[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":492},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-stripe-invoicing":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"competitor":38,"date":481,"description":482,"extension":483,"logo":484,"meta":485,"navigation":486,"path":487,"pricingChecked":488,"seo":489,"stem":490,"updated":481,"__hash__":491},"comparisons\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-stripe-invoicing.md","Billebly vs Stripe Invoicing: do you need both?",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":460},"minimark",[9,13,16,21,152,156,159,162,166,169,172,176,179,182,185,189,317,325,329,332,335,352,355,358,362,365,368,372,375,379,382,385,389,392,396,399,403,406,410,413,417,420,424,442,446,450,453],[10,11,12],"p",{},"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?\"",[10,14,15],{},"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.",[17,18,20],"h2",{"id":19},"quick-comparison","Quick comparison",[22,23,24,39],"table",{},[25,26,27],"thead",{},[28,29,30,33,36],"tr",{},[31,32],"th",{},[31,34,35],{},"Billebly",[31,37,38],{},"Stripe Invoicing",[40,41,42,54,65,76,87,98,108,119,130,141],"tbody",{},[28,43,44,48,51],{},[45,46,47],"td",{},"Starting price",[45,49,50],{},"Free",[45,52,53],{},"Free (cost is per paid invoice)",[28,55,56,59,62],{},[45,57,58],{},"Fee on top of Stripe processing",[45,60,61],{},"0.5% per payment",[45,63,64],{},"0.4% (Starter) or 0.5% (Plus) per paid invoice",[28,66,67,70,73],{},[45,68,69],{},"Recurring billing fee",[45,71,72],{},"Same 0.5%",[45,74,75],{},"0.7% of volume via Stripe Billing",[28,77,78,81,84],{},[45,79,80],{},"Client list",[45,82,83],{},"Yes",[45,85,86],{},"Yes (Stripe Customers)",[28,88,89,92,95],{},[45,90,91],{},"Time tracking",[45,93,94],{},"Yes, feeds invoices directly",[45,96,97],{},"Not available",[28,99,100,103,105],{},[45,101,102],{},"Quotes",[45,104,83],{},[45,106,107],{},"Plus tier only",[28,109,110,113,116],{},[45,111,112],{},"E-invoicing (EN 16931 UBL 2.1)",[45,114,115],{},"Yes, auto-generated on every invoice",[45,117,118],{},"PDF only, needs a third-party app",[28,120,121,124,127],{},[45,122,123],{},"Payment methods",[45,125,126],{},"Cards, iDEAL, SEPA, Klarna, Amazon Pay, bank transfer",[45,128,129],{},"Everything Stripe supports",[28,131,132,135,138],{},[45,133,134],{},"API & developer tooling",[45,136,137],{},"No",[45,139,140],{},"Yes, extensive",[28,142,143,146,149],{},[45,144,145],{},"Best for",[45,147,148],{},"Freelancers who bill clients for their work",[45,150,151],{},"Developers, SaaS, and businesses already deep in Stripe",[17,153,155],{"id":154},"what-is-stripe-invoicing","What is Stripe Invoicing?",[10,157,158],{},"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.",[10,160,161],{},"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.",[17,163,165],{"id":164},"what-is-billebly","What is Billebly?",[10,167,168],{},"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.",[10,170,171],{},"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.",[17,173,175],{"id":174},"billebly-vs-stripe-invoicing-key-differences","Billebly vs Stripe Invoicing: key differences",[10,177,178],{},"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.",[10,180,181],{},"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.",[10,183,184],{},"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.",[17,186,188],{"id":187},"features-comparison","Features comparison",[22,190,191,202],{},[25,192,193],{},[28,194,195,198,200],{},[31,196,197],{},"Feature",[31,199,35],{},[31,201,38],{},[40,203,204,212,221,230,240,249,258,268,278,286,297,306],{},[28,205,206,208,210],{},[45,207,80],{},[45,209,83],{},[45,211,86],{},[28,213,214,217,219],{},[45,215,216],{},"Time tracking → invoice line items",[45,218,83],{},[45,220,97],{},[28,222,223,226,228],{},[45,224,225],{},"One-off invoices",[45,227,83],{},[45,229,83],{},[28,231,232,235,237],{},[45,233,234],{},"Recurring \u002F subscription billing",[45,236,83],{},[45,238,239],{},"Yes, via Stripe Billing (separate fee)",[28,241,242,245,247],{},[45,243,244],{},"Quotes\u002Festimates",[45,246,83],{},[45,248,107],{},[28,250,251,253,255],{},[45,252,112],{},[45,254,115],{},[45,256,257],{},"Third-party app or own integration",[28,259,260,263,265],{},[45,261,262],{},"Peppol network delivery",[45,264,137],{},[45,266,267],{},"No (third-party apps only)",[28,269,270,273,275],{},[45,271,272],{},"Automatic payment reminders",[45,274,83],{},[45,276,277],{},"Yes, with smart retries",[28,279,280,282,284],{},[45,281,123],{},[45,283,126],{},[45,285,129],{},[28,287,288,291,294],{},[45,289,290],{},"Payment dashboard (paid\u002Fpending\u002Foverdue)",[45,292,293],{},"Yes, per client",[45,295,296],{},"Yes, transaction and invoice reporting",[28,298,299,302,304],{},[45,300,301],{},"API & webhooks",[45,303,137],{},[45,305,83],{},[28,307,308,311,314],{},[45,309,310],{},"Multi-currency",[45,312,313],{},"Depends on payment method",[45,315,316],{},"Yes, broad currency support",[318,319,322],"callout",{"title":320,"type":321},"When Stripe Invoicing on its own is the right call","tip",[10,323,324],{},"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.",[17,326,328],{"id":327},"pricing-comparison","Pricing comparison",[10,330,331],{},"Both tools charge nothing up front and take a small percentage of what\nyou get paid, on top of Stripe's standard processing fee (roughly 1.5% +\n€0.25 for European cards, less for bank methods like iDEAL and SEPA).