Wave is genuinely generous: its free Starter plan includes unlimited invoicing plus basic accounting, which is hard to beat for very small US and Canadian businesses. Over time Wave has moved features like receipt scanning, automatic bank imports, and priority support into a paid Pro tier (around $16/mo), but free invoicing itself remains unlimited.
So the honest difference is not free invoice volume — it is range and reach. InvoiceBirds adds document types Wave simply does not offer (proposals and contracts, alongside estimates), accepts card payments through Stripe in 135+ currencies rather than Wave Payments’ North-America-centric processing, and is built with the French/EU e-invoicing reform in mind. Wave, in turn, gives you real double-entry bookkeeping that InvoiceBirds intentionally does not.
| Feature | InvoiceBirds | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Free invoicing | 3 invoices free (unlimited on paid) | Unlimited invoices, free |
| Online payments | Stripe, 135+ currencies | Wave Payments (US/CA/UK focus) |
| Estimates | Yes | Yes |
| Proposals & contracts | Yes (Growth) | No |
| Full accounting / bookkeeping | Invoicing-focused | Yes |
| France / EU e-invoicing readiness | Yes | Limited |
Both have free plans, but Wave is more generous on raw invoice volume — its free Starter plan allows unlimited invoices, while InvoiceBirds’ free plan covers 3 invoices, 3 estimates, and 3 clients. InvoiceBirds’ advantage is range (proposals and contracts) and global Stripe payments; unlimited invoicing on InvoiceBirds starts at $16/mo.
Proposals and contracts (Wave has neither), card payments through Stripe in 135+ currencies rather than Wave’s North-America-focused processing, and readiness for the French/EU e-invoicing reform. Wave, conversely, offers full bookkeeping that InvoiceBirds does not.
InvoiceBirds for getting paid across borders — its Stripe integration supports card payments in 135+ currencies, whereas Wave Payments is concentrated on the US, Canada, and UK.
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