# Wave Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra

> Is Wave the right Billing and Invoicing solution for you? Explore 1720 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/178021/Wave-Apps/reviews

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Wave

4.4 (1720)

[View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/178021/Wave-Apps/alternatives/)

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/)

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Last updated March 13th, 2026

# Reviews of Wave

Ease of use

4.4

Customer Service

4.0

## Pros and Cons in Reviews

Ron W

Property Management, Development and InvestmentReal Estate, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“Love the free version but it’s super basic and limited but upgrading to paid version is very expensive when using it for more than 1 business and offers inadequate features to do the job vis-a-vis other competitors in the market. If … WAVE would add AI, connectivity to banks and credit cards, and features to operate multiple businesses in the paid subscription I’d use it.“

December 7, 2025

KW

Kristyne W

Travel AdvisorHospitality, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“I tried to set up a way to send invoices and receive payments through Wave, but even after I was approved, they removed my access due to a blanket assumption around travel agencies. “

February 24, 2026

Amber M

OwnerDesign, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“The option to create recurring invoices has been amazing, as well as the reports I can pull at the end of each year.“

March 24, 2026

Edgar R

EngineerAccounting, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“Payment processing fees are a bit high, and customer support is limited if you don't pay for a plan.“

January 9, 2026

KC

Kimberly C

Administrative ConsultantExecutive Office, Self-employedUsed the software for: Less than 6 months.

“I did like that there is a free option available. If you are just starting out as a new business owner and want to get your bookkeeping and invoicing process set up before getting a client, you do have a free option that isn’t a trial.“

December 28, 2025

ml

melissa l

Admin siding installerConstruction, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: I used a free trial.

“A major pain point for users is the lack of robust, live customer support for free users, who are generally limited to an online help center and chatbot.“

October 23, 2025

PM

Pauline M

Owner - ManagerHospitality, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“The automation with sync banking and categorizing expenses and income is vey useful for identifying balancing books keeping your tasks on track.“

July 27, 2025

NB

Nick B

PresidentManagement Consulting, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“Excellent for almost two years until doing my taxes this year and lost the ability to export transactions without upgrading my plan.“

February 1, 2026

## Showing most helpful reviews

Showing 1-25 of 1720 Reviews

Sort by:

Most Helpful

Rating

Company Size

Reviewer's Role

Length of Use

Frequency of Use

Amanda J.  
Owner  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Wave Recent Changes in Experience"

April 19, 2025

3.0

Pros

I've used Wave for 5 years. It's very easy to use and can help process payroll, send invoices and keep track of expenses.

Cons

In the recent past, I've had issue with them processing tax payments on time, and their support has significantly decreased from the past.

Alternatives considered

[HoneyBook](https://www.capterra.com/p/162588/HoneyBook/)

Reason for choosing Wave

Best value for the money and easily handled payroll and tax services.

Review Source

PM

Pauline M.  
Owner - Manager  
Hospitality  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Must have for small businesses looking to grow!"

July 27, 2025

5.0

Been very pleased with the services as a well rounded provider. Would recommend for any and all new businesses just starting out that need assistance with Payroll, Bookkeeping, Accounting, Invoicing. This platform has enabled me to grow my business without the huge additional costs that other providers charge for features you're not ready for.

Pros

Invoicing options. Ability to collect payment on invoices. Connecting banking transactions and reconciliations. For a small business having a payroll program that's affordable and manageable while they take care of remittances and off boarding. Financial tracking for profit and loss reports is extremely helpful as well. Open chat system with questions and answers; If answers aren't readily available, the support team follows up with an email to assist. The automation with sync banking and categorizing expenses and income is vey useful for identifying balancing books keeping your tasks on track.

Cons

Not sure if it's been updated or integrated as of yet; the ability to have a schedule and dispatch for jobs related to the invoices.

Alternatives considered

[Jobber](https://www.capterra.com/p/127994/Jobber/)[Connecteam](https://www.capterra.com/p/153140/Connecteam/)

Reason for choosing Wave

Wave has a stand alone product that has Payroll built into the platform that doesn't out source to other providers. The other two companies do in fact want integrations into Quick books online or ADP and pay for additional features.