\nThat processing fee is the same either way, because it's Stripe\nprocessing the payment in both cases.",[10,333,334],{},"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.",[10,336,337,338,345,346,351],{},"Source: ",[339,340,344],"a",{"href":341,"rel":342},"https:\u002F\u002Fstripe.com\u002Finvoicing\u002Fpricing",[343],"nofollow","Stripe Invoicing pricing","\nand ",[339,347,350],{"href":348,"rel":349},"https:\u002F\u002Fstripe.com\u002Fbilling\u002Fpricing",[343],"Stripe Billing pricing",".",[10,353,354],{},"Billebly: free, no tiers. A 0.5% platform fee on payments actually\nprocessed, the same for one-off and recurring invoices, and you choose\nwhether you or the client absorbs it. Quotes, time tracking, and\ne-invoicing are included.",[10,356,357],{},"To put numbers on it: on a €1,000 invoice, Stripe Invoicing Starter\ncosts €4 on top of processing, Plus costs €5, and Billebly costs €5. On a\n€1,000 monthly retainer, Stripe Billing costs €7 a month and Billebly\ncosts €5. So for one-off invoices without quotes, Stripe Invoicing\nStarter is slightly cheaper; with quotes, it's the same; for recurring\nbilling, Billebly is cheaper. The real difference isn't the fee, it's\nwhat you get for it.",[17,359,361],{"id":360},"invoicing-and-billing","Invoicing and billing",[10,363,364],{},"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.",[10,366,367],{},"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.",[17,369,371],{"id":370},"payments","Payments",[10,373,374],{},"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.",[17,376,378],{"id":377},"ease-of-use","Ease of use",[10,380,381],{},"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.",[10,383,384],{},"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.",[17,386,388],{"id":387},"which-is-better-for-freelancers","Which is better for freelancers?",[10,390,391],{},"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.",[17,393,395],{"id":394},"which-is-better-for-small-businesses","Which is better for small businesses?",[10,397,398],{},"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.",[17,400,402],{"id":401},"who-should-choose-stripe-invoicing","Who should choose Stripe Invoicing?",[10,404,405],{},"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.",[17,407,409],{"id":408},"who-should-choose-billebly","Who should choose Billebly?",[10,411,412],{},"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.",[17,414,416],{"id":415},"is-billebly-a-good-stripe-invoicing-alternative","Is Billebly a good Stripe Invoicing alternative?",[10,418,419],{},"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 adds time tracking, quotes, e-invoicing, and a\nclient-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.",[17,421,423],{"id":422},"stripe-invoicing-alternatives","Stripe Invoicing alternatives",[10,425,426,427,431,432,436,437,441],{},"Other payments companies with invoicing built in include\n",[339,428,430],{"href":429},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-mollie","Mollie",", PayPal, and Square, each with invoicing\nlayered on top of payment processing. Freelancer-focused tools like\n",[339,433,435],{"href":434},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-bonsai","Bonsai"," and ",[339,438,440],{"href":439},"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-moxie","Moxie"," add client\nmanagement, proposals, and contracts, but charge a monthly subscription.\nBillebly sits in between: a freelancer-focused workflow with no\nsubscription and Stripe underneath.",[443,444],"faq-block",{":faqs":445},"[{\"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 0.5%, the same as Stripe Invoicing Plus. For recurring billing, Stripe Billing charges 0.7% while Billebly stays at 0.5%. Billebly also includes quotes, time tracking, and e-invoicing at that rate.\"},{\"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.\"}]",[17,447,449],{"id":448},"final-verdict","Final verdict",[10,451,452],{},"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.",[454,455],"cta-banner",{"button-label":456,"description":457,"href":458,"title":459},"Start for free","Billebly adds clients, time tracking, quotes, and e-invoices on top of Stripe, for free.","https:\u002F\u002Fapp.billebly.com\u002Fregister","Keep Stripe's payments, skip the Stripe Dashboard",{"title":461,"searchDepth":462,"depth":463,"links":464},"",2,3,[465,466,467,468,469,470,471,472,473,474,475,476,477,478,479,480],{"id":19,"depth":462,"text":20},{"id":154,"depth":462,"text":155},{"id":164,"depth":462,"text":165},{"id":174,"depth":462,"text":175},{"id":187,"depth":462,"text":188},{"id":327,"depth":462,"text":328},{"id":360,"depth":462,"text":361},{"id":370,"depth":462,"text":371},{"id":377,"depth":462,"text":378},{"id":387,"depth":462,"text":388},{"id":394,"depth":462,"text":395},{"id":401,"depth":462,"text":402},{"id":408,"depth":462,"text":409},{"id":415,"depth":462,"text":416},{"id":422,"depth":462,"text":423},{"id":448,"depth":462,"text":449},"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.","md","\u002Fimages\u002Fcompare\u002Fstripe-invoicing.svg",{},true,"\u002Fcompare\u002Fvs-stripe-invoicing","2026-10",{"title":5,"description":482},"compare\u002Fvs-stripe-invoicing","k1GzoR7gM1fMgkFBox4nc332u7-gwi5ngyKnENXF2Ko",1791662274527]