Key takeaways
What this article covers, in order:
- Why does free GST software even exist?
- What should a free plan include, at minimum?
- And what will a free plan usually leave out?
- Which returns will you actually be filing?
- Monthly or quarterly: how often will you file?
- What does filing look like when the software does it for you?
It's the 10th of the month, your GSTR-1 is due tomorrow, and you're staring at a WhatsApp folder full of invoice photos. You don't want a monthly subscription for software you'll open twice. Good news: free GST filing software exists, and the better ones file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B straight to the GST portal from your books. Here's what "free" should actually get you, what it won't, and how the monthly routine works.
Why does free GST software even exist?
A few years back, a small business had two options. File everything by hand on the GST portal, or pay a CA or a software vendor every month. Neither is great when you're a kirana owner, a freelance designer or a two-person trading firm doing forty invoices a month.
The portal is free, but you type every B2B invoice into GSTR-1 yourself. You cross-check figures for GSTR-3B in Excel. You keep your own record of what got filed. It works. It's also slow, and one wrong digit in a buyer's GSTIN means a phone call from an annoyed customer.
Paid software takes the typing away but adds a bill that feels heavy at your turnover. Free filing software sits in between. Your invoices and bills already live in it, so the return is built from your books and filed from the same screen. The provider keeps it at ₹0 by limiting other things, usually transactions, users or the number of GSTINs.
What should a free plan include, at minimum?
Plenty of apps say "free GST" when they really mean "free GST invoices". That's billing, not filing. Before you sign up anywhere, check for these:
| Must-have | Why you care |
|---|---|
| Files GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B directly to the GST portal | Otherwise you're still exporting JSON and uploading it yourself |
| Builds the return from your own invoices and bills | No retyping, fewer copy errors |
| GSTR-2B reconciliation | Your input tax credit depends on what shows up in GSTR-2B |
| Shows interest and late fee before you file | You know how much cash you need before you hit submit |
| GST invoices with HSN/SAC codes | GSTR-1 can only be as clean as the invoices behind it |
| P&L, Balance Sheet, receivables | Your bank and your CA will ask for these anyway |
| No card, no expiry | A 30-day trial isn't a free plan |
If the first row is missing, it's billing software. Still useful. You'll just be doing the filing part on your own.
And what will a free plan usually leave out?
Let's be honest about this, because nobody likes discovering a limit on the 19th. Free plans tend to skip the annual returns (GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C), e-invoicing and e-way bills, and anything involving more than one GSTIN. If you're registered in Maharashtra and Karnataka under the same PAN, that's two GSTINs, and that usually means a paid plan.
Volume caps are common too. So are limits on specialised returns like GSTR-7 for TDS deductors, GSTR-8 for e-commerce operators and ITC-04 for job work.
None of that makes free plans a bad deal. If you file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for one GSTIN every month, those two returns are most of your compliance work. We've laid out the full split in our free vs paid GST software comparison.
Which returns will you actually be filing?
For a regular taxpayer, it's mostly two returns, over and over.
GSTR-1 is your sales statement. B2B invoices are listed one by one with the buyer's GSTIN so your buyer can claim credit. B2C sales mostly go in as totals.
GSTR-3B is where you declare tax, claim input tax credit and pay. Since the July 2025 tax period, the sales side of GSTR-3B is auto-filled from GSTR-1 and locked. You can't edit it. If the sales figure is wrong, you fix it in GSTR-1A (same period, before filing GSTR-3B) or in a later GSTR-1.
Then there are two statements you never file but should always look at. GSTR-2B is a fixed monthly statement of credit available to you, generated around the 14th. GSTR-2A is the live, always-changing view of what your suppliers have reported.
GSTR-9, the annual return, is due by the end of the calendar year after the financial year closes. For FY 2026-27, that's 31 Dec 2027, unless it's extended. Businesses with aggregate turnover up to ₹2 crore have been exempted from it in recent years. Check the current notification for your year before you assume you're out.
Monthly or quarterly: how often will you file?
If your turnover last year was above ₹5 crore, you file monthly. GSTR-1 by the 11th, GSTR-3B by the 20th of the next month.
Up to ₹5 crore, you can pick QRMP, the quarterly scheme. You file GSTR-1 by the 13th after the quarter and GSTR-3B by the 22nd or 24th depending on your state. You still pay monthly, though. In the first two months of each quarter you pay through challan PMT-06 by the 25th. And if your B2B buyers want their credit sooner, you can upload their invoices through the optional IFF by the 13th.
A quick example. For the Jul–Sep 2026 quarter, a QRMP filer in Gujarat has GSTR-1 due on 13 Oct 2026 and GSTR-3B on 22 Oct 2026. A monthly filer has the Sep 2026 GSTR-1 due on 11 Oct 2026 and GSTR-3B on 20 Oct 2026. CBIC extends dates now and then, sometimes only for a few districts, so glance at the portal before each deadline.
What does filing look like when the software does it for you?
Let's follow Sunita, who runs a small tiffin service in Bengaluru with a few corporate clients. She's a monthly filer with one GSTIN. Her name and numbers are made up, but her month is pretty typical.
She links her GSTIN once. She confirms the connection with her GST portal login. Every now and then she's asked to reconfirm it. That's about it for setup.
She keeps her books current through the month. Every corporate order gets a proper GST invoice with the client's GSTIN, the SAC code and the right place of supply. Purchase bills from her vegetable wholesaler and packaging supplier go in as they arrive. If she let them pile up in a drawer, the return would have gaps.
