The Best Invoicing Tools for Freelancers - How to Choose the Right One

🤔 What graphs do I need to include on an invoice? Which payment methods should I offer to clients? How will I keep my accounting records neat? 

These are only some of the questions most freelancers have to wrestle with when it comes to invoicing clients. 

Thankfully, you no longer need to spend hours creating PDFs and managing spreadsheets. Invoicing software does that for you — and this article provides you with the best-of-the-best.  

Benefits of using freelancer invoicing tools

Invoicing apps allow freelancers to create professional invoices, collect payments online and automate extra annoying tasks like invoice follow-ups or recurring billing. In the background, great invoicing tools also do the bookkeeping tasks for you, so that you get a clear snapshot of your income and business spending.

If you’re still on the fence about investing in an invoicing app, here are some great reasons to do so: 

• Streamlined payment collection. Get paid faster as a freelancer by offering clients an easy way to pay online.
• No more embarrassing errors, thanks to automatic data inputs, saved templates and easy invoice editing. 
• Professional clout. Send brandable invoices that look good both on the web and mobile. 
• Built-in compliance features. Auto-add relevant taxes and maintain clean financial records to avoid stress during tax season. 
• Payment status tracking to know exactly when each payment clears through (or gets delayed).  
• Financial analytics. Understand your cash flow better with handy visual charts and reports. 
• Integrated banking. Many invoicing tools also provide a business bank account and extra payment processing tools. 
• Extra security. Safely process payments online to avoid any unsavory cybersecurity mishaps. 

Invoice software saves freelancers hours on mundane financial admin, leading to better personal productivity and more joy from your work. 

7 best invoicing tools for freelancers 

A good invoicing app does two things: helps you collect client payments and organizes your financial records. But the best invoice tools for freelancers do much more — like tracking billable hours, collecting taxes, issuing proposals and helping you remain all-around compliant.  

Whether you’re just starting out, or looking for an upgrade to a free invoice generator, these six invoicing tools are well worth considering 👇 

Xolo Go 

Xolo Go is a simple and robust online invoice generator, built for global freelancers. With Xolo, you can legally invoice clients in 186 countries. 

Create professional invoices in a few clicks using a convenient invoicing app. You’re provided a free European business bank account number to accept SEPA transfers (for free!) and a payment app to process card payments (a 1.9% fee applies). Accept client payments in six currencies without worrying about hefty cross-border or currency conversion fees 🌐

On top of it all, you get a VAT number — allowing you to do business as a legal entity (without the hassle of incorporating one!). With a VAT number, you can transact with other European businesses legally, plus avoid paying extra taxes on business purchases.

Stay atop your finances with a convenient cash flow analytics app, a built-in invoice status tracker, and automated payment reminders on overdue invoices. To avoid late payments, you can also program automatic interest rate collection on each overdue invoice (cha-ching!). 

Xolo Go currently doesn’t support the sales of digital goods or software subscriptions. We’re also not a fit if you plan to run an ecommerce store or drop-ship goods. 

TL:DR: Xolo Go review 

FreshBooks 

FreshBooks is a long-standing leader in accounting software for small business owners. For a monthly subscription, you get access to various business admin tools for bookkeeping, proposal management, report generation and payment collection. 

The in-built invoice generator offers customizable invoice templates and payment processing tools. With FreshBooks, you can collect online payments for delivered services, add billable hours from time sheets and claim business-related expenses from one convenient interface. 

Yet, great user experience and rich feature selection come at a cost. FreshBook has no free plan for its invoice tool. On the lowest subscription tier, you’re also limited to having just five clients. Extra fees also apply for payment processing and access to add-on features. 

TL:DR FreshBooks review 

Stripe Invoicing 

If you ever shopped online, you’ve probably interacted with Stripe. It’s one of the biggest online payment processing and commerce solutions providers on the planet, powering checkouts at popular ecommerce stores, SaaS apps and a bunch of other digital businesses. 

