If you're a freelancer or solo operator looking for free software to send invoices and keep track of your money, you've probably come across Wave. It's been one of the best-known free accounting tools for over a decade, and for many people it's the default choice. Wave has changed over the years, though. H&R Block acquired it, features that used to be free moved into a paid Pro plan, and the free tier now promotes Wave's paid services. So more people are searching for a Wave alternative, especially one that works without an internet connection or an online account.
This comparison covers what each tool does well, what it costs, and who each one suits. Wave is a good product for some businesses. Stintly is built for a different kind of user. The goal here is to help you work out which group you're in.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Stintly | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free Starter plan; paid Pro plan, payroll and payment processing fees |
| Works Offline | Yes — 100% offline | No — needs an internet connection |
| Account Required | No | Yes — email signup and business profile |
| Best For | Solo operators and small businesses that want simple time, invoice and money tracking | Small businesses that need double-entry accounting, payroll or online card payments |
| Platform | iPhone and iPad (App Store) | Web browser, plus companion mobile apps that need a connection |
| Key Features | Time tracking, invoicing, expense logging, client records, simple income overview | Invoicing, double-entry bookkeeping, financial reports, online payments, payroll (paid) |
| Data Privacy | Data stays on your device | Data stored on Wave's cloud servers (owned by H&R Block) |
Pricing
Wave's main selling point has always been its free plan, and it's still real. The Starter plan lets you send unlimited invoices, track income and expenses, and run basic accounting reports without paying a subscription. For a small business on a tight budget, that's a good deal.
Over time, though, Wave has moved several conveniences into its Pro plan, which costs about $16 a month at the time of writing, or a little less if you pay yearly. Pro unlocks features such as automatic bank transaction imports, receipt scanning, and lower payment processing rates. Payroll is a separate paid add-on with a monthly base fee plus a per-worker charge. If clients pay you by card through Wave, you pay processing fees on each transaction, usually 2.9% plus a fixed per-transaction fee. ACH bank payments cost less but aren't free.
None of this is unusual. Wave has to make money somehow. But "free" with Wave often means "free until you need one more thing." Check Wave's pricing page for current numbers before you commit, because these fees change.
Stintly is simpler: it's free. There's no Pro tier you get nudged toward, no subscription, and no payment processor taking a cut, because Stintly doesn't handle payments. You invoice the client, they pay you however you've agreed, and you record the payment.
| Cost | Stintly | Wave Starter | Wave Pro | Wave Pro + Payroll (1 worker) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $0 | $0 + processing fees | ~$16 | ~$42–$62 |
| 1 Year | $0 | $0 + processing fees | ~$170–$192 | ~$500–$750 |
| 3 Years | $0 | $0 + processing fees | ~$510–$576 | ~$1,500–$2,250 |
Wave figures are approximate, based on published pricing at the time of writing, and don't include per-transaction card or ACH fees. Payroll costs depend on your state and number of workers.
Save money. Try Stintly free today. Download Stintly for Free — no account needed, works 100% offline.
Features
Where Wave is strong:
- Real double-entry accounting. Wave has a proper chart of accounts, journal entries, and a balance sheet. If your accountant wants clean books at tax time, Wave can produce them.
- Online payments. Clients can pay invoices by card or bank transfer straight from the invoice link. If you get paid by many small clients who expect a "Pay Now" button, that's convenient.
- Payroll. If you have employees or regular contractors, Wave's payroll add-on handles pay runs and, in some states, tax filings.
- Financial reports. Profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, and sales tax reports come built in.
- Recurring invoices and reminders. Wave can send repeating invoices and follow up on overdue ones automatically.
Where Stintly is strong:
- Time tracking built in. Wave doesn't have a native time tracker, so freelancers who bill by the hour usually add a second tool. Stintly tracks your hours and turns them into invoices in one place.
- Fast on a phone. Stintly is built for iPhone first. You can log a session, add an expense, or create an invoice in a few taps between jobs, without waiting for a page to load.
- No accounting jargon. You won't run into debits, credits, or chart-of-accounts setup. You see what you earned, what you spent, and who owes you, which is all most solo operators need day to day.
- Client records. Rates, contact details, and billing history for each client are kept together.
- Nothing to set up. Open the app and start working. There's no onboarding wizard, bank linking, or business verification.
