FreeAgent vs. FreshBooks

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FreeAgent
Score 7.0 out of 10
N/A
FreeAgent is an cloud-based accounting system designed for small businesses and freelancers. FreeAgent supports many core accounting features and bank reconciliation, payroll, tax management, project level accounting, and multiple currency support. It is mobile-accessible, and integrates with many apps.
$13.50
per month
FreshBooks
Score 8.8 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
FreshBooks is an accounting service for small businesses. The solution enables users to send and manage invoices, track billable time and collect online payments. The vendor’s value proposition this that their solution provides a straightforward service that simplifies the billing process.
$21
per month
Pricing
FreeAgentFreshBooks
Editions & Modules
FreeAgent
$13.50
per month
FreeAgent
$135
per year
Lite
$21
per month
Plus
$38
per month
Premium
$65
per month
Select
Custom Pricing
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FreeAgentFreshBooks
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details10% discount for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
FreeAgentFreshBooks
Considered Both Products
FreeAgent
Chose FreeAgent
I liked FreshBooks - but the support, banking integration and other extras FreeAgent offers won me over.
Chose FreeAgent
Our clients use all of the above software providers, some of them using Xero, QuickBooks, FreshBooks, QuickFile, Kashflow, Wave App etc. FreeAgent is best one for me among the free software available as it does everything and we would not even need additional software for …
Chose FreeAgent
I used Fresh Books for about three years prior to switching to FreeAgent. It was the accounting functionality that made the difference - in the past two years I've not regretted the switch. Fresh Books is good, but its the UK accounting features that make FreeAgent …
FreshBooks
Chose FreshBooks
FreshBooks does very well in comparison, especially since it is free software for Barclays bank users. Sage software is much worse than FreshBooks. However, Xero and QuickBooks, the market leaders, are still ahead with usability, additional features, reporting, and connection …
Chose FreshBooks
Years ago we started using FreshBooks and then decided to look for a less expensive option. After trying multiple solutions, we went back to FreshBooks and haven't looked back since. That was over 10 years ago.

