The honest one-line answer
If you want time tracking, expenses and proposals under one login and you bill enough clients to cover it, FreshBooks earns its money. If you want an invoice in the next two minutes without a subscription, that is this site.
Side by side
| What | InvoiceTools | FreshBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, every tool | Paid only; Lite was $21 a month when checked, with regular introductory discounts |
| Free tier | The whole site | None. 30 day trial, then a plan |
| Billable client limit | None | Lite caps billable clients; higher plans raise or remove the cap |
| Account needed | No. Optional account adds saved clients and sending | Yes |
| Time tracking | No | Yes, with timers and per project rates |
| Expenses and receipts | Money out on the dashboard for signed-in users | Yes, with bank feeds and receipt capture |
| Proposals and retainers | Quotes and estimates only | Yes, proposals, retainers and client sign off |
| Card payments built in | No. Add your own payment link | Yes, with per transaction fees |
| Accountant access | No | Yes, an accountant seat is included |
| Templates | 200 designs plus Word, Excel and PDF downloads | A small set of invoice themes |
Compared on 5 September 2026. FreshBooks plan facts from freshbooks.com, checked against current public sources: their current pricing has the live numbers.
Where FreshBooks is the better pick
Credit where due: FreshBooks is a genuinely good product for a service business that bills time. The timer, the expense capture with bank feeds, the proposal-to-invoice flow and the accountant seat are all things this site does not attempt. If you bill by the hour across many projects and you want one place for time, expenses and invoices, FreshBooks is the better buy and the subscription pays for itself.
Where this site fits
This site wins on the first two minutes and on staying out of your way: no account, no onboarding, no country restriction, no branding on your documents, and nothing you type leaves the browser. The free invoice generator loads your trade's line items with real starting prices, the Template Studio holds 200 designs, and the payment links tool composes a pay link from the processor you already use rather than routing money through anyone. Chasing is the real cost either way: the late payment statistics show how long invoices actually take to clear.
Also weighing up the others? The Wave comparison and the Invoice Simple comparison are written the same way.
Common questions
Is there a free alternative to FreshBooks?
Yes. The free invoice generator here needs no signup: pick your trade, edit the loaded line items and download the PDF, with nothing stored on a server. There is no trial and no client limit.
Does FreshBooks have a free plan?
No. FreshBooks is subscription only with a 30 day trial. Lite was $21 a month when checked on 5 September 2026, and it caps how many clients you can bill.
Can this site track my time like FreshBooks?
No. There is no timer here. You can price hourly work with the freelance rate calculator and put the hours on the invoice, but the tracking itself is not built in.
Can I give my accountant access like FreshBooks?
No. If your accountant needs to be in the system with you, FreshBooks is the better tool. This site produces documents you can send them.
Is FreshBooks worth it for a business of one?
It is if you bill time, need automatic payment reminders and want expenses tracked against clients. If you write a handful of invoices a month and already know what you are owed, you are paying a monthly fee for automation you are not using.
What happens to my invoices if I stop paying FreshBooks?
Access to the account ends at the end of the billing period, so export what you need before you cancel. FreshBooks can export invoices and reports to CSV and PDF.
Can I keep using FreshBooks and this site together?
Plenty of people do. FreshBooks for the clients on retainer and the recurring billing, this site for the one-off job, the quote you need in the next five minutes, and the document types FreshBooks does not produce, such as a work order or a packing slip.