Wave is "free" - but is it really? When your business depends on accounting software, free has hidden costs.
Try BizBooks Pro FreeWave offers free accounting software. Sounds great, right? But there's a catch. Wave makes money through payment processing fees and payroll services. They also use your data for analytics and advertising. When you don't pay for a product, you become the product.
| Feature | BizBooks Pro | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Accounting | ✓ | ✓ |
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Expense Tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Financial Reports | ✓ | ✓ |
| Desktop App (Local Data) | ✓ | ✗ (Cloud only) |
| Data Ownership | ✓ (100% yours) | ⚠ (Limited export) |
| Multi-Currency | ✓ (15+ currencies) | ⚠ (Limited) |
| Multi-Company | ✓ (Pro+) | ✓ |
| Time Tracking | ✓ (Pro+) | ✗ |
| Inventory Management | ✓ (Pro+) | ✗ |
| Bank Reconciliation | ✓ | ✓ |
| No Ads or Upsells | ✓ | ✗ |
| 12-Year Price Lock | ✓ | ✗ |
Let's be fair: if you're a brand new freelancer with a few invoices a month and zero budget, Wave can work. It handles basic bookkeeping, and free is free.
Your financial data stays on your computer. We never see your transactions, customers, or revenue numbers. Wave stores everything on their servers.
Time tracking, inventory, recurring billing, multi-currency - Wave doesn't have these. BizBooks Pro does.
With BizBooks Pro, your data is in a standard database on your machine. Export anytime. Wave makes leaving difficult.
$299/year is about $0.82/day. For a real business, that's nothing. What's your time worth dealing with Wave's limitations?
Wave is fine for hobby businesses and side gigs. But if your business is serious - if you need professional features, data control, and software you can rely on for years - the $299/year investment in BizBooks Pro pays for itself in peace of mind.
Start your free 30-day trial. No credit card required. See what $0.82/day gets you.