FreshBooks vs. ZipBooks

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
ZipBooks
Score 7.0 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
ZipBooks is an accounting software solution for small business owners and accountants. Users can track expenses, manage their team, send recurring invoices and manage projects.
$15
per month
Pricing
FreshBooksZipBooks
Editions & Modules
Lite
$21
per month
Plus
$38
per month
Premium
$65
per month
Select
Custom Pricing
ZipBooks Starter
$0
ZipBooks Smarter
$15
ZipBooks Sophisticated
$35
ZipBooks Accountant
Custom
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FreshBooksZipBooks
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details10% discount for annual pricing.—
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
FreshBooksZipBooks
Features
FreshBooksZipBooks
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
8.9
35 Ratings
14% above category average
ZipBooks
9.1
2 Ratings
16% above category average
API for custom integration9.030 Ratings9.12 Ratings
Plug-ins8.726 Ratings9.11 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
9.8
41 Ratings
18% above category average
ZipBooks
9.5
5 Ratings
15% above category average
Single sign-on capability10.01 Ratings9.74 Ratings
Role-based user permissions9.741 Ratings9.34 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
7.3
57 Ratings
7% below category average
ZipBooks
10.0
6 Ratings
24% above category average
Dashboards8.757 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Standard reports8.555 Ratings10.06 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
ZipBooks
8.8
6 Ratings
15% above category average
Accounts payable7.841 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts receivable9.255 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Cash management7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Bank reconciliation7.02 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Expense management6.551 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Time tracking7.442 Ratings9.06 Ratings
Multi-currency support7.01 Ratings9.12 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
ZipBooks
9.2
6 Ratings
19% above category average
Pricing8.639 Ratings00 Ratings
Order entry9.037 Ratings00 Ratings
Credit card processing9.141 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Cost of goods sold10.01 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Best Alternatives
FreshBooksZipBooks
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 9.1 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.0 out of 10
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
BlackLine
BlackLine
Score 8.6 out of 10
BlackLine
BlackLine
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FreshBooksZipBooks
Likelihood to Recommend
7.6
(75 ratings)
9.0
(6 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
FreshBooksZipBooks
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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ZipBooks
ZipBooks is really strong for small businesses (and non-profits like the ones I help manage). It may not yet be ready to handle medium or large businesses given the deep, niche functionality that is sometimes required in those cases.
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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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ZipBooks
  • Invoicing is particularly easy-to-use, quick, clean and beautiful. GREAT for branding.
  • The time tracker was unexpected, but very useful and integrates well with the invoicing. Leads to quick invoicing every time.
  • Customer support is phenomenal -- the support staff is friendly and helpful.
  • Although they are a new company, they are definitely on the right track!
  • I recommend this software to clients, colleagues, and friends alike, mostly for it quick and beautiful invoicing.
  • They do what they can to live up to their name! It doesn't take very long to get set up, or very long to create a complete invoice and send it to the right person.
Read full review
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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ZipBooks
  • There is some difficulty with a need to learn the use of the menus, they are not open and click, at the moment, the user needs to open the menu then using the pad keys scroll down and use enter to select from the drop-down menu. A mouse does not work.
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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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ZipBooks
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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ZipBooks
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
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ZipBooks
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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ZipBooks
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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ZipBooks
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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ZipBooks
I've primarily compared ZipBooks vs. Quickbooks because I've used Quickbooks at larger companies before. ZipBooks was the right fit for a smaller organization because it still had all the core features of Quickbooks but at a dramatically lower price that fits the budget.
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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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ZipBooks
  • ZipBooks is entirely affordable, and with my current $15/mo payments, I get ROI pretty quickly.
  • Invoices are simple and easy to make, while staying beautiful and functional at the same time. This saves me TIME, which means that I don't need to spend 15-20 minutes fiddling with the software to make it do what I want it to do. It just works. And that means, I can spend more time doing client work, and managing projects and sales.
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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

ZipBooks Screenshots

Screenshot of ZipBooks DashboardScreenshot of ZipBooks TransactionsScreenshot of ZipBooks InvoicingScreenshot of ZipBooks Accountant Messaging