FreshBooks vs Xero (2026 Edition)

FreshBooks and Xero are two of the best accounting solutions for small businesses. They both offer essential bookkeeping tools with straightforward interfaces and scalable pricing plans. To help you choose which suits your business better, we narrow down each solution’s plans, features, selling points, and best use cases.

	FreshBooks	Xero
Price	$22 / $35 / $60 per month + custom Select	$25 / $55 / $75 per month
G2 Rating	4.5/5 (900+ reviews)	4.4/5 (1,000+ reviews)

FreshBooks Overview

FreshBooks is a small business bookkeeping solution that aims to accommodate the needs of freelancers, self-employed individuals, contractors, and other service-focused small businesses. Its features focus on client invoicing, payments, and time-tracking, with tiered pricing based on the number of billable clients — Lite ($22, 5 clients), Plus ($35, 50 clients), Premium ($60, unlimited), and custom Select. The biggest benefit FreshBooks offers is ease of use.

Xero Overview

Xero is accounting software built for small to mid-sized businesses, including service providers, retailers, freelancers, and e-commerce sellers. Its three-tier plans — Starter ($25), Standard ($55), Premium ($75) — provide basic bookkeeping, intuitive navigation, and seamless collaboration. Xero’s key strengths include unlimited user seats on all plans, an intuitive interface, and connections with over 1,000 business tools.

FreshBooks vs. Xero: Key Differences

• Scalability — FreshBooks scales mainly by increasing billable clients and lacks advanced tools for larger operations; Xero accommodates small to mid-sized businesses with unlimited user seats and more advanced accounting tools per tier.
• Payments & invoices — FreshBooks Lite offers unlimited invoicing but limits clients to 5; Xero Starter allows only 20 invoices per month.
• Expense tracking — both connect bank feeds and capture receipts; Xero adds employee expense claims for review and approval.
• Reporting & dashboards — FreshBooks offers basic reports with no customization; Xero provides a deeper report library with custom reports and a more customizable dashboard.
• Integrations — Xero connects with 1,000+ apps versus FreshBooks’ 100+, including widely-used tools like Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, and HubSpot.
• Customer support — FreshBooks offers phone, live chat, and email; Xero offers only email but adds a community forum.
• Multi-user support — Xero includes unlimited user seats (5 roles); FreshBooks charges $11/user but offers more granular permissions (7 roles).

When to Choose FreshBooks

• You are a freelancer — its $22 entry plan offers unlimited invoicing for a limited number of clients, time-tracking, and mileage tracking.
• You are on a budget — the entry-level FreshBooks plan offers greater value than Xero Starter, which sets strict invoice/bill limits and lacks time and mileage tracking.
• You value customer support access — FreshBooks offers phone, live chat, and email.

When to Choose Xero

• You plan to grow beyond freelance work — Xero provides multiple users with varied access, larger transaction allowances, and detailed reporting.
• You work with a large bookkeeping team — all Xero plans provide unlimited user seats with customizable permissions.
• You need in-depth reporting — Xero offers a deep report library plus custom reports.

When to Choose an Alternative

• You want a free plan — Zoho Books offers invoicing, expense management, and reporting for free.
• You want flexibility when choosing accountants — QuickBooks remains the world’s leading solution, with a larger pool of experts. See our FreshBooks vs. Xero vs. QuickBooks comparison.
• You need industry-specific tools — neither offers advanced inventory, job costing, or project management; consider an industry-specific solution.

Bottom Line

Choosing between FreshBooks and Xero is a matter of size and scalability. FreshBooks provides great support for service-focused small businesses by offering essential features and reasonable usage limits at an affordable price. Meanwhile, Xero is better for small to mid-sized businesses with more employees and more complex needs — it provides advanced accounting tools, unlimited user access, customizable reports, and extensive integrations to support growth.

Start Your Bookkeeping Journey with EpicBooks

Partner with EpicBooks to streamline your financial management. Our experienced team handles the day-to-day details of bookkeeping — from revenue tracking and tax preparation to payroll, reporting, budgeting, and forecasting — giving you more time and clarity to focus on growing your business.