Mollie, or pair Billebly with a Peppol-delivery tool.\nEveryone else billing clients without that specific delivery\nrequirement will likely find Billebly's client-first workflow a better\ndaily fit.",[416,2690],{"button-label":418,"description":2691,"href":420,"title":2692},"Billebly builds the client list and time tracking into the invoicing flow from the start, for free.","Need clients and time tracking behind your invoices, not just a payment link?",{"title":423,"searchDepth":424,"depth":425,"links":2694},[2695,2696,2697,2698,2699,2700,2701,2702,2703,2704,2705,2706,2707,2708,2709,2710],{"id":25,"depth":424,"text":26},{"id":2463,"depth":424,"text":2464},{"id":162,"depth":424,"text":163},{"id":2478,"depth":424,"text":2479},{"id":179,"depth":424,"text":180},{"id":313,"depth":424,"text":314},{"id":337,"depth":424,"text":338},{"id":347,"depth":424,"text":348},{"id":354,"depth":424,"text":355},{"id":364,"depth":424,"text":365},{"id":371,"depth":424,"text":372},{"id":2657,"depth":424,"text":2658},{"id":385,"depth":424,"text":386},{"id":2669,"depth":424,"text":2670},{"id":2676,"depth":424,"text":2677},{"id":410,"depth":424,"text":411},"Mollie","2026-08-19","A comparison of Billebly and Mollie Invoicing for freelancers and consultants who need client management and time tracking alongside billing, not just a payment link.","\u002Fimages\u002Fcompare\u002Fmollie.png",{},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-mollie",{"title":2349,"description":2713},"compare\u002Fvs-mollie","P6J7Q59D5ikC9Qj_yhET-gznwgFMDi3lHeDW0zd94Vg",{"id":2721,"title":2722,"body":2723,"competitor":2745,"date":443,"description":3090,"extension":445,"logo":3091,"meta":3092,"navigation":448,"path":3093,"pricingChecked":450,"seo":3094,"stem":3095,"updated":453,"__hash__":3096},"comparisons\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-moxie.md","Billebly vs Moxie: full freelancer OS or just invoicing?",{"type":8,"value":2724,"toc":3072},[2725,2728,2731,2733,2838,2842,2845,2852,2854,2857,2860,2864,2867,2870,2872,2981,2987,2989,2992,2999,3001,3004,3006,3009,3012,3014,3017,3019,3022,3025,3027,3030,3032,3035,3039,3042,3044,3047,3051,3054,3058,3061,3064,3066,3069],[11,2726,2727],{},"Moxie (withmoxie.com, formerly Hectic) is an all-in-one platform for\nfreelancers: CRM and sales pipeline, proposals and contracts, invoicing and\npayments, scheduling, time tracking, and light bookkeeping, starting at\n$12\u002Fmonth. Billebly does one slice of that job (clients, invoices, time\ntracking, and payment status) on a free plan, with a small fee only on\npayments that actually go through. This comparison is for freelancers deciding\nwhether they need a full business-operating system or just a reliable way\nto bill and get paid.",[11,2729,2730],{},"The short version: Moxie replaces a stack of separate tools if you use\nenough of it to justify the subscription. Billebly replaces the invoicing\nand payment-tracking piece of that stack, for free, if that's the only\npiece you're missing.",[23,2732,26],{"id":25},[28,2734,2735,2746],{},[31,2736,2737],{},[34,2738,2739,2741,2743],{},[37,2740],{},[37,2742,41],{},[37,2744,2745],{},"Moxie",[46,2747,2748,2757,2766,2775,2784,2793,2801,2810,2819,2829],{},[34,2749,2750,2752,2754],{},[51,2751,53],{},[51,2753,56],{},[51,2755,2756],{},"$12\u002Fmo (Starter)",[34,2758,2759,2761,2763],{},[51,2760,75],{},[51,2762,78],{},[51,2764,2765],{},"Monthly\u002Fannual subscription, tiered by feature",[34,2767,2768,2771,2773],{},[51,2769,2770],{},"CRM & sales pipeline",[51,2772,203],{},[51,2774,206],{},[34,2776,2777,2780,2782],{},[51,2778,2779],{},"Proposals & contracts",[51,2781,67],{},[51,2783,206],{},[34,2785,2786,2789,2791],{},[51,2787,2788],{},"Invoicing & recurring billing",[51,2790,206],{},[51,2792,206],{},[34,2794,2795,2797,2799],{},[51,2796,107],{},[51,2798,110],{},[51,2800,110],{},[34,2802,2803,2805,2807],{},[51,2804,895],{},[51,2806,67],{},[51,2808,2809],{},"Pro plan only ($25\u002Fmo)",[34,2811,2812,2814,2816],{},[51,2813,96],{},[51,2815,99],{},[51,2817,2818],{},"White-labeled, Pro plan only",[34,2820,2821,2824,2826],{},[51,2822,2823],{},"Bookkeeping",[51,2825,67],{},[51,2827,2828],{},"Basic P&L and expense reports",[34,2830,2831,2833,2835],{},[51,2832,139],{},[51,2834,552],{},[51,2836,2837],{},"Running the entire freelance business in one app",[23,2839,2841],{"id":2840},"what-is-moxie","What is Moxie?",[11,2843,2844],{},"Moxie is a freelancer business-management platform built around consolidation:\na single login for the sales pipeline, proposals with e-signatures,\nproject and task management, time tracking, invoicing, recurring billing,\nexpense tracking, meeting scheduling, and a branded client portal. It's\naimed at solo freelancers and small collaborative teams (the Teams plan\ncaps at 5 members) who are currently juggling several disconnected tools\nand want one system instead.",[11,2846,2847,2848,2851],{},"Moxie's strength is real: reviewers consistently say the combination of\nCRM, invoicing, and time tracking in one place removes a lot of manual\nre-entry. The catch shows up in the pricing structure. The $12\u002Fmonth\nStarter plan includes invoicing, proposals, and basic accounting, but\n",[18,2849,2850],{},"workflow automation, the white-labeled client portal, the API, Zapier,\nand the QuickBooks integration are all locked to the $25\u002Fmonth Pro plan",".\nSeveral reviewers describe this as the entry plan feeling like \"a manual\nrecord-keeping tool\" until you pay for Pro. Reliability complaints also\nturn up in reviews: disappearing tasks, invoice reminders silently\nbreaking after updates, and a Teams tier that caps out at 5 people, which\nrules Moxie out for growing agencies.",[23,2853,163],{"id":162},[11,2855,2856],{},"Billebly is a free invoicing and payments tool for freelancers, coaches,\nand consultants. It covers a client list, invoice creation (one-off and\nrecurring), time tracking that turns logged hours into invoice line items,\nand a payment dashboard showing what's paid, pending, and overdue. Clients\npay through a hosted link with no account required, and none of that loop\nsits behind a plan tier or a setup step.",[11,2858,2859],{},"That focus is a deliberate choice, not a gap: Billebly is built to do the\nbilling-and-payment job well rather than to be a full business-operating\nsystem, so it leaves the CRM pipeline, proposal editor, workflow\nautomation, and bookkeeping ledger to tools built for that purpose. The\npayoff for staying narrow is price: the free plan has no subscription, and\nno cost in a month where nothing gets billed.",[23,2861,2863],{"id":2862},"billebly-vs-moxie-key-differences","Billebly vs Moxie: key differences",[11,2865,2866],{},"The real difference isn't feature count, it's scope and pricing model.\nMoxie is a subscription business-operating system: sales pipeline through\ndelivery through billing. Billebly is a billing-and-payment-status tool:\nit assumes you already have a way to pitch and sign clients, or don't need\none, and just want the part where hours become invoices and invoices get\npaid.",[11,2868,2869],{},"The pricing models pull in opposite directions too. Moxie's cost is fixed\nper month regardless of how much you bill: useful if you're using the\nCRM and automation daily, wasteful if you're not. On Billebly's free plan,\ncost is zero until a payment is actually processed, so a slow month costs\nnothing and a busy month costs a small, predictable percentage.",[23,2871,180],{"id":179},[28,2873,2874,2884],{},[31,2875,2876],{},[34,2877,2878,2880,2882],{},[37,2879,189],{},[37,2881,41],{},[37,2883,2745],{},[46,2885,2886,2895,2903,2911,2919,2927,2936,2945,2954,2963,2972],{},[34,2887,2888,2890,2892],{},[51,2889,200],{},[51,2891,203],{},[51,2893,2894],{},"Full CRM with sales pipeline",[34,2896,2897,2899,2901],{},[51,2898,615],{},[51,2900,67],{},[51,2902,206],{},[34,2904,2905,2907,2909],{},[51,2906,211],{},[51,2908,206],{},[51,2910,206],{},[34,2912,2913,2915,2917],{},[51,2914,220],{},[51,2916,206],{},[51,2918,206],{},[34,2920,2921,2923,2925],{},[51,2922,239],{},[51,2924,206],{},[51,2926,206],{},[34,2928,2929,2931,2933],{},[51,2930,259],{},[51,2932,67],{},[51,2934,2935],{},"Yes, with receipts and vendor tracking",[34,2937,2938,2941,2943],{},[51,2939,2940],{},"Meeting scheduler",[51,2942,67],{},[51,2944,206],{},[34,2946,2947,2949,2951],{},[51,2948,895],{},[51,2950,67],{},[51,2952,2953],{},"Pro plan only",[34,2955,2956,2958,2960],{},[51,2957,96],{},[51,2959,271],{},[51,2961,2962],{},"White-labeled portal, Pro plan only",[34,2964,2965,2968,2970],{},[51,2966,2967],{},"API \u002F Zapier",[51,2969,67],{},[51,2971,2953],{},[34,2973,2974,2977,2979],{},[51,2975,2976],{},"Basic accounting (P&L reports)",[51,2978,67],{},[51,2980,206],{},[304,2982,2984],{"title":2983,"type":307},"When Moxie's extra depth is worth paying for",[11,2985,2986],{},"If you're actively running a sales pipeline, sending proposals, and want\nautomation tying it all together day to day, Moxie's $25\u002Fmonth Pro plan\ncan genuinely replace several separate subscriptions. That's a specific,\nactive-pipeline use case, though, not the daily reality for most\nfreelancers, coaches, and consultants, who mainly need invoices sent and\npayments tracked, the part Billebly already covers for free.",[23,2988,314],{"id":313},[11,2990,2991],{},"Moxie: $12\u002Fmonth (Starter, billed monthly) or $10\u002Fmonth billed annually\nfor the entry tier; $25\u002Fmonth (Pro) or $20\u002Fmonth annually for automation,\nwhite-label portal, and integrations; $40\u002Fmonth (Teams, up to 5 members)\nor $32\u002Fmonth annually. A 14-day free trial is available, no card required.