FreeAgent vs. FreshBooks

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FreeAgent
Score 8.4 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.N/A
FreshBooks
Score 6.1 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.
$15
per month
Pricing
FreeAgentFreshBooks
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Lite
$15
per month
Plus
$30
per month
Premium
$55
per month
Select
Custom Pricing
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FreeAgentFreshBooks
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
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
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
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 …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
FreeAgentFreshBooks
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
FreeAgent
8.6
13 Ratings
14% 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
6.3
12 Ratings
11% below category average
FreshBooks
1.2
32 Ratings
142% below category average
API for custom integration4.59 Ratings1.227 Ratings
Plug-ins8.011 Ratings1.123 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
FreeAgent
8.5
14 Ratings
6% above category average
FreshBooks
6.3
38 Ratings
24% below category average
Single sign-on capability9.013 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.013 Ratings2.638 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
FreeAgent
7.5
21 Ratings
1% below category average
FreshBooks
4.5
52 Ratings
51% below category average
Dashboards9.019 Ratings4.652 Ratings
Standard reports9.019 Ratings4.150 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
8.8
23 Ratings
17% above category average
FreshBooks
4.6
51 Ratings
47% below category average
Accounts payable8.018 Ratings1.236 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.020 Ratings2.450 Ratings
Cash management9.018 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Bank reconciliation9.019 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Expense management8.022 Ratings2.846 Ratings
Time tracking9.017 Ratings3.439 Ratings
Fixed asset management8.611 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support10.08 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Multi-division support9.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Regulations compliance8.78 Ratings1.218 Ratings
Electronic tax filing10.019 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
5% above 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
9% above category average
FreshBooks
3.9
44 Ratings
62% below category average
Pricing8.19 Ratings2.234 Ratings
Order entry6.82 Ratings1.234 Ratings
Credit card processing8.25 Ratings2.136 Ratings
Cost of goods sold9.13 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
FreeAgentFreshBooks
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Score 9.1 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.1 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FreeAgentFreshBooks
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(23 ratings)
1.4
(70 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
7.6
(18 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(4 ratings)
4.8
(15 ratings)
Availability
8.9
(5 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
4.5
(11 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 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
FreshBooks is the perfect tool for businesses who have hundreds of clients and customers whom they invoice regularly. It removes the need to manually send invoices to clients and customers, by streamlining inputted information to create an automated invoicing system which keeps clients and customers up to date with their bills. It is also a great tool for managing expenses, especially for companies with different teams working on varying projects, ensuring these teams do not exceed the budget ceiling.
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
  • FreshBooks is pretty intuitive to use. I did have some questions when I first started using the system, but it wasn't a long learning curve.
  • FreshBooks provides more capability than other billing applications such as PaySimple or BlinkSale. FreshBooks does provide an easy invoicing function. It's easy to create invoices that can be sent via email or snail mail to one or more individuals (for example, the decision-maker and the accounting dept). Clients can pay online or send a check and then I note that the payment has been received. If paid by credit card, the system automatically marks the invoice paid. Your business accounts such as bank accounts can be linked to FreshBooks. Then, the system can automatically draw in expenses and will create simple P&L reports, overdue invoices, client history, etc. If you don't have inventory and complex payroll, etc. FreshBooks provides just the right level of capability to make financial tracking simple.
  • FreshBooks integrates with a number of credit card companies. I use Stripe, which has fees similar to Paypal, but much more reliable processing. I can accept all credit cards, including American Express, for a reasonable fee.
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.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
FreeAgent
No answers on this topic
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
I spent nearly two decades in IT and am happy to say that FreeAgent's user interface is one of the best interfaces I have ever used.
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.
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
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
Read full review
Support Rating
FreeAgent
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
FreeAgent
No answers on this topic
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
We do not consider other options since our client wants the implementation of this platform in order to use it in the two countries where it has operations.

At the moment, full integration was not possible and we still share the information with a Mexican system to complete everything necessary.
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
  • Freshbooks saves me time compared to when I managed to invoice without an app.
  • Freshbooks make keeping my invoices organized which saves me time.
  • Freshbooks helps me to know who is late on payments. When I was doing this by hand, some invoices would get lost in the clutter and I would not find out I haven't been paid until much later.
Read full review
ScreenShots

FreshBooks Screenshots

Screenshot of DashboardScreenshot of Invoice OverviewScreenshot of Beautiful, Customizable InvoicesScreenshot of Invoice seamlessly across devicesScreenshot of ExpensesScreenshot of Time Tracking