Xero vs Wave

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

Compare	XeroXero Ltd	WaveH&R Block
In one line	Cloud accounting with unlimited users on every plan	Free double-entry accounting and invoicing
Starting price	From $27/mo	Free
Six-person team	$27/mo	$0/mo
Plans	Early $27/mo (20 invoices); Growing $59/mo; Established $97/mo; unlimited users, no per-user fees; intro offers often cut the first 3 months	Free (bank transactions entered by hand); Pro $19/mo or $190/yr adds automatic bank imports and receipt capture; cards 2.9% + 60¢
Pricing model	Free trial	Free tier
Free trial	30 days	—
Users	Unlimited	1 on free plan
Both connect to	Helcim, Shoeboxed, Wise Business
Also connects to	Square POS, Shopify POS, Gusto, Rippling, Deel, Shopify, Mercury, Relay +29 more1,000+ listed by the vendor	Wave Payroll15+ listed by the vendor
Team size	Just me · 2–10 people · 11–50 people · 51–200 people	Just me · 2–10 people
Available in	US · UK · CA · AU	US · CA
Phone support	None listed	None listed
Live chat	None listed	Plans not stated
Support hours	Web form: 24/7	Live chat: Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern, Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 4:45 PM Eastern
Incidents posted	26 incidents posted on Xero Ltd's status page, which covers all Xero Ltd products and regions, in the 90 days to Oct 27, 2026; 10 marked major or critical by Xero Ltd. Status page	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
Capterra score	4.4 / 5 from 3,332 reviews	4.4 / 5 from 1,731 reviews
Trustpilot score	4.1 / 5 from 11,478 reviews	3.1 / 5 from 558 reviews
Fit: Retail shop	84	71
Fit: Restaurant or café	80	60
Fit: Service business	88	85
Fit: Agency or studio	90	70
Fit: Trades or contractor	84	75
Fit: Online store	85	55
Why people pick it	Unlimited users Clean interface Good for multi-currency	Free core product Simple invoicing
Where it falls short	Early plan limits are tight Fewer US accountants use it	No inventory or job costing Bank connections now behind Pro
	Visit Xero ↗	Visit Wave ↗

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