Top 7 Free Invoice Generators

If you’re getting your business off the ground and you’re generating less than five invoices monthly, you can either create invoices manually or use a free invoice generator. Out of these two options, we recommend you try an invoice generator. In addition to creating professional looking invoices, your customers can pay their invoices online.

For those of you that haven’t made your first sale or not quite ready to use a free invoice generator, check out our free invoice templates. We’ve built Excel, Word, and PDF templates you can download for free. The Excel and PDF templates will automatically calculate for you, meaning no manual calculations are required. You can also add your company logo to personalize the template for your business.

7 Best Free Invoice Generators 2019

When to Use a Paid Alternative

If you need a full-service accounting software to handle additional aspects of your business finances, consider investing in a paid alternative. This can allow you to track all expenses as well as invoicing clients. Many of the free invoice generators do not include the ability to generate an A/R aging report or a time and expense tracker. Also, if your business requires heavy customer billing, the limitations of a free invoice generator may not cut it.

For an accounting software with state-of-the-art invoicing capabilities, check out FreshBooks. FreshBooks includes an A/R aging report so you can easily stay on top of your unpaid invoices. It also offers a robust time and expense tracker, making it easy to transfer billable hours to an invoice. At a starting price of $15/month, a paid alternative like FreshBooks might be just what you need to streamline your invoicing process. Try it out with a free 30-day trial. FreshBooks is also offering 60% off for 6 months on all subscription packages through 4/30/2021.

Visit FreshBooks

How We Evaluated Free Invoice Generators

Keeping track of the products and services that you sell on credit is crucial to your cash flow. If you can’t afford to purchase accounting software, a free invoice generator is an ideal choice. Unlike manual invoices, an invoice generator will automatically calculate invoices, allow you to accept online payments, and send automatic payment reminders to customers. Most of the free invoice generators include additional features that you can access for a fee.

We evaluated the best free invoice generators based on the ability to customize invoices, accept online payments, and the following features:

• Cost: The software does not charge you to create and send invoices to customers.
• Customizable invoice templates: The software allows you to personalize invoices by adding your company logo and brand colors.
• Accessible online: There is no software installation required, and you can create invoices from a mobile device or desktop computer.
• Create recurring payments: You can create invoices for repeat customers so that they go out automatically weekly, monthly, quarterly, or as often as you need to send them.
• Accept online payments: The invoice generator includes a built-in credit card processor or the ability to connect to a payments app so you can accept credit card payments from customers.
• Send automatic reminders: You can send payment reminders to customers automatically a few days before an invoice is due or immediately after it becomes due.
• Keep track of unpaid invoices: Stay on top of your accounts receivable (A/R) balances by running a report or reviewing an invoice dashboard.
• Ease of use: The software should be easy to set up and use.

Based on our assessment of each of the features above, we recommend Wave as the best free invoice generator. Wave knocks it out of the park by including all of the features we outlined above and much more. You can manage all of your expenses in Wave and generate financial reports such as A/R aging, profit and loss (P&L), and balance sheet reports.

Wave: Best Overall Free Invoice Generator for Small Businesses

Wave is full-featured accounting software you can use to track every aspect of your business. This includes but is not limited to tracking income and expenses, creating invoices and accepting online payments from customers, and it allows you to give unlimited users access to your data. This is all for a price tag of free.

Wave Invoice Generator Pricing & Features

Wave Invoice Generator Features

Wave generates invoices for your customers and also features accounting and invoicing software that can track all of your income and expenses―a feature its competitors do not offer.

This one of the reasons why it is our top pick. You can create unlimited invoices, connect your bank and credit card accounts, and create financial statements for free.

Unlike Square and Due, you can run an A/R aging report to stay on top of unpaid invoices.

Bonus features included in your free Wave account are:

• Generate an A/R aging report: Wave has an A/R report that you can run anytime to stay on top of your unpaid customer invoices.
• Manage expenses: Download your bank and credit card transactions into Wave so that you can manage business expenses.
• Generate financial reports: Create P&L and balance sheet reports to stay on top of your overall business health.

A snapshot of a sample invoice that was created in Wave is below:

Similar to its competitors, it was very easy to create the invoice (above) in Wave. I selected an invoice template, entered the customer contact details and the billing items and was able to generate this invoice in under five minutes.

Additional Costs & Services of the Wave Invoice Generator

Like its competitors, you can accept online payments from customers in Wave. Credit card processing fees of 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction will apply. Payment generally takes a couple of business days before you will see it hit your bank account. You can sign up for Wave Payments from directly within your Wave account when you are ready to get started.

