Wave
Free accounting and invoicing software built for small business owners and solo operators.
Independent overview by new Mantra · updated July 22, 2026
- Category
- Finance
- Pricing
- Free plan (invoicing + accounting); Pro $19/mo or $190/yr per business
- Implementation
- Under 1 week
- Adoption risk
- Low
- Integrates with
- Stripe, PayPal, Plaid, Google Sheets, Zapier, Etsy
What Wave does
Wave is a web-based finance platform that handles the core money tasks for small businesses: bookkeeping, invoicing, receipt tracking, and payments. Everything lives in one system, so your income, expenses, and client billing stay connected rather than scattered across separate solutions.
On the accounting side, Wave can import bank transactions and use AI to automatically suggest expense categories, reducing the time you spend sorting entries by hand. Its receipt scanning reads the merchant name, date, and tax amount using OCR, so you can capture paper receipts without typing anything in. An in-app assistant called Mave is also available to help you navigate the product.
Invoicing and estimates are included at no cost, and clients can pay by credit card, bank transfer, or Apple Pay. A paid payroll add-on is available if you need to pay employees or contractors. The platform is entirely browser-based — no software to install — and a mobile app for iOS and Android lets you manage invoices and expenses away from your desk.
Key capabilities
AI transaction categorization
When bank transactions are imported, Wave applies AI to suggest expense categories automatically, cutting down on manual data entry.
OCR receipt scanning
Photograph a receipt and Wave reads the merchant name, date, and tax amount, storing the details without requiring you to type them in.
Invoicing and estimates
Create and send professional invoices or project estimates, collect deposits, and set up recurring billing for repeat clients.
Online payment acceptance
Clients can pay invoices by credit card, bank transfer, or Apple Pay directly through Wave.
Cash flow and reporting
Track who owes you and what you owe, monitor cash flow, and access financial reports to support business decisions.
Mave AI assistant
An in-product assistant called Mave is available to help you find features and answer questions as you work.
Best for
- Solo operators and owner-managers who need accounting and invoicing but cannot justify a large software subscription
- Freelancers, contractors, and consultants who send invoices regularly and want automatic payment reminders
- Service businesses that collect paper receipts and want to digitize and categorize them without manual entry
- Small businesses importing bank transactions that want AI-assisted categorization to speed up bookkeeping
- Professional services firms that want a single system covering estimates, invoices, payments, and basic reporting
Worth knowing
- The free plan covers invoicing and accounting; payment processing, payroll, and some advanced features carry additional costs, so model your expected transaction volume before assuming the solution is entirely free for your use case.
- Wave is designed for small business owners rather than accountants — if you need advanced multi-entity consolidation, complex inventory management, or deep audit trails, you may outgrow it.
- Implementation usually takes under a week, but getting accurate books still requires connecting your bank accounts and reviewing AI-suggested categories rather than accepting them blindly.
- Integrations cover Stripe, PayPal, Plaid, Google Sheets, Zapier, and Etsy — if your workflow depends on solutions outside this list, check compatibility before committing.
- Support options vary by plan tier, so if you anticipate needing hands-on help frequently, review Wave's support model to confirm it matches your expectations.
Related solutions
Ready to see Wave in action?
Not sure where to start? Our free assessment matches your workflow with the AI solution that fits.