FreshBooks vs. Zoho Invoice

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FreshBooks
Score 8.6 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
FreshBooks is an accounting service for small businesses. The solution enables users to send and manage invoices, track billable time and collect online payments. The vendor’s value proposition this that their solution provides a straightforward service that simplifies the billing process.
$21
per month
Zoho Invoice
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Zoho Invoice is a cloud-based invoicing solution designed to help small businesses with invoicing, tracking expenses, and accepting online payments. Key features include project billing, time tracking, reporting, customizable templates, and a client portaI. Teams using Zoho Invoice can track estimates, convert them to invoices, and send reminders to clients to complete their outstanding payments. Additionally, users can create tasks, collect advance payments for projects, and keep…
$0
Per Organisation, Per Month
Pricing
FreshBooksZoho Invoice
Editions & Modules
Lite
$21
per month
Plus
$38
per month
Premium
$65
per month
Select
Custom Pricing
Free
$0
Per Organisation, Per Month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FreshBooksZoho Invoice
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional Details10% discount for annual pricing.Zoho Invoice is a completely free product. It has no contracts, no ads, and no hidden fees
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
FreshBooksZoho Invoice
Features
FreshBooksZoho Invoice
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
9.1
Ratings
18% above category average
Zoho Invoice
-
Ratings
API for custom integration9.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Plug-ins9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
10.0
Ratings
18% above category average
Zoho Invoice
-
Ratings
Single sign-on capability10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based user permissions10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
7.5
Ratings
5% below category average
Zoho Invoice
-
Ratings
Dashboards9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports8.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports4.80 Ratings00 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
7.5
Ratings
4% below category average
Zoho Invoice
-
Ratings
Accounts payable8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts receivable9.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Cash management7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Bank reconciliation7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Expense management6.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Time tracking7.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Regulations compliance6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service portal9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
9.5
Ratings
21% above category average
Zoho Invoice
-
Ratings
Pricing8.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Order entry9.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Credit card processing9.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost of goods sold10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
User Ratings
FreshBooksZoho Invoice
Likelihood to Recommend
9.4
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.6
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.6
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
FreshBooksZoho Invoice
Likelihood to Recommend
FreshBooks is the perfect tool for businesses who have hundreds of clients and customers whom they invoice regularly. It removes the need to manually send invoices to clients and customers, by streamlining inputted information to create an automated invoicing system which keeps clients and customers up to date with their bills. It is also a great tool for managing expenses, especially for companies with different teams working on varying projects, ensuring these teams do not exceed the budget ceiling.
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Zoho Invoice is well suited for any business, regardless of size, that needs to have a way to create invoices with hourly or flat rates. It's easy to create and archive projects. It also integrates into their other tools, including Zoho Projects. Zoho is great for businesses who want to accept online payments.You can use PayPal, Stripe, and a few others. Clients can also pay via ACH. It lets you know when a payment is processing AND when it clears. I believe that it would not be well suited in instances where a company creates lots of credit notes (because from the invoice screen the credit will appear to grow, but when you check active credit notes, it is the right amount) or estimates (I can't figure out how to use this feature)
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Pros
  • FreshBooks is pretty intuitive to use. I did have some questions when I first started using the system, but it wasn't a long learning curve.
  • FreshBooks provides more capability than other billing applications such as PaySimple or BlinkSale. FreshBooks does provide an easy invoicing function. It's easy to create invoices that can be sent via email or snail mail to one or more individuals (for example, the decision-maker and the accounting dept). Clients can pay online or send a check and then I note that the payment has been received. If paid by credit card, the system automatically marks the invoice paid. Your business accounts such as bank accounts can be linked to FreshBooks. Then, the system can automatically draw in expenses and will create simple P&L reports, overdue invoices, client history, etc. If you don't have inventory and complex payroll, etc. FreshBooks provides just the right level of capability to make financial tracking simple.
  • FreshBooks integrates with a number of credit card companies. I use Stripe, which has fees similar to Paypal, but much more reliable processing. I can accept all credit cards, including American Express, for a reasonable fee.
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  • Time tracking. Zoho invoice makes it super easy to track time and hours against specific clients and specific tasks.
  • Unbilled / billed time reporting. Zoho Invoice gives a dashboard view of hours yet to be billed, which helps keep on top of invoicing so nothing is missed.
  • Reporting. Zoho Invoice offers a robust reporting module for the price point. Canned reports can be customized easily.