\nThe practical cost to consider: the Starter price looks cheap, but the\nfeatures most people associate with \"all-in-one\" (automation and the\nclient portal) require Pro, so budget for $20 to $25\u002Fmonth if that's what\nyou actually want.",[11,2993,320,2994,328],{},[322,2995,2998],{"href":2996,"rel":2997},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.withmoxie.com\u002Fpricing",[326],"Moxie's pricing page",[11,3000,717],{},[11,3002,3003],{},"For a freelancer billing €3,000\u002Fmonth, Moxie Pro costs $25\u002Fmonth\nregardless of billing volume. Billebly's free plan costs roughly €15 to\n€20 in fees on that same volume, invoiced or not, which is cheaper at\nlow-to-moderate volume, though the comparison shifts if you're also using\nMoxie's CRM, proposals, and automation and would otherwise pay separately\nfor those tools.",[23,3005,338],{"id":337},[11,3007,3008],{},"Both tools generate one-off and recurring invoices, and both let tracked\ntime flow directly onto an invoice as billable line items without manual\nre-entry. Both also support sending a quote before the work starts:\nBillebly's converts directly into an invoice once the client accepts, no\nproposal-editor step required. Moxie adds automatic late-fee options,\ndeposit\u002Fpayment-plan invoices, and email follow-up sequences. Billebly\nautomatically flags a failed or declined recurring payment the moment it\nhappens, but doesn't have Moxie's payment-plan or deposit-invoice\nstructure.",[11,3010,3011],{},"Where Moxie pulls ahead: full proposals with e-signature that convert\ndirectly into a project and invoice once signed. Where Billebly pulls\nahead: nothing extra to configure or pay for if all you need is the\nquote-to-invoice-to-payment path, with no automation tier required to get\ninvoices sent and tracked.",[23,3013,348],{"id":347},[11,3015,3016],{},"Moxie processes payments through Stripe (cards, Apple Pay\u002FGoogle Pay) and\nPayPal, at standard Stripe rates (2.9% + $0.30 for cards) with an\nadditional $1 per ACH transaction charged by Moxie on top of Stripe's ACH\nfee. Billebly processes through Stripe only, with a 0.5% platform fee (0.2%\non Premium) plus Stripe's processing rate, and supports cards, iDEAL, SEPA,\nKlarna, Amazon Pay, and bank transfers depending on the client's location.\nNeither publishes a specific payout-speed guarantee; both rely on standard\nStripe payout timing.",[23,3018,355],{"id":354},[11,3020,3021],{},"Moxie's onboarding is fast (roughly 3 minutes to sign up), and reviewers\ngenerally praise the dashboard's simplicity for what it shows. The\ntradeoff shows up once you go looking for automation or a branded\nportal and discover it isn't included at the entry price. Several\nreviewers describe this gap as the most frustrating part of getting\nstarted. Some also flag a \"little clunky\" learning curve and a basic\nmobile app.",[11,3023,3024],{},"Billebly's setup is intentionally shallow: add a client, build an invoice,\nsend one payment link, track status on a dashboard. There's no automation\nto configure, and nothing in that flow is gated behind a higher tier: it\nall works on the free plan.",[23,3026,365],{"id":364},[11,3028,3029],{},"A freelancer actively selling (pitching, proposing, negotiating) and\nmanaging an ongoing pipeline of prospects will get real use out of Moxie's\nCRM, especially at the Pro tier. A freelancer whose sales process happens\noutside any software, relying on referrals, existing relationships, or a\nseparate tool they already like, and who mainly needs invoices sent and\npayments tracked has less use for that layer and will find Billebly\ncheaper and\nsimpler for the exact task they need done.",[23,3031,372],{"id":371},[11,3033,3034],{},"Neither tool is built for teams past a handful of people. Moxie's Teams\nplan caps at 5 members, and Billebly is built for a single operator by\ndesign, with no team or multi-user layer to configure in the first place.\nA small business with several people who need shared visibility into a\nsales pipeline will eventually outgrow Moxie's structure, and will\noutgrow Billebly's single-operator model sooner still. For a freelancer,\ncoach, or one-person consultancy, though, that focus is exactly the\npoint: no seats to manage, no permissions to set up, just billing that\nworks for one person.",[23,3036,3038],{"id":3037},"who-should-choose-moxie","Who should choose Moxie?",[11,3040,3041],{},"A solo freelancer or consultant currently paying for three or more\nseparate tools (a CRM, an e-signature tool, an invoicing app, a\nscheduler, a time tracker) who wants one login and is willing to pay\n$25\u002Fmonth for the version of Moxie that actually delivers on the\nall-in-one promise.",[23,3043,386],{"id":385},[11,3045,3046],{},"A freelancer, coach, or consultant who already has proposals and contracts\nhandled elsewhere (or doesn't need them), doesn't want a monthly\nsubscription for software they might use lightly some months, and wants\nthe invoicing-time tracking-payment loop to just work without configuring\nautomation or upgrading to a paid plan.",[23,3048,3050],{"id":3049},"is-billebly-a-good-moxie-alternative","Is Billebly a good Moxie alternative?",[11,3052,3053],{},"Yes, for the invoicing and payment layer specifically: if the main things\nyou use Moxie for are sending invoices, tracking time against clients,\nand seeing what's been paid, Billebly's free plan does that same job\nwithout a subscription. Someone paying $25\u002Fmonth for Moxie Pro mainly to invoice\nand get paid, with the CRM and automation sitting mostly unused, is a\ngood candidate to switch and can put that $25\u002Fmonth back in their\npocket. For the CRM, proposals, and automation layer, Billebly stays\nout of that lane on purpose, so someone relying on Moxie's pipeline,\nproposals, or automation daily is better off staying put.",[23,3055,3057],{"id":3056},"moxie-alternatives","Moxie alternatives",[11,3059,3060],{},"Moxie sits in a crowded category of all-in-one freelancer platforms,\nalongside tools like Plutio, Dubsado, and HoneyBook, each with its own mix\nof CRM depth, automation, and price. If the appeal of that category is\nspecifically the CRM-to-invoice pipeline, those are worth comparing\ndirectly. If the appeal was mainly \"one tool instead of five\" but the\nactual daily use is closer to \"send invoices and track payments,\" a\nnarrower tool like Billebly is worth trying before committing to another\nsubscription.",[405,3062],{":faqs":3063},"[{\"question\":\"Is Moxie the same company as the salon-software or Bumble-parent Moxie?\",\"answer\":\"No. The freelancer platform at withmoxie.com is a separate company, formerly branded as Hectic before its 2023 rebrand. There are unrelated products with similar names in other industries.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Moxie have a free plan?\",\"answer\":\"No permanent free plan, but there's a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. After that, plans start at $12\u002Fmonth.\"},{\"question\":\"Can I use Moxie's time tracking without paying for Pro?\",\"answer\":\"Yes, time tracking is included on the Starter plan. It's automation, the white-labeled client portal, the API, and Zapier that are locked to Pro.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Billebly have a CRM or sales pipeline like Moxie?\",\"answer\":\"No. Billebly has a client list for contact and billing details, but leaves out pipeline stages, deal tracking, and lead capture on purpose. It's built to make billing an existing client fast and free, not to run a sales process.\"},{\"question\":\"What does Billebly cost if I don't send any invoices in a month?\",\"answer\":\"Nothing, on the free plan: there's no subscription or monthly minimum, so a slow month costs nothing rather than the same flat fee as a busy one. The optional Premium plan costs €9\u002Fmonth (excl. VAT) whether or not you invoice.\"}]",[23,3065,411],{"id":410},[11,3067,3068],{},"For most freelancers, coaches, and consultants, the bottleneck isn't a\nmissing sales pipeline, it's getting an invoice out, tracking the hours\nbehind it, and knowing what's been paid. Billebly's free plan does exactly\nthat, with nothing to configure and no cost until money actually moves.