On the 9th or 10th, she reviews GSTR-1. The software has already sorted her invoices into B2B, B2C, credit notes, HSN summary and document summary. She checks the totals against her own sense of the month. Looks right. She files.
After the 14th, she reconciles GSTR-2B. Her packaging supplier's ₹18,000 bill isn't in GSTR-2B yet, which usually means the supplier hasn't filed. She doesn't claim that credit this month. She sends the supplier a polite message instead.
Before the 20th, she files GSTR-3B. Liability comes from her GSTR-1. Credit comes from her reconciled GSTR-2B. She pays the balance from her electronic cash ledger and files. If she'd been late, she'd see the interest and late fee the portal calculates before she pays.
She keeps the ARN. Every return gets an acknowledgement number. Her software stores it against the month, so when the bank asks for proof of filing for her loan, she's not hunting through emails.
Can't I just file on the portal for free?
You can, and for some people it's the right call. If you have three invoices a month, or you're only filing nil returns, the portal is fine. Nil returns can even go by SMS.
| GST portal, by hand | Free filing software | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ₹0 | ₹0 on the free plan |
| B2B invoices | Typed one by one, or via the offline tool and a JSON upload | Pulled from your invoices |
| Books and reports | Not included | Included |
| GSTR-2B matching | Manual, usually in Excel | Built in |
| Filing records | You download and save them | Stored with your books |
| Good fit | A handful of invoices, or nil returns | Regular businesses who want proper books too |
The portal also slows to a crawl late on the 20th, because half of India is filing at the same time. That isn't a reason to pay for software. It's a reason to file earlier.
Where do people go wrong with free plans?
The most common one is picking a "free GST" app that doesn't file. Generating a GSTR-1 Excel isn't filing. Read the plan page carefully.
The second is ignoring the transaction cap. A consultant raising ten invoices a month will never notice a yearly cap of a couple of hundred. A medical store billing every customer will cross it in a few weeks. Count last year's invoices, bills and receipts before you decide.
Third, claiming credit that isn't in GSTR-2B. The law only lets you claim ITC on invoices reflected there. Reconcile first, claim second.
Fourth, leaving sales errors for GSTR-3B. You can't fix them there any more. Use GSTR-1A or the next GSTR-1.
And last, letting old returns sit. The portal now bars returns that are more than three years past their due date. That gap in FY 2023-24 you've been meaning to sort out won't stay open forever.
So how do you choose?
Ask yourself four questions. How many GSTINs do you have? Do you need e-invoices or e-way bills? How many transactions do you record in a year? And who else needs a login, a partner, an accountant, your CA?
If the answers are one GSTIN, no e-invoicing, a modest number of transactions and two people, a free plan with direct filing will likely cover you. When you grow, move up. A sensible tool lets you upgrade without moving your data anywhere. If you have multi-state operations, reverse-charge purchases or old mistakes to unwind, get a CA to look over your first few returns. It's money well spent.
How HelloBooks helps
HelloBooks Free is ₹0, needs no credit card and doesn't expire. You get unlimited GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filing for one GSTIN, filed directly to the GST portal from inside HelloBooks. No exporting, no uploading.
Free also includes GSTR-2B reconciliation with ITC tracking, GST invoices, bills and quotes, P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow and AR/AP aging. You get 2 users and up to 200 transactions a year, bank statement import, the full iOS and Android app for books and invoicing, email support, and free AI credits to start with AI categorisation. GST filing never uses AI credits. Interest and late fee on GSTR-3B are shown as the GST portal's own figure before you file, and you can invite your CA into the same books.
What Free doesn't cover: GSTR-9 and 9C, GSTR-7, GSTR-8, ITC-04, e-invoice and e-way bill generation, more than 200 transactions a year, a second GSTIN, or a third user. Invoices carry a small "Powered by HelloBooks" badge.
Pro is ₹499/month and adds GSTR-9 generated ready to file, e-invoicing and e-way bills, unlimited users, every GSTIN of one legal entity, Tally sync and Excel export. Details are on the pricing page. For the step-by-step screens, see GSTR-1 filing and GSTR-3B filing.
FAQs
Is there any GST filing software in India that's actually free?
Yes. Some accounting tools include GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filing on a permanent ₹0 plan, with limits on volume, users or GSTINs. Make sure it files to the portal rather than only exporting a file, and that it isn't a trial in disguise.
Can I file my own GST returns without a CA?
You can. Plenty of small businesses file their own monthly returns and bring in a CA for the annual return, notices or anything unusual. The portal is open to every taxpayer.
Does free software file GSTR-9?
Usually not. Annual returns tend to sit on paid plans. On HelloBooks, GSTR-9 is generated ready to file on Pro. Also check whether your turnover makes GSTR-9 optional for that year.
Is a return filed through software as valid as one filed on the portal?
Yes. When software files directly, the return lands on the GST portal and you get the same ARN. You can see it under Track Return on the portal.
What happens when I outgrow the free plan?
On HelloBooks, your books stay put and you move to Pro when you need more transactions, users, GSTINs or e-invoicing. Your filing history stays where it is.
Does a free plan help with input tax credit?
Some do. HelloBooks Free includes GSTR-2B reconciliation, which matters because you can only claim ITC on invoices reflected in GSTR-2B.
File early, keep your ARNs, and the 20th stops being a scary date.
Start free — GST filing included, no card. Try HelloBooks Free
