Best Accounting Software · head-to-head

Zoho Books vs FreshBooks

A sourced, side-by-side comparison for accounting software. Zoho Books has the lower entry price. Every figure links to the public page it was captured from — the vendor's own wherever the vendor publishes the number, otherwise the named public source — with the date we captured it.

Zoho Books has the lower entry price — Zoho Books starts at $0/mo, FreshBooks at $23/mo. Free tier: Zoho Books Yes, FreshBooks No. HIPAA: Zoho Books Yes, FreshBooks —.

As of 2026-09-02 · figures link to their source below

Side by side

Zoho Books

$0/mo entry
Entry price$0/mo (Free)
Free tierYes
HIPAA (BAA)Yes
SOC 2Yes
GDPRYes
Best forBusinesses already using Zoho CRM or the broader Zoho suite

FreshBooks

$23/mo entry
Entry price$23/mo (Lite)
Free tierNo
HIPAA (BAA)
SOC 2
GDPRYes
Best forFreelancers and service businesses billing by client

Sources — Zoho Books: zoho.com (verified 2026-09-02) · FreshBooks: freshbooks.com (verified 2026-09-02)

Key features

Zoho Books: SOC 2 + HIPAA Type 2 audited (Dec 2023–Sep 2024); Native Zoho ecosystem integration (CRM, Payroll, Analytics, Inventory); Advanced inventory and warehouse management (Elite); Workflow automation and custom modules (Premium+); Vendor and customer portals (Premium+)

FreshBooks: Client-centric invoicing with built-in retainers and recurring billing; PCI DSS Level 1 certified payment processing; Time tracking with automatic invoice population; Project profitability reporting (Premium+); 100+ app integrations via FreshBooks AppStore

← All accounting software compared · Open data