  • Invoice sending and tracking. Zoho Invoice makes it easy to create and send invoices. Invoices are easy to clone, which makes creating regular, repeatable invoices a snap.
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Cons
  • Pricing structure is very poor for us. $10/user per month when we have staff that comes and goes. And it's impossible to change a free contractor to a paid staff and vice-versa. This is my biggest complaint.
  • They only allow one admin owner user. Emails must come from that account. This is annoying, as other staff cannot log in with the same power.
  • The user interface is quite dated. I've made recommendations to improve it and all have been ignored. It's skinny and not fluid. Also, there is no way to link between invoices and clients.
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  • Zoho Invoice can be complicated if you want to create a more advanced custom invoice or custom recurring invoice.
  • Zoho Invoice does not provide all of its functionalities on the mobile version of its platform.
  • Zoho Invoice is expensive for some small business owners especially if they don't plan on using it often.
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Likelihood to Renew
At the current needs of our business, FreshBooks suits us perfectly - it allows online access by our accountant to the system for GST purposes, easy input of expenses and tracking of Profit and Loss statements. FreshBooks customer service is great as well - very understanding and accommodating.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
It is well-built software with no significant drawbacks. It offers all the necessary futures expected from online software. However, it is not yet up there with Xero and QuickBooks regarding connections with other software and advanced reporting features. The developers work closely with accountants, and therefore, I expect further development of the software.
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Ease of access of using the dashboard the buttons I mean like if it is taught in 10th I would have worked it. Simple and minimal hi give good entry to be more transparent and sharable to clients in seconds. The client also get shocked by saying it's fast.
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Reliability and Availability
FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
I think the support level for FreshBooks is on par with a 6 because the folks behind this application do a fairly good job at providing support for their customer base. I still don't think they are at an elite level when it comes to supporting but are getting there although too slow in my opinion.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
I haven't changed my mind since my first evaluation. Freshbooks is still meeting my needs, easy to use, etc.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
There is no fluff and feature overload with FreshBooks. I can get to what I need quickly and easily. I don't have to deal with unnecessary features and fields the system considers essential. The payment features are streamlined and have lots of flexibility when receiving payments. I love FreshBooks support, and it is 100 more customer-friendly and easier to work with than its primary competitors from my experience.
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Zoho Invoice streamlines bill creation and sending by personalizing invoices with logos, identities, and terms. It offers detailed payment reports, an integrated payment system, and payment summaries for tracking success. It automates invoicing and payment tasks, saving time and money for companies. Zoho Invoice integrates with Stripe Payments, enhancing settlement processes and promoting digital payment adoption.
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Return on Investment
  • Since implementing FreshBrooks, 80% of invoices created are paid in less than 30 days from the time the invoice is sent via email to the client. Prior to FreshBooks, we were mailing or hand-delivering our invoices and payment on those invoices was in the 45-90 day range.
  • Time tracking is done directly in FreshBooks (or through a plugin that's connected directly to FreshBooks) and is very easy to use. With this feature we're much better able to track all business activities. This has helped us to quantify the time we're spending on non-billable business-related work in addition to our billable client hours. We've been able to adjust our pricing accordingly, as well as being more efficient with our non-billable activities.
  • When FreshBooks online payments is set-up in your account, payments made with this method are automatically sent to your bank account. We choose between FreshBooks payments and PayPal payments in order to manage how much money stays in the PayPal account for online expenses vs. how much is transferred directly to the bank account.
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  • The biggest ROI for my business is that Zoho Invoice reduced the cost of invoicing so much, that I was able to invest that savings back into the business development allowing us to grow.
  • Zoho Invoice provides the option of giving your clients a client portal through which they have access to their own accounts and can see and print their own reports as needed. That helps to create a transparency that our clients love.
  • Zoho Invoice has been dependable. I have not had one issue with using the platform or its functions since I switched to it a few years ago.
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ScreenShots

FreshBooks Screenshots

Screenshot of the dashboardScreenshot of an invoice overviewScreenshot of an example of a customizable invoiceScreenshot of an invoice appearing across devicesScreenshot of expensesScreenshot of time tracking

Zoho Invoice Screenshots

Screenshot of 100% free invoicing software designed for small business owners & freelancers.Screenshot of Customize the look and feel of your invoices to provide a consistent and professional outlook.Screenshot of Add tasks, invite users, track the time worked for each project, and bill your clients just the way you want.Screenshot of Get real-time insights into sales, receivables, expenses, and projects with a host of built-in reports.Screenshot of Get a quick snapshot of your business health and know your monthly sales, current and overdue invoices, payments collected, your top expenses, and more.Screenshot of Create and share invoices, record payments, look up customers' details or past invoice history even if you're away from your desk.