Invoice Ninja vs InvoiceShelf
Invoice Ninja
invoiceninja.com
InvoiceShelf
invoiceshelf.comSide by side
| Figure | Invoice Ninja | InvoiceShelf |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $3.33/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 7 | 2 |
| Spec score · Accounts Receivable Software | 9.0 (#1) | 8.4 (#2) |
| Spec score · Invoicing software | 8.6 (#24) | 8.8 (#17) |
| Integrations | Invoice Ninja connects to Zapier, Make, Pabbly, n8n, Integrately, Gmail, MSN, QuickBooks, Slack, Mailchimp, Yodlee and GoCardless. | The maker advertises Stripe checkout for online card payments and supports SMTP, sendmail, PHP mail, Amazon SES, Mailgun, and Postmark for email delivery. |
| Invoicing | Users can create branded invoices and quotes with product libraries, customizable templates, custom numbering, deposits, partial payments and bulk emailing. | It supports branded invoices and estimates, custom fields, tax rules, multi-currency, and PDF templates. |
| Payments | The service supports one-click client payments, recurring billing, ACH or bank transfers and gateways including Stripe, PayPal, Square, GoCardless, Authorize.net and Mollie. | The application records partial and full payments and tracks outstanding balances. |
| Rating on Google Play | 4.7 out of 5 from 612 reviews | No numeric rating or review count was displayed on the opened listing. |
| Security | Invoice Ninja states that its hosted platform has SOC 2 certification, PCI-DSS and GDPR compliance, TLS 1.2+ in transit, AES-256 at rest, MFA, role-based access and audit logging. | The InvoiceShelf 2.4.6 release notes say it fixed two security issues involving file disk selection and saved storage credentials. |
| Self-hosting | Self-hosted deployments are offered through manual server installation, Docker or Podman, Cloudron, Softaculous, Elestio and YunoHost. | Official deployment options are Docker Compose or manual installation on infrastructure controlled by the user. |
| Support | The company says customers can email the co-founders for support and also points users to community forums, Slack, and Discord. | The product page lists community support on Discord and links to GitHub Discussions for installation help. |
| System requirements | Self-hosting requires PHP 8.2 with listed extensions, MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+, and nginx or Apache with HTTPS. | The download page specifies PHP 8.3 or 8.4, Nginx or Apache, and MySQL 8+, MariaDB 10.4+, PostgreSQL 13+, or SQLite 3.35+. |
| What it does | Invoice Ninja combines invoicing, online payments, expenses, time tracking and project management for freelancers and small businesses. | InvoiceShelf is a self-hosted web application for invoices, estimates, payment tracking, expenses, and customer records. |
Plans
Invoice Ninja
- FreeFree
- Ninja Pro$14 a month
- Enterprise$18 a month
- Self-hosting white-label$40 a year
- Ninja Pro$140 a year
- Premium BusinessPriced on request
- Premium Business$280 a year
In their own words
Invoice Ninja
Invoice Ninja provides invoicing, payments, expenses, time tracking, and project tools for freelancers and small businesses. It supports recurring invoices, automatic billing, quotes, and 11 customizable invoice templates. Clients can pay invoices through gateways including Stripe, PayPal, Square, and GoCardless. Users can track billable time, manage projects with Kanban boards, and record expenses and vendors. Integrations include Zapier, Make, Pabbly Connect, and n8n; REST API access is available on Pro and Enterprise plans. Browser, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android apps sync data across devices. The source-code-available product can also be deployed on a user's own server, which Invoice Ninja describes as free to self-host. For hosted use, the company says its platform completed a SOC 2 examination and lists TLS 1.2+ encryption in transit, AES-256 encryption at rest, and MFA availability. The free plan costs nothing and includes five clients, unlimited invoicing, and 11 templates. Ninja Pro costs $14 a month, and Enterprise costs $18 a month, with Enterprise pricing scaled by account users.
InvoiceShelf
InvoiceShelf is a free, open-source, self-hosted web application for invoices, estimates, payment tracking, and expense management. It supports branded documents, custom fields, tax rules, multiple currencies, and PDF templates. Recurring invoices can be generated for retainers, subscriptions, and repeat customers, while reports cover sales, taxes, overdue balances, and profit. Customers can view invoices, estimates, and payments in a private portal without creating a separate account. Users can record partial and full payments; the homepage lists Stripe checkout for online card payments. The application also supports payment reminders, remote file storage through listed drivers such as Dropbox, Amazon S3, and DigitalOcean Spaces, and backups from its interface. Backups can include everything, only the database, or only files. It advertises a REST API and module system, while webhooks are marked as coming soon. Hosting requires PHP 8.3 or 8.4, Nginx or Apache, and a supported database. The free plan is listed as free and includes unlimited invoices and customers.