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Free Zoho Books Alternatives (2027): 12 Free Accounting and Invoicing Tools, From Zoho Invoice, Wave and Manager.io to GnuCash, Akaunting and Odoo

Free Zoho Books Alternatives for Invoicing and Bookkeeping

Zoho Books has one of the better free plans in accounting software, but it has a revenue cap, one user and an annual invoice limit, and it is not offered in every country. If you are a founder or freelancer looking for free accounting software in 2027, you can choose between cloud apps with a free plan, free desktop software and open-source tools you host yourself. We checked every free plan below on the vendor's own pricing page (default view) and every licence on the project's own repository on 1 November 2026, removed the tools from the 2025 version of this list that are no longer free, and added the ones that are.
Quick answer: if you only need to send invoices, Zoho Invoice (free, 500 invoices a year) or Invoice Ninja (free for 5 clients) is enough. For full bookkeeping on one computer, Manager.io Desktop is free forever with no usage limits, and GnuCash is free and open source. In the US or Canada, Wave Starter gives you unlimited invoices and bookkeeping records for free. If you want to host the software yourself, look at Akaunting (free on-premise for 1,000 invoices) or Odoo Community (invoicing, open source). QuickBooks now has a Free plan too, but it allows only 2 invoices a month.
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What Does Zoho Books' Free Plan Include?

The Zoho Books pricing page lists the Free plan at $0 per organisation for one user plus one accountant. It covers invoices, quotes, expenses and journals, receipt and document autoscans, online payments, payment reminders, bank reconciliation, recurring invoices, a profit and loss statement, balance sheet and more than 50 reports, and tax rates and tax summary reports. The limits are in the FAQ: the plan stays free as long as your revenue for the financial year is below 50K USD, and you can create up to 1,000 invoices and 1,000 expenses a year, 50 receipt autoscans a month and 5 scheduled reports. Add-ons other than autoscans are not supported. The Standard plan costs $10 per organisation a month billed annually ($12 monthly) and adds bank feeds, custom fields and 3 users.
Availability depends on your country. Zoho runs separate Zoho Books editions with their own free plan and revenue cap, for example in the United Kingdom (where Zoho says the free plan supports Making Tax Digital and self assessment filing for sole traders and landlords), Australia (free while revenue stays under 50K AUD), India (under 25 lakh rupees), the US, Canada, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. When we checked, there was no German, Dutch or French Zoho Books pricing page, so businesses in much of the EU sign up to the global edition and should check that it handles their local VAT and e-invoicing rules.

Free Zoho Books Alternatives Compared

ToolTypeWhat is freePaid plan from
Zoho InvoiceCloud invoicingUp to 2 users, 500 invoices a year, 3 projects, 2 organisations, Zoho branding on invoicesZoho Books / Zoho Billing
Wave StarterCloud accounting (US, Canada)Unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping recordsPro $19/month
QuickBooks FreeCloud accounting (US page)1 user, 2 invoices a month, 3 reports, 1 bank accountSimple Start $38/month list price
Manager.io DesktopDesktop accountingAll features, no time or usage limits, single userCloud Edition 59 USD/month
GnuCashDesktop, open source (GPL)Everything: double-entry books, small-business features, scheduled transactionsNone
Akaunting On-PremiseSelf-hosted (Business Source License)1 company, 1 user + 1 accountant, 1,000 invoicesCloud from $12/month
Odoo One App Free / CommunityCloud or self-hosted (Community: LGPLv3)One app for unlimited users online; Community: Invoicing, Payments, ExpensesStandard, per user (all apps)
Invoice Ninja FreeCloud invoicing (source-available)5 clients, unlimited invoices, recurring billing, expenses, time trackingNinja Pro $14/month
ZipBooks StarterCloud accountingUnlimited invoices and contacts, basic reports, 1 bank accountSmarter 15/month
BrightbookCloud bookkeepingFree online accounting, no credit cardNone listed
NCH Express AccountsDesktop accountingFree version for businesses with fewer than 5 employeesPaid licence
Firefly IIISelf-hosted personal finance (AGPLv3)Everything; for personal money, not business invoicingNone
Sources: each vendor's official pricing, download and licence pages, default view, checked 1 November 2026. US dollars unless stated; Odoo showed euros from our location. Prices and limits can differ by country and billing cycle.

The Best Free Zoho Books Alternatives in 2027

1. Zoho Invoice: free invoicing from the same company

Zoho Invoice is Zoho's free invoicing app and the easiest step down from Zoho Books if you mainly bill clients. The Zoho Invoice pricing page says it is free for small business owners, freelancers and entrepreneurs, with up to two users, three projects, 500 invoices a year and up to two organisations; invoices carry "Powered by Zoho Invoice" branding. You get quotes, recurring invoices, payment reminders, online payments, expenses, projects with timesheets and a customer portal; for full bookkeeping you move up to Zoho Books. Note the data policy: if you are inactive for more than 180 days, Zoho deletes your data within the next 20 days, after a notice.

