TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    FreeAgent

    Score5.5 out of 10
    N/AFreeAgent 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

    Wave Accounting

    Score7.3 out of 10
    N/AWave Accounting is a free, cloud-based accounting platform exclusively for small businesses. It supports double-entry bookkeeping and permits unlimited user access, invoicing, and expense management. Wave Accounting integrates with Wave's invoicing, receipt scanning, payment processing and payroll apps.

    $16

    per month

    Pricing
    FreeAgentWave Accounting
    Editions & Modules
    FreeAgent
    $13.50
    per month
    FreeAgent
    $135
    per year
    Starter
    $0
    Pro
    $16
    per month
    Pro - billed annually
    $170
    per year
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    FreeAgentWave Accounting
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    FreeAgentWave Accounting
    Considered Both Products
    FreeAgent
    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 …
    Incentivized
    Chose FreeAgent
    As a free software for Mettle users it is excellent choice and great value for money especially for micro businesses. It does the needed bank imports and reconciliations, however compared to more advanced products like Xero or QuickBooks it lacks the flexibility of those …
    Incentivized
    Wave
    Chose Wave Accounting
    It is a useful solution but not designed for the UK market. For a businesses that want to see their debtors, creditors, profit and loss and balance sheet it is a great solution, however with those needing legal UK compliance the software will not work as well and the other free …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    53%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    67%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    67%
    Happy with the feature set
    10 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    54%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    73%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    Features
    FreeAgentWave Accounting
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of FreeAgent and Wave Accounting
    Feature
    FreeAgent
    8.6
    13 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Wave Accounting
    6.2
    24 Ratings
    20% below category average
    Pay calculation8.012 Ratings7.123 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration8.56 Ratings7.54 Ratings
    Direct deposit files8.92 Ratings1.220 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management8.86 Ratings7.712 Ratings
    Reimbursement management8.78 Ratings7.48 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of FreeAgent and Wave Accounting
    Feature
    FreeAgent
    6.7
    13 Ratings
    12% below category average
    Wave Accounting
    8.5
    13 Ratings
    12% above category average
    API for custom integration4.59 Ratings9.99 Ratings
    Plug-ins8.912 Ratings7.011 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of FreeAgent and Wave Accounting
    Feature
    FreeAgent
    8.5
    14 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Wave Accounting
    6.4
    45 Ratings
    24% below category average
    Single sign-on capability9.013 Ratings6.432 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions8.013 Ratings6.436 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of FreeAgent and Wave Accounting
    Feature
    FreeAgent
    6.4
    23 Ratings
    20% below category average
    Wave Accounting
    9.5
    73 Ratings
    19% above category average
    Dashboards7.121 Ratings9.471 Ratings
    Standard reports7.621 Ratings9.770 Ratings
    Custom reports4.410 Ratings9.337 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of FreeAgent and Wave Accounting
    Feature
    FreeAgent
    8.7
    25 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Wave Accounting
    7.4
    76 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Accounts payable8.020 Ratings9.659 Ratings
    Accounts receivable8.522 Ratings9.670 Ratings
    Cash management8.520 Ratings9.862 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation9.020 Ratings8.565 Ratings
    Expense management8.924 Ratings9.664 Ratings
    Time tracking9.018 Ratings9.811 Ratings
    Fixed asset management8.611 Ratings9.812 Ratings
    Multi-currency support8.110 Ratings10.019 Ratings
    Multi-division support9.05 Ratings7.19 Ratings
    Regulations compliance8.78 Ratings5.016 Ratings
    Electronic tax filing9.120 Ratings5.914 Ratings
    Self-service portal9.011 Ratings8.040 Ratings
    Journals and Reconciliations8.01 Ratings8.530 Ratings
    Global Financial Support00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings4.05 Ratings
    Localizations00 Ratings5.23 Ratings
    Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings4.07 Ratings
    Configurable Accounting00 Ratings5.017 Ratings
    Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings1.03 Ratings
    Standardized Processes00 Ratings7.019 Ratings
    Inventory Management
    Comparison of Inventory Management features of FreeAgent and Wave Accounting
    Feature
    FreeAgent
    7.4
    4 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Wave Accounting
    8.1
    11 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Inventory tracking7.72 Ratings5.68 Ratings
    Automatic reordering8.21 Ratings9.95 Ratings
    Location management4.51 Ratings8.12 Ratings
    Manufacturing module9.11 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of FreeAgent and Wave Accounting
    Feature
    FreeAgent
    8.1
    13 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Wave Accounting
    7.6
    53 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Pricing8.19 Ratings9.926 Ratings
    Order entry6.82 Ratings10.018 Ratings
