Best Free Accounting Software in 2026: Hosted Free Plans and Open-Source Options

The best free accounting software depends on what you actually need to keep: a full ledger, invoices only, or a wider system with stock and orders. Wave and Zoho Books are the main hosted accounting plans with a free tier, Bigcapital and ERPNext are open-source systems you can host yourself, and GnuCash is a free double-entry program for your own computer.

This guide groups eleven free options by how you run them: hosted free plans, self-hosted open source, a desktop program and free invoicing tools. A short section covers the best accounting software when free is not enough. Tax rules, e-invoicing and bank feeds vary by country, so this guide only repeats what vendors state and is not accounting or tax advice.

What "free" means in accounting software

Free accounting software comes in four forms, and each costs something different:

• A free hosted plan. The vendor runs it and caps the free version, usually by users, invoices, revenue or features such as bank feeds.
• Free to self-host. An open-source or source-available project with no licence fee, where you pay for the server, backups, upgrades and your own time.
• A free desktop program. Software on your own computer, with no subscription and no hosted service.
• A free trial. Not free software. It lets you test a paid product before buying.

How we picked

Each product does a core accounting job: bookkeeping, invoicing, or both inside a wider system. For open-source and source-available projects Enlisted checks the licence, GitHub activity and self-hosting support, and for hosted products it reads the pricing model and what the free plan includes. Picks were dropped when the free option is only a trial, so paid-only products appear in the last section instead. For the method, see how Enlisted ranks tools, or browse the finance category.

Best free accounting software with a hosted free plan

These two run in the vendor's cloud, so there is no server to maintain. Both are closed source.

1. Wave: best free hosted plan for freelancers and very small businesses

Wave is a cloud accounting and invoicing product for freelancers and small businesses, with a free Starter plan. Its pricing page says Starter includes unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records, a dashboard and a mobile app, with optional add-ons such as payroll and receipt scanning and a paid Pro plan around it.

The details matter. Online card payments carry a per-transaction fee, automatic import and categorization of bank transactions are listed under Pro, and payroll is priced separately. That means the software is free, but getting paid by card and automating bank data are not. See the Wave pricing page and Enlisted's Wave alternatives.

• Best for: freelancers and solo businesses that mainly send invoices and track income and expenses.
• Watch out for: card fees apply, bank-transaction automation needs the paid plan, and there is no self-hosted version.

2. Zoho Books: best free plan with a fuller feature list

Zoho Books is online accounting software from Zoho that covers invoices, quotes, expenses, bills, bank reconciliation and reports, and extends to inventory, projects and purchase orders on paid plans. Zoho's pricing page lists a free plan with invoicing, quotes, expense tracking, journals, receipt scanning, online payments and a customer portal.

The free plan has real limits: it applies only while annual revenue stays under a stated threshold, covers one user plus an accountant, caps the number of invoices per year, excludes bank feeds and offers email support only. Zoho lists editions for many regions and local compliance features for some of them, so check that your country is supported. See the Zoho Books pricing page.

• Best for: micro businesses that need more than invoices and may later grow into paid plans or other Zoho apps.
• Watch out for: the revenue threshold and invoice cap end the free plan as you grow, and bank feeds require a paid plan.

Best open-source accounting software to self-host

Self-hosted accounting keeps your books on a server you choose and removes per-user licence fees. In return you run updates, backups and security, and you should get an accountant's view on whether the setup meets your local record-keeping rules.

3. Bigcapital: best open-source accounting with inventory

Bigcapital is open-source accounting and inventory software for small and medium businesses, positioned as an independent alternative to QuickBooks, Xero and Wave. Its repository covers a double-entry accounting engine, invoices, bills, expenses, payments, inventory tracking and financial statements.

You can self-host the open-source edition with Docker under AGPL-3.0, or use Bigcapital Cloud, which is paid and has a free trial. The code is TypeScript, so a team with developers can inspect and adapt it. Read the QuickBooks alternatives guide for how it compares with hosted accounting apps.

