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Short answer: Wave wins on price — its Starter plan is genuinely $0 for unlimited invoicing and bookkeeping. QuickBooks wins on taxes — its freelancer plan calculates your quarterly estimated taxes and talks to TurboTax, which Wave simply doesn’t do. One important update: QuickBooks Self-Employed is no longer sold to new customers — Intuit now redirects signups to QuickBooks Solopreneur ($20/month), its replacement. If you switched (or thought about switching) after Wave moved bank feeds and multi-user access behind its $19/month Pro plan in June 2026, Solopreneur is the most direct paid alternative built for freelancers. Pick Wave if $0/month is the priority; pick Solopreneur if tax season is your nightmare.
Quick Verdict — Who Should Pick What
| Wave | QuickBooks Solopreneur | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 (Starter) or $19/mo (Pro) | $20/mo |
| Best for | Budget-first freelancers, simple invoicing | Freelancers who want taxes handled |
| Biggest drawback | No quarterly tax estimates; bank feeds cost $19/mo | No double-entry accounting; US-tax focused |
- Pick Wave if: you’re starting out, you send straightforward invoices, and $0/month matters more than tax automation.
- Pick QuickBooks Solopreneur if: you dread quarterly taxes, you drive for work (mileage tracking), and $20/month is worth never doing tax math by hand.
- Pick neither if: you bill hourly and need time tracking — neither tool does it well. (See our FreshBooks vs Wave comparison for the hourly-biller pick.)
What Changed in 2026 (Why This Comparison Matters Now)
Wave was almost entirely free until January 2024, when it split into Starter ($0) and Pro ($19/month). Then on June 1, 2026, Wave migrated legacy free accounts onto the new Starter plan — and automatic bank feeds, receipt scanning, and collaborator access moved behind the $19/month Pro paywall. Longtime free users grumbled about it loudly on Reddit, and fairly: features they’d used for free for years now cost $228/year.
This is exactly the moment QuickBooks’ freelancer plan was built for — with one big change since this comparison was first drafted: Intuit has retired QuickBooks Self-Employed for new signups. The old quickbooks.intuit.com/self-employed address now redirects to QuickBooks Solopreneur, the current one-person-business plan at $20/month ($240/year). Same freelancer DNA — quarterly tax estimates, mileage tracking, TurboTax integration — new name, slightly higher price.
Pricing Compared (verified Oct 21, 2026)
| Wave Starter | Wave Pro | QuickBooks Solopreneur | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $0 | $19/mo | $20/mo |
| Annual price | $0 | $190/yr | $188/yr |
| Invoicing | Unlimited, free | Unlimited | Unlimited invoices |
| Bank connections | Manual upload only | Automatic imports | Automatic, included |
| Receipt scanning | No | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-user access | No | Yes | No (1 user) |
| Quarterly tax estimates | No | No | Yes |
| Mileage tracking | No | No | Yes (GPS) |
| Free tier / trial | Free forever | — | Limited free plan (2 invoices/mo); promos common (currently 50% off first 3 months) |
The math that matters: the old price story flipped. Wave Pro ($228/yr on monthly billing) now costs slightly less than Solopreneur ($240/yr) — Intuit’s $15/month Self-Employed plan is gone. On annual billing it’s nearly a wash: Wave Pro $190/yr vs Solopreneur $188/yr. So the decision is no longer about saving $48/year; it’s about what you get for the money: Wave Pro gives you bank feeds and receipt scanning without tax help, while Solopreneur gives you bank feeds and quarterly tax estimates for essentially the same price.
Invoicing Features Head-to-Head
Wave gives you genuinely unlimited invoices on the free tier — professional-looking, customizable, with recurring invoices and basic payment reminders. It’s the better pure invoicing tool, full stop.
QuickBooks Solopreneur invoices are basic: create, send, track payment status. No fancy templates, no recurring-invoice automation worth mentioning. If invoicing volume is your whole workflow, Wave wins this round easily.
The honest framing: Wave is an invoicing tool with bookkeeping attached. QuickBooks Solopreneur is a tax tool with invoicing attached. Buy for the part you’ll actually use daily.