\nIt's also worth weighing Moxie's real friction points before committing\nto it: the $12\u002Fmonth Starter plan holds back automation and the branded\nclient portal until you upgrade to Pro, and reviewers report reliability\nissues like disappearing tasks and invoice reminders breaking after\nupdates. If you're actually running an active sales pipeline with\nproposals and automation day to day, Moxie's Pro plan earns its\n$25\u002Fmonth. Most other freelancers are better served starting free and\nadding paid tools only once a real gap shows up.",[416,3070],{"button-label":418,"description":3071,"href":420,"title":789},"Skip the subscription and the setup. Add a client, send an invoice, and see what's paid without configuring a CRM or an automation tier first.",{"title":423,"searchDepth":424,"depth":425,"links":3073},[3074,3075,3076,3077,3078,3079,3080,3081,3082,3083,3084,3085,3086,3087,3088,3089],{"id":25,"depth":424,"text":26},{"id":2840,"depth":424,"text":2841},{"id":162,"depth":424,"text":163},{"id":2862,"depth":424,"text":2863},{"id":179,"depth":424,"text":180},{"id":313,"depth":424,"text":314},{"id":337,"depth":424,"text":338},{"id":347,"depth":424,"text":348},{"id":354,"depth":424,"text":355},{"id":364,"depth":424,"text":365},{"id":371,"depth":424,"text":372},{"id":3037,"depth":424,"text":3038},{"id":385,"depth":424,"text":386},{"id":3049,"depth":424,"text":3050},{"id":3056,"depth":424,"text":3057},{"id":410,"depth":424,"text":411},"A comparison of Billebly and Moxie (the freelancer business platform) for solo freelancers deciding between an all-in-one CRM and a focused invoicing and payments tool.","\u002Fimages\u002Fcompare\u002Fmoxie.png",{},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-moxie",{"title":2722,"description":3090},"compare\u002Fvs-moxie","SZFzgZsMrLZQclm_3TbjDJUF55AT8k_duQQmY5NZHoE",{"id":3098,"title":3099,"body":3100,"competitor":3122,"date":443,"description":3472,"extension":445,"logo":3473,"meta":3474,"navigation":448,"path":3475,"pricingChecked":450,"seo":3476,"stem":3477,"updated":453,"__hash__":3478},"comparisons\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-plutio.md","Billebly vs Plutio: business-management suite or simple billing?",{"type":8,"value":3101,"toc":3454},[3102,3105,3108,3110,3218,3222,3225,3232,3234,3237,3241,3244,3247,3249,3361,3367,3369,3372,3379,3382,3385,3387,3390,3393,3395,3398,3400,3403,3406,3408,3411,3413,3416,3420,3423,3425,3428,3432,3435,3439,3442,3445,3447,3450],[11,3103,3104],{},"Plutio is a business-management platform for freelancers and small\nagencies: projects and tasks, a CRM\u002Fpipeline, proposals and contracts,\ninvoicing, time tracking, forms, client portals, and internal messaging,\nstarting at $19\u002Fmonth. Billebly covers one part of that (clients,\ninvoices, time tracking, and payment status) for free. This comparison\nis for anyone deciding whether they need a full delivery-and-billing\nplatform or just the billing part.",[11,3106,3107],{},"The core tradeoff is breadth versus simplicity. Plutio genuinely replaces\nseveral tools if you use most of what it offers. Billebly replaces the\ninvoicing tool specifically, without asking you to learn a project\nmanagement system to do it.",[23,3109,26],{"id":25},[28,3111,3112,3123],{},[31,3113,3114],{},[34,3115,3116,3118,3120],{},[37,3117],{},[37,3119,41],{},[37,3121,3122],{},"Plutio",[46,3124,3125,3134,3143,3153,3162,3170,3179,3188,3198,3209],{},[34,3126,3127,3129,3131],{},[51,3128,53],{},[51,3130,56],{},[51,3132,3133],{},"$19\u002Fmo (Core)",[34,3135,3136,3138,3140],{},[51,3137,75],{},[51,3139,78],{},[51,3141,3142],{},"Monthly\u002Fannual subscription, tiered by capacity",[34,3144,3145,3148,3150],{},[51,3146,3147],{},"Projects & tasks",[51,3149,67],{},[51,3151,3152],{},"Yes, with Kanban\u002Ftimeline\u002Fcalendar views",[34,3154,3155,3158,3160],{},[51,3156,3157],{},"CRM & pipeline",[51,3159,203],{},[51,3161,206],{},[34,3163,3164,3166,3168],{},[51,3165,2779],{},[51,3167,67],{},[51,3169,206],{},[34,3171,3172,3174,3176],{},[51,3173,107],{},[51,3175,110],{},[51,3177,3178],{},"Yes, global timer, feeds invoices directly",[34,3180,3181,3183,3185],{},[51,3182,96],{},[51,3184,99],{},[51,3186,3187],{},"Branded, customizable dashboard",[34,3189,3190,3193,3195],{},[51,3191,3192],{},"Automation",[51,3194,67],{},[51,3196,3197],{},"Native workflow automation",[34,3199,3200,3203,3206],{},[51,3201,3202],{},"Learning curve",[51,3204,3205],{},"Minimal",[51,3207,3208],{},"Reviewers describe it as steep",[34,3210,3211,3213,3215],{},[51,3212,139],{},[51,3214,552],{},[51,3216,3217],{},"Running projects, clients, and billing in one workspace",[23,3219,3221],{"id":3220},"what-is-plutio","What is Plutio?",[11,3223,3224],{},"Plutio is a bootstrapped, all-in-one platform built around the idea that a\nfreelancer or small agency shouldn't need a separate app for projects,\nCRM, proposals, invoicing, time tracking, and client communication. Its\ntagline is literally \"not another tool in your stack; this one replaces\nthe stack.\" It ships with Kanban\u002Flist\u002Ftimeline task views, a proposal\neditor with e-signatures, recurring invoicing, a global always-on time\ntracker, drag-and-drop forms, and a client-facing chat inbox, plus native\nworkflow automation that doesn't require a separate Zapier subscription\nfor internal triggers.",[11,3226,3227,3228,3231],{},"The breadth is real, and so is the tradeoff. G2 and TrustRadius reviewers\nconsistently describe a ",[18,3229,3230],{},"steep learning curve",": \"overwhelming,\" takes\nreal time to navigate all the features, onboarding \"could be more\nhelpful.\" Capterra reviewers have also flagged the automation marketing\nas overstated, saying they still needed Zapier or Make for anything\nbeyond Plutio's built-in triggers. New features are reported as sometimes\nbuggy on release. None of this makes Plutio a bad product (its Capterra\nrating sits around 4.6\u002F5), but it's a genuinely bigger system to learn\nthan a single-purpose billing tool.",[23,3233,163],{"id":162},[11,3235,3236],{},"Billebly is a free invoicing and payments tool built for one job: getting\nfreelancers, coaches, and consultants paid, quickly and without setup. A\nclient list, one-off and recurring invoices, quotes that convert straight\ninto invoices once accepted, time tracking that becomes invoice line\nitems automatically, and a dashboard showing paid, pending, and overdue\namounts, all live in a single flow with nothing to configure first. It\nskips projects, a CRM pipeline, and proposal editors on purpose: those\nare separate categories of software with their own learning curve, and\nplenty of freelancers already have a place for that work (email, a\nproject tool, a shared doc) and just need the billing part to be fast and\nfree. The free plan has no subscription either; cost only appears when a\npayment is actually processed.",[23,3238,3240],{"id":3239},"billebly-vs-plutio-key-differences","Billebly vs Plutio: key differences",[11,3242,3243],{},"Plutio is built around delivery: managing the work itself (tasks,\nprojects, client communication) alongside getting paid for it. Billebly\nassumes the delivery side is handled somewhere else, or isn't complex\nenough to need software, and focuses only on the billing loop.",[11,3245,3246],{},"That difference in scope shows up directly in onboarding time. Plutio has\nreal depth to learn (task views, automation rules, form builders, a\nmessaging inbox), and reviewers are consistent that this takes real\neffort to use well. Billebly has almost nothing to learn: there's one\nflow (add a client, build an invoice, send a link, track payment), and no\nplan or module to configure first.",[23,3248,180],{"id":179},[28,3250,3251,3261],{},[31,3252,3253],{},[34,3254,3255,3257,3259],{},[37,3256,189],{},[37,3258,41],{},[37,3260,3122],{},[46,3262,3263,3271,3281,3289,3298,3307,3316,3324,3333,3343,3352],{},[34,3264,3265,3267,3269],{},[51,3266,200],{},[51,3268,203],{},[51,3270,509],{},[34,3272,3273,3276,3278],{},[51,3274,3275],{},"Projects & task management",[51,3277,67],{},[51,3279,3280],{},"Yes, multiple views",[34,3282,3283,3285,3287],{},[51,3284,615],{},[51,3286,67],{},[51,3288,206],{},[34,3290,3291,3293,3295],{},[51,3292,211],{},[51,3294,206],{},[51,3296,3297],{},"Yes, multi-currency",[34,3299,3300,3302,3304],{},[51,3301,220],{},[51,3303,206],{},[51,3305,3306],{},"Yes, manual or auto-billing",[34,3308,3309,3311,3313],{},[51,3310,239],{},[51,3312,206],{},[51,3314,3315],{},"Yes, global timer widget",[34,3317,3318,3320,3322],{},[51,3319,259],{},[51,3321,67],{},[51,3323,1801],{},[34,3325,3326,3328,3330],{},[51,3327,96],{},[51,3329,271],{},[51,3331,3332],{},"Branded, customizable",[34,3334,3335,3338,3340],{},[51,3336,3337],{},"Forms",[51,3339,67],{},[51,3341,3342],{},"Drag-and-drop, with payment collection",[34,3344,3345,3347,3349],{},[51,3346,3197],{},[51,3348,67],{},[51,3350,3351],{},"Yes, metered by plan",[34,3353,3354,3356,3358],{},[51,3355,1056],{},[51,3357,67],{},[51,3359,3360],{},"QuickBooks Online, free on all plans",[304,3362,3364],{"title":3363,"type":307},"When Plutio's extra layer earns its keep",[11,3365,3366],{},"Most freelancers, coaches, and consultants just need work billed and paid\nfor, which is exactly what Billebly is built to do without a setup\nprocess. There's a narrower case where Plutio's project and CRM layer is\nworth the subscription and the ramp-up: a team running actual multi-week\nproject delivery (tasks, deadlines, a client-facing dashboard) alongside\nbilling, where the delivery work itself needs shared, structured\ntracking. If that's not the daily reality, it's worth trying the simpler\ntool first.",[23,3368,314],{"id":313},[11,3370,3371],{},"Plutio: $19\u002Fmonth (Core, billed monthly) or roughly $15\u002Fmonth billed\nannually, covering up to 9 active clients with no separate contributors.