Wave vs Bench

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

Short version

Wave costs less for a six-person team.
Bench fits agency or studio, online store.
Bench suits teams past ten people.

Compare	WaveH&R Block	BenchEmployer.com
In one line	Free double-entry accounting and invoicing	A bookkeeping team that does your books each month
Starting price	Free	From $199/mo
Six-person team	$0/mo	$199/mo
Plans	Free (bank transactions entered by hand); Pro $19/mo or $190/yr adds automatic bank imports and receipt capture; cards 2.9% + 60¢	Bookkeeping Light $199/mo (up to $250K revenue/yr); Bookkeeping $399/mo; Bookkeeping + Tax $649/mo; 20% off yearly; catch-up free on yearly plans
Pricing model	Free tier	Paid
Free trial	—	—
Users	1 on free plan	n/a (service)
Both connect to	Shoeboxed
Also connects to	Helcim, Wave Payroll, Wise Business15+ listed by the vendor	Square POS, Gusto, Shopify, Stripe Invoicing, BigCommerce
Team size	Just me · 2–10 people	Just me · 2–10 people · 11–50 people
Available in	US · CA	US
Phone support	None listed	Every plan
Live chat	Plans not stated	Every plan
Support hours	Live chat: Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern, Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 4:45 PM Eastern	Phone: weekdays 7am to 5pm PST
Incidents posted	5 incidents posted on H&R Block's status page, which covers all H&R Block products and regions, in the 90 days to Oct 27, 2026; 1 marked major or critical by H&R Block. Status page	We found no public status page for Employer.com.
Capterra score	4.4 / 5 from 1,731 reviews	Not listed
Trustpilot score	3.1 / 5 from 558 reviews	4.1 / 5 from 1,355 reviews
Fit: Retail shop	71	65
Fit: Restaurant or café	60	60
Fit: Service business	85	80
Fit: Agency or studio	70	80
Fit: Trades or contractor	75	70
Fit: Online store	55	75
Why people pick it	Free core product Simple invoicing	A bookkeeper you can message any time Free catch-up on yearly plans
Where it falls short	No inventory or job costing Bank connections now behind Pro	Costs far more than software Service paused in late 2024 before the sale
	Visit Wave	Visit Bench

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

Wave vs Bench

Short version

More comparisons with Wave or Bench