FreshBooks
Invoicing and time tracking built for people who bill by the hour, with AI now doing the categorising and the chasing.
What FreshBooks is best for
The categories FreshBooks is listed in, and how strong a fit it is in each.
Business, Finance & Professional Work
Business strategy, investing, market research, legal, sales, HR, accounting, consulting.
Works, not its focus
FreshBooks’s biggest strengths
Business, Finance & Professional WorkInvoicing and time tracking built for people who bill by the hour, with AI now doing the categorising and the chasing.
Where it may not be the best fit
Business, Finance & Professional WorkThere is no free plan at all — the 30 days is a trial and then it stops. The prices on its cards are a 90 per cent introductory discount for three months, so the standing rates are ten times what the page leads with. Client count is the real limit: 5 on Lite, 50 on Plus, unlimited above.
FreshBooks pricing
FreshBooks has no usable free tier.
LiteBilling to 5 clients, real-time expense tracking, estimates, card, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay and buy-now-pay-later collection, and tax-time reports. An offer running as this was checked cut the first three months to $2.30 a month, or a first-year total of $191.27
$23/moPlusBilling to 50 clients, plus proposals, client retainers and financial and accounting reports. The same offer cut the first three months to $4.30, or a first year of $357.59
$43/moPremiumUnlimited clients on everything above. The offer cut the first three months to $7, or a first year of $582.12
$70/moSelectUnlimited clients, lower credit card transaction fees and capped ACH bank transfer fees
CustomChecked by hand on 4 September 2026. Prices change often, so confirm on the provider’s own page before spending.
Who makes FreshBooks
Aimed at freelancers and small service businesses. There is no free plan, only a 30-day trial.
CompanyFreshBooks
Founded2003
Based inToronto, CA
SectorProductivity & agents
ModelThird-party
StatusPrivate
Primary usersFreelancers, SMB
Free planNo
ComputeThird-party
Public listingNone announced
Best alternatives to FreshBooks
Tools that do comparable work, best fit first, drawn from the catalogue rather than hand-picked. Every one is listed whether or not there is money in it for us.
ChatGPT
Free
Broad professional coverage with strong spreadsheet and chart handling. Good default for analysis you would otherwise do by hand.
View ChatGPT →Claude
Free
The general option most used for professional work — strategy memos, contract reading, financial reasoning over documents you upload.
View Claude →Microsoft 365 Copilot
Paid
Sits inside Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams, so it works on the documents and meetings a company already has. The closest thing to AI that needs no change of habit.
View Microsoft 365 Copilot →Apollo
Free
Contact data, sequences and call recording in one place, so research and outreach do not live in separate tools.
View Apollo →Beefi
Free
A plain REST API over SEC EDGAR — company records, stock prices, financial statements, insider trades and filings across more than ten thousand listed companies, with a free key and a hundred requests a minute.
View Beefi →Clay
Free
A spreadsheet where each row can call data providers and models, which makes research that used to take a week into an afternoon.
View Clay →FreshBooks by job
Where FreshBooks sits in the wider category pages.
Best AI for Business
Works, not its focus — Business strategy, investing, market research, legal, sales, HR, accounting, consulting.
Questions about FreshBooks
Is FreshBooks free?
No. There is no usable free tier Plans: Lite — $23 a month is the standing rate, or $276 a year; billing to 5 clients, real-time expense tracking, estimates, card, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay and buy-now-pay-later collection, and tax-time reports. An offer running as this was checked cut the first three months to $2.30 a month, or a first-year total of $191.27; Plus — $43 a month is the standing rate, or $516 a year; billing to 50 clients, plus proposals, client retainers and financial and accounting reports. The same offer cut the first three months to $4.30, or a first year of $357.59; Premium — $70 a month is the standing rate, or $840 a year; unlimited clients on everything above. The offer cut the first three months to $7, or a first year of $582.12; Select — priced by arrangement after a call with a consultant; unlimited clients, lower credit card transaction fees and capped ACH bank transfer fees.
What is FreshBooks best at?
Invoicing and time tracking built for people who bill by the hour, with AI now doing the categorising and the chasing. It is listed under Business, Finance & Professional Work.
What should I watch out for with FreshBooks?
There is no free plan at all — the 30 days is a trial and then it stops. The prices on its cards are a 90 per cent introductory discount for three months, so the standing rates are ten times what the page leads with. Client count is the real limit: 5 on Lite, 50 on Plus, unlimited above.
What are the alternatives to FreshBooks?
6 tools do comparable work: ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Apollo, Beefi, Clay. 5 of them have a free plan.
How current is this FreshBooks pricing?
Checked by hand on 4 September 2026. Prices change often — confirm on the provider's own page before spending.