\n$49\u002Fmonth (Pro) or roughly $39\u002Fmonth annually adds unlimited clients and\n30 contributor seats. $199\u002Fmonth (Max) removes contributor limits and\nadds white-labeling and SSO by default. A 7-day free trial is available\nwith no card required. Plutio's core features (invoicing, proposals,\ncontracts, time tracking, forms) are largely the same across tiers: the\nplan mainly buys client capacity, automation volume, AI credits, and\nstorage, not different functionality.",[11,3373,320,3374,328],{},[322,3375,3378],{"href":3376,"rel":3377},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.plutio.com\u002Fpricing",[326],"Plutio's pricing page",[11,3380,3381],{},"Billebly: free plan, no subscription. A 0.5% platform fee on payments\nactually processed, plus Stripe's standard processing rate (roughly 1.5% +\n€0.25 for cards, less for bank transfers). No monthly minimum. An optional\nPremium plan costs €9\u002Fmonth (excl. VAT) and lowers the platform fee to\n0.2%.",[11,3383,3384],{},"For a solo freelancer with fewer than 9 active clients, Plutio's Core\nplan at $19\u002Fmonth is a fixed cost regardless of billing volume. On\nBillebly's free plan, cost tracks activity instead: it's cheaper in a slow\nmonth, and still likely cheaper than $19\u002Fmonth at moderate billing\nvolumes, though the comparison changes fast once you're also using\nPlutio's projects, CRM, and forms in place of tools you'd otherwise pay\nfor separately.",[23,3386,338],{"id":337},[11,3388,3389],{},"Both handle one-off and recurring invoices, and both convert tracked time\ndirectly into invoice line items without manual re-entry. Plutio adds\nmulti-currency invoicing, automatic receipts, and (through its proposal\neditor) line items that carry straight over from a signed proposal into\nan invoice, which functions as its estimate\u002Fquote flow. Billebly also has\na quotes feature: a client accepts a quote and it converts directly into\nan invoice, though without Plutio's full proposal editor or e-signature\nstep.",[11,3391,3392],{},"Plutio's recurring billing supports two modes (auto-send for the client\nto pay, or auto-charge a saved payment method), which Billebly doesn't\ndistinguish: Billebly's recurring invoices charge automatically until\nmanually stopped, with an alert if a charge fails.",[23,3394,348],{"id":347},[11,3396,3397],{},"Plutio connects Stripe, PayPal, and Square, at each processor's standard\nrates (Stripe: 2.9% + $0.30 for cards, 0.8% capped at $5 for US ACH;\nPayPal: 2.9% + $0.30), and adds no transaction fee of its own; both\nStripe and PayPal can be active on the same invoice simultaneously.\nBillebly processes through Stripe only, adding a 0.5% platform fee (0.2%\non Premium) on top of Stripe's rate, with support for cards, iDEAL, SEPA,\nKlarna, Amazon Pay, and bank transfers depending on the client's location.",[23,3399,355],{"id":354},[11,3401,3402],{},"This is the sharpest contrast between the two. Plutio's reviewers are\nconsistent across G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius: the platform is\npowerful once learned, but the learning curve is real, and some new\nfeatures ship with rough edges. Onboarding resources (webinars,\ndocumentation) exist because they're needed.",[11,3404,3405],{},"Billebly is built so there's no curve to climb: add a client, build an\ninvoice, send a link, check the dashboard. That simplicity is the point,\nnot a placeholder for missing depth; there's no automation to configure\nand no module to discover because getting paid shouldn't require either.",[23,3407,365],{"id":364},[11,3409,3410],{},"A freelancer running multi-week or multi-phase projects who wants task\ntracking, a client-facing portal, and proposal-to-invoice automation in\none place will get real value from Plutio, and the learning curve is a\none-time cost against ongoing time saved. A freelancer whose work doesn't\nneed project tracking software at all (the job itself lives in email,\nFigma, Slack, or wherever the actual work happens) and who just needs\ninvoices sent and tracked will find Plutio's project\u002FCRM layer unused\noverhead, and Billebly closer to what they actually need.",[23,3412,372],{"id":371},[11,3414,3415],{},"A small agency managing several client projects concurrently, with team\nmembers who need shared visibility into tasks and pipeline, is better\nserved by Plutio's Pro or Max tiers, which are built for exactly that.\nBillebly is built for a different shape of business: a solo operator, or\na small team where one person owns billing, who wants that one job done\nwithout paying for or learning seats, roles, and shared logins they won't\nuse. That's a deliberate focus, not an oversight, and it's the right fit\nfor most freelance and consulting setups; a business that genuinely needs\nmulti-user access should plan around Plutio's team tiers instead.",[23,3417,3419],{"id":3418},"who-should-choose-plutio","Who should choose Plutio?",[11,3421,3422],{},"A freelancer or small agency managing real projects (not just billing\nrelationships) who wants proposals, tasks, time tracking, and invoicing\nunder one login, and is willing to invest time learning the platform to\nget there.",[23,3424,386],{"id":385},[11,3426,3427],{},"A freelancer, coach, or consultant who doesn't need project management or\na CRM pipeline (because the work itself doesn't require software to\ntrack, or another tool already handles it) and wants invoicing, time\ntracking, and payment status without a subscription or a learning curve.",[23,3429,3431],{"id":3430},"is-billebly-a-good-plutio-alternative","Is Billebly a good Plutio alternative?",[11,3433,3434],{},"For the invoicing and payment-collection piece, yes, and often a better\none: it does that specific job free, with none of the setup Plutio asks\nfor. Someone paying $19 to $49\u002Fmonth for Plutio mainly to send invoices\nand track time, while the projects, forms, and CRM modules sit mostly\nunused, is a strong candidate to switch and save both the subscription\nand the setup time. Project management, proposals, and CRM are a\ndifferent category of tool, and that's Plutio's territory: someone\nactively running client projects through Plutio's task boards and client\nportal is better off staying there.",[23,3436,3438],{"id":3437},"plutio-alternatives","Plutio alternatives",[11,3440,3441],{},"Plutio competes most directly with other all-in-one freelancer platforms:\nMoxie, Dubsado, HoneyBook, SuiteDash, each trading off CRM depth,\nautomation, and price differently. If the appeal is specifically running\nprojects and clients in one system, those are the right comparison set.\nIf the appeal was \"one tool instead of five\" but daily use is closer to\n\"send invoices, track hours, get paid,\" a narrower tool like Billebly is\nworth trying before paying for a platform whose project and CRM layers\ngo unused.",[405,3443],{":faqs":3444},"[{\"question\":\"Does Plutio have a free plan?\",\"answer\":\"No permanent free plan. There's a 7-day free trial with full feature access and no credit card required; after that, plans start at $19\u002Fmonth.\"},{\"question\":\"Is Plutio hard to learn?\",\"answer\":\"Reviewers on G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius consistently describe a real learning curve, especially for automation and template customization. Most say it becomes intuitive after the initial setup period.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Plutio charge fees on top of Stripe or PayPal?\",\"answer\":\"No. Plutio itself doesn't add a transaction fee: you pay Stripe, PayPal, or Square's standard processing rate directly.\"},{\"question\":\"Can Billebly replace Plutio's project management features?\",\"answer\":\"No, Billebly doesn't include task boards, project views, or team collaboration. It stays focused on clients, invoices, time tracking, and payment status, so freelancers who need real project management should keep a dedicated tool for that and use Billebly for the billing side.\"},{\"question\":\"Is Billebly cheaper than Plutio?\",\"answer\":\"It depends on volume. Billebly's free plan has no subscription and charges a small fee only on processed payments, which is usually cheaper than Plutio's $19+\u002Fmonth at low-to-moderate billing volume; an optional Premium plan costs €9\u002Fmonth (excl. VAT) with a lower 0.2% fee. Plutio's price also covers project management, CRM, and forms, which is worth it if you'd use those modules, but not if invoicing and time tracking are the whole job.\"}]",[23,3446,411],{"id":410},[11,3448,3449],{},"For most freelancers, coaches, and consultants, the job is narrower than\nPlutio's pitch: bill a client, track the hours behind it, know what's\nbeen paid. Billebly does exactly that for free, with nothing to configure\nand no learning curve to climb first, which matters given how\nconsistently G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius reviewers describe Plutio as\noverwhelming to onboard onto, with some automation claims that reviewers\nsay oversell what's actually built in. If your work involves managing\nreal projects (tasks, deadlines, a client-facing portal, a team) and\nyou're willing to invest the time learning a bigger platform, Plutio's\nbreadth is worth the subscription and the ramp-up. For everyone else,\nBillebly gets you paid without asking for that investment.",[416,3451],{"button-label":418,"description":3452,"href":420,"title":3453},"If invoicing, time tracking, and payment status are the whole job, there's no reason to learn a full business platform to get it done.","Skip the project-management layer you don't need",{"title":423,"searchDepth":424,"depth":425,"links":3455},[3456,3457,3458,3459,3460,3461,3462,3463,3464,3465,3466,3467,3468,3469,3470,3471],{"id":25,"depth":424,"text":26},{"id":3220,"depth":424,"text":3221},{"id":162,"depth":424,"text":163},{"id":3239,"depth":424,"text":3240},{"id":179,"depth":424,"text":180},{"id":313,"depth":424,"text":314},{"id":337,"depth":424,"text":338},{"id":347,"depth":424,"text":348},{"id":354,"depth":424,"text":355},{"id":364,"depth":424,"text":365},{"id":371,"depth":424,"text":372},{"id":3418,"depth":424,"text":3419},{"id":385,"depth":424,"text":386},{"id":3430,"depth":424,"text":3431},{"id":3437,"depth":424,"text":3438},{"id":410,"depth":424,"text":411},"A