Review Source

Ron W.  
Property Management, Development and Investment  
Real Estate  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Love Hate Relationship"

December 7, 2025

3.0

Love the UI and wanted it to be a viable alternative to the other players in the bookkeeping/accounting market but it fell far short and failed in it’s current itteration. Love the free version but it’s super basic and limited but upgrading to paid version is very expensive when using it for more than 1 business and offers inadequate features to do the job vis-a-vis other competitors in the market. If … WAVE would add AI, connectivity to banks and credit cards, and features to operate multiple businesses in the paid subscription I’d use it. As my daily driver vs the competitors.

Pros

Ability to have multiple accounts/businesses (free version only) Value for the money Very user friendly Payments and invoicing features

Cons

Inability to have multiple accounts/businesses in paid version Poor Value for the money with paid version because each account requires additional pay subscription Lack of AI Categorization vs competitors Lack of connectivity ability to import Banks & Credit Cards transctions

Switched from

[Microsoft Excel](https://www.capterra.com/p/176574/Excel/)

Better UI, ease of use, invoicing and payment capability

Review Source

NB

Nick B.  
President  
Management Consulting  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Wave quietly removed transaction export from free accounts. Dealbreaker"

February 1, 2026

2.0

Excellent for almost two years until doing my taxes this year and lost the ability to export transactions without upgrading my plan. I suggested them to many people, but now have to share the bad news with everyone on the free plan.

Pros

Ease to use software with reasonable functionality at the free tier for a single person LLC. Great value which helped manage based transactions.

Cons

Wave removed transaction level CSV export from free accounts and did not disclose the change. The UI still implies export should exist, but it’s now paywalled without warning. This breaks a core bookkeeping workflow: providing detailed expense records to a CPA for tax filing. The only export remaining is a summarized P&L, which is not a substitute for transaction detail in many cases. This feels like a dark pattern upsell rather than a product improvement. I wouldn’t recommend Wave anymore unless you’re prepared to pay just to retrieve your own data.

Review Source

AC

Aaron C.  
Founder and CEO  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Best free invoicing and financial management platform in Canada"

October 20, 2025

4.0

Pros

Wave has very solid web and app platforms. It's easy to navigate and makes the quoting, invoicing, and payment processes very streamlined -- while accepting payments from all major credit cards in Canada. The free version is already very useful for businesses just starting out, or those that are still in the early growth phase, but they also have an affordable paid version that adds a suite of automations and expense / receipt management functions to further boost productivity.

Cons

The main thing I don't like about Wave is that they don't use standardized "GAAP terminology" for some of their financial management and reporting features. While this may make it more accessible to a certain user base, it actually makes it a bit confusing for me (who has a bit of formal CPA / accounting training).

Alternatives considered

[BILL Accounts Payable & Receivable](https://www.capterra.com/p/166559/BILL/)[FreshBooks](https://www.capterra.com/p/142390/FreshBooks/)[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)

Reason for choosing Wave

Wave has a much cleaner, more modern interface that doesn't feel overly crowded or cluttered for a small / growing business. It's much easier to navigate vs platforms like Quickbooks.

Review Source

LB

Laura B.  
CEO  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Payroll Fiasco Nightmare"

July 1, 2025

1.0

Wave was great until they upgraded their payroll and left ALL of the customers out of the lurch. The lack of communication, inability to even contact anyone except an AI chat bot, and lack or response to tickets is asinine. This has been the worst experience ever. I had to write paper checks to my employees. It has been an absolute disaster.

Pros

I used to love her, but I had to kill her. At first, she told me everything I wanted to hear. Now the true colors are here, just another software who had it good and then screwed it up. We were so loyal and loved the invoicing and ease and costs, but this is now unsustainable.

Cons

Payroll fiasco. Couldn't run payroll after a software integration upgrade and we were unable to receive any support or assistance.

