The goal of every business is ultimately to win sales and earn revenue. But when people buy from you, you need a way to bill them for your services and accept payments.
That’s where invoicing software comes into play. On this page, we’ll cover some of the best free invoicing apps. Of course, some of the free apps listed here include paid versions. But since most businesses prefer not to have to pay for this software, we’ll focus on the free plans.
Invoice software is a tool used to facilitate payments between a business and its customers or clients. The best invoicing apps automatically create and send invoices for each purchase, send bills, and process payments.
Benefits of using an invoicing app
The main benefit of using an invoicing app is simple—it saves you time and effort. Rather than manually creating each invoice from scratch, you can let the app do it for you by auto-populating an existing template with the information about each purchase.
That means you can spend time focusing on things like marketing, sales, product innovation, and more. Plus, using an app can help eliminate human error when creating invoices. You can even help cut down on late payments by having the app send out automated reminders to clients.
Features to look for in a free invoicing app
You should expect to find several different features in the best free invoicing software. Those features include:
Inventory tracking: Know how much stock you have and alert you when it’s running low. Thus, you can create accurate invoices based on what you actually have in stock.
Sales analytics: Understand how your business is doing and what your customers like. With sales analytics, you can see trends in your sales, study your data, and make reports to find ways to grow and improve.
Client portal: This makes things easy for your customers. It lets them see their invoices, pay bills, and talk to you all in one place. It’s like a special website for them, improving their experience and keeping them happy.
Integrations with other software: Connect your tools together seamlessly. Your invoice app should work well with your other programs, like your accounting or customer relationship management software. This makes your work smoother, saves time typing things in twice, and keeps all your data consistent.
Access to a mobile app: Stay productive from anywhere. With a mobile app, you can handle invoices no matter where you are. Create, send, and track them on your phone or tablet, so you’re always on top of things, even when you’re not at your desk.
Support team: Having a support team means you can get answers to your questions or fix problems quickly. Good support ensures you get the most out of your invoice app and keeps your business running smoothly.
Admittedly, free invoicing apps may not always have all those features—some tools limit certain features to the paid versions. Still, even the free versions should have most of those features. Keep that in mind as you’re looking into your options.
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First up on our list of the best free invoicing software options is PayPal. Odds are, you’ve already heard of this platform. It’s not just used by businesses—tons of individuals use PayPal to transfer or receive money, too. In fact, that’s one of its biggest advantages. If you sell to consumers, many of them will already know and trust PayPal.
On top of that, it’s great at handling invoices. You can create them fast —plug in a few pieces of info about your customer, and there you go. You can also customize your invoices for your business. That said, it doesn’t come with many advanced invoice-related features.
PayPal Pros:
Clients recognize and trust the PayPal name
Easy accessibility and integration
Straightforward and easy to use, combining payments and invoicing in one platform
PayPal Cons:
Invoicing feature lacks advanced functionalities
Transaction fees can add up
Potentially limited customer support
2. Square
Next up on our list is Square. This tool is super user-friendly, so you don’t have to be experienced with invoices to navigate it. A big plus is that it can process a wide variety of payment types, from cash to checks to Google Pay.
Like some of the other tools on this list, Square also sends out automated reminders about payments. It even lets users include a tip in their payment.
Square also integrates with Nutshell, so you can easily transfer your invoice and sales data between the two.
Square Pros:
Unified platform for managing invoicing processes across different channels
Comprehensive inventory management features for both products and services
All-in-one invoicing and payment solution
Square Cons:
Limited reporting features compared to other invoicing tools
Complex navigation through account settings and customizing templates
Dependency on additional tools for advanced functionality
3. Invoice Ninja
Another of the best free invoicing apps is Invoice Ninja. This tool has all the typical features, but it also has some unique ones. These features are particularly nice if you own multiple businesses (or use the software to manage invoicing for your clients, not yourself) because you can manage them all from one account.
Invoice Ninja Pros:
Open-source coding for high-level customization
Ability to manage invoices for multiple businesses
Payment gateway fee auto-matching
Invoice Ninja Cons:
Only one user allowed one
Free plan restricted to a maximum of only 20 clients
Costly to add more than two users to the Enterprise plan
4. Paymo
Invoicing isn’t the main feature of Paymo—it primarily exists to help with project management and time tracking. However, if your company charges clients based on time spent providing services, it’s just the kind of tool you need.
Since you’ve already used Paymo to track the time spent on each project, it makes sense to use that same tool to manage the invoicing for those projects. Of course, the free plan is limited, but you can always consider upgrading to the paid plan.
Paymo Pros:
Combines time-tracking, project management, and invoicing functionalities in a single tool
Seamless integration of tracked time into invoices
Cost of upgrading to a paid plan is reasonable
Paymo Cons:
Limited reporting and visual customization
Restrictive free plan
Dependency on third-party integrations for enhanced functionality
5. Wave
Perhaps the strongest feature of Wave is its user-friendliness. It has an intuitive interface, and it’s easily navigable on both desktop and mobile. That makes it an excellent choice for businesses that are new to the world of invoicing apps.
In terms of Wave’s capabilities, it offers several valuable features, including adjustable templates and income and expense tracking.
Wave Pros:
Intuitive and user-friendly interface and accessible even from mobile devices
Full feature set with accounting features
Integrates a native payment processor, simplifying the invoice payment process
Wave Cons:
Limited invoice customization
Additional features come with a cost
Dependency on additional features for scalability
6. Invoicely
Invoicely’s free plan allows you to have up to three clients in your account and send up to five invoices per month. In that sense, it’s a fairly limited plan, but it does come with all the best features of an invoicing app—automated payment reminders, expense tracking, and more.
Another nice thing about Invoicely is that it’s compatible with PayPal. If you use PayPal to receive payments but don’t want to use it as your invoicing tool, Invoicely is a great alternative.
Invoicely Pros:
Highly customizable templates for creating professional invoices
Seamless integration with various payment gateways
The application’s web console provides fast processing speeds
Invoicely Cons:
Limited customization of invoice templates
Additional fees for branding options and billing automation tools
Targeted towards premium users with a learning curve
7. Invoice Home
Last on our list of free invoicing apps is Invoice Home. This tool is great if you want something super simple. To create and send out an invoice, you just fill out the necessary info, pick a template, and connect it to the payment gateway.
Beyond that, Invoice Home isn’t loaded with features. This simplicity is a turn-off for many businesses, but others may crave a straightforward and easy-to-use tool.
Invoice Home Pros:
Tons of professionally designed invoice templates
Save your logo, customers, and product/service details
Easy to add payment gateway links
Invoice Home Cons:
Lacks in-depth reporting features and real-time analytics
Unclear free plan inclusions
Payments accepted through Invoice Home are subject to transaction fees
Learn about more helpful digital tools with Nutshell
Now that you know all the best invoicing apps, you may be looking for other helpful digital business tools. If so, you’re already in the right place. Check out some other helpful lists here on the Nutshell blog, or subscribe to our Sell to Win newsletter to get practical sales and marketing tips sent to your inbox!
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