• Best for: small businesses that want QuickBooks-style books with stock tracking and the option to self-host.
• Watch out for: you own the upgrades and backups, and AGPL-3.0 terms apply if you modify and offer the code.

4. Akaunting: best modular accounting with an on-premise free plan

Akaunting is a web-based accounting application for small businesses and freelancers, built with Laravel and Vue, with an app store that extends the core. It handles invoicing, billing, payments, expenses and budgets, and exposes a REST API.

Its pricing page sells hosted cloud plans per company, and points self-hosters to a separate on-premise plans page, where the vendor lists a free Standard plan and paid higher plans. GitHub lists the licence as Other, and the vendor describes a Business Source License, which is source-available rather than a standard open-source licence. Read the terms before using it commercially. See akaunting.com for current plans.

• Best for: small businesses with technical help that want an extensible accounting app to install themselves.
• Watch out for: it is source-available rather than fully open source, and some apps and plans are paid.

5. ERPNext: best free ERP when accounting is one part of the job

ERPNext is an open-source ERP built on the Frappe framework, with accounting for cash flow, transactions and financial reports alongside inventory, order management, manufacturing, assets and projects. Instead of separate programs for invoices, stock and operations, it is meant to cover all three in one system.

The software is free to self-host under GPL-3.0, and Frappe Cloud hosting is priced by site or server rather than per user, with a free trial. It suits product businesses and manufacturers more than a one-person service business, and the NetSuite alternatives guide compares the wider ERP field.

• Best for: product businesses that need accounting, stock and orders in one self-hostable system.
• Watch out for: an ERP takes real setup time, and a business that only sends invoices will find it more than it needs.

6. Odoo: best when you want to start with one free app

Odoo is a bundle of browser-based, open-source business apps covering CRM, eCommerce, billing and accounting, inventory, projects, point of sale and HR. Odoo's pricing page lists a One App Free plan on its hosted service, with one app for unlimited users, and dependent apps come along automatically with the one you choose.

The higher plans include all apps, and the Custom plan allows on-premise hosting. GitHub lists the licence as Other, so read the repository for exact terms. Check which accounting features the app you choose includes, since the free plan covers one app and its dependencies. See odoo.com.

• Best for: businesses that want one free app now and the option to add inventory, CRM or HR later.
• Watch out for: the free plan is limited to one app, and which accounting features it covers needs checking before you commit.

7. Dolibarr: best free ERP and CRM package with simple installers

Dolibarr is an open-source ERP and CRM web application for managing contacts, suppliers, quotes, invoices, orders, stock, accounting, human resources and manufacturing. It is a PHP application released under GPL-3.0 or later, aimed at companies of any size, foundations and freelancers.

Installation options include packaged installers for Windows, Debian and Ubuntu and Red Hat family distributions, a Docker image, or a manual setup on Apache or Nginx with MariaDB, MySQL or PostgreSQL. Commercial support is available from partners. It appears in the free CRM software guide too, since it covers both jobs. See dolibarr.org.

• Best for: freelancers and small organizations that want quotes, invoices, stock and basic accounting in one free package.
• Watch out for: a broad package means more modules to configure than a dedicated accounting app, so enable only what you need.

Best free desktop accounting software

8. GnuCash: best free double-entry program for your own computer

GnuCash is free financial accounting software for individuals and small businesses, licensed under the GNU GPL, with double-entry bookkeeping and a checkbook-style register. Its features page lists customer and vendor tracking, invoices and bill payments, budget planning, stock and mutual fund tracking, multiple currencies and statement reconciliation.

It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, stores data in XML by default with SQL database options marked experimental, and can import Quicken QIF files and support the OFX protocol. It has no subscription and no hosted service, which suits one bookkeeper at one computer. For personal use see the Quicken alternatives guide.

• Best for: sole traders and very small businesses that want proper double-entry books stored locally.
• Watch out for: it is a desktop program, so it has no client portal or online payment collection, and it takes some accounting knowledge.