Alternatives considered

[Gusto](https://www.capterra.com/p/131882/Gusto/)

Reason for choosing Wave

Price and integration to invoicing. It seemed simple.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
owner and principal linguist  
Translation and Localization  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "For a free version, it sure dots the i's and crosses the t's!"

February 23, 2025

5.0

I've been a Wave customer for some years now. Although I've tried a couple of accounting systems simultaneously with using Wave, I always end up coming back to Wave.

Pros

Its free version comes with everything I need in order to keep accurate and up-to-date accounting books. It even lets me do foreign currency invoices, something that I don't find in other free accounting systems.

Cons

I can't really say; I think that this free version is quite generous in its offerings. I sure hope that Wave will keep it!

Alternatives considered

[Zoho Desk](https://www.capterra.com/p/169505/Zoho-Desk/)[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)

Reason for choosing Wave

Wave's free version is just what I need.

Switched from

[Zoho Desk](https://www.capterra.com/p/169505/Zoho-Desk/)[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)

The Zoho free version didn't fill my needs. Although I liked QuickBooks, the price was too much for what I needed.

Review Source

KD

Kelly D.  
Owner-Virtual Assistant  
Real Estate  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Perfect for My Small Business"

June 17, 2025

5.0

I discovered Wave when my prior billing software more than doubled in price. Because I bill monthly, I don't send out mass quantities of invoices, and Wave offers everything that I need to keep the invoices going out and the payments coming in. Payouts are a breeze as well.

Pros

Wave is very easy to use, offers many features, and depending on your needs, is either free or very reasonably priced.

Cons

There is only one thing that I would change, and that has to do with the descriptions when adding to an invoice. It's a minor thing compared to the overall product.

Alternatives considered

[FreshBooks](https://www.capterra.com/p/142390/FreshBooks/)

Reason for choosing Wave

Wave offered everything that I needed, and was easy to set up, easy to use.

Switched from

[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)

Quickbooks more than doubled the price, and I didn't use it nearly enough to justify the new price, nor the steep jump.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Owner  
Health, Wellness and Fitness  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Wave really is the way to go!"

January 2, 2025

5.0

Once of the easiest programs, I honestly can't find anything to 'complain' about. Supper effective, easy, and the right features for a small business.

Pros

\-Very affordable for a single owner small business -EASY to use -Makes accounting anxiety free -You can hire professional bookkeeper if needed -Can add your accountant to the account with ease -Can invoice and track customer payments

Cons

\-Would love more categories for expenses

Alternatives considered

[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)[Xero](https://www.capterra.com/p/120109/Xero/)

Reason for choosing Wave

I chose Wave for the ease of use, overall cost, and it's webbased.

Switched from

[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)[Xero](https://www.capterra.com/p/120109/Xero/)

Xero was increasing their fees and Quickbooks was too costly

Review Source

Erik S.  
CEO  
Logistics and Supply Chain  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Wave Review."

January 11, 2025

4.0

The system is great cost effective not the easiest to use but great system overall.

Pros

The features in the platform are great. Simple to use not user friendly but easy to use.

Cons

Their platform doesn't integrate with other systems in the transportation industry.

Alternatives considered

[FreshBooks](https://www.capterra.com/p/142390/FreshBooks/)[TruckingOffice](https://www.capterra.com/p/122284/TruckingOffice/)[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)

Reason for choosing Wave

There system do not integrate with transportations systems.

Review Source

AG

Ana G.  
CEO  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Great for small business bookkeeping"

January 22, 2025

4.0

Wave is more useful for my bookkeeping than actually collecting payments - I would probably use the payroll option via wave is I ever need it again, just to keep things streamlined

Pros

I like how simple Wave is for reconciling all my business expenses and auto-categorizing, based on previous years. Invoicing is also fairly straightfoward.

Cons

Invoicing is great for one off invoices, but doesn't integrate with other apps and more automated checkout systems. It can become cumbersome to manage service inventory, having to create new 'products' for each custom service to then sift through.