What Wave Invoice Generator Is Missing

When it comes to meeting our criteria for invoice generators, Wave goes above and beyond our requirements. However, Wave does not have a time tracking feature like Due, and it does not offer an online support chat tool like Square offers. However, if you’re looking for a software that allows you to track all of your business income and expenses for free, Wave is a great choice.

Wave Reviews

Positive Wave reviews said that they like the ability to track all of their business income and expenses for free. Users like how user-friendly the software is and that it is accessible easily from a desktop computer and mobile devices. Negative Wave reviews mentioned that the software is very limited in the number of invoice templates available to customize. Check out all of the reviews on our Wave user reviews page.

Square Invoices: Best for Adding Tips and Customer Discounts

Square Invoices is free to use and includes the ability to create custom invoices, track the status of invoices, and send customers automatic reminders. It is ideal for businesses that want to give their customers the option of leaving a tip. Plus, it also allows you to add customer discounts. You can create and send invoices at no charge and accept online payments from customers at a starting cost of 2.9% plus 30 cents per invoice.

Square Pricing & Features

Square Invoices Features

Square Invoices allows you to create custom professional-looking invoices with your company logo and brand colors. You can email invoices to your customers, and the system will track the status and notify you once a customer has viewed an invoice. You can create automatic payment reminders and set up recurring payments. Square sets itself apart from the competition by allowing you to add a tip field and a discount field to your invoices.

A snapshot of a sample invoice from Square.com is below:

Unfortunately, I couldn’t create an invoice in Wave without providing some personal information about myself like Social Security number and birth date. As a result, I was not able to take the Square invoice generator for a test drive.

Square Additional Costs & Services

One of the best features that Square offers is the ability to accept online payments from your customers. Customers can pay their invoices directly online by clicking the Pay button located directly on the invoice. Your customers will not have to pay a fee, but you will be charged credit card processing fees. The fees for recurring payments are higher than non-recurring invoices.

The credit card processing fees that you will pay for recurring and regular invoices are:

All major credit cards are accepted as well as debit cards. On average, you can expect for the payments to be deposited to your bank account within two business days. Square Invoices also allows you to mark invoices paid with cash or check manually.

What Square Is Missing

Unfortunately, Square Invoices does not include an A/R aging report. To stay on top of unpaid invoices, you will have to keep an eye on the invoices dashboard, which shows you the total paid and unpaid invoices in real time. If you use accounting software like FreshBooks, you can run an A/R aging report easily to stay on top of your unpaid invoices.

Square Invoice Reviews

Square customers who left positive reviews like how easy it is to use the Square app on any mobile device. They also like the ability to send an unlimited number of invoices at no cost. Negative Square reviews centered around the need for more options when it comes to customizing invoices.

Due: Best for Small Businesses Who Need to Invoice Customers By Project

Due is ideal for businesses that generally bill customers on a project basis. You can create unlimited custom invoices, track the status, and create automatic payment reminders with Due. The cost to accept online payments from customers starts at 2.8% per transaction, and there is no per transaction fee like most competitors charge.

Due Pricing & Features

Due Features

Similar to Square, you can send unlimited invoices to customers for free with Due. Due has several customizable invoice templates that you can add your logo and brand colors to. Unlike Square, Due also includes time tracking tools and supports multiple currencies. Similar to Square, you can create recurring payments for those repeat customers that pay you on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. The Due Invoice Dashboard will help you stay on top of your A/R balances.

Below we have included a snapshot of a sample invoice created in Due:

Similar to Wave, it was super easy to create the invoice above in Due. After selecting a template, I added the customer information along with the description of the items to be billed. Unlike Square, I didn’t have to provide much personal information, such as a Social Security number,  to set up my free account with Due.

A few other bonus features that are included in Due are:

• Time tracker: Due has a built-in time tracker that you can start and stop to keep track of the amount of time you or your employees’ spend on a client job.
• Track invoices by customer/project: For robust reporting, you can track invoices by customer job/project.
• Invoice in multiple currencies: Invoice customers and receive payment in multiple currencies.

Due Additional Costs & Services

With Due, your customers can select the pay option when viewing their invoices online and make a payment with any major credit/debit card. Like Square, your customers will never be charged a fee. However, you will pay credit card fees starting at 2.8% for each online payment received. Unlike most of its competitors, which charge a flat fee on top of a percentage per transaction, Due does not charge a flat fee. On average, most payments will be deposited into your bank account within two business days.

