FreshBooks vs ZipBooks

Two accounting tools side by side. Prices are the starting plan a small business would pick, in USD.

Compare	FreshBooksFreshBooks	ZipBooksZipBooks
In one line	Invoicing and time tracking for service businesses	Free invoicing and books, with paid plans for small teams
Starting price	From $23/mo + $11/extra person	Free for 1 user
Six-person team	$23/mo	$0/mo
Plans	Lite $23/mo (5 clients); Plus $43/mo (50 clients); Premium $70/mo (unlimited clients); the same billed yearly; first-year discounts common (Lite was $1/mo for the first year when checked); team members $11/mo each	Starter free (unlimited invoices, 1 bank account); Smarter $15/mo (5 team members, recurring invoices, time tracking); Sophisticated $35/mo (unlimited users, reconciliation); billed monthly
Pricing model	Free trial	Free tier
Free trial	30 days	30 days
Users	1 included	1 on Starter; 5 on Smarter
Both connect to	Gusto, Stripe Invoicing
Also connects to	Squarespace Commerce, Novo, Ecwid, Payoneer Workforce Management100+ listed by the vendor	Square POS, PayPal Invoicing
Team size	Just me · 2–10 people	Just me · 2–10 people
Available in	US · UK · CA · AU	US · UK · CA · AU
Phone support	Plans not stated; Select only	None listed
Live chat	Every plan	Plans not stated
Support hours	Phone: office hours · Live chat: 24/7	Live chat: Mon-Fri 8am-4pm MT
Incidents posted	4 incidents posted on FreshBooks's status page, which covers all FreshBooks products and regions, in the 90 days to Oct 27, 2026; 0 marked major or critical by FreshBooks. Status page	We found no public status page for ZipBooks.
Capterra score	4.5 / 5 from 4,529 reviews	4.5 / 5 from 115 reviews
Trustpilot score	3.8 / 5 from 1,051 reviews	3.5 / 5 from 3 reviews (few reviews)
Fit: Retail shop	58	55
Fit: Restaurant or café	40	45
Fit: Service business	90	85
Fit: Agency or studio	88	75
Fit: Trades or contractor	80	72
Fit: Online store	45	45
Why people pick it	Best-looking invoices Time tracking built in	Free plan with unlimited invoices 30-day trial without a card
Where it falls short	Per-user fees Client caps on lower plans	Reconciliation only on the $35 plan No inventory tracking
	Visit FreshBooks ↗	Visit ZipBooks ↗

Six-person prices are what a team of six would pay on the published plans; "Not listed" means those plans don't cover six. How we calculate prices

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