Best Simple Invoice Programs 2023

When it comes to simplicity, Zoho Invoice is definitely an invoicing software that should get your attention – it’s like it was made with it in mind. The user-friendly interface was very easy to navigate when I was testing it out, so I can safely say that it will be a great choice even for users who are not familiar with invoicing software and have never used it before.

What I Like about Zoho Invoice

The dashboard provides a clear overview of pending and paid invoices, and users can easily create and send invoices, estimates, and payment reminders. The platform also offers a range of customization options, allowing you to personalize your invoices with logos, colors, and fonts.

If you think that just because Zoho’s platform is simple, the invoicing software doesn’t have a variety of other helpful tools, you’d be mistaken – some of the things you can do thanks to Zoho Invoice include automating most of the business processes within your company, generating expense reports, or facilitating online payments with major payment gateways, such as PayPal.

And the best part of it all? You get all of that absolutely for free. There are some invoicing programs that claim to be completely free, but when you sign up for them it turns out that it isn’t the case at all. With Zoho Invoice, you don’t have to worry about any additional fees, especially since you don’t even need to add your credit or debit card information.

What I Don’t Like about Zoho Invoice

While it is definitely a great free invoice software, just like anything, Zoho Invoice also has some cons. For example, it allows you to only have one user per account, and you can only manage up to 5 users on it. However, from my experience that is more than enough for most small business owners. You also don’t have unlimited invoices – instead, there’s a limit of 1,000 invoices per year. Still, as I already mentioned, in most cases that’s more than enough.

Ninja Invoice is another invoicing software we already featured in our “Best Free Online Invoicing Software” list – however, I feel like it’s so good that I just need to talk about it again.

What I Like about Invoice Ninja

I could go on and on about why I love this invoicing software. However, the most important thing you should probably know is that it not only allows you to create and send out invoices, but you also have the chance to customize them, so that they look more professional – for instance, you can change their color so that it suits the aesthetic of your brand, as well as add your logo. Sounds pretty great, doesn’t it?

What’s more, aside from invoicing features, Invoice Ninja also provides you with great time tracking and inventory management tools, which means that you don’t need to use a separate program for that. Personally, I really enjoyed the fact that I could monitor what I have and what I’m running low on. And if you’re someone who bases their prices on how much time you spent on a specific task, then you’d be glad to know that you can track it within Invoice Ninja and add it straight to your invoice. All in all, it just really simplifies things.

Now, let’s talk a little bit about the pricing. After all, you need to know what you’re signing up for.

You have three pricing plans to choose from, which differ in terms of features that you get. Those plans are:

• Free plan – with this plan, you can manage up to 20 clients per account, and you get unlimited invoicing, which is great if you send out quite a lot of them. You also get 4 templates to choose from, you can accept payments with just one click, and you also get notified whenever one of your clients views and/or pays an invoice. Pretty nice for a free invoice software for small businesses, wouldn’t you say?
• Ninja Pro – the Pro plan costs $10 per month, but if you get billed annually, you receive two months for free, bringing your total to $100 instead of $120. With this plan, you receive all of the features included in the free plan, but you can manage unlimited clients. You also get a branded URL, and the invoices you send won’t contain the “Created by Invoice Ninja” sign.
• Enterprise – this plan ranges from $14 per month for 1 to 2 users, to $44 per month for 11 to 20 users. Just like with the Pro plan, if you pay in advance for the whole year, you’ll get two months free. The differences between the Pro and the Enterprise plan are the ability to create additional accounts and give each of them individual access permission, being able to attach files to emails and client portal, as well as a fully branded client portal.

I, myself, have used the free version, and I think that if more advanced features are not something that you’re particularly interested in, then it will be enough for you – it definitely was for me.

What I Don’t Like about Invoice Ninja

The one thing I can add here is that if you have more than 20 clients, or you’re looking for advanced features, for example if you want to send payment reminders, then you will need to sign up for one of the paid plans.

If you don’t mind paying for software that you can use for both invoicing and accounting, then I think that QuickBooks might be the perfect solution for you.

What I Like about QuickBooks

Quickbooks is a great solution no matter how big or small your business is. Thanks to this invoicing and accounting software, you can track your expenses, your inventory, and even use it as a way to keep track of your employees’ working hours. If you’re a brick-and-mortar business owner you’ll like it even more, just for the simple fact that it has a feature called receipt storage – all you have to do is take a photo of a receipt, and in just a few clicks you can link them in the system.

When it comes to the pricing, as I already mentioned, there’s no free version available. However, there is a free 30-day trial on each of the plans available, so you have the option to see how you like a particular plan, and if its features are not enough, or, on the contrary, are too much, you can easily swap for a different one.

So, what are the plans that you can choose from?

• Simple Start – this is the most affordable plan, for 16 euros a month. It allows you to track expenses and income, as well as GST and VAT. You can also send custom invoices, and connect your bank for more seamless work. It has some limitations though, and you’re only allowed one user plus an accountant on the account.
• Essentials – the second-tier plan comes as 23 euros per month. It has all the features included in the plan above, while also allowing you to manage bills and payments by checking their statuses, recording payments or creating recurring payments; track employee time, as well as send invoices in different currencies and assign a currency to a specific client. When it comes to how many people can use it, you can have up to 3 users on an account plus your accountant.
• Plus – this is the most expensive plan, coming at 32 euros per month. Again, it has everything that the plans I already mentioned do, with some additional perks. For example, you can automatically send recurring invoices, track your inventory and project’s profitability, as well as track your budgets. This plan allows you to have up to five users on one account plus your accountant.

If you feel like it’s too much for your business, you should check the website regularly, as they often have some promotions. For example, when I was testing it out, they had a 70% off for the first three months offer, so the least expensive plan was 4.80 euros, while the most expensive one cost less than 10 euros.

What I Don’t Like about QuickBooks

There’s only one thing I would say works in their disadvantage and that is the fact that even paid plans have quite a small limit in terms of how many users you can have per account. While it won’t be a problem for smaller businesses that don’t have that many employees, bigger ones might either need to look into another solution or create more than one account to manage everything.

Square Invoices provides an extensive range of features that cater to the invoicing needs of small and medium-sized businesses.

What I Like about Square Invoices

Their all-encompassing free plan offers a variety of tools for businesses, such as unlimited invoices, scheduled recurring payments, real-time invoice tracking, and comprehensive reporting capabilities.

This versatile billing software permits limitless estimates while providing real-time tracking. It stands out for its ability to accept both online and in-person payments, a feature not commonly seen in other invoicing platforms.

Additionally, Square Invoices excels in customization, offering personalized invoices with adjustable layouts and fields to suit your specific requirements. The user-friendly interface and seamless mobile app experience make it an ideal choice for small businesses and freelancers seeking a reliable invoicing solution with excellent payment options and customization features.

Now, let’s talk a little about the pricing of this invoicing software. There are two plans available – a free one and a paid one.

With the free plan, you can send unlimited invoices, schedule recurring invoices and automatic payment reminders, send digital receipts for any payments, collect digital signatures on documents, and process payments.

The paid plan costs $30 per month, but you receive a 30-day free trial to test it out. Some of the features that are not a part of the free plan include organizing project files into folders, auto-converting accepted estimates into invoices, or the ability to customize invoices and their layout.

What I Don’t Like about Square Invoices

I have to say that I quite enjoyed using this invoicing software, and there isn’t much negative I could say about it. The only thing that comes to my mind is the fact that if you wish to send custom invoices, then you will need to sign up for their paid plan. The same goes for most project management and tracking features.