To be honest about the gap: Stintly is not a full accounting system. If you need a balance sheet, payroll, or card processing built into your invoices, Wave does more. Stintly covers the daily work of tracking time, billing clients, and knowing where your money goes. Many freelancers find that's all they actually use, and they hand year-end bookkeeping to an accountant anyway.
Specialized trades often need more than general tools offer. If you run a service business, a purpose-built app can fit better than either Stintly or Wave. Lawn care and landscaping crews can use LawnBook to manage routes, recurring services, and clients. Residential and commercial cleaners can use ShineBook for scheduling and client management. Landlords tracking rent and tenants have KeyLoft. Contractors handling job costing and progress billing should look at TrestleBook. All of them follow the same offline-first approach as Stintly.
Want to try Stintly for free? Download Stintly for Free — no subscription required.
Offline & Privacy
This is where the two products differ most.
Wave is a cloud product. Your invoices, client list, transactions, and financial history live on Wave's servers. That has benefits: you can sign in from any browser, and an accountant can be given access. It also means you can't use Wave without a working internet connection. If you're on a job site with no signal, on a flight, in a rural area, or dealing with a Wi-Fi outage, you can't log anything until you're back online.
Stintly works 100% offline. Everything is stored on your device. You can track time in a basement with no cell service, write an invoice on a plane, or log a fuel receipt at a rural gas station, and it's saved right away. Nothing waits on a sync and nothing fails because of a dropped connection.
Privacy follows from that design:
- No account means no profile. Stintly doesn't ask for your email, business tax ID, or bank login. There's no account to be breached or used for marketing.
- Your data stays with you. Wave is owned by H&R Block, a large tax-preparation company. Wave publishes its privacy policy, and you should read it and decide for yourself. Some freelancers simply prefer that their client list and income figures aren't stored on any company's servers.
- No promotions in the app. Wave's free tier promotes its paid products and partner services. Stintly doesn't upsell you.
If you've ever been stuck at a client's site unable to send an invoice because the software wouldn't load, you already know why offline matters.
The trade-off is real: offline-first means you're responsible for your device and its backups. Make sure your iPhone backups are turned on, and export your records regularly.
Who Should Use Wave
Wave is a good choice if:
- You need full double-entry bookkeeping and want to produce a balance sheet yourself without hiring a bookkeeper.
- You pay employees and want payroll in the same system as your books.
- Your clients expect to pay by card from an invoice link, and you're fine paying processing fees for that convenience.
- You work mostly at a desk with reliable internet and like managing finances in a browser.
- Your accountant wants direct access to your books through a shared login.
For a small agency with a couple of staff, a retail side business, or anyone whose accountant asks for proper ledgers, Wave's free tier offers a lot of value, and the Pro upgrade is reasonably priced compared with QuickBooks.
Who Should Use Stintly
Stintly fits best if:
- You're a solo operator or very small business that wants to track time, send invoices, and see your income without learning accounting.
- You bill by the hour and are tired of moving hours from one app into another app's invoice.
- You work on the move: job sites, client offices, travel, or anywhere with patchy signal.
- You don't want to create another account or give your business data to a cloud provider.
- You want something that's actually free, with no Pro tier, upsells, or per-transaction fees.
- You already have an accountant who handles taxes at year-end, and you just need clean, organized records to give them.
Typical Stintly users include freelance designers, consultants, tutors, photographers, independent IT technicians, and tradespeople. These are people for whom the software should stay out of the way so they can get on with paid work.
The Bottom Line
Wave and Stintly solve different problems. Wave is a free-to-start accounting platform with optional paid upgrades for payroll, bank automation, and payments. If you need real bookkeeping, employee payroll, or card payments on invoices, Wave is a solid choice and one of the better values among cloud accounting tools.
If what you actually need is to track your time, bill your clients, and know where your money stands, ideally from your phone and without depending on an internet connection or an online account, Stintly is the simpler and more private option. It's free with no strings attached, it works offline, and you can be productive in it within a minute of installing it.
Our recommendation: if you're a solo operator who has never opened Wave's balance sheet, or who only uses Wave to send a few invoices a month, try Stintly. You'll probably find it covers everything you were using, without the upsells. If you later grow into payroll and full double-entry books, Wave or a dedicated accountant will still be there.
Ready to switch? Download Stintly for Free — it takes 30 seconds and costs nothing.