2. Wave Starter: free accounting for the US and Canada

Wave is the best-known free accounting app for small businesses in North America. On the Wave pricing page, the Starter plan costs $0 and lets you create unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records, invoice from the mobile app and accept online payments for 2.9% + $0.60 per card transaction. Automatic bank imports, unlimited receipt capture and automatic payment reminders are now in the Pro plan, at $19 USD or $25 CAD a month. Prices are listed only in US and Canadian dollars, and according to BetaKit, Wave limited new sign-ups to businesses in Canada and the US from November 2020. Outside North America, choose another tool from this list.

3. QuickBooks Free: a new free plan with tight limits

Intuit now lists a Free plan on the QuickBooks pricing page (US page): $0 a month with no credit card, for one user and without accountant access. It tracks income and expenses, connects one bank account, includes the three main reports (profit and loss, balance sheet and account quick report) and chat support, but you can send only 2 invoices a month unless you qualify for and turn on QuickBooks Payments. The mobile app and third-party integrations are not available on the free plan. It is a reasonable way to keep simple books if you already plan to move to QuickBooks later; Simple Start is listed at $38 a month.

4. Manager.io Desktop: full accounting, free forever

Manager.io is free accounting software for Windows, Mac and Linux. Its download page calls the desktop edition fully featured and free forever, with no time limits, no usage limits and no ads, and it works without an internet connection. The catch is that the desktop edition is single-user. For a team or remote access you need the Cloud Edition, which costs 59 USD a month for unlimited users and businesses, with a 14-day trial. Manager is a good fit for a solo founder outside North America who wants double-entry books, invoices and reports without a subscription.

5. GnuCash: free and open-source double-entry accounting

GnuCash is personal and small-business accounting software, licensed under the GNU GPL and available for Linux, BSD, macOS and Windows. It is based on professional double-entry accounting and tracks bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses, with small-business accounting features, scheduled transactions, reports and graphs, and QIF/OFX/HBCI import. Volunteers develop it, and version 5.17 was released in September 2026, so the project is active. It is a desktop app that saves to a file on your computer, which keeps your data private but means no built-in online payments or bank feeds.
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6. Akaunting: free to self-host, with limits

Akaunting still calls itself free, open-source accounting software, but its licence has changed. The Akaunting licence is now the Business Source License: production use is allowed with up to two users, one company and 1,000 invoices, and each version converts to GPLv3 four years after it is published. That matches the free Standard On-Premise plan on the Akaunting on-premise plans page (1 company, 1 user plus 1 accountant, 1,000 invoices, community support). There is no free cloud plan: hosted plans start at $12 a month. Version 3.3.0 was released in October 2026.

7. Odoo: One App Free online, or Community on your own server

The Odoo pricing page offers One App Free: one Odoo app for unlimited users, hosted on Odoo Online, free forever, plus any apps it depends on. Odoo Community, the edition you install yourself, is open source under the LGPLv3 licence. According to the Odoo editions comparison, Community includes Invoicing, Payments and Expenses, while the full Accounting app (general ledger, bank reconciliation, budgets and reports) and the mobile app are Enterprise only. Choose Odoo if you also want its CRM, sales or inventory apps later; for bookkeeping alone, Manager.io or GnuCash is simpler.

8. Invoice Ninja Free: invoicing, time tracking and expenses

Invoice Ninja is an invoicing app for freelancers and small businesses. The Invoice Ninja pricing page lists a Free plan, forever free, for 5 clients with unlimited invoicing, 11 invoice templates with your logo, online payments, auto-billing and recurring invoices, products and inventory, projects and time tracking, vendors and expenses, a client portal, deposits and partial payments. Ninja Pro, with unlimited clients and no Invoice Ninja branding, costs $14 a month. The code is public under the Elastic License 2.0, a source-available licence rather than an OSI open-source one; version 5.13.52 came out on 30 October 2026.

9. ZipBooks Starter: simple free bookkeeping

ZipBooks is still running and still has a free plan. The ZipBooks pricing page lists Starter as free, with unlimited invoices, unlimited vendors and customers, digital payments through Square or PayPal, basic reports and one connected bank account. Recurring invoices, reminders, time tracking, more bank accounts and team members start with the Smarter plan, listed at 15 a month.

10. Brightbook: free online bookkeeping

Brightbook describes itself as a free online accounting system: web-based, secure, unlimited and free, with no credit card required and no accounting experience needed. Brightbook says it is used by creative professionals and companies; it suits simple books rather than a full accounting suite. We could not find a public pricing page with limits, so check the features you need after signing up.

11. NCH Express Accounts: free desktop accounting for very small teams

Express Accounts by NCH Software is desktop bookkeeping software for PC and Mac. NCH says a free version is available for small businesses with fewer than five employees; it does not expire, but some features for larger organisations are missing.

