FreshBooks vs Zoho Books
FreshBooks
freshbooks.com
Zoho Books
zoho.comSide by side
| Figure | FreshBooks | Zoho Books |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $4.60/mo | $15/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 7 | 6 |
| Spec score · Financial Management | 9.1 (#2) | 8.3 (#14) |
| Spec score · Accounting & Finance Software | 9.1 (#2) | 8.3 (#15) |
| Spec score · Bookkeeper Software | 9.2 (#2) | 8.3 (#16) |
| Spec score · SaaS Accounting Software | 9.1 (#2) | 8.3 (#11) |
| Spec score · Bookkeeping Software | 9.2 (#7) | 9.2 (#6) |
| Spec score · Gym Accounting Software | 9.1 (#3) | 8.3 (#19) |
| Spec score · Trucking Accounting | 9.2 (#2) | 8.3 (#6) |
| Spec score · Core Financial Management | 9.1 (#3) | 8.3 (#16) |
| Spec score · Accounting APIs | 9.0 (#3) | 8.3 (#12) |
| Spec score · Time Billing Software | 9.0 (#5) | 8.3 (#16) |
| Spec score · Salon Accounting Software | 9.1 (#6) | 8.3 (#19) |
| Founded | 2003 | 2011 |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Canada | Pleasanton, California, USA |
| Integrations | FreshBooks App Store lists more than 100 partner integrations covering payments, payroll, scheduling, projects and other workflows. | Zoho Books connects with apps through its integrations offering and online sales channels on Elite. |
| Paid from | 23 | 15 |
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
Zoho Books
- FreeFree
- Standard$15 a month
- Professional$40 a month
- Premium$60 a month
- Elite$120 a month
- Ultimate$240 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.
Zoho Books
Zoho Books is an accounting service for invoices, bills, banking, inventory, expenses, projects, reporting, and online payments. It includes bank feeds, automated reconciliation, receipt capture, and accountant access, with dedicated iOS and Android apps. Inventory tools cover stock tracking, reorder alerts, warehouses, serial numbers, batch tracking, and bin locations. It supports foreign transactions with exchange rates applied in real time, and changes sync across devices with automatic cloud backup. Transactions use two-factor authentication and SSL encryption; Zoho Books does not store credit card information. The free plan includes one user and one accountant, allows five scheduled reports, and remains available indefinitely while annual revenue is at or below $50K. Standard costs $15 a month with annual billing. A 14-day free trial is available. Subscriptions are pay-as-you-go without a contract commitment and can be cancelled. Support hours are Monday to Friday, 9 am to 9 pm ET, with channels varying by plan.