How much does Wave accounting cost?
Wave’s Starter plan is free, and the Pro plan costs $19 a month per business and adds bank import and receipt capture.
Wave has two plans. Starter costs nothing and lists unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records. Pro costs $19 a month, or $15.83 a month on annual billing, and adds automatic bank import and receipt capture. The wider section on Xero, Wave and Zoho questions has the other price answers, and the free Zoho Books tier is the nearest free rival.
Xero charges a monthly subscription after a free month, and the price of Xero is a useful number to hold against Wave’s.
What the two plans split
Bank import is the dividing line. The free plan has no listed bank connection, so transactions come in by hand or file. Pro imports them automatically, which is what makes a monthly bank check quick. Wave also lists a direct Amazon connection, and a Shopify connection through Make.com on the Pro plan.
Wave’s strengths and gaps show how those features score against the others. On price alone, Wave sits at the low end: the price of QuickBooks Online starts at $38, and other options besides QuickBooks rank the cheaper routes.
A second business
Wave bills each business separately. Wave says to sign each business up and subscribe to Pro for every one, so a second business on Pro adds $19 a month. Splitting books by business covers how to keep the ledgers apart, and the per-business price is the part to compare.
Free plans and other picks
For a shop with a free-plan budget, free bookkeeping tools ranks Wave next to the others. Zoho Books in detail shows why it ranks higher, and a store that ships products can look at accounting suites for sellers.
Questions that do not fit here are on a longer list of questions.
Common questions
Is Wave really free?
The Starter plan is free and lists unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records. Bank import sits on the $19 Pro plan.
Is Pro priced per person?
No. Wave says the Pro subscription fee is per business, not per owner.
What does a second business cost on Wave?
Each business is signed up and subscribed separately, so a second Pro business costs another $19 a month.