Getting Paid — Fee Math That Matters
Both tools take a cut when clients pay by card. Here’s what you keep on a $1,000 invoice paid by card (rates verified Oct 21, 2026; QuickBooks’ published rates are current as of September 2026):
| Wave | QuickBooks Payments | |
|---|---|---|
| Card fee | 2.9% + $0.60 | 2.99% (no fixed fee) |
| Fee on $1,000 | $29.60 | $29.90 |
| You keep | $970.40 | $970.10 |
| ACH/bank transfer | 1% ($1 min) | 1% ($1 min) |
Practically identical on large invoices. The difference shows on small invoices: Wave’s fixed $0.60 stings on a $50 invoice (3.5% effective vs 2.99%). If you bill many small amounts, QuickBooks keeps slightly more of each one. One Wave perk worth knowing: Pro subscribers pay 2.9% + $0 (no fixed fee) on their first 10 card transactions each month. Either way, nudge clients toward ACH/bank transfer — 1% beats ~3% on both platforms.
The Tax Question (Solopreneur’s Real Reason to Exist)
This is the whole comparison in one section.
QuickBooks Solopreneur automatically tracks income and expenses, separates business from personal spending, and calculates your quarterly estimated tax payments — the thing US freelancers most commonly get wrong. It captures receipts, tracks mileage by GPS (a real deduction most freelancers leave on the table), and connects to TurboTax at filing time.
Wave gives you a profit-and-loss report and a balance sheet — real double-entry bookkeeping, which QuickBooks’ freelancer plans notably lack — but you’re on your own for quarterly estimates. No tax calculations, no TurboTax handoff, no mileage tracking.
If you’ve ever paid an underpayment penalty or had a miserable April, $20/month for Solopreneur pays for itself the first time it reminds you a quarterly payment is due.
Country note for international readers: QuickBooks’ tax features are built for the US tax system (quarterly estimates, TurboTax). If you’re freelancing from Pakistan or elsewhere, check which QuickBooks products are actually available in your country before committing — the tax automation may not apply to you, which changes the value calculation completely. Wave, being country-agnostic bookkeeping, works the same everywhere.
Who Should Pick What (The Honest Verdict)
- New freelancer, tight budget, simple invoices → Wave Starter ($0). Unlimited invoicing for free is still unmatched. Do your bank reconciliation with manual uploads until the business justifies $19/month.
- US freelancer who dreads tax season → QuickBooks Solopreneur ($20/mo). Quarterly estimates + mileage + TurboTax integration is worth more than $20/month the first April it saves you.
- Wave Pro payer using it mainly for bank feeds → reconsider. You’re paying $228/year for feeds without tax help; Solopreneur gives you feeds AND tax estimates for about the same money ($240/yr monthly, $188/yr annual).
- Freelancer with international clients → neither is perfect here; see our best invoicing software for international clients comparison for the multi-currency angle.
FAQ
Is Wave still free?
Yes — Wave Starter is $0 forever for unlimited invoicing, estimates, bills, and manual bookkeeping. What’s no longer free: automatic bank imports, receipt scanning, and multi-user access (all $19/month Pro since the June 2026 migration).
Does QuickBooks’ freelancer plan have a free plan?
Sort of — Solopreneur has a limited free tier (2 invoices and 2 receipts per month), but it’s not a working freelancer’s plan. The paid Lite plan is $20/month with frequent introductory promos (currently 50% off the first three months).
What happened to QuickBooks Self-Employed?
Intuit retired it for new signups — the Self-Employed page now redirects to QuickBooks Solopreneur ($20/month), the current one-person-business plan with the same freelancer focus: tax estimates, mileage tracking, and TurboTax integration.
Can I switch from Wave to QuickBooks later?
Yes. Export your customer list and invoice history from Wave, import into QuickBooks. Test with a small export first — the two tools structure data differently, so check that line items and client names map cleanly before a full migration.
Which is better for taxes?
QuickBooks Solopreneur, by a mile — quarterly estimates, mileage, TurboTax integration. Wave does bookkeeping, not tax planning.
Final CTA
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