What you may not know is that Stripe also offers a customizable invoice generator. Freelancers can create a Stripe-hosted invoicing page without writing any code. Then configure different billing scenarios e.g., set up a direct debit, process recurring payments or configure subscriptions if you sell productized services.  

Stripe lets you bill clients in any major global currency, plus it supports the biggest selection of payment methods, including local options like iDEAL (The Netherlands), Alipay (South-East Asia) and Boleto (Brazil). 

Convenient checkout experiences, paired with secure transaction processing and a wide payment method selection, is Stripe’s recipe for getting paid faster. The company claims that 

70% of Stripe invoices are paid within 24 hours.

The downside, however, is limited market availability. Stripe is only available in 46 countries, mainly in Europe and North America. Also, payment processing fees vary a lot for different payment methods, which makes it harder to budget for expenses. 

TL:DR Stripe Invoicing review 

Wave 

Wave is often advertised as the best free invoicing tool. Indeed, there are no monthly subscription costs, but you need to mind the payment processing fees of 1% for bank transfers and 2.9% + 60 cents for card payments.

Wave lets you collect online payments and accept payments over the phone. Also, freelancers can securely store client card details in the app and set up recurring billing. Wave’s invoicing software auto-connects to its simple, yet effective accounting app, which helps manage your finances better.  All the payments and expenses data gets neatly stacked in convenient reports by clients, plus you can get a birds-eye view of your month-to-month cash flow. 

Are you a scatty creative type who’s not great with numbers? Wave also offers access to on-demand financial coaches and certified accountants for an extra fee of $149 per month. The Wave team can also help you with tax prep and payroll management if you ever decide to hire an employee. 

One notable drawback of Wave is that it only supports freelancers based in the US or Canada. 

TL:DR Wave review 

HoneyBook

HoneyBook offers a suite of client flow management tools for independents. In other words, you get everything you need to sign on, bill and communicate with your freelance clients. 

HoneyBook’s invoice generator offers sleek, customizable templates. You can add all your services in several clicks, with discounts and taxes calculated automatically. Then kick back and watch your invoice get paid via a bank transfer or credit/debit card. For regular clients, you can also add an auto-pay feature, which will automatically debit their saved payment method. 

Once the money arrives in your HoneyBooks account you can schedule a withdrawal to your connected bank account. You can withdraw funds in full or schedule irregular payouts. Transfers clear through in minutes. 

Besides invoicing, HoneyBook subscriptions provide access to other tools for managing customer proposals, exchanging documents, e-signing contracts and scheduling appointments. 

Similar to Wave, a disadvantage of HoneyBook’s invoicing software is that it’s only available to freelancers from the US or Canada. 

TL:DR Honeybook review 

Bonsai 

Bonsai is another popular SaaS app for all-things business administration. Similar to FreshBooks, it meshes together a host of client management, accounting, tax and invoicing capabilities. 

Using a convenient visual editor, you can issue invoices in seconds. For extra speed, Bonsai lets you save a collection of standard service offerings you can auto-add to your invoice. You can also browse the collection of service packages to get some inspiration for your service model. 

Once you’re done, add a payment collection option — payment by card, PayPal, or via ACH bank transfer. All the funds stored in Bonsai are FDIC-insured up to $250K. Once the money comes through you can decide how to use it. Bonsai lets you set up multiple cash pockets to save for taxes or business expenses. You can also get a physical card or virtual card with Bonsai for business spending. 

Pricing-wise, Bonsai isn’t the cheapest product with plans starting at $17/mo (plus extra payment processing fees). The app also has some regional limitations. For example, contract templates are available only for the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Likewise, you need a US or Canadian business bank account if you want to benefit from automated expense tracking and you need to be incorporated in the US to use Bonsai banking services. 

Overall, if you’re based in another country, you may be more limited in terms of available features (which you’re nonetheless billed for).  