No service can compete with their functionality, pricing, and …
Features
FreeAgentFreshBooks
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
FreeAgent
8.6
13 Ratings
13% above category average
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Pay calculation8.012 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.56 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.92 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.86 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.78 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
FreeAgent
6.6
13 Ratings
15% below category average
FreshBooks
9.1
35 Ratings
17% above category average
API for custom integration4.59 Ratings9.330 Ratings
Plug-ins8.812 Ratings9.026 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
FreeAgent
8.5
14 Ratings
3% above category average
FreshBooks
10.0
41 Ratings
20% above category average
Single sign-on capability9.013 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.013 Ratings10.041 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
FreeAgent
6.5
23 Ratings
18% below category average
FreshBooks
7.5
57 Ratings
4% below category average
Dashboards7.321 Ratings8.957 Ratings
Standard reports7.721 Ratings8.855 Ratings
Custom reports4.410 Ratings4.82 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
FreeAgent
8.7
25 Ratings
13% above category average
FreshBooks
7.5
56 Ratings
2% below category average
Accounts payable8.020 Ratings8.041 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.422 Ratings9.455 Ratings
Cash management8.620 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Bank reconciliation9.020 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Expense management8.924 Ratings6.651 Ratings
Time tracking9.018 Ratings7.642 Ratings
Fixed asset management8.611 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support8.310 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Multi-division support9.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Regulations compliance8.78 Ratings6.021 Ratings
Electronic tax filing9.220 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service portal9.011 Ratings9.13 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
FreeAgent
7.4
4 Ratings
1% below category average
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Inventory tracking7.72 Ratings00 Ratings
Automatic reordering8.21 Ratings00 Ratings
Location management4.51 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing module9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
FreeAgent
8.1
13 Ratings
7% above category average
FreshBooks
9.4
49 Ratings
22% above category average
Pricing8.19 Ratings8.839 Ratings
Order entry6.82 Ratings9.337 Ratings
Credit card processing8.25 Ratings9.741 Ratings
Cost of goods sold9.13 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
FreeAgentFreshBooks
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 7.0 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 7.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.1 out of 10
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP Cloud ERP
SAP Cloud ERP
Score 8.5 out of 10
SAP Cloud ERP
SAP Cloud ERP
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FreeAgentFreshBooks
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(25 ratings)
8.4
(75 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(1 ratings)
7.6
(18 ratings)
Usability
8.5
(6 ratings)
9.5
(20 ratings)
Availability
8.9
(5 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
1.0
(1 ratings)
6.0
(11 ratings)
Implementation Rating
1.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
FreeAgentFreshBooks
Likelihood to Recommend
FreeAgent
For micro and small business it is a great solution. The new requirements for MTD for landlords could also be met with this software. Groups and more complex businesses could not use the accounts and tax returns features, however they still could use it for bookkeeping and then export the data to other tax and accounts production software.
Read full review
FreshBooks
I recommend FreshBooks to anyone running a service-based business that needs invoicing, time reporting, and accounting tools. FB is adept in all three of these scenarios and isn't overly complicated like similar accounting packages I have used. I love how I can write estimates and proposals, manage the business development process from the software, and quickly convert prospects to invoiced clients.
Read full review
Pros
FreeAgent
  • Accounting! As you'd expect. Makes it much simpler andmore cost effective. In-coming and out-goings are recorded and assigned to projects and accounts. My accountant can access my books and reconcile so much more easily than trawling through spreadsheets.
  • Time billing - time spent on projects/client work is recorded and is ready to be invoiced as required. Saves so much time and prevents inaccuracies.
  • Invoicing - again, it should do this well and it does. Non payment reminders are automatic and clients have no excuses for not knowing the status of their account.
  • Account dashboard - gives me an instant overview of the health of the business (am I on track to meet my yearly targets) and my accounts.
Read full review
FreshBooks
  • Invoicing - FreshBooks basically ensures our accountants spend less time on invoices via its automated invoicing system, which sends invoices to our customers and clients alike and also send them regular reminders for them to pay up their bills.
  • Collecting business insights - FreshBooks enable our company analysts measure our business performances via data reports provided by FreshBooks' intuitive dashboard. Allowing us do a comparative analysis of key business metrics of a current month against past months and determine if the business is growing.
  • Expense tracker - We have recently embraced FreshBooks as an expense tracker for teams at our company branch. Thusfar, FreshBooks has performed very well, making our expense management a perfect operation; ensuring teams do not exceed their planned budget and also eliminating the need for tracking expenses on excel spreadsheets.
Read full review
Cons
FreeAgent
  • Reporting on financials, time tracking and project status is a little poor. It's adequate for what what we need, but would be great to see more advanced features.
  • API is quite closed so cannot integrate with our other project management tools.
Read full review
FreshBooks
  • I can brand invoices with my business logo, but I might like to change colours of the invoices themselves to match the rest of my business documents. That isn't a major point at all, but it's something that I'd like to see.
  • Freshbooks doesn't remember the categories that similar expenses were previously assigned to. It would be nice if Freshbooks would suggest a category for an already saved vendor, to ensure the consistency of expense reporting.
  • The home page of a Freshbooks account has a great graph display of expenses and income, but it only shows the last 6 months. This is still very useful, but I'd like to be able to see this kind of graph for different periods of time.
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Likelihood to Renew
FreeAgent
We have used Freeagent for many years now and it serves us well for our needs. To change it would mean a lot of work, and this would most likely only happen if the cost became prohibitive to us.
Read full review
FreshBooks
At the current needs of our business, FreshBooks suits us perfectly - it allows online access by our accountant to the system for GST purposes, easy input of expenses and tracking of Profit and Loss statements. FreshBooks customer service is great as well - very understanding and accommodating.
Read full review
Usability
FreeAgent
It is a great software that does everything we need for small business clients. It allows to keep the books in a cloud from bookkeeping to accounts production and tax returns, all in one software. There are no major drawbacks and I would highly recommend it for most of our clients.
Read full review
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is very easy to use even for novices. If you're looking for an online accounting software that is full of features, has great aesthetics and is user-friendly, then this is definitely the software for you. I've been using it for several years now and despite being tempted to switch by other vendors, I like the feel of FreshBooks and it's mobile features.
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Reliability and Availability
FreeAgent
Based in a cloud and never had any issues with down time. I can access from any device
Read full review
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
Read full review
Support Rating
FreeAgent
I have never personally used support
Read full review
FreshBooks
I think the support level for FreshBooks is on par with a 6 because the folks behind this application do a fairly good job at providing support for their customer base. I still don't think they are at an elite level when it comes to supporting but are getting there although too slow in my opinion.
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Implementation Rating
FreeAgent
Did not participate
Read full review
FreshBooks
I haven't changed my mind since my first evaluation. Freshbooks is still meeting my needs, easy to use, etc.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
FreeAgent
I have used and tested out many other systems. I was looking at Xero for my accounting system but at the time I chose FreeAgent because of the way it handles the recording of dividends and the inbuilt time recording. The others I trialed were good and many of them cheaper. FreeAgent best suited my requirements at the time.
Read full review
FreshBooks
FreshBooks does very well in comparison, especially since it is free software for Barclays bank users. Sage software is much worse than FreshBooks. However, Xero and QuickBooks, the market leaders, are still ahead with usability, additional features, reporting, and connection with third-party software providers. We chose FreshBooks as it does everything we require from this type of software.
Read full review
Return on Investment
FreeAgent
  • Professional and uniform offering providing great confident customer service. My clients love it, whether they use it a little or a lot. It's a great piece of software - while sophisticated, it's straightforward to use.
  • Time saving and efficient use of my team's time. Being able to easily share and compare work / tasks.
Read full review
FreshBooks
  • In reality, we do not implement all of its use at the moment in order to determine an adequate ROI.
  • In our approach to the use of the system, it seems to us a considerable time saving by achieving the integration of the Mexican subsidiary with its parent located in the US.
  • Financial reports meet the necessary USGAAP requirements.
Read full review
ScreenShots

FreshBooks Screenshots

Screenshot of the dashboardScreenshot of an invoice overviewScreenshot of an example of a customizable invoiceScreenshot of an invoice appearing across devicesScreenshot of expensesScreenshot of time tracking