12. Firefly III: open-source personal finance, not business accounting

Firefly III is a free and open-source personal finance manager with double-entry bookkeeping, multi-currency transactions, budgets, rules and reports. It is released under the AGPLv3 licence and you host it yourself; the latest stable version, 6.7.9, came out on 11 October 2026. It has no invoicing, so use it to keep your personal money separate from the business while you run the business books in one of the tools above.

Removed or Changed Since the 2025 Version

  • TrulySmall Accounting: removed. It no longer has a free plan: its cheapest plan, Invoices, costs 8.99 USD a month with the first 5 invoices free, and the other plans come with a 14-day trial.
  • FacturasCloud and myBillBook: removed. They are regional tools (Spain and India) and we could not confirm a free plan and its limits on an official pricing page.
  • Wave: receipt scanning and automatic bank imports are now Pro features, and new sign-ups are limited to the US and Canada.
  • Akaunting: no longer open source in the OSI sense; its Business Source License allows free use up to two users, one company and 1,000 invoices.
  • Odoo: "free for a single app" is still true online, but the full Accounting app is not part of the free Community edition.
  • QuickBooks: the 2025 version treated it as a paid-only tool; Intuit now lists a limited Free plan on its US pricing page.
  • Added: Zoho Invoice, Manager.io, Invoice Ninja, Firefly III and QuickBooks Free. Old FAQ answers based on third-party roundups (such as YavaBook and Debitoor) were removed.

Which Free Zoho Books Alternative Should You Choose?

  • You only send invoices: Zoho Invoice (500 invoices a year, 2 users) or Invoice Ninja (5 clients, unlimited invoices).
  • You want full books for free and work alone: Manager.io Desktop, or GnuCash if you prefer open source.
  • Your business is in the US or Canada: Wave Starter, or ZipBooks Starter for basic bookkeeping with one bank account.
  • You want to host the software yourself: Akaunting (within its free limits) or Odoo Community for invoicing.
  • You plan to move to QuickBooks later: QuickBooks Free, keeping in mind the 2 invoices a month.
  • You want to stay with Zoho: keep the Zoho Books free plan while your revenue is under its cap, then compare Standard with the paid plans of the tools above.
  • You are tracking personal money, not a business: Firefly III.

How Founders Use Free Accounting Software

In the first year, most founders need three things: send professional invoices and get paid, keep every income and expense in one place, and hand clean records to an accountant at year end. Free tools do all three if you set them up well. Our guide on how to set up estimates and invoices for service firms shows the invoicing side step by step, and Mean CEO's bookkeeping basics for founders covers the routine that keeps the books clean. Watch the rules in your country: the UK, for example, is moving to mandatory e-invoicing, explained in UK e-invoicing: what founders must do.
Once the books are running, use them. Plan your spending with a free marketing budget calculator, keep an eye on cash flow during rapid growth, and if you consider a loan, prepare your startup for debt financing. Many founders also track customers, orders and projects next to their accounting: see our open-source Airtable alternatives, open-source Notion alternatives and open-source AppSheet alternatives for free databases and internal apps, and HubSpot vs ActiveCampaign if you are choosing a CRM.
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FAQ About Free Zoho Books Alternatives

Is Zoho Books free?

Yes, Zoho Books has a Free plan for one user plus one accountant. It stays free while your revenue for the financial year is under 50K USD (other caps apply in some country editions), with up to 1,000 invoices and 1,000 expenses a year.

What is the best free alternative to Zoho Books?

For full bookkeeping, Manager.io Desktop, which is free forever with no usage limits for one user. For invoicing only, Zoho Invoice or Invoice Ninja. In the US or Canada, Wave Starter.

Is there a free open-source alternative to Zoho Books?

GnuCash is free and open source under the GNU GPL, and Odoo Community (LGPLv3) covers invoicing. Akaunting is free to self-host within limits, but its Business Source License is not an OSI open-source licence.

Is Wave still free?

Wave's Starter plan is free, with unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records. Bank imports and receipt capture are in Pro, at $19 a month, and new sign-ups are limited to businesses in the US and Canada.

Does QuickBooks have a free plan?

Yes. Intuit's US pricing page lists QuickBooks Free at $0 for one user, with 2 invoices a month (more if you qualify for QuickBooks Payments), three reports and one bank account.

Is Zoho Invoice really free?

Yes. Zoho Invoice is free for up to two users, three projects and 500 invoices a year, with "Powered by Zoho Invoice" branding. Data is deleted if the account is inactive for more than 180 days.

Which free accounting software works offline?

Manager.io Desktop and GnuCash run on your own computer without an internet connection. NCH Express Accounts also has a free desktop version for businesses with fewer than five employees.

Can I use Firefly III for my business?

Firefly III is built for personal finance and has no invoicing. Use it for your personal money and a business tool such as Manager.io, GnuCash or Zoho Books for the company.

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You can publish a guest post in one of the Fe/male Switch startup blogs, which rank in Google and in AI tools. Get a quality backlink.

About the Author

Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
2026-11-01 04:54 Top Alternatives