A Wave Alternative for Invoicing From Your Own Site
Wave is genuinely free for invoicing and accounting on its starter plan, which is a real offer and the reason so many freelancers start there. We build PaySlate, so the bias is disclosed up front, and the places Wave genuinely beats us are stated plainly below. Every claim here was verified in August 2026.
The catch is not the software price, it is where the money flows and where the invoice lives. Wave’s card processing is 2.9% plus $0.60 per transaction for most cards, and 3.4% plus $0.60 for American Express, verified against Wave’s own published rates in August 2026. Their Pro plan reduces the per-transaction fee on a limited number of card payments each month. Either way, you are paying Wave’s rate, and your client is paying on Wave’s domain.
At a glance
| PaySlate | Wave | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the invoice lives | Your own domain | Wave’s domain |
| Whose payment account | Yours, your Stripe or Square account | Wave’s processing |
| Card rate | Whatever you negotiate with Stripe or Square; PaySlate adds nothing | 2.9% + $0.60, or 3.4% + $0.60 AMEX |
| Software cost | Free plugin; $79/year for Pro | Free starter plan |
| Built-in accounting | No | Yes |
| Deposits and partial payments | Yes, free, balance tracked | Limited |
| Merchant of record for VAT and sales tax | Yes, on Pro | No |
| Self-hosted, you own the data | Yes | No |
The rate is the part worth doing arithmetic on
At low volume, Wave being free wins and nothing else matters. Take it.
As volume grows the fee becomes the dominant cost. With PaySlate you connect your own Stripe or Square account, so you pay their published rate and PaySlate takes nothing on top. If your processing volume is high enough to have negotiated a rate, that rate is the one you get, which is not possible when the platform owns the processing relationship.
Run your own numbers before switching for this reason alone. The honest threshold depends entirely on your volume and average invoice size, and for many people it never arrives.
The domain question
With Wave, the client clicks through to Wave to pay. With PaySlate, the invoice is a page on your site, in your theme, and the payment happens there. Whether that is worth anything depends on whether your website is part of how clients judge you. For an agency or a consultant, it usually is. For someone invoicing two clients a month, it usually is not.
Where Wave wins
It is free, and free is a very strong price. PaySlate’s plugin is free too, but Wave gives you invoicing and accounting together at no cost.
It includes real accounting. Bookkeeping, reports, bank connections. PaySlate sends invoices and collects money, and exports to QuickBooks or Xero on Pro. It is not a replacement for a ledger.
There is nothing to maintain. No WordPress site, no plugin updates, no hosting. If you do not already run a website, Wave is the lighter choice and you should probably take it.
Which one fits you
Stay on Wave if you invoice occasionally, you want accounting bundled, and you do not want to run anything.
Move to PaySlate if you already run a WordPress site, you want clients paying on your own domain, and you would rather hold the processing relationship yourself. Start with the free plugin, or see pricing.