comparison of Billebly and Plutio for freelancers deciding between an all-in-one project, CRM, and invoicing platform and a focused billing tool.","\u002Fimages\u002Fcompare\u002Fplutio.png",{},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-plutio",{"title":3099,"description":3472},"compare\u002Fvs-plutio","Ne9wnLDtgfru-1RmZMDGY1YLo1kfYNp8m1Wt3HuDiG8",{"id":3480,"title":3481,"body":3482,"competitor":3504,"date":3885,"description":3886,"extension":445,"logo":3887,"meta":3888,"navigation":448,"path":3889,"pricingChecked":3890,"seo":3891,"stem":3892,"updated":3885,"__hash__":3893},"comparisons\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-stripe-invoicing.md","Billebly vs Stripe Invoicing: do you need both?",{"type":8,"value":3483,"toc":3867},[3484,3487,3490,3492,3604,3608,3611,3614,3616,3619,3622,3626,3629,3632,3635,3637,3756,3762,3764,3767,3770,3783,3786,3789,3791,3794,3797,3799,3802,3804,3807,3810,3812,3815,3817,3820,3824,3827,3829,3832,3836,3839,3843,3855,3858,3860,3863],[11,3485,3486],{},"Stripe is the payments infrastructure behind a huge share of the\ninternet, and Stripe Invoicing is its built-in way to create invoices\nand collect payment on them from the Stripe Dashboard or API. Billebly\nalso runs on Stripe: every payment a Billebly client makes is processed\nby Stripe and lands in a Stripe account in your name. So the honest\nquestion this page answers isn't \"Billebly or Stripe?\", it's \"if Stripe\nalready does invoicing, what does Billebly add on top?\"",[11,3488,3489],{},"The headline difference: Stripe Invoicing is a payments platform's\ninvoicing feature, designed to be flexible enough for SaaS companies,\nmarketplaces, and developers billing through an API. Billebly is a\nbilling workflow for freelancers, coaches, and consultants, with\nclients, time tracking, quotes, and EN 16931 e-invoices built in, and\nStripe doing the money movement underneath.",[23,3491,26],{"id":25},[28,3493,3494,3505],{},[31,3495,3496],{},[34,3497,3498,3500,3502],{},[37,3499],{},[37,3501,41],{},[37,3503,3504],{},"Stripe Invoicing",[46,3506,3507,3516,3527,3538,3548,3556,3566,3575,3584,3594],{},[34,3508,3509,3511,3513],{},[51,3510,53],{},[51,3512,56],{},[51,3514,3515],{},"Free (cost is per paid invoice)",[34,3517,3518,3521,3524],{},[51,3519,3520],{},"Fee on top of Stripe processing",[51,3522,3523],{},"0.5% (free plan) or 0.2% (Premium, €9\u002Fmonth) per payment",[51,3525,3526],{},"0.4% (Starter) or 0.5% (Plus) per paid invoice",[34,3528,3529,3532,3535],{},[51,3530,3531],{},"Recurring billing fee",[51,3533,3534],{},"Same 0.5% (0.2% on Premium)",[51,3536,3537],{},"0.7% of volume via Stripe Billing",[34,3539,3540,3543,3545],{},[51,3541,3542],{},"Client list",[51,3544,206],{},[51,3546,3547],{},"Yes (Stripe Customers)",[34,3549,3550,3552,3554],{},[51,3551,107],{},[51,3553,110],{},[51,3555,1252],{},[34,3557,3558,3561,3563],{},[51,3559,3560],{},"Quotes",[51,3562,206],{},[51,3564,3565],{},"Plus tier only",[34,3567,3568,3570,3572],{},[51,3569,2414],{},[51,3571,2417],{},[51,3573,3574],{},"PDF only, needs a third-party app",[34,3576,3577,3579,3581],{},[51,3578,2566],{},[51,3580,2437],{},[51,3582,3583],{},"Everything Stripe supports",[34,3585,3586,3589,3591],{},[51,3587,3588],{},"API & developer tooling",[51,3590,67],{},[51,3592,3593],{},"Yes, extensive",[34,3595,3596,3598,3601],{},[51,3597,139],{},[51,3599,3600],{},"Freelancers who bill clients for their work",[51,3602,3603],{},"Developers, SaaS, and businesses already deep in Stripe",[23,3605,3607],{"id":3606},"what-is-stripe-invoicing","What is Stripe Invoicing?",[11,3609,3610],{},"Stripe Invoicing (stripe.com\u002Finvoicing) lets any Stripe account create\none-off invoices, send them by email with a hosted payment page, and\ncollect payment through any method Stripe supports in the customer's\ncountry. It includes automatic payment retries and reminder emails, a\ncustomer portal, invoice reconciliation for bank transfers, and\nreporting inside the Stripe Dashboard. Recurring invoices are handled by\nStripe Billing, Stripe's subscription product, which is priced\nseparately.",[11,3612,3613],{},"Stripe Invoicing has no subscription fee. On top of Stripe's normal\npayment processing fees, it charges a percentage of every paid invoice:\n0.4% on the Starter tier and 0.5% on Plus, with Plus adding quotes.\nLarger businesses can negotiate custom pricing. Everything is also\navailable through Stripe's API, which is a big reason developers and\nsoftware companies choose it: invoices can be generated automatically\nfrom your own product.",[23,3615,163],{"id":162},[11,3617,3618],{},"Billebly is a free invoicing and payments tool for freelancers, coaches,\nand consultants. It covers the full loop of client work: a client list,\nquotes that turn into invoices once accepted, time tracking that becomes\ninvoice line items automatically, one-off and recurring invoices, and a\ndashboard showing paid, pending, and overdue amounts. Every invoice also\ncomes with an EN 16931 UBL 2.1 e-invoice, generated automatically and\nemailed alongside the PDF.",[11,3620,3621],{},"Payments run on Stripe Connect. When you set up payments in Billebly,\nStripe's own onboarding creates a connected Stripe account in your name,\nverifies your business, and pays out to your bank account. You don't\nneed an existing Stripe account, and you never need to open the Stripe\nDashboard to send an invoice.",[23,3623,3625],{"id":3624},"billebly-vs-stripe-invoicing-key-differences","Billebly vs Stripe Invoicing: key differences",[11,3627,3628],{},"The clearest difference is who each tool is designed for. Stripe\nInvoicing is a general-purpose building block: it has to work for a SaaS\ncompany billing thousands of customers through an API, a marketplace,\nand a one-person agency, all at once. That flexibility shows in the\nDashboard, which is built around payments, customers, products, and\nprices, with invoicing as one part of a much larger product.",[11,3630,3631],{},"Billebly is narrower on purpose. It's organized around the questions a\nfreelancer actually asks: who is this invoice for, what work did I do,\nand has it been paid yet? Logged hours flow into an invoice as line\nitems, a quote becomes an invoice with one click once the client\naccepts, and the dashboard shows money owed per client rather than a\nstream of transactions.",[11,3633,3634],{},"The second difference is e-invoicing. Stripe Invoicing generates PDF\ninvoices; to produce EN 16931 e-invoices you need a third-party app from\nthe Stripe App Marketplace or your own integration. Billebly generates a\ncompliant UBL 2.1 e-invoice for every invoice automatically, at no extra\ncost. Neither tool transmits invoices over the Peppol network itself.",[23,3636,180],{"id":179},[28,3638,3639,3649],{},[31,3640,3641],{},[34,3642,3643,3645,3647],{},[37,3644,189],{},[37,3646,41],{},[37,3648,3504],{},[46,3650,3651,3659,3667,3675,3684,3692,3701,3710,3720,3728,3738,3747],{},[34,3652,3653,3655,3657],{},[51,3654,3542],{},[51,3656,206],{},[51,3658,3547],{},[34,3660,3661,3663,3665],{},[51,3662,239],{},[51,3664,206],{},[51,3666,1252],{},[34,3668,3669,3671,3673],{},[51,3670,211],{},[51,3672,206],{},[51,3674,206],{},[34,3676,3677,3679,3681],{},[51,3678,220],{},[51,3680,206],{},[51,3682,3683],{},"Yes, via Stripe Billing (separate fee)",[34,3685,3686,3688,3690],{},[51,3687,656],{},[51,3689,206],{},[51,3691,3565],{},[34,3693,3694,3696,3698],{},[51,3695,2414],{},[51,3697,2417],{},[51,3699,3700],{},"Third-party app or own integration",[34,3702,3703,3705,3707],{},[51,3704,2424],{},[51,3706,67],{},[51,3708,3709],{},"No (third-party apps only)",[34,3711,3712,3715,3717],{},[51,3713,3714],{},"Automatic payment reminders",[51,3716,206],{},[51,3718,3719],{},"Yes, with smart retries",[34,3721,3722,3724,3726],{},[51,3723,2566],{},[51,3725,2437],{},[51,3727,3583],{},[34,3729,3730,3732,3735],{},[51,3731,2575],{},[51,3733,3734],{},"Yes, per client",[51,3736,3737],{},"Yes, transaction and invoice reporting",[34,3739,3740,3743,3745],{},[51,3741,3742],{},"API & webhooks",[51,3744,67],{},[51,3746,206],{},[34,3748,3749,3751,3753],{},[51,3750,2593],{},[51,3752,2596],{},[51,3754,3755],{},"Yes, broad currency support",[304,3757,3759],{"title":3758,"type":307},"When Stripe Invoicing on its own is the right call",[11,3760,3761],{},"If you're a developer or run a software product, and invoices should be\ncreated automatically by your own code (usage-based billing, SaaS\nsubscriptions, marketplace payouts), use Stripe Invoicing and Stripe\nBilling directly. Billebly has no API and isn't trying to compete with\nStripe as a developer platform. It's built for people who send invoices\nby hand to clients they know by name.",[23,3763,314],{"id":313},[11,3765,3766],{},"Stripe Invoicing and Billebly's free plan both charge nothing up front and\ntake a small percentage of what you get paid, on top of Stripe's standard\nprocessing fee (roughly 1.5% + €0.25 for European cards, less for bank\nmethods like iDEAL and SEPA). That processing fee is the same either way,\nbecause it's Stripe processing the payment in both cases.",[11,3768,3769],{},"Stripe Invoicing: 0.4% per paid invoice on Starter, 0.5% on Plus (which\nadds quotes). Recurring invoices go through Stripe Billing, which\ncharges 0.7% of recurring billing volume on pay-as-you-go pricing.",[11,3771,320,3772,3777,3778,328],{},[322,3773,3776],{"href":3774,"rel":3775},"https:\u002F\u002Fstripe.com\u002Finvoicing\u002Fpricing",[326],"Stripe Invoicing pricing","\nand ",[322,3779,3782],{"href":3780,"rel":3781},"https:\u002F\u002Fstripe.com\u002Fbilling\u002Fpricing",[326],"Stripe Billing pricing",[11,3784,3785],{},"Billebly: free plan, no subscription. A 0.5% platform fee on payments\nactually processed, the same for one-off and recurring invoices, and you\nchoose whether you or the client absorbs it. Quotes, time tracking, and\ne-invoicing are included. An optional Premium plan costs €9\u002Fmonth (excl.