What Due Is Missing

Similar to Square Invoices, Due does not have an A/R aging report. However, you can use the dashboard to keep an eye on your unpaid invoices so that you can follow-up with your customers about payment. This will help you to avoid sending collection letters to customers.

Due Reviews

Online reviews about Due are mixed. Positive reviews about Due mentioned that they like how easy it is to keep track of unpaid invoices and customer payments. Negative reviews about Due said that the company doesn’t offer telephone support, which makes it difficult to resolve issues quickly.

PayPal: Best for Batch Invoicing Up to 100 Invoices Simultaneously

PayPal is ideal for businesses that send many invoices out regularly. You can batch and send up to 100 invoices at one time, which makes PayPal more robust than many of its competitors. The best part about PayPal is that you are allowed to send unlimited invoices like its competitors for free. The cost of accepting online payments from customers starts at 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction.

PayPal Pricing & Features

PayPal Features

Similar to Square, Due, and Wave, you can send unlimited invoices for free using PayPal. You can email customers their invoices in a PDF format or send them a payment link. Stay on top of unpaid invoices by sending payment reminders to customers. You can also accept partial payments and deposits from customers. Plus, you can keep track of which invoices are paid and unpaid easily.

Below we have included a snapshot of a sample invoice created in PayPal:

Similar to Wave and Due, I was able to create a free PayPal account without having to provide a lot of personal information. PayPal is very user-friendly, which made it very easy to create an invoice in a few short minutes.

The additional features included with PayPal are:

• Batch Invoicing: Ability to send up to 100 invoices simultaneously.
• Global payments: Accept payment from 200 plus markets around the globe.
• Multicurrency: Invoice customers and accept payments in 25 currencies.

PayPal Additional Costs & Services

Like Wave, PayPal has its own credit card processing service that you can sign up for. Credit card fees start at 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction. Your customers can pay with a debit/credit card free of charge. Funds generally are deposited within three to five business days.

What PayPal Is Missing

Unfortunately, the one drawback is that PayPal does not offer a variety of options to customize your invoices. However, if you don’t mind creating simple invoices without all of the bells and whistles then PayPal will work for you. If you do prefer a more sophisticated invoice, we recommend you choose Wave.

PayPal Reviews

PayPal users who gave positive reviews said the low transaction rates and high level of security for both the sender and receiver of funds are excellent. Negative reviews said that the number of days it takes to send/receive fund transfers is too long.

Zoho Invoice: Best for Existing Zoho Users

Zoho Invoice is one of the hundreds of apps in the Zoho suite of products. If you are a current Zoho user, then Zoho Invoice will integrate with any Zoho app that you are currently using. Unlike its competitors, the free version of Zoho only allows you to invoice up to five customers. To invoice unlimited customers, you will need to upgrade to a paid plan that starts at $9 per month.

Zoho Invoice Pricing & Features

Zoho Invoice Features

Zoho is known for its suite of products like Zoho CRM and Zoho Books. Zoho Invoice is a free invoice generator that allows you to bill up to five customers monthly for free. If you currently use one or more of the Zoho products, then Zoho Invoice is ideal for you because it integrates seamlessly with other Zoho apps. In addition to creating custom invoices and sending automatic payment reminders, Zoho Invoice has some additional features.

Below we have included a snapshot of a sample invoice created in Zoho Invoice:

Like its competitors, Zoho Invoice is very user-friendly. I was able to create an account, select a template, and create the invoice in a few minutes.

Zoho Invoice is packed with some great additional features, such as:

• A/R aging report: Similar to Wave, you can create an A/R aging report that will help you to manage your unpaid customer invoices.
• Client portal: Your customers can view, print, and pay their invoices by accessing a secure online portal that’s included with your Zoho Invoice account.
• Track expenses: Like Wave, you can track all of your expenses, attach receipts, and run expense reports.

Zoho Invoice Additional Costs & Services

Similar to its competitors, Zoho Invoice allows you to accept online payments from customers. However, unlike its competitors, Zoho does not provide credit card processing so you will have to use a third party company.

Another difference between Zoho Invoice and its competitors is the free plan is limits you to five customers per month versus unlimited in Square, Due and Wave. Therefore, you will have to sign up for a paid plan if you need to bill more than five customers monthly.

