The 8 Best Invoice Apps for Small Business (2026)
Tested against what actually matters on a phone: how fast you can send an invoice from the job, what it costs to get paid, and whether the free plan is real.
Most "best invoice app" lists rank desktop accounting software that happens to have an app. This one is judged on phone-first use: how long it takes to send an invoice standing in someone's driveway, what the app costs you when the client pays, and whether the free tier is usable or a trial in disguise.
Disclosure up front: we make one of these. InvoiceSonic is listed with the same criticisms as everything else.
1. Invoice Simple — the most polished phone experience
Fast, genuinely mobile-first, huge template library. Free tier is capped at a handful of invoices before it pushes you to a subscription, and payment acceptance runs through card processors at standard rates. The benchmark for ease of use.
2. InvoiceSonic — free tier plus zero transaction fees
Ours. Invoice, quote and receipt from the phone or the browser, GST/VAT/sales tax handled across AU, NZ, US, UK and Canada, and no cut taken on payments because we are not a processor — clients pay you by bank transfer, PayID, Venmo or Zelle directly. Weaknesses: no full accounting, no payroll, and the iPhone app is new so the review count is small. See what it does.
3. Zoho Invoice — the best genuinely free option
Free for a real feature set, not a trial. The trade-off is the Zoho ecosystem: it wants you in Zoho Books eventually, and the interface carries more weight than a phone-first tool needs.
4. Wave — free invoicing with US/Canada payments
Long-standing free invoicing with accounting attached. Note that Wave withdrew from Australia, so it is off the table for AU businesses.
5. Square Invoices — best if you already take card payments
If you have a Square reader, invoicing is the natural extension and everything reconciles in one place. You pay for it at roughly 2.6–2.9% + $0.30 per payment.
6. Bookipi — broad free tier
Generous free invoicing aimed at freelancers and small businesses, now expanding into a wider tool suite. Worth a look if you want more than invoicing.
7. FreshBooks — best for service businesses that bill time
Time tracking, retainers and project billing are genuinely strong. It is a subscription from day one and priced as accounting software, not an invoice app.
8. QuickBooks — only if you need the accounting
Invoicing is a feature of an accounting platform. If you have a bookkeeper who wants QuickBooks, use QuickBooks. If you only ever wanted to send invoices, you are buying a great deal you will not use — see QuickBooks alternatives.
How to choose
Three questions settle it. Do you need accounting, or just invoicing? (Accounting: QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks. Invoicing: everything else.) How do your clients pay? (If they will do bank transfer, do not pay 3% to a processor.) And is the free tier real? (Zoho and InvoiceSonic yes; most others are trials.)
If you want to test the output before installing anything, the free invoice generator makes a finished PDF in the browser with no signup.
Create your invoice in 60 seconds
Free, no signup, no watermark. Fill it in, download a clean PDF, and email it to your client.
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