Wave today
Starts at
$19/mo
- Contract
- No contract; cancel anytime, effective at end of the billing period
- Free plan
- Trial: 30-day free trial for payroll only
Free plan, which Wave doesn't show (3)
A free plan you can keep, in the vendor's own words.
| Alternative | Starts at | Against Wave | States that Wave doesn't | Contract | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Zoho BooksStandard, read Oct 29, 2026 |
$20/moStandard plan, starting price | $1 morestarting price | Automated bank reconciliation, Invoice and bill capture, AI chat assistant | No contract; cancel any time | Free plan for 1 user plus 1 accountant with invoices, bank reconciliation... |
 KickBasic, read Oct 29, 2026 |
$40/moBasic plan, starting price | $21 morestarting price | Automated bank reconciliation, Invoice and bill capture, Receipt matching, Month-end close automation and 4 more | Not found | Free plan at $0/m for 1 entity with auto categorization, receipt matching... |
 PilotEssentials (Bookkeeping), read Oct 29, 2026 |
$99/moEssentials (Bookkeeping) plan, starting price | $80 morestarting price | Automated bank reconciliation, Month-end close automation, Real-time financial reports, AI chat assistant and 1 more | Not found | Free Stock Administration Founders Tier for pre-seed founders with up to... |
Other options (3)
No computed reason to switch, listed for completeness.
| Alternative | Starts at | Against Wave | States that Wave doesn't | Contract | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 FreshBooksLite, read Oct 29, 2026 |
$23/moLite plan, starting price | $4 morestarting price | Automated bank reconciliation, Invoice and bill capture, Real-time financial reports, MCP server | no contracts on the free trial | Trial: 30-day free trial, no credit card required |
 Bookeeping.aiStart, read Oct 29, 2026 |
$29/mo yearlyStart plan, starting price | $10 morestarting price | Automated bank reconciliation, Receipt matching, Real-time financial reports, AI chat assistant and 2 more | Recurring subscription, monthly or enterprise; cancel any time | Trial: 30-day free trial on every plan, cancel anytime |
 DigitsEssentials, read Oct 29, 2026 |
$65/moEssentials plan, starting price | $46 morestarting price | Automated bank reconciliation, Invoice and bill capture, Month-end close automation, Real-time financial reports and 3 more | Not found | Trial: 30-day free trial |
No price found, or contact sales (8)
Questions
Is there a free alternative to Wave?
Yes. 3 AI accounting software have a free plan, including Zoho Books, Kick, Pilot.
How this page is made
Alternatives come from Wave's own category, AI accounting software. Prices come from each vendor's pricing page and are compared at the same volume where both can be computed, and by starting price where neither can. "States that Wave doesn't" lists what we found on the other vendor's site and didn't find on Wave's, which doesn't prove Wave lacks it. How prices are read.