Credit Card Processing

Unlike Square Invoices, Due, and Wave, Zoho does not have its own credit card processing service. Instead, it allows you to decide which payment processing service you would like to use. This works great if you already use one of the companies that integrate with Zoho since you can link your existing payment account to Zoho Invoice. Zoho does not charge a fee for the credit card processing feature, so your rates will be based on the payment gateway you choose.

Invoicing More Than Five Customers

As previously mentioned, if you have no more than five customers you need to invoice monthly, the free invoice plan will work for you. However, if you need to invoice more than five customers a month, you will need to sign up for a paid Zoho Invoice plan. Pricing plans are between $9 to $29 per month.

Zoho Invoice Pricing Plans

What Zoho Invoice Is Missing

Zoho does not include a built-in payment gateway, which will allow your customers to make online payments. However, you can select one of the gateways that integrate with Zoho like PayPal and connect it to Zoho Invoice to accept online payments from customers.

Zoho Invoice Reviews

Positive Zoho Invoice user reviews said that it is very user-friendly and includes many great features like creating estimates and detailed reports. Users also said that customer service is good. There were not many negative reviews about Zoho Invoice. However, users had several suggestions on improvements they would like to see, such as an invoice archiving system.

Invoice Ninja: Best for Item & Product Library

Invoice Ninja is ideal for businesses who sell products and need software that will allow them to manage their product database. You can send an unlimited number of invoices at no cost, send automatic payment reminders, give customers access to a client portal and invoice by project like you can with Due.

Invoice Ninja Pricing & Features

Invoice Ninja Features

Invoice Ninja is a very robust free invoice generator. You can create custom invoices, track the status of an invoice to see when a customer has paid or viewed an invoice, and you can send automatic payment reminders. In addition, you can track hours worked that need to be billed back to customers later on. Similar to its competitors on our list, Invoice Ninja includes several bonus features; a client portal, a proposal (quote) creation tool and a product library.

Below we have included a snapshot of a sample invoice created in Invoice Ninja:

Invoice Ninja is very user-friendly, includes several invoice templates you can choose from and didn’t require much information to get started. Like its competitors, I was able to set up a free account, enter customer details, my business details, and the products and services in about 10 minutes.

Bonus features you will find in Invoice Ninja are:

• Client portal: The client portal allows your customers to see all of their transactions with you in one dashboard. All proposals, invoices and payment history will be accessible to them. They can also download or print these documents.
• Item & product library: You can create a library of the products and services that you sell. This will allow you to select the items from a drop-down box easily when creating the invoice, and it will populate with the item description and cost automatically, saving you a lot of time from entering the same data for each invoice manually.
• Multicurrency: Invoice Ninja supports 50 currencies and 20 languages. You can invoice customers and receive payments from customers located all around the world.

Invoice Ninja Additional Costs & Services

Invoice Ninja allows you to accept online payments like the other invoice generators on our list. Similar to Zoho Invoice, Invoice Ninja does not have an internal credit card processing service. However, you can choose from several third-party payment gateways. The additional fees you will incur will depend on which payment processor you choose. Similar to Zoho Invoice, you can upgrade to a paid plan which starts at $8 per month and includes more invoice templates and a few other features not included in the free plan.

Credit Card Processing

Like many of the competitors on our list, Invoice Ninja allows you to accept online payments from customers. As a matter of fact, it integrates with more than 45 payment gateways across North America, Europe, and worldwide. Some of the payment gateways Invoice Ninja supports are Stripe, PayPal, WePay, Bitcoin, Authorize.net, and Checkout.

Paid Invoice Ninja Plans

In addition to the free invoice generator plan, Invoice Ninja offers two paid plans that start at $8 per month. These plans include additional features such as 10 customizable invoice templates vs four included in the free plan. You can create proposals, invoice for multiple companies, and set up automatic late fees on unpaid invoices.

What Invoice Ninja Is Missing

Like Wave, Invoice Ninja is not missing any features that you would expect a free invoice generator to have. As a matter of fact, it goes beyond what most invoice generators include by offering time tracking, a client portal, and an item/product library.

Invoice Ninja Reviews

Positive reviews about Invoice Ninja said that the software has a lot of features and that it has great customer service. There are not many negative reviews about Invoice Ninja. However, customers said that they experience glitches on occasion.

OnlineInvoices: Best for Invoice Template Options

OnlineInvoices is ideal if you want a software that will give you a ton of invoice template options. There are more than 60 templates included in OnlineInvoices―more than any other competitor offers. Similar to its competitors, you can send unlimited invoices at no charge. Unfortunately, OnlineInvoices does not allow you to accept online payments from customers. However, paid plans start at $9.95 per month and include the online payments feature.

