The Best Invoicing Software for Freelancers in 2026

There's no single "best" invoicing tool — the right one depends on whether you also need time tracking built in, whether you want a free plan, and whether you're billing 2 clients or 20. Here's an honest breakdown of the main options, including where we think TimeGoals fits and where it doesn't.

Quick comparison

| Tool | Free plan | Entry price | Time tracking built in | Best for | |---|---|---|---|---| | TimeGoals | Yes (1 project) | $12/mo | Yes | Freelancers/small agencies who bill by the hour | | Harvest | Yes (2 projects) | $9/seat/mo | Yes | Teams that want per-seat, established tooling | | FreshBooks | No | $23/mo | Yes (add-on to accounting) | Freelancers who want lightweight bookkeeping too | | Wave | Yes (unlimited invoices) | $19/mo for branding/automation | No | Freelancers who invoice flat fees, not hourly | | Bonsai | No (7-day trial) | $15/user/mo | Yes | Freelancers who want proposals + contracts + CRM bundled in | | Toggl Track | Yes | $9/mo | Yes (tracking only, no invoicing) | People who just need a timer and already have an invoicing tool |

Pricing reflects each company's published rates at time of writing — always confirm current pricing directly with the vendor, as SaaS pricing changes often.

TimeGoals

Best for: freelancers and small agencies who bill hourly and want time tracking and invoicing in one flow, without paying for accounting features they won't use.

Free plan covers 1 project so you can try the real workflow — track time, generate a PDF invoice, send it — before paying anything. Paid plans are flat-rate ($12/mo, $29/mo for teams) rather than per-seat, so your bill doesn't creep up as you add clients or contractors.

The tradeoff: it's intentionally not trying to be full accounting software. If you want financial reporting, proposals, or contracts in the same tool, look at FreshBooks or Bonsai instead.

Harvest

Best for: teams that want a mature, well-integrated tool and don't mind per-seat pricing.

Harvest's free plan includes invoicing from the start, and its paid tiers add strong reporting and integrations with accounting/payment platforms. Per-seat pricing (from $9/seat/month) means cost scales with headcount — fine for a stable team, less predictable if you're bringing contractors on and off projects.

FreshBooks

Best for: freelancers who want invoicing plus real bookkeeping — financial reports, accountant access, retainers — in one subscription.

No free plan, and pricing (from $23/mo list, though FreshBooks frequently runs promotional discounts) is higher than pure time-and-invoice tools, but you're getting more of your finances handled in one place. Client counts are capped by plan (5 on the entry tier), which matters if you have a lot of small clients.

Wave

Best for: freelancers who invoice flat project fees rather than tracking hourly time.

Wave's free plan supports unlimited invoices, which is hard to beat on price. The catch: it doesn't track time at all, so if your billing depends on logged hours, you'd need a separate timer and to enter hours manually. Branding and automated reminders are gated behind the $19/mo Pro plan.

Bonsai

Best for: freelancers who want proposals, contracts, and a client CRM bundled with time tracking and invoicing.

Bonsai goes broader than most on this list — it's part project-management tool, part CRM, part invoicing. That breadth comes at a price: invoicing isn't available until the Essentials tier ($25/mo billed monthly), and full functionality climbs from there. No free plan, just a 7-day trial.

Toggl Track

Best for: people who specifically want best-in-class time tracking and are fine using a separate tool to invoice.

Toggl doesn't do invoicing at all — it's purely a time tracker, albeit a very polished one with broad integrations. If you already have (or want) invoicing in the same tool you track time in, Toggl alone won't cover that; you'd pair it with something else.

How to actually choose

Ask yourself two questions:

Do I bill by the hour, or by flat project fees? If hourly, you want time tracking built in (TimeGoals, Harvest, FreshBooks, Bonsai). If flat fees, a pure invoicing tool like Wave works fine.
Do I want more than invoicing — accounting, proposals, contracts, CRM? If yes, FreshBooks or Bonsai go further. If you want the focused version — track it, bill it, done — that's the gap TimeGoals is built to fill.

Try TimeGoals free → No credit card required, 1 project on the house.