Question 1

Why switch from Wave to HelloBooks?

Accepted Answer

Wave's free tier is genuinely free for basic invoicing and bookkeeping — that's its strength. The friction starts when your business needs anything beyond that: AI categorization (Wave does auto-categorize, but only on Pro at $19/mo, and never calls it AI), Plaid bank feeds (Wave's connector is limited), inventory (not supported), multi-user access (single owner login), or projects (not supported). HelloBooks Pro at $39.99/month adds all of that plus the AI agent.

Question 2

Is HelloBooks Free Plan as good as Wave's free tier?

Accepted Answer

HelloBooks Free Plan beats Wave on most fronts: same invoicing + accounting, plus one live Plaid bank feed from 11,000+ supported US banks (Wave's Starter plan has no bank feed), AI categorization with free AI credits (upgrade for more; Wave's automatic categorization is Pro-only), up to 2 users (Wave free is single-user), 1099-NEC tracking up to 3 contractors. Wave Pro is $19/month, or $190/year billed annually — about $15.83/month. Wave wins only on receipt scanning, which their Pro tier includes; HelloBooks adds it on Pro at $39.99.

Question 3

I'm a service-only freelancer — is Wave fine for me?

Accepted Answer

If you're a single-person service freelancer with simple invoicing, no inventory, no team, and Wave's free tier covers you — that's a fine setup. The reason to switch is when you grow: hire a contractor (1099 e-file fees stack up on Wave), bring on a second user (Wave doesn't support it), start tracking projects, or want categorization included rather than gated behind Wave Pro at $19/mo. HelloBooks Free Plan supports the growth path Wave doesn't.

Question 4

How does the Wave-to-HelloBooks migration work?

Accepted Answer

Export from Wave (Settings → Data → Export) — runs a CSV bundle of customers, vendors, invoices, transactions, and chart of accounts. Import into a new HelloBooks workspace. The mapping screen lets you adjust Wave categories to HelloBooks chart structure. Typical migration: under 30 minutes for a freelancer workspace, 1-2 hours for an established service business with multi-year history.

Feature	HelloBooks	Wave
Starting price (USD)	Free Plan; Pro $39.99/mo, unlimited users	Free for invoicing + accounting; Pro $19/mo adds automatic categorization and removes ads; receipts a further $8/mo
AI categorization	Built-in AI agent, 95%+ accuracy, every plan	Rule-based only; no LLM agent
Plaid bank feeds	1 live feed on Free, from 11,000+ US banks; more on paid plans	Limited connector; manual statement imports common
Inventory + COGS	Full inventory on Pro	Not supported — Wave is service-business-only
1099-NEC tracking + e-file	Free Plan up to 3; unlimited on Pro	1099 reporting available; e-file via separate Wave Tax service
US payroll	Gusto integration (rollout on /integration/gusto)	Wave Payroll $40-50/mo + $6/employee (separate add-on)
Multi-user / team access	Unlimited users on Pro	Single owner login; accountant-only invite
Project tracking	Included on Pro with project P&L	Not supported
Sales tax (multi-state)	Avalara on Pro; manual on Free	Single tax rate per invoice; multi-state weak
AI accounting agent	Autonomous categorization, anomaly flagging	Not available

HelloBooks vs Wave for growing US small businesses

Free plan vs free plan: HelloBooks and Wave

HelloBooks vs Wave (US)

US Wave switch — frequently asked

Try HelloBooks free next to Wave