    Credit card processing8.25 Ratings2.345 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold9.13 Ratings10.034 Ratings
    Order Orchestration00 Ratings5.85 Ratings
    End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings8.24 Ratings
    Order exception Resolution00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    FreeAgentWave Accounting
    Small Businesses
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.2 out of 10
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    FreeAgentWave Accounting
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (25 ratings)
    9.4
    (82 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.8
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    8.5
    (6 ratings)
    9.8
    (17 ratings)
    Availability
    8.9
    (5 ratings)
    6.7
    (4 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    2.9
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    2.1
    (12 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    4.7
    (3 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    CPA Rating
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (8 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    3.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    FreeAgentWave Accounting
    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
    Wave
    Wave Accounting was used for a small practice without a lot of the accounting considerations a large company would have. For the price, you really can't beat what Wave offers out of the box. All of the basic tools for things like invoicing and expenses are all easy to use. End of year accounting is easy with exports of data.
    Incentivized
    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
    Wave
    • Reconciliation is very difficult with multiple Wave transactions that need to be deleted or merged before it can be matched to a bank transaction.
    • Payroll worked fine for us but took several days to get it set up. We have switched to another bookkeeping system and another payroll system. Canceling with Wave took several days and they charge $6 for something even though the month was paid for in advance.
    • Credit card processing is nice and worked fine for us.
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wave
    • I know that credit card processing is a way for Wave to make money, but I really wish they offered ACH payment on Invoices.
    • I do cash-based accounting, which means I have to make little journal entries at the start and end of each year to get my books to balance because Wave wants to do everything differently. This should just be a setting to flip, whether you want cash-based or accrual-based.
    • They use Yodlee for bank connection, which doesn't play nice with 2FA. Pretty much every time I log in I have to re-enter credentials, get a code sent to me, reauthenticate, and know that I'm going to have to do it again next week. Not really on Wave, but wish they could get it together nonetheless.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wave
    Easy to use for clients with no accounting background and the price is right.
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wave
    I am a professional bookkeeper and I have no problems using Wave and all of it's features. I can see that certain individuals who have no accounting knowledge might struggle with a few different features and entries, but that is why Wave has an emphasis in connecting users to Wave Pro's who will walk them through things
    Read full review
    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
    Wave
    WAVE is always available when we need it ! Peter
    Read full review
    Performance
    FreeAgent
    No answers on this topic
    Wave
    Wave does tend to slow down when filtering your transactions screen especially by date. This is more of an issue when trying to trouble shoot certain transactions or clean-up a set of books.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    FreeAgent
    I have never personally used support
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wave
    I never had to call Wave Support as we barely experienced any support-related problems on our side. However, I do know a few people that complained about Wave support. It would be nice as well, though if they could have more in your face tutorials for new users or how-to videos should we struggle to do something
    Read full review
    Online Training
    FreeAgent
    No answers on this topic
    Wave
    easy to use and east to train on ! Our WAVE clients enjoy the ease of use
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    FreeAgent
    Did not participate
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wave
    No answers on this topic
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wave
    Wave is FREE for most functions. Payment processing costs no matter where you go (as does payroll or taxes). Wave rises above tools like QuickBooks Online because they know that for our small firm, being nimble is the name of the game. We don't need exhaustive reporting and management like QB offers and we certainly don't want to pay for it
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    FreeAgent
    No answers on this topic
    Wave
    Once they out grow what is ability to move up to a more robust system?
    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
    Wave
    • Wave has been ROI positive for our company. With not having to pay for the service we can use our money for growing our business.
    • The fees on credit card transactions for invoices are reasonable especially as we don't pay a monthly subscription.
    • The invoicing feature has made our lives easier for us and our customers. The invoicing piece and AR tracking has been ROI positive as well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots