Xero alternative for freelancers who only need invoicing

What Xero is genuinely better at

Xero is a ledger with an invoice button, and the ledger is the part worth paying for when you use it. The US pricing page lists bank reconciliation, bills, sales tax, reports, and document capture on the plans. Forecasts run 30, 60, or 180 days. Higher plans add dashboards, multiple currencies, projects, and expense claims.

A chart of accounts, bank rules, and a trail from the invoice to the return live in one login. Payroll is an add-on, Xero Payroll powered by Gusto, at $36 a month plus $6 per person. Auto-reconcile on Early is an optional $5 a month. New US customers also get a product specialist for the first 90 days.

• Bank reconciliation, bills, sales tax, and reports on the published US plans.
• Cash flow forecasts of 30, 60, or 180 days depending on the plan.
• Payroll add-on at $36 a month plus $6 per person, and a 90 day onboarding coach for new US customers.

The US prices after the introductory months

Checked 23 October 2026 on Xero's own US pricing page. Prices are in USD and exclude tax. New customers in the United States get 90% off the base plan for the first six months. The offer page says it runs until 11:59pm UTC on 2 November 2026. After that window, or after month six, the regular price renews. Xero also says it can change pricing at any time. There is no price lock.

Early caps you at quotes and 20 invoices, plus 5 bills. The cap covers approving and sending, and some app transactions count. Growing and Established do not publish a cap, and they do not publish a separate unlimited price, so that cell is blank. Online invoice payments are offered. The page says fees apply and does not print the percentage, so that cell is blank too.

For six months, Early at $2.70 and Growing at $5.90 cost less than Starter at $9. Established's intro at $9.70 is already above it. From month seven, Early is $27, Growing is $59, and Established is $97. Starter stays $9. You are comparing a ledger with a tool that only invoices.

What switching actually costs

The chart of accounts, bank rules, and last year's reports do not come with you, and they should not. If your accountant still files from Xero, keep the organization open until they say the file can close. An overlap month is cheaper than reconstructed books.

Open invoices are the practical mess. Finish them in Xero, or reissue them and name the old number on the new one. A client with a live Xero payment link will pay the old invoice if you leave it open. Repeating invoices have to be recreated. A short client list is an afternoon. Saving every old PDF is a weekend.

Two smaller frictions show up later. Xero says you can move to a cheaper plan only one month after an upgrade, so do not upgrade in the final month to export something. And the introductory price ends. If you are in month two of the 90% offer, the bill you are reacting to is not the bill in month seven. Compare $27, $59, or $97 with the work you actually do, then decide.

• Keep Xero until your accountant has the file they need.
• Reissue open invoices or let them finish where the client already has the link.
• The cheap months are the first six. The decision belongs to the price after that.

Who is buying a ledger they will not open

A freelancer who sends a handful of invoices and emails a CSV to an accountant is not using reconciliation, 1099 tools, or a forecast. Early still includes those, with a 20 invoice ceiling. Growing, after the intro, is $59 a month for a general ledger. That is a fair price for a bookkeeper. It is a lot of ledger for a payment button.

Incusia Starter is $9 a month for unlimited invoices, with the rate locked in the Terms of Service. It will not reconcile a bank account, file a sales tax return, or run payroll. If those are the Tuesday tasks, Xero is the better product and this page should talk you out of switching. If those tasks belong to someone else, the ledger is a subscription you open only when an invoice is late.