Alternatives considered

[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)[Zoho Expense](https://www.capterra.com/p/142384/Zoho-Expense/)

Reason for choosing Wave

Wave is free and VERY easy to setup and deploy. I don't have to be an accountant to be able to reconcile my own expenses as a small business owner.

Review Source

PP

Perla P.  
CEO  
Accounting  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Best software"

February 17, 2025

5.0

I have had nothing but good experiences with Wave.

Pros

I like how easy it is to use and be able to have everything you need in one place

Cons

I have yet to find anything that i don't like yet

Switched from

[Square Point of Sale](https://www.capterra.com/p/275802/Square-Point-of-Sale/)

more flexibility and easier to use. Also it was better for the money

Review Source

NM

Noureddine M.  
Logistic manager  
Transportation/Trucking/Railroad  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "perfect app"

December 8, 2024

4.0

I used it for more than 5 years and it help me a lot for my daily tasks as invoice customers , purchase in and accounting accounting tax statement

Pros

it's perefect app it help for accounting management, invoices and tax statement

Cons

for the option pay roll it's not available in Quebec

Alternatives considered

[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)

Reason for choosing Wave

it's easy to use and has all what I need and it help me in manage my work

Review Source

AC

Amanda C.  
Association Manager  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Excellent software for the Price"

May 2, 2025

4.0

I have been using Wave to aid my book-keeping responsibilities for my own business as well as 3 other clients for over 4 years.

Pros

It is a user-friendly platform, especially for beginners and small businesses. Excellent price.

Cons

Because of the low cost and simplicity, I feel it lacks certain features that would be helpful for business owners at any level.

Alternatives considered

[FreshBooks](https://www.capterra.com/p/142390/FreshBooks/)[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)[Zoho Expense](https://www.capterra.com/p/142384/Zoho-Expense/)

Reason for choosing Wave

The price and the ease of use were the deciding factors.

Review Source

HJ

Hannah J.  
CEO  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Easy to use, great for the price "

December 30, 2024

4.0

I really enjoy wave, I've been using it for over 5 years and it super simple and easy for the client to pay invoices.

Pros

It is super easy to use and very affordable for the start-up business owner or side hustler.

Cons

It has limited features in some areas, like payroll, but if you're a solo team, that doesn't matter.

Alternatives considered

[HoneyBook](https://www.capterra.com/p/162588/HoneyBook/)[Stripe](https://www.capterra.com/p/123889/Stripe/)[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)

Reason for choosing Wave

Because it had what I needed for invoicing for the right price

Switched from

[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)

Because quickbooks was too expensive for my needs

Review Source

AA

Andrea A.  
Owner Office Manager  
Transportation/Trucking/Railroad  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Wave is Amazing!!"

November 11, 2024

5.0

Great experience overall and I have been using this software since 2020.

Pros

Wave is easy to use and a huge time saver when it comes to tracking expenses and doing reports. Best thing about it is that it is free for the starter edition.

Cons

You can’t send an estimate directly through Wave without the paid plan but it is a small issue.

Alternatives considered

[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)

Reason for choosing Wave

Cost was an important factor along with was of use.

Review Source

CW

Chris W.  
Web Supervisor  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Wave provides agencies a clear and seamless payment processing interface."

July 11, 2025

5.0

Wave is a key part of our workflow. We use the software to manage payments, send invoices, and review departmental goals. All of the information is clearly laid out and easy to understand

Pros

Wave provides simple and seamless invoice building and sending! Being able to store commonly used line items is a boon for our agency.

Cons

Wave's systems are only as good as your internal data management/accounting. Our team has struggled in onboarding new clients or contractors at times where our SOPs were not clear enough to have uniform data entry across invoicing.

Review Source

TO

Teage O.  
Executive Director  
Primary/Secondary Education  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Avoid Wave, at least until they figure out a solution to current issues"

June 25, 2025

1.0

Very negative. I find the new timesheet system to be incredibly cumbersome. we only have 20 employees, but can't imagine how long this must take for larger companies.

