Open-source Wave alternatives

Akaunting is an accounting application delivered over the web and aimed at small businesses and freelancers. It is built with Laravel, Vue, Tailwind and a RESTful API, and its modular structure supports an app store where users and developers can extend the core product with additional features.

The topics show its scope: invoicing, billing, payments, expenses, budgets, bookkeeping and balances, with further hints at payroll, CRM and ERP use. It installs with Composer and npm, needs PHP 8.1 or higher and Node.js 18 or 20, and works with MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL or SQLite behind Apache, Nginx or IIS. An optional command seeds sample data for trying it.

The project offers a forum for support, documentation, a developer portal and the app store. The repository lists the license as Other, so check the licence file for terms. Because it is PHP and Laravel based, it suits teams that want to run and customize their own accounting system on a standard web hosting stack.

Invoice Ninja is a source-available application for invoices, quotes, projects and time tracking, built with Laravel and Flutter. Freelancers and small businesses use it to bill clients, record expenses and tasks, and take payments. Topics in the repository include expenses, kanban task boards and electronic invoicing.

Two setups are offered. The hosted version is a software-as-a-service product that is ready in minutes with no server to manage, while the self-hosted version gives full control over hosting and infrastructure. According to the README, all Pro and Enterprise features of the hosted app are included in the source code, and self-hosted installs work with the desktop and mobile apps.

Apps exist for iPhone, Android, F-Droid, macOS, Windows and Linux via Snap or Flatpak. Self-hosted options include a server or VM, Docker, Cloudron, Softaculous, Elestio and YunoHost, with Stripe and Postmark suggested as providers. A Go SDK and an API are available. The license is listed as a custom source-available one, with a white-label license for removing branding.

Bigcapital is accounting and inventory software for small and medium businesses. It aims to keep business finances in one place and automate accounting processes, producing financial statements and reports to support decisions. The project is positioned as an independent alternative to QuickBooks, Xero and Wave.

Repository topics cover double-entry accounting, invoicing, bills, expenses, payments and inventory management. The README describes multiple ways to get started: use Bigcapital Cloud, or self-host the open-source edition on your own servers with Docker. It is written in TypeScript and gives teams the ability to inspect and adapt the code.

Bigcapital is available under the AGPL license for self-hosting, while the vendor runs the managed cloud version. It suits freelancers, small companies and bookkeepers who want accounting control without per-user subscriptions to a closed platform.

InvoicePlane is a self-hosted web application for managing invoices, clients, and payments. It is written in PHP on the CodeIgniter framework and is aimed at freelancers and small businesses that want to run their own billing system instead of paying for a subscription invoicing service.

It covers invoice and quote creation and sending, client records with contact details and transaction history, a product catalog and tasks that can be added to invoices, payment tracking with reminders, and integration with several payment gateways. Templates, themes, and settings can be customized to match a brand, and reports summarize financial performance.

The project publishes release notes, a changelog, and upgrade instructions, and it asks administrators to read the changelog before updating because some releases are security fixes. A Docker compose file is available for local development and testing only. Check the repository for the exact license terms, which the input lists only as other.

InvoiceShelf is a self-hosted web application for creating invoices, tracking payments and expenses and keeping customer accounts organized. It is aimed at freelancers and small businesses that want a focused workflow while keeping control of their business data. A public demo with sample data resets automatically, so you can look around before installing.

Its capabilities include creating invoices and estimates and exporting them as PDFs, recording payments and seeing what each customer still owes, and tracking expenses, taxes and business reports. Recurring invoices can be scheduled for repeat work, customers get a portal with invoices, estimates and payment history, and you can manage multiple companies and invite team members with scoped roles. Optional official modules add specialized features.

The README distinguishes two versions. The 2.x release is the supported production version, installable from the self-hosted download page or with the official Docker image, while the default 3.x branch is an alpha preview suitable only for testing with disposable data. A minimal SQLite Docker setup is described. It is written in PHP and licensed under AGPL-3.0.

Invio is a self-hosted invoicing application built around simplicity. The workflow is to create an invoice, share a secure link with your client and get paid, without menus to dig through, setup wizards or extra features that most freelancers and small businesses never use.

Clients receive a secure link and do not need an account, which avoids the usual back and forth about logging in. The interface includes a dashboard, invoice creation, invoice lists and settings, and the project provides a live demo and documentation with a quick start guide. Because you host it on your own hardware, invoice data stays under your control and is not affected if a SaaS vendor changes its pricing or shuts down.

Invio is written in TypeScript and released under the Unlicense, which places the code in the public domain. The README says there is no subscription, per-invoice charge or hidden fees, and the author accepts optional donations. It suits freelancers and small teams that want straightforward invoicing without a monthly bill.

Accountill, previously named Arc Invoice, is a full-stack invoicing application built with the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express, React and Node.js). It is aimed at freelancers and small businesses that need to send invoices, receipts, estimates, quotations and bills to clients, while remaining flexible enough for almost any business type.

It can generate and send or download PDF invoices, receipts, estimates and bills by email, set due dates, automatically change an invoice's status when a payment record is added, and record partial payments with a full payment history showing dates, methods and notes per invoice. A dashboard gives an overview of invoicing statistics, including total received, pending, recently paid, and counts of paid, unpaid and partially paid invoices, and the system supports multiple user registration with authentication through JSON Web Tokens or Google sign-in.

Accountill is written in JavaScript using React, Redux, Express, Mongoose and Nodemailer, and released under the MIT license. The author describes it as a side project built in free time, so it is not guaranteed to work flawlessly in every scenario, and invites users to report issues; both a live hosted app and the full source code are available.