Wave vs Ashby

Wave

Wave is a free accounting and invoicing platform designed for small businesses, freelancers, and solopreneurs. It offers genuinely free accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning with no subscription fee. Wave makes money through payment processing and payroll add-ons. It is one of the best free accounting tools available for very small businesses with simple needs.

Freemium pricing · Get Pricing →

Ashby

Ashby is a modern all-in-one recruiting platform built for high-growth companies. It combines ATS, CRM, scheduling, and analytics in a single tool, eliminating the need for multiple recruiting tools. Ashby is loved by tech startups and scale-ups for its powerful analytics and modern interface that helps recruiting teams make data-driven hiring decisions.

Paid pricing · Get Pricing →

Pros

• ✓Genuinely free accounting and invoicing — no subscription required
• ✓Clean and easy to use interface
• ✓Good enough for most very small businesses and freelancers
• ✓Receipt scanning and bank connections included free

Cons

• ✗Limited features compared to paid alternatives
• ✗Customer support is minimal on the free plan
• ✗Not suitable for growing businesses with complex needs
• ✗Payroll and payment processing add-ons can add up in cost

Pros

• ✓All-in-one platform eliminates need for separate recruiting CRM and scheduling tools
• ✓Exceptional analytics — best-in-class reporting for recruiting teams
• ✓Modern and fast interface loved by recruiting ops teams
• ✓Strong integrations with developer tools

Cons

• ✗Expensive — pricing requires custom quote and targets growth-stage companies
• ✗Overkill for small teams making fewer than 20 hires per year
• ✗Requires dedicated recruiting ops resources to get full value
• ✗Less widely known than Greenhouse or Lever

Best For

Solopreneurs and very small businesses wanting free accounting and invoicing software

Best For

High-growth tech companies wanting an all-in-one recruiting platform with exceptional analytics