\nVAT) and lowers the platform fee to 0.2%.",[11,3787,3788],{},"To put numbers on it, using Billebly's free plan: on a €1,000 invoice,\nStripe Invoicing Starter costs €4 on top of processing, Plus costs €5,\nand Billebly costs €5. On a €1,000 monthly retainer, Stripe Billing costs\n€7 a month and Billebly costs €5. So for one-off invoices without quotes,\nStripe Invoicing Starter is slightly cheaper; with quotes, it's the same;\nfor recurring billing, Billebly is cheaper. The real difference isn't the\nfee, it's what you get for it.",[23,3790,338],{"id":337},[11,3792,3793],{},"Stripe Invoicing is very capable. Invoices can carry line items, taxes,\ndiscounts, custom fields, and memo text, and Stripe Tax can calculate VAT\nif you pay for it. Hosted invoice pages, automatic reminders, and smart\npayment retries are good, and Stripe Billing handles almost any\nsubscription model you can think of.",[11,3795,3796],{},"What Stripe doesn't know about is your work. There's no time tracking,\nso hourly work has to be totalled somewhere else and typed in. Quotes\nneed the Plus tier. And because Stripe Billing is built for product\nsubscriptions, a simple monthly retainer means setting up a product and\na price before you can bill for it. In Billebly, a recurring invoice is\njust an invoice that repeats, and logged hours land on the next invoice\nautomatically.",[23,3798,348],{"id":347},[11,3800,3801],{},"This is where the two tools are closest, because Billebly payments are\nStripe payments. Your clients pay on a Stripe-hosted checkout, money\ngoes into a Stripe account in your name, and Stripe handles fraud\nchecks, disputes, and payouts to your bank. Stripe Invoicing gives you\naccess to every payment method Stripe supports; Billebly focuses on the\nones freelance and consulting clients actually use: cards, iDEAL, SEPA,\nKlarna, Amazon Pay, and bank transfer, depending on the client's\nlocation.",[23,3803,355],{"id":354},[11,3805,3806],{},"The Stripe Dashboard is powerful and deliberately general. Before sending\na first invoice you'll create a Stripe account, set up business details,\nadd customers, and, for recurring work, define products and prices. It's\neasy for anyone comfortable with software, but there's a lot of screen\nthat has nothing to do with invoicing a client.",[11,3808,3809],{},"Billebly's setup is shorter: add a client, build or convert an invoice,\nsend it, and watch the dashboard. Stripe's onboarding still runs once to\nverify your business, but it's embedded in Billebly, so you never have to\nlearn the Stripe Dashboard.",[23,3811,365],{"id":364},[11,3813,3814],{},"For a freelancer, coach, or consultant who bills clients for their time\nand work, Billebly is the closer fit: time tracking, quotes, and\ne-invoices are included, recurring retainers are simpler and cheaper,\nand you still get Stripe's payment infrastructure underneath. Stripe\nInvoicing makes sense for a freelancer who already runs their business\nthrough the Stripe Dashboard, sends only occasional one-off invoices, and\ndoesn't need quotes, time tracking, or e-invoices.",[23,3816,372],{"id":371},[11,3818,3819],{},"A software company, online store, or any business that wants invoices\ncreated automatically from its own systems should use Stripe directly.\nThe API, webhooks, Stripe Billing's subscription models, and the wider\nStripe ecosystem are the point. Billebly is built for a single operator\nsending invoices to their own clients, so it doesn't try to compete\nthere.",[23,3821,3823],{"id":3822},"who-should-choose-stripe-invoicing","Who should choose Stripe Invoicing?",[11,3825,3826],{},"Developers, SaaS businesses, and anyone who needs invoices generated\nthrough an API, wants every payment method Stripe offers, or already\nmanages their whole business inside the Stripe Dashboard and only sends\nthe occasional one-off invoice.",[23,3828,386],{"id":385},[11,3830,3831],{},"A freelancer, coach, or consultant who wants clients, quotes, time\ntracking, recurring invoices, and EN 16931 e-invoices in one simple\ntool, with Stripe's payment infrastructure underneath but without having\nto learn or configure the Stripe Dashboard.",[23,3833,3835],{"id":3834},"is-billebly-a-good-stripe-invoicing-alternative","Is Billebly a good Stripe Invoicing alternative?",[11,3837,3838],{},"It's less an alternative than a layer on top: Billebly uses Stripe for\nevery payment, so you keep Stripe's reliability, checkout, and payouts.\nWhat changes is everything around the payment. If you invoice clients\nfor your work, Billebly's free plan adds time tracking, quotes, e-invoicing,\nand a client-centered dashboard for the same 0.5% that Stripe Invoicing Plus\ncharges, and less than Stripe Billing for recurring work. If you need an\nAPI or automated billing from your own software, stay with Stripe\ndirectly.",[23,3840,3842],{"id":3841},"stripe-invoicing-alternatives","Stripe Invoicing alternatives",[11,3844,3845,3846,3848,3849,3851,3852,3854],{},"Other payments companies with invoicing built in include\n",[322,3847,2711],{"href":2716},", PayPal, and Square, each with invoicing\nlayered on top of payment processing. Freelancer-focused tools like\n",[322,3850,480],{"href":812}," and ",[322,3853,2745],{"href":3093}," add client\nmanagement, proposals, and contracts, but charge a monthly subscription.\nBillebly sits in between: a freelancer-focused workflow with Stripe\nunderneath and a free plan that needs no subscription.",[405,3856],{":faqs":3857},"[{\"question\":\"Does Billebly use Stripe?\",\"answer\":\"Yes. Every payment through Billebly is processed by Stripe via Stripe Connect. When you set up payments, Stripe's own onboarding creates a connected Stripe account in your name, and payouts go from Stripe to your bank account. Billebly never sees or stores card or bank details.\"},{\"question\":\"Do I need a Stripe account to use Billebly?\",\"answer\":\"You don't need one beforehand. Billebly's payment setup creates a connected Stripe account for you through Stripe's embedded onboarding, including the identity verification Stripe requires. You don't need to use the Stripe Dashboard to send invoices.\"},{\"question\":\"Is Billebly cheaper than Stripe Invoicing?\",\"answer\":\"It depends on how you bill. Both charge on top of Stripe's processing fee, which is the same either way. For one-off invoices, Stripe Invoicing Starter charges 0.4% and Billebly's free plan 0.5%, the same as Stripe Invoicing Plus. For recurring billing, Stripe Billing charges 0.7% while Billebly's free plan stays at 0.5%. Billebly also includes quotes, time tracking, and e-invoicing at that rate. Its optional Premium plan lowers the fee to 0.2% for €9\u002Fmonth (excl. VAT).\"},{\"question\":\"Does Stripe Invoicing support EN 16931 e-invoicing?\",\"answer\":\"Not natively. Stripe Invoicing generates PDF invoices; EN 16931 UBL or Peppol e-invoices require a third-party app from the Stripe App Marketplace or your own integration. Billebly generates an EN 16931 UBL 2.1 e-invoice automatically for every invoice.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Stripe Invoicing have time tracking?\",\"answer\":\"No. Stripe Invoicing has no time tracking, so hourly work has to be tracked elsewhere and entered by hand. Billebly turns logged hours into invoice line items automatically.\"}]",[23,3859,411],{"id":410},[11,3861,3862],{},"Stripe Invoicing is excellent infrastructure, and it's the right choice\nif you're a developer, a software business, or someone who already lives\nin the Stripe Dashboard. For freelancers, coaches, and consultants who\nbill clients for their work, Billebly gives you the same Stripe payments\nwith the parts Stripe doesn't cover: time tracking, quotes, e-invoices,\nsimple retainers, and a dashboard built around clients, for a fee that's\nequal to or lower than Stripe's own in most cases.",[416,3864],{"button-label":418,"description":3865,"href":420,"title":3866},"Billebly adds clients, time tracking, quotes, and e-invoices on top of Stripe, for free.","Keep Stripe's payments, skip the Stripe Dashboard",{"title":423,"searchDepth":424,"depth":425,"links":3868},[3869,3870,3871,3872,3873,3874,3875,3876,3877,3878,3879,3880,3881,3882,3883,3884],{"id":25,"depth":424,"text":26},{"id":3606,"depth":424,"text":3607},{"id":162,"depth":424,"text":163},{"id":3624,"depth":424,"text":3625},{"id":179,"depth":424,"text":180},{"id":313,"depth":424,"text":314},{"id":337,"depth":424,"text":338},{"id":347,"depth":424,"text":348},{"id":354,"depth":424,"text":355},{"id":364,"depth":424,"text":365},{"id":371,"depth":424,"text":372},{"id":3822,"depth":424,"text":3823},{"id":385,"depth":424,"text":386},{"id":3834,"depth":424,"text":3835},{"id":3841,"depth":424,"text":3842},{"id":410,"depth":424,"text":411},"2026-10-10","Billebly runs on Stripe, so why not use Stripe Invoicing directly? An honest comparison of fees, features, and setup for freelancers and consultants.","\u002Fimages\u002Fcompare\u002Fstripe-invoicing.svg",{},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-stripe-invoicing","2026-10",{"title":3481,"description":3886},"compare\u002Fvs-stripe-invoicing","hJr7DQ-y-D_nM_wuLuRIDcjThD9cZf7uYls3YysQfG8",{"id":3895,"title":3896,"body":3897,"competitor":3919,"date":4241,"description":4242,"extension":445,"logo":4243,"meta":4244,"navigation":448,"path":4245,"pricingChecked":450,"seo":4246,"stem":4247,"updated":453,"__hash__":4248},"comparisons\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-wave.md","Billebly vs Wave: which is right for freelancers?",{"type":8,"value":3898,"toc":4223},[3899,3902,3905,3907,3994,3998,4001,4004,4006,4009,4013,4016,4019,4022,4024,4131,4137,4139,4142,4149,4152,4155,4157,4160,4163,4165,4168,4170,4173,4176,4178,4181,4183,4186,4190,4193,4195,4198,4202,4205,4209,4212,4215,4217,4220],[11,3900,3901],{},"Wave is a free accounting platform (owned by H&R Block) built around\ndouble-entry bookkeeping, with invoicing as one part of a larger suite\nthat also covers receipt scanning, payroll, and financial reporting.\nBillebly focuses narrowly on clients, invoices, time tracking, and\npayment status, without the accounting layer underneath. This comparison\nis for freelancers deciding whether they actually need real bookkeeping\nalongside invoicing, or just a fast, focused way to bill and get paid.",[11,3903,3904],{},"The headline difference: Wave is built to produce real financial\nstatements a bookkeeper or accountant would recognize. Billebly is built\nto answer a narrower, more immediate question: who owes you money, and\nhave they paid.",[23,3906,26],{"id":25},[28,3908,3909,3920],{},[31,3910,3911],{},[34,3912,3913,3915,3917],{},[37,3914],{},[37,3916,41],{},[37,3918,3919],{},"Wave",[46,3921,3922,3931,3940,3948,3956,3966,3976,3985],{},[34,3923,3924,3926,3928],{},[51,3925,53],{},[51,3927,56],{},[51,3929,3930],{},"Free (Starter), optional Pro plan $19\u002Fmo",[34,3932,3933,3935,3937],{},[51,3934,75],{},[51,3936,78],{},[51,3938,3939],{},"Free core + optional subscription, plus payment processing fees",[34,3941,3942,3944,3946],{},[51,3943,64],{},[51,3945,67],{},[51,3947,264],{},[34,3949,3950,3952,3954],{},[51,3951,107],{},[51,3953,110],{},[51,3955,1252],{},[34,3957,3958,3961,3963],{},[51,3959,3960],{},"Receipt scanning",[51,3962,67],{},[51,3964,3965],{},"Yes, as a paid add-on on either plan",[34,3967,3968,3971,3973],{},[51,3969,3970],{},"Payroll",[51,3972,67],{},[51,3974,3975],{},"Yes, paid add-on (US\u002FCanada only)",[34,3977,3978,3980,3982],{},[51,3979,2445],{},[51,3981,2448],{},[51,3983,3984],{},"Strongest in US\u002FCanada",[34,3986,3987,3989,3991],{},[51,3988,139],{},[51,3990,552],{},[51,3992,3993],{},"Real bookkeeping and financial statements alongside invoicing",[23,3995,3997],{"id":3996},"what-is-wave","What is Wave?",[11,3999,4000],{},"Wave (waveapps.com) is a free accounting platform built primarily for\nsmall businesses and freelancers in the US and Canada, with invoicing as\none part of a larger accounting suite: double-entry bookkeeping, a chart\nof accounts, receipt scanning through its mobile app, bank connections,\nand financial reports like profit and loss statements and balance\nsheets. The core accounting and invoicing tools are free to use on the\nStarter plan, with no usage limits. Wave also offers an optional Pro plan\nat $19\u002Fmonth ($190 billed annually) with somewhat lower card-processing\ncosts, and receipt capture is a paid add-on on either plan.",[11,4002,4003],{},"Wave's payment processing (Wave Payments) and payroll (Wave Payroll, US\nand Canada only) are separate paid add-ons layered on top of the free\naccounting core, charged per transaction or per month respectively. Wave\nhas no native time tracking, and support is largely self-serve (email\nand help center), with paid bookkeeping coaching available separately\nthrough Wave Advisors for anyone who wants hands-on help with the books.",[23,4005,163],{"id":162},[11,4007,4008],{},"Billebly is a free invoicing and payments tool for freelancers, coaches,\nand consultants, built around the part of the job that actually\ndetermines whether you get paid: a client list, one-off and recurring\ninvoices, time tracking that becomes invoice line items automatically,\nand a dashboard showing paid, pending, and overdue amounts. It's built to\nanswer one question quickly, who owes you money and have they paid,\nrather than to double as a bookkeeping system. That focus means there's\nno chart of accounts, journal entries, or financial statements to\nmaintain, which is a deliberate choice, not a missing checkbox: it keeps\nthe product simple for the freelancers, coaches, and consultants it's\nbuilt for.",[23,4010,4012],{"id":4011},"billebly-vs-wave-key-differences","Billebly vs Wave: key differences",[11,4014,4015],{},"The fundamental difference is depth of financial record-keeping. Wave is\nbuilt to produce real financial statements, including a balance sheet\nand profit and loss report, the kind of output an accountant or a tax\nauthority might actually want to see. Billebly produces a payment status\ndashboard: what's paid, what's outstanding, what's overdue. That's useful\nfor knowing where you stand with clients, but it isn't bookkeeping.",[11,4017,4018],{},"Billebly skips the accounting layer entirely: it's built for the moment\nwork turns into an invoice and gets paid, not for reconciling a ledger or\ngenerating a balance sheet. That leaves general ledger accounting to Wave\nand dedicated bookkeeping software, and keeps Billebly free and fast for\nthe billing job it does cover.",[11,4020,4021],{},"The other clear difference is time tracking. Wave has no native\ntime-tracking feature at all, so hourly billing that depends on logged\nhours needs a separate tool feeding into Wave's invoices. Billebly builds\nthat connection in directly: hours logged against a client pull straight\nonto an invoice as billable line items.",[23,4023,180],{"id":179},[28,4025,4026,4036],{},[31,4027,4028],{},[34,4029,4030,4032,4034],{},[37,4031,189],{},[37,4033,41],{},[37,4035,3919],{},[46,4037,4038,4046,4054,4062,4070,4078,4087,4096,4104,4112,4121],{},[34,4039,4040,4042,4044],{},[51,4041,200],{},[51,4043,203],{},[51,4045,206],{},[34,4047,4048,4050,4052],{},[51,4049,211],{},[51,4051,206],{},[51,4053,206],{},[34,4055,4056,4058,4060],{},[51,4057,220],{},[51,4059,206],{},[51,4061,206],{},[34,4063,4064,4066,4068],{},[51,4065,239],{},[51,4067,206],{},[51,4069,1252],{},[34,4071,4072,4074,4076],{},[51,4073,64],{},[51,4075,67],{},[51,4077,264],{},[34,4079,4080,4082,4084],{},[51,4081,3960],{},[51,4083,67],{},[51,4085,4086],{},"Yes, paid add-on on either plan",[34,4088,4089,4092,4094],{},[51,4090,4091],{},"Financial reports (P&L, balance sheet)",[51,4093,67],{},[51,4095,206],{},[34,4097,4098,4100,4102],{},[51,4099,3970],{},[51,4101,67],{},[51,4103,3975],{},[34,4105,4106,4108,4110],{},[51,4107,96],{},[51,4109,271],{},[51,4111,271],{},[34,4113,4114,4117,4119],{},[51,4115,4116],{},"Bank connections for reconciliation",[51,4118,67],{},[51,4120,206],{},[34,4122,4123,4126,4128],{},[51,4124,4125],{},"Bookkeeping coaching",[51,4127,67],{},[51,4129,4130],{},"Yes, paid (Wave Advisors)",[304,4132,4134],{"title":4133,"type":307},"When Wave's accounting depth is actually worth it",[11,4135,4136],{},"If you're managing real books, want a chart of accounts and financial\nstatements ready for tax time, or need payroll for a US or Canadian\nbusiness, Wave's free accounting core (or its Pro plan) covers that\nground well. It's a specific, broader need though: most freelancers,\ncoaches, and consultants just want to know who owes them money and get\npaid quickly, and that's exactly what Billebly is built for, with time\ntracking built in that Wave doesn't offer at all.",[23,4138,314],{"id":313},[11,4140,4141],{},"Wave: the Starter plan is free for core invoicing and accounting, with no\nusage limits. An optional Pro plan costs $19\u002Fmonth or $190\u002Fyear and\nlowers card-processing costs slightly. Receipt capture is a paid add-on\non either plan ($11\u002Fmonth on Starter, $8\u002Fmonth on Pro), and payroll (Wave\nPayroll, US\u002FCanada only) starts at $25\u002Fmonth. Payment processing (Wave\nPayments) is charged per transaction on top of either plan.",[11,4143,320,4144,328],{},[322,4145,4148],{"href":4146,"rel":4147},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.waveapps.com\u002Fpricing",[326],"Wave's pricing page",[11,4150,4151],{},"Billebly: free plan, no subscription. A 0.5% platform fee on payments\nactually processed, plus Stripe's standard processing rate (roughly 1.5% +\n€0.25 for cards, less for bank methods). No monthly minimum, no seat fee,\nand no country restriction. An optional Premium plan costs €9\u002Fmonth (excl.\nVAT) and lowers the platform fee to 0.2%.",[11,4153,4154],{},"Both tools are free at the core, which makes the comparison less about\ncost and more about scope. Wave's free tier is free because the paid\nadd-ons (payments, payroll, receipt capture, and the Pro plan) are where\nit makes money.