FreshBooks vs Miru
FreshBooks
freshbooks.comMiru
miru.soSide by side
| Figure | FreshBooks | Miru |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $4.60/mo | $0.83/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 7 | 4 |
| Spec score · Time Billing Software | 9.0 (#5) | 9.0 (#6) |
| API | The public API exposes FreshBooks data as JSON for web and desktop integrations and uses OAuth2 access tokens. | Miru exposes a REST API with CRUD operations for time entries, invoices, clients, projects, expenses and payments using bearer-token authentication. |
| Company founding | FreshBooks says Mike McDerment founded the company in 2003. | LinkedIn gives Saeloun a founding year of 2019. |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Canada | India |
| Integrations | FreshBooks App Store lists more than 100 partner integrations covering payments, payroll, scheduling, projects and other workflows. | Official pages identify Stripe payments, QuickBooks Online export or sync, SMTP email, CSV and PDF export, Zapier, Make and n8n connectivity. |
| Invoicing | The product creates branded invoices, recurring invoices, reminders and online payment requests. | Miru generates invoices from tracked hours, supports line items, taxes, discounts and branded PDFs, and emails invoices to clients. |
| Licence | The service is proprietary: its terms grant limited access and prohibit modifying, redistributing or creating derivatives of FreshBooks content. | The project is released under the MIT licence and the hosted feature set is stated to be present in the open-source version. |
| Payments | The pricing page lists card and ACH payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and buy now, pay later options. | Clients can pay invoices through Stripe Checkout, after which Miru records the invoice as paid. |
| Security | FreshBooks states that browser traffic uses 256-bit SSL, data is firewalled and servers undergo regular vulnerability scans. | The security page says hosted data is encrypted at rest and in transit, with TLS 1.3 connections and AES-256 encryption for stored data. |
| Self-hosting | FreshBooks is delivered as a hosted cloud service and its official materials provide no self-hosted deployment option. | The self-hosting documentation covers Docker, environment variables, PostgreSQL, email delivery and Linux production deployment. |
| Support | The Help Center organizes guidance for invoices, payments, expenses, projects, reports, payroll, integrations and mobile use, with FreshBot routing support options. | The hosted plan includes priority email support, self-hosted users get community support on Discord, and the managed plan lists monitoring and support. |
| Time tracking | Users can track time against clients and projects and generate invoices from tracked time. | The product supports browser timers, manual entries, weekly approvals and member-specific rates. |
Plans
FreshBooks
- Lite$23 a month
- Plus$43 a month
- Premium$70 a month
- Lite$4.60 a month
- Plus$8.60 a month
- Premium$14 a month
- SelectPriced on request
Miru
- Self-hostedFree
- Miru Cloud$1 a month
- Miru Cloud Annual$10 a year
- Managed Miru$1,000 a month
In their own words
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is accounting software for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small businesses. It creates invoices with tracked time and expenses, calculates taxes, and offers configurable payment options. Users can track time against clients and projects, then generate invoices from those records. Projects organize client work, team members, time, invoices, and expenses, and include profitability views. Listed payment options include card and ACH payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and buy now, pay later options. FreshBooks also offers recurring invoices, expense tracking, and a client portal. Its API uses OAuth2 for integrations and account automation. The service runs on the web and has iOS and Android apps, but some features, including reporting, are desktop-only. Mobile apps require iOS 15 or later or Android 7.0 or later. Lite costs $23 a month and includes five billable clients; Plus costs $43 a month and includes 50. Premium costs $70 a month and includes unlimited clients. Double-entry accounting is available on Plus, Premium, and Select. There is no free plan, and the listed trial lasts 30 days.
Miru
Miru is open-source software for teams that bill by the hour, combining time tracking, invoicing, expenses, payments, and reporting. Users can record time with timers or manual entries, submit work for weekly approval, and set rates for each team member. Invoices can be generated from approved or tracked work and include expenses, taxes, and discounts. Reports cover paid, pending, overdue, and projected revenue, plus project and team analytics. Miru supports a client portal and expense billing, but not recurring invoices. Integrations include Stripe, Google Calendar, SMTP email, CSV and PDF export, CSV import, REST API, CLI, Zapier, Make, and n8n. It can export clients, invoices, and recorded payments to QuickBooks Online through a one-way sync. The local-first desktop timer syncs with Miru and runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows; iOS and Android apps are in beta. Customers can self-host the MIT-licensed Rails app, but must manage operations, backups, upgrades, and security maintenance. The self-hosted plan is free. Miru Cloud is $1 a month, billed Or $10/member/year.; hosted data is encrypted at rest and in transit.