Best free invoicing software

If you only need to bill clients, a full ledger is more than you need. These three cover invoices, estimates and payments.

9. Zoho Invoice: best free hosted invoicing for freelancers

Zoho Invoice is a cloud invoicing and time-billing product from Zoho for freelancers and small businesses. It creates and sends invoices, tracks what clients owe and bills for hours worked, without a full accounting package.

Enlisted's data lists it as free for small businesses and freelancers within caps on users, projects and invoices per year, and its invoices carry Zoho Invoice branding. It connects with other Zoho apps. Confirm the current limits on Zoho's invoicing site.

• Best for: freelancers who bill by the hour and want a free hosted tool.
• Watch out for: annual caps and Zoho branding on invoices, and it is invoicing rather than a ledger.

10. Invoice Ninja: best invoicing app you can host or rent

Invoice Ninja handles invoices, quotes, projects and time tracking, and its code is source-available, built with Laravel and Flutter. It is offered as a hosted service and as self-hosted code, with desktop and mobile apps that work with both.

According to its README, all Pro and Enterprise features of the hosted app are included in the source code, so self-hosting does not mean a cut-down edition. GitHub lists the licence as Other, so read the terms. See invoiceninja.com.

• Best for: freelancers and small agencies that want invoicing, projects and time tracking with a self-hosting option.
• Watch out for: it is built around billing, so it does not replace a general ledger, and the licence is source-available.

11. InvoiceShelf: best free self-hosted invoicing app with a customer portal

InvoiceShelf is a self-hosted web application for creating invoices, tracking payments and expenses and keeping customer accounts organized, released under AGPL-3.0. It exports invoices and estimates as PDFs, schedules recurring invoices and gives customers a portal with their invoices and payment history.

It also supports multiple companies and team members with scoped roles, plus optional official modules, and a public demo resets automatically so you can look around first. See invoiceshelf.com. Enlisted also lists InvoicePlane, another self-hosted invoicing app.

• Best for: freelancers and small businesses that want to keep billing data in-house.
• Watch out for: you run the server, and it focuses on invoicing rather than full bookkeeping.

Best accounting software when free is not enough

Free plans stop at invoice caps, revenue thresholds or missing bank feeds. If your business is past those, these paid products are the usual next step:

• QuickBooks: Intuit's accounting family. Its pricing page lists a free plan for a single user with tight limits, plus paid tiers and a free trial. The QuickBooks alternatives guide covers the field.
• Xero: cloud accounting that connects to bank feeds and accountants, sold on paid plans with a free trial. See Xero alternatives.
• Sage Accounting: hosted accounting for small businesses with invoicing, expenses and VAT record keeping.
• FreeAgent: online accounting designed for UK freelancers, contractors and small businesses.
• MYOB: accounting and payroll software popular with small businesses in Australia and New Zealand.
• Pennylane: an accounting platform for French small and mid-sized businesses.
• FreshBooks: invoicing-led accounting for freelancers and service businesses.

Tax, VAT and country features: check before you choose

Accounting software is only as useful as its fit with your country's rules. Vendors state very different things:

• Zoho Books lists editions for many regions and local compliance features for some of them, including e-invoicing readiness in a few countries.
• Sage Accounting lists VAT record keeping, FreeAgent is built for UK requirements, MYOB is popular in Australia and New Zealand, and Pennylane serves French businesses.
• For Wave, Bigcapital, Akaunting, ERPNext, Dolibarr, Odoo and GnuCash, confirm tax rates, filing formats and bank-feed support in their documentation. This guide does not assume any country coverage.

Ask your accountant which tax filings and record formats you need before you pick a tool, and test a sample invoice with your local tax details.

How to choose free accounting software

Start with the job. If you only send invoices, pick an invoicing tool and skip the ledger. If you keep books and your accountant works in a particular platform, ask them before choosing. If data control matters most, shortlist Bigcapital, ERPNext, Dolibarr and GnuCash and budget time for setup, updates and backups. Payroll adds its own country rules, so see the best HR software guide for tools that cover it.