TL:DR Bonsai review 

Useme 

Useme is an invoicing app with custody capabilities. It acts as a neutral third-party guarantor in your deals. You upload your work deliverables to Useme along with the invoice and payment link. Once the invoice is settled, Useme transfers the work to your client and you get paid in 24 hours to your connected bank account. Useme adds a dynamic fee to each invoice (0.99% to 4.7%), based on the invoice sum and currency. It’s passed on to the client. 

Overall, Useme is great for eliminating the chance of non-payment by a nightmare client. But it only works for freelancers doing deliverables-based work. Useme won’t be of much help if you offer consulting services or do hourly-based knowledge work (e.g., tutoring, training, coaching, etc). 

TL:DR: Useme review 

Why is Xolo Go the best invoicing tool for freelancers?

The choice of the best invoicing software boils down to costs, eligibility and extra features that reduce your admin work. Xolo Go offers unbeatable accessibility for a transparent cost, and gives you room for growth. 

Global eligibility 

Xolo Go is available to freelancers in almost every corner of the world (except for locations, under international sanctions). As long as you have a personal bank account in EUR (e.g., with Wise or another digital banking services provider), you’re good to go.

With Xolo, you can legally bill clients in 186 countries. No other invoicing tool on this list boasts the same global reach 🌏

Fast Setup 

Send your first invoice in 10 minutes or less (we timed that!). To start using Xolo Go you need to complete the simplest form, share your ID document and connect a SEPA account. That’s all — no extra paperwork is required. 

Your account will be active on the same day, so you can start invoicing clients right away.  

Competitive pricing  

Ever signed up for a free invoicing app only to get slapped with a random charge a week later? Never again. With Xolo Go, you always pay a flat-rate 5.9% fee on each payout to your personal bank account. There are no hidden fees or monthly subscriptions. 

You can test-drive Xolo Go for free to get a better sense of our tool and then decide if it's worth your money. 

Integrated business banking

Get a business bank account number (IBAN) issued as soon as you register an account. With it, you can accept no-fee bank transfers from clients in the eurozone. 

Need to bill in another currency? Add a pay-by-card link to your invoice to collect payments in USD, GBP, CHF, CAD or SEK. 

VAT compliance 

Get the value-added tax (VAT) rates sorted out for you. Xolo Go automatically calculates VAT charges when these are due. 

Spoiler alert: You won’t have to deal with these much if you’re working with clients outside of Estonia, thanks to a cool thing called the VAT reverse charge mechanism. To avoid double-tax collection, EU tax authorities worked out a system where European companies can apply a zero VAT rate if they’re based in different countries. 

Xolo Go gives you an Estonian VAT number. When you invoice clients in other EU/EEA countries, there is no VAT due. Also, you can avoid paying VAT when buying business-related products or services with your Xolo Go account. Whoop-whoop, tax savings 🤑

Easy company incorporation

Your freelance business is booming and you’re ready for the next big step — company incorporation. 

If you want to operate as a legal entity such as a limited liability company (LLC) to access extra business administration tools, Xolo also helps with incorporation via the e-Residency program. 

e-Residency program allows anyone to start a solo-owned company from any point on the planet and manage it remotely. You upgrade from Xolo Go to Xolo Leap at any time for an affordable cost. The state incorporation fee is €265. Business admin and accounting help from Xolo Leap starts at €59 (+VAT) per month. 

Bottom Line 

Finding the right invoicing app as a freelancer is a bit like dating. You may have a few awkward first encounters until you meet your perfect match. But once you do, your freelance life gets so much better! 

Learn why over 130K freelancers from all around the world made Xolo Go their preferred invoicing tool. 

About Elena

Elena Prokopets writes content for tech-led companies & software development businesses, marketing to them. Her empathy for the customer, expertise in SEO, and knack for storytelling help create content that ranks well and drives industry conversations.

Elena uses Xolo so she can focus on her solo B2B content writing business without stressing over the compliance and admin overhead.