An honest comparison: Businessily vs the paid alternatives
QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Wave, Square, HoneyBook, Keeper, Hurdlr — side by side, including where each one still beats us.
The short version: If you want one free app that handles invoices, expenses, mileage, US taxes, POS and scheduling without a subscription, a cut of your payments, or your bank login, Businessily is the most complete free option — and the only one with a native Mac app. If you need an established accountant network, formal SOC 2 audits, or automatic bank-feed imports today, a paid incumbent may still suit you better.
Pricing below is framed as "starts at ~$X/mo" because incumbents change prices often. Figures reflect publicly listed plans as of 2026 — always check the provider.
Businessily is $0, forever.
The master comparison
| Businessily | QuickBooks Solopreneur | FreshBooks | Wave | Square | HoneyBook | Keeper | Hurdlr / Everlance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | ✓ $0No tier, no card | ✗ ~$20+/moRaised prices | ✗ ~$23–70/moLite caps 5 clients | ~ Free + ProBank import now ~$19/mo | ~ $0 software2.6%+15¢ / 3.3%+30¢ fees | ✗ ~$29–109/mo~89% hike Feb 2025 | ✗ ~$99–399/yrNo free tier | ~ Free tierAuto features paywalled |
| Truly free tier | ✓ Whole app | ✗ Trial only | ✗ Trial only | ~ Limited | ~ Fee-funded | ✗ | ✗ | ~ Manual only |
| No bank login / no Plaid | ✓ Import a file | ✗ Uses bank feeds | ✗ Plaid/Yodlee | ✗ Uses Plaid | ✗ Account linking | ✗ Bank linking | ✗ Plaid required | ✗ Bank import |
| On-device data option | ✓ Apple apps | ✗ Cloud | ✗ Cloud | ✗ Cloud | ✗ Cloud | ✗ Cloud | ✗ Cloud | ✗ Cloud |
| Never holds your money | ✓ Pays your own account | ~ QB Payments | ~ Their processor | ~ Their processor | ✗ Custodies fundsFund-hold complaints | ~ Their processor | ✓ Tax tool | ~ Varies |
| SSN / Tax ID kept off the cloud | ✓ Never in our cloud | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| No ads / not a data sale | ✓ | ~ Shares across Intuit | ✓ | ~ Owned by H&R Block | ✗ Shares for ads | ✗ Shares for ads | ✗ Targeted ads | ~ Varies |
| US tax tooling (Sched C, quarterly, 1099) | ✓ Full, free | ~ Estimates | ~ Limited | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ Tax-focused | ~ Estimates |
| Mileage tracking | ✓ Free | ~ In app | ~ Limited | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ Auto paywalled |
| Native Mac app | ✓ Only one in category | ✗ Web/phone | ✗ Web/phone | ✗ Web/phone | ✗ Web/phone | ✗ Web/phone | ✗ Web/phone | ✗ Phone |
| All-in-one (invoices→POS→scheduling) | ✓ One app | ~ Add-ons | ~ Invoicing-led | ~ Books-led | ~ Payments-led | ~ Client-work-led | ✗ Taxes only | ✗ Mileage only |
| Established accountant network / SOC 2 | ✗ Not yet | ✓ Large network | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
Businessily listed first. ✓ = yes · ~ = partial/with a catch · ✗ = no. Competitor pricing, ownership and features are summarized from publicly listed plans and change over time — verify with each provider. Last reviewed June 2026.
Read the honest, head-to-head breakdown
QuickBooks Self-Employed alternative
Self-Employed is retired; Solopreneur starts at ~$20/mo. Here's the free, private replacement.
Read the comparison →FreshBooks alternative
~$23–70/mo and the Lite plan caps you at 5 clients. See what unlimited and free looks like.
Read the comparison →Wave alternative
Wave moved bank import to a paid Pro plan and is owned by H&R Block. Here's a free one that isn't.
Read the comparison →Hurdlr / Everlance alternative
Mileage apps gate auto-tracking and bank import behind a subscription. Get the whole back office free.
Read the comparison →Where an incumbent may suit you better
QuickBooks and FreshBooks have huge accountant networks. If yours lives in one of those, staying can be simpler.
SOC 2 / ISO audits and dedicated support teams are something the incumbents have and we don't yet.
We deliberately don't use Plaid, so you import a statement file instead of linking a login. That's a touch more manual.
Square's terminals and ecosystem are mature. Our POS is software-first.
Exactly what we do and don't store is on Security, and the mechanics are on How it works.
Get it free — really.
Every feature, every platform, $0. No card. Nothing to cancel.