OnlineInvoices Generator Pricing & Features

OnlineInvoices Features

OnlineInvoices is a very simple invoice generator that you can use to create as many invoices as you need to for free. Unlike the other competitors on our list, OnlineInvoices includes more than 60 free customizable templates. There are templates for specific industries and templates for specific countries.

Below we have included a snapshot of a sample invoice created in OnlineInvoices:

OnlineInvoices generator was very easy to use. I didn’t even have to set up an account but was able to dive right into creating an invoice (above). Once I was ready to save my invoice as a PDF, that’s when I was prompted to create a free account.

The industry-specific templates included in OnlineInvoices Generator are:

• Photography Invoice template
• Gym and Fitness Invoice template
• Travel and Tourism Invoice template
• Auto Repair Invoice template
• Contractor Invoice template

The country-specific templates included in OnlineInvoices Generator are:

• Canadian Invoice template with HST
• Chinese Invoice template “Fapiao”
• Philippines Invoice template
• Euro Invoice template
• Hong Kong Invoice template

Unfortunately, OnlineInvoices Generator does not include the ability to track the status of invoices, create recurring invoices, or accept online payments. If you are looking for these features, you will need to sign up for the Online Invoicing software, which we will discuss in the next section.

OnlineInvoices Additional Costs & Services

Unlike its competitors, the OnlineInvoices generator does not allow customers to make online payments. However, this feature is available if you upgrade to the OnlineInvoices software plans, which includes a free plan as well as paid plans that start at $9.95 per month. We have included the monthly cost, number of customers, and maximum number of invoices you can generate with each plan below.

OnlineInvoices Pricing & Features Plans

What OnlineInvoices Generator Is Missing

When compared to its competitors, Invoice Generator offers the least number of features. It does not include recurring invoices, you cannot accept online payments, and there is no way to keep track of unpaid invoices. Our top pick, Wave allows you to accept online payments and keep track of your A/R balances.

OnlineInvoices Generator Reviews

In our search to find reviews for OnlineInvoices Generator, we could not locate any. However, the reviews we found were about OnlineInvoices software. Positive reviews said that they like how many features are included in the free plan. They also said that the program is very easy to use and, after taking it for a test drive, I would have to agree. We could not find any negative reviews for OnlineInvoices Generator or OnlineInvoices software.

 

Tips for Using a Free Invoice Generator

While using a free invoice generator is budget friendly and allows you to accept online payments from customers, you should have a plan to transition to an accounting software at some point so that you can track all of your business income and expenses. In addition, you need to stay on top of A/R balances to minimize delinquent invoices.

Only Use a Free Invoice Generator in the Short Term

Free invoice generators are ideal for freelancers and sole proprietors who are starting out with little to no expenses. Once your business begins to grow, you need to invest in accounting software so that you can invoice customers and keep track of all of your expenses. There are many free accounting software products that you can use like Wave Accounting.

Implement a Process to Stay on Top of A/R Balances

Most invoice generators do not include an A/R report. To avoid delinquent invoices, implement a process to review all unpaid invoices on a weekly basis. For invoices that are coming due in the next week, send a payment reminder from your invoice generator. For invoices that are already past due, call your customer to make payment arrangements.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Free Invoice Generators

In this section, we have provided answers to the most frequently asked questions about free invoice generators.

How do I create a free invoice?

When it comes to creating a free invoice, you’ve got several options. First, you can use our free invoice templates. Second, you can sign up for one of the free invoice generators we recommend to small businesses. Third, you could purchase accounting software like FreshBooks, which you can invoice customers and track all expenses.

Can I make an invoice without a company?

You can make an invoice without being set up as a company. If you are a freelancer providing goods/services to customers, you are considered a sole proprietor automatically. For a more professional appearance, consider naming your business, creating a website, and purchasing business cards. However, continue invoicing customers while working toward formalizing your business.

When should you invoice a customer?

You should invoice a customer as soon as you have provided the goods and/or services that were purchased. The longer you wait to invoice a customer, the longer it will take to get paid. Use an invoicing or accounting software so you can email your invoices and run an A/R aging report.

Bottom Line

If you’re on a budget like most small businesses, the good news is that the free invoice generators we have discussed fit right into your budget. Each of these products allows you to create invoices in less time than you would by using Excel or Word. The one downside to most of these products―with the exception of Wave and Zoho Invoice―is that they don’t have an A/R aging report to help you stay on top of unpaid invoices.