Pros

We started with them many years ago, and it has been good enough during that time. Biggest initial benefit was that the platform was free (at least there was no monthly subscription, just a per employee cost for payroll).

Cons

Started charging a monthly subscription and recently it has gotten incredibly slow. But more importantly, they recently updated the system and it's been a nightmare. Everything is bogged down and takes even longer to load. When I logged in to run our payroll, I was prompted to update tax info for all our employees. After updating everything, we are unable to process and run our employees. We can't even look at the payroll summary to see what we owe employees so we can write them a check. And there's no way to get in touch with customer support and now we're scrambling to figure out another payroll service to figure this out. You can read multiple threads on Reddit with many other people all experiencing the same issue.

Review Source

CV

Criselen V.  
Owner  
Apparel & Fashion  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Practical and easy to understand"

August 30, 2025

4.0

I use it for pretty basic invoices since I have a small business and its just what I need. There is a premium option but for what I need it, its enough

Pros

It lets me save customer info and items with their price so that I can easily add it when making a new invoice.

Cons

Before it would let you send a reminder of an invoice from wave itself but now it sends it as a link from your email

Review Source

BT

Brianna T.  
Lead Editor  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "The worst company I have ever given my money to "

October 1, 2025

1.0

Horrible. Just go elsewhere. You won't receive any support, even when it's Wave who has caused your issues.

Pros

Nothing, Wave has caused me nothing but headache. I have truly never been so disgusted with a company.

Cons

Horrible customer service, makes glaring mistakes (that cost you money) and then refuses to fix them or reimburse you. Wave filed my quarterly state taxes incorrectly, leaving me with penalties and interest that they refuse to reimburse me for. Highly unethical company that does not care about their customers at all.

Review Source

JD

Jenna D.  
Co-founder  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Wave is a good option for those with a small budget"

July 10, 2025

4.0

I used it for the marketing agency I owned. We used it to categorize transactions, send invoices, and receive payments. It was fairly easy to use once I figured out where to find my transactions feed. The categories were easy to change.

Pros

The price point (free if you don't want bank feed) was good for my small business at the time. I like that it's fairly intuitive to use.

Cons

That it didn't have a bank feed option available for free and that it isn't as robust of a software as some other accounting platforms.

Review Source

BN

Baylee N.  
Talent Partner  
Telecommunications  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Wave Review"

October 17, 2025

5.0

It was a positive experience with Wave from the beginning it made accounting easy and saved us so many hours.

Pros

I like the Wave customer support team is very valuable they are always there to answer your questions and concerns.

Cons

I cannot say anything negative about Wave except it lacks some integrations. The product could use some more integrations.

Review Source

JD

Jake D.  
President  
Hospitality  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Incredible Value Accounting Software"

July 8, 2025

4.0

I really liked the software and think it's a great product for small businesses who need an inexpensive solution.

Pros

The value for the product is incredible. It has features that are typical for much more expensive products.

Cons

It can feel clunky at times and can be somewhat difficult to navigate. You have to know where items flow to so you can find what you need.

Review Source

GS

Guerline S.  
Payroll Office Manager  
Telecommunications  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "The easiest transaction software"

August 14, 2025

5.0

Pros

Wave is free, simple, and ideal for small businesses. It makes it easy to manage invoices, payments, and reports without hassle.

Cons

The tool quickly reaches its limits for more advanced accounting. Some features are restricted to North American users.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Operation Control  
Airlines/Aviation  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Good quality, but sometimes the number buttons give problems."

February 18, 2025

4.0

I enjoyed using Wave. It was very easy to use and I liked how I can listen back to my recordings. Sometimes it was annoying the buttons won't work. But overall the quality was good.

Pros

I like how it is very user friendly interface. When I first starting learning my job, my trainer didn't have to teach me how to use Wave application because it was easy enough.

Cons

Sometimes pressing the number buttons didn't work. For example, if the call say press 1 for nurse, press 2 for dispatch. I tried to press number 1, but it would not recognize. Also, our company just had to switch to another application and they told me the reason is due to HIPPA compliance.

Review Source

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