FreshBooks vs. Ignition

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FreshBooks
Score 8.2 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
Ignition
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Ignition is a platform for professional services that automates and optimizes proposals, client agreements, billing and payment collection to put an end to late payments, unbilled work and mundane repetitive admin.
$49
per month
Pricing
FreshBooksIgnition
Editions & Modules
Lite
$21
per month
Plus
$38
per month
Premium
$65
per month
Select
Custom Pricing
Solo
$49
per month
Core
$149
per month
Pro
$249
per month
Pro+
$499
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FreshBooksIgnition
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details10% discount for annual pricing.Discount available for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
FreshBooksIgnition
Features
FreshBooksIgnition
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
8.9
35 Ratings
14% above category average
Ignition
-
Ratings
API for custom integration9.030 Ratings00 Ratings
Plug-ins8.726 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
9.8
41 Ratings
18% above category average
Ignition
-
Ratings
Single sign-on capability10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based user permissions9.741 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
7.3
57 Ratings
7% below category average
Ignition
-
Ratings
Dashboards8.757 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports8.555 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports4.82 Ratings00 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
7.4
56 Ratings
3% below category average
Ignition
-
Ratings
Accounts payable7.841 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts receivable9.255 Ratings00 Ratings
Cash management7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Bank reconciliation7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Expense management6.551 Ratings00 Ratings
Time tracking7.442 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Regulations compliance5.821 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service portal9.13 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
9.2
49 Ratings
19% above category average
Ignition
-
Ratings
Pricing8.639 Ratings00 Ratings
Order entry9.037 Ratings00 Ratings
Credit card processing9.141 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost of goods sold10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Proposal Creation & Organization
Comparison of Proposal Creation & Organization features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Ignition
9.0
2 Ratings
12% above category average
Proposal branding00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Proposal templates00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Proposal content library updates00 Ratings9.52 Ratings
Searchable proposal database00 Ratings9.52 Ratings
Proposal Collaboration & Workflow
Comparison of Proposal Collaboration & Workflow features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Ignition
8.5
2 Ratings
5% above category average
Proposal collaboration & approval00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
User permissions/proposal editing controls00 Ratings7.52 Ratings
Sales proposal workflow00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Proposal automation user interface00 Ratings7.52 Ratings
Proposal Delivery
Comparison of Proposal Delivery features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Ignition
7.3
2 Ratings
10% below category average
Proposal distribution00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Interactive proposals00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Proposal content tracking00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
FreshBooksIgnition
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 9.1 out of 10
QuoteWerks
QuoteWerks
Score 9.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.0 out of 10
QuoteWerks
QuoteWerks
Score 9.6 out of 10
Enterprises
BlackLine
BlackLine
Score 8.6 out of 10
Conga CPQ
Conga CPQ
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FreshBooksIgnition
Likelihood to Recommend
7.6
(75 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.6
(18 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.3
(20 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.7
(11 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
FreshBooksIgnition
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
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Ignition
It can be used to invoice for anyone, so I will always recommend it.
Read full review
Pros
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.
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Ignition
  • Proposal process. PI makes it easy to create and send proposals to new and existing clients, collect their payment info, and get signature on the engagement letter.
  • Easily identify engagements that will be expiring, so we can begin to assemble a renewal.
  • Communication to and from the client during the proposal process, which keeps everything associated with the proposal together in one place.
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Cons
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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Ignition
  • I would love to see it really support other industries better, like Marketing. There are workarounds for invoicing and set up, but it could be easier.
  • I would love the option to be able to send the client a single proposal with different options and allow them to select which one they want to move forward with. Right now we have to send a proposal for each option.
  • I would love for there to be user permissions where certain users can log in to see the proposals they are associated with without seeing everything.
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Likelihood to Renew
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.
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Ignition
No answers on this topic
Usability
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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Ignition
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
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Ignition
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
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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Ignition
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
FreshBooks
I haven't changed my mind since my first evaluation. Freshbooks is still meeting my needs, easy to use, etc.
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Ignition
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
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.
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Ignition
You aren't able to customize the design of the proposal, but it surpases everything we have ever tried. It's easy to use and quick to learn.
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Return on Investment
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.
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Ignition
  • We have reduced our A/R by 60% and expect to completely eliminate A/R by the end of this year.
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

Ignition Screenshots

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