\nBillebly's free plan stays free because cost only shows up on payments\nactually processed, and it isn't trying to sell bookkeeping or payroll\nsoftware in the first place.",[23,4156,338],{"id":337},[11,4158,4159],{},"Both support one-off and recurring invoices. Wave adds automatic payment\nreminders and, since invoices post directly into its double-entry ledger,\nrevenue tracking that's automatically accurate for tax prep. Billebly's\nrecurring invoices charge automatically until manually stopped, with an\nalert if a payment fails, and its quotes feature lets a client accept a\nquote that converts directly into an invoice, without a full accounting\nsystem underneath it.",[11,4161,4162],{},"Where Wave pulls ahead: invoices feed directly into real books, so\nyear-end tax prep and financial reporting are already done by the time\nyou need them. Where Billebly pulls ahead: time tracking built directly\ninto the invoice flow, which Wave doesn't offer, plus nothing to\nconfigure or pay extra for if all you need is the invoice-to-payment\npath.",[23,4164,348],{"id":347},[11,4166,4167],{},"Wave Payments processes cards and bank payments at its own\nper-transaction rates (typically a percentage plus a fixed fee for\ncards, and a lower rate for bank payments), with somewhat lower rates\navailable on the Pro plan. Billebly processes through Stripe, with a 0.5%\nplatform fee (0.2% on Premium) plus Stripe's rate, supporting cards,\niDEAL, SEPA, Klarna, Amazon Pay, and bank transfers depending on the client's\nlocation. Wave's payment infrastructure is strongest for US and Canadian\nbusinesses; Billebly's Stripe-based processing gives it broader payment\nmethod coverage for clients outside North America.",[23,4169,355],{"id":354},[11,4171,4172],{},"Reviewers are generally consistent that Wave's core invoicing and\nreceipt scanning are approachable for non-accountants, even though real\nbookkeeping sits underneath. That said, getting the most out of Wave (a\nclean chart of accounts, accurate categorization, useful reports)\nbenefits from at least some basic accounting knowledge, which is part of\nwhy Wave Advisors exists as a paid coaching add-on. Support is largely\nself-serve, without a dedicated phone line.",[11,4174,4175],{},"Billebly has no comparable accounting layer to grow into: add a client,\nbuild an invoice, send a link, check the dashboard, with no chart of\naccounts or bookkeeping concepts to learn along the way.",[23,4177,365],{"id":364},[11,4179,4180],{},"A freelancer who wants real books, whether because they're managing\nmeaningful revenue, working with an accountant, or simply want accurate\nfinancial statements ready at tax time, is well served by Wave's free\naccounting core. A freelancer, coach, or consultant who just wants to\ninvoice, get paid, and see a clear picture of what's owed, without\nlearning accounting concepts or configuring a ledger, will find Billebly\ncloser to what they actually need, especially if hourly time tracking\nmatters to how they bill.",[23,4182,372],{"id":371},[11,4184,4185],{},"A small US or Canadian business that wants bookkeeping, payroll, and\nfinancial reporting in one free platform is well served by Wave,\nparticularly once volume justifies the Pro plan or payroll add-on.\nBillebly is built for a single operator by design, with a client list and\ninvoice-and-payment workflow sized for one person's client roster rather\nthan payroll or multi-employee accounting. For a freelancer, coach, or\none-person consultancy, that focus is exactly the point: no ledger to\nreconcile, no payroll to configure, just billing that works for one\nperson.",[23,4187,4189],{"id":4188},"who-should-choose-wave","Who should choose Wave?",[11,4191,4192],{},"A freelancer or small business, particularly in the US or Canada, that\nwants genuine double-entry bookkeeping (a chart of accounts, financial\nstatements, and optionally payroll) bundled with invoicing, and doesn't\nneed time tracking built in.",[23,4194,386],{"id":385},[11,4196,4197],{},"A freelancer, coach, or consultant who doesn't need a general ledger and\njust wants clients, invoices, time tracking, and payment status handled\nsimply, with no country restriction and no accounting concepts to learn\nalong the way.",[23,4199,4201],{"id":4200},"is-billebly-a-good-wave-alternative","Is Billebly a good Wave alternative?",[11,4203,4204],{},"For bookkeeping, no: real double-entry accounting and financial\nstatements are Wave's core purpose, and Billebly doesn't attempt them at\nany level. For invoicing, time tracking, and payment collection, yes,\nand often a better direct fit, since Wave has no time tracking at all and\nits accounting depth goes unused by anyone who just needs to bill and get\npaid. Someone using Wave purely to send invoices, without touching the\nbookkeeping or reports, is a good candidate to try Billebly for that\nnarrower job. Someone relying on Wave's ledger, financial statements, or\npayroll should stay with Wave.",[23,4206,4208],{"id":4207},"wave-alternatives","Wave alternatives",[11,4210,4211],{},"Within free and budget accounting software, Wave competes with tools like\nAkaunting, Frappe Books, and, among more established mainstream options,\nQuickBooks Online and Xero. Each trades off self-hosting, accounting\ndepth, and price differently. If real bookkeeping is the actual goal,\nthose are the right comparison set. If the appeal was mainly \"free\ninvoicing,\" but daily use is closer to \"invoice, log time, and get paid\"\nwithout ever touching a chart of accounts, Billebly is worth trying\nalongside or instead of Wave's full accounting suite.",[405,4213],{":faqs":4214},"[{\"question\":\"Is Wave really free?\",\"answer\":\"The core invoicing and accounting tools are free on the Starter plan, with no usage limits. An optional Pro plan costs $19\u002Fmonth ($190\u002Fyear), and receipt capture is a paid add-on on either plan. Payment processing and payroll are separate paid add-ons on top of either plan.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Wave have time tracking?\",\"answer\":\"No, Wave has no native time-tracking feature, so hourly billing that depends on logged hours needs a separate tool feeding into Wave's invoices. Billebly builds this in directly: logged hours become invoice line items automatically.\"},{\"question\":\"Is Wave available outside the US and Canada?\",\"answer\":\"Wave's invoicing can be used more broadly, but its strongest features, including payroll and some banking integrations, are focused on the US and Canada. Billebly has no country restriction and supports a wider range of local payment methods through Stripe.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Billebly have double-entry bookkeeping?\",\"answer\":\"No, Billebly focuses on a payment status dashboard (paid, pending, overdue) instead of a chart of accounts or financial statement reporting. That keeps it fast and simple for freelancers who mainly need to know who owes them money; pair it with an accountant or Wave-style software if you need financial statements too.\"},{\"question\":\"Does Billebly charge for payment processing like Wave does?\",\"answer\":\"Billebly charges a 0.5% platform fee on payments actually processed (0.2% on its optional Premium plan, €9\u002Fmonth excl. VAT), plus Stripe's standard processing rate. Wave Payments charges its own per-transaction rate, with somewhat lower rates available on Wave's Pro plan.\"}]",[23,4216,411],{"id":410},[11,4218,4219],{},"For most freelancers, coaches, and consultants, the actual daily need is\nsending invoices, tracking hours, and getting paid, not maintaining a\nchart of accounts, and Billebly does that job for free, with time\ntracking built in that Wave doesn't offer at all. If you need real\nbookkeeping, including financial statements and, for US and Canadian\nbusinesses, payroll, Wave's free accounting core (or its Pro plan) is a\ngenuinely strong choice and worth using for that purpose. Most other\nfreelancers, especially those who bill hourly or operate outside the\nUS\u002FCanada, are better served starting with Billebly's simpler, free\nworkflow and adding accounting software only once real bookkeeping needs\nshow up.",[416,4221],{"button-label":418,"description":4222,"href":420,"title":421},"Billebly skips the accounting layer entirely: add a client, log time, send an invoice, and track what's paid.",{"title":423,"searchDepth":424,"depth":425,"links":4224},[4225,4226,4227,4228,4229,4230,4231,4232,4233,4234,4235,4236,4237,4238,4239,4240],{"id":25,"depth":424,"text":26},{"id":3996,"depth":424,"text":3997},{"id":162,"depth":424,"text":163},{"id":4011,"depth":424,"text":4012},{"id":179,"depth":424,"text":180},{"id":313,"depth":424,"text":314},{"id":337,"depth":424,"text":338},{"id":347,"depth":424,"text":348},{"id":354,"depth":424,"text":355},{"id":364,"depth":424,"text":365},{"id":371,"depth":424,"text":372},{"id":4188,"depth":424,"text":4189},{"id":385,"depth":424,"text":386},{"id":4200,"depth":424,"text":4201},{"id":4207,"depth":424,"text":4208},{"id":410,"depth":424,"text":411},"2026-03-02","A comparison of Billebly and Wave for freelancers who need invoicing and payments without full double-entry accounting.","\u002Fimages\u002Fcompare\u002Fwave.png",{},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-wave",{"title":3896,"description":4242},"compare\u002Fvs-wave","1qX_bT7Ehm0Icw0jX6yuRUS18FQJqW_uvlLPX0zyc0M",1792840630048]