FreshBooks is a polished invoicing and accounting product that bills clients well. BrassWell is built around a different question: of the money that just came in, how much is actually yours once the IRS has had its share? Which one fits depends on which of those keeps you up at night.
Side by side
| BrassWell | FreshBooks | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $19.99/mo Core, $29.99/mo Pro | Lite $23, Plus $43, Premium $70 |
| Yearly price | $199/yr Core, $299/yr Pro | Lite $248.40, Plus $464.40, Premium $756 (10% off) |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card, never auto-charges | 30 days, no card |
| Invoicing limit | Core: 5 invoices a month. Pro: unlimited | Unlimited invoices; billable clients capped at 5 (Lite) or 50 (Plus) |
| Quarterly tax estimate | Yes: 2026 brackets, self-employment tax, your state rate, email reminders before each date | Not listed (tax-time reports only) |
| Receipt scanning | Every plan (AI reads the amount and category) | Plus and up |
| Mileage | IRS-ready mileage log on Pro, with the 2026 mid-year rate applied by date | Mobile mileage tracking |
| Time tracking | Pro, billed straight onto an invoice | Every plan |
| Bank connections | Pro (via Plaid); CSV import on every plan | Every plan; reconciliation on Plus and up |
| Double-entry accounting, payroll, team | No | Yes (reports on Plus; payroll and extra users cost more) |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Android, web | iPhone, Android, web |
Where FreshBooks is the better choice
Client billing at volume. Proposals, retainers, project profitability, accounts payable and custom email templates are FreshBooks’ home ground, and BrassWell does not try to match them. If you send dozens of invoices to dozens of clients, that matters more than anything else on this page.
Proper accounting and a team. Double-entry reports, bank reconciliation and accountant access come with Plus; extra team members and payroll are paid add-ons. BrassWell is deliberately built for one person and stops short of a general ledger.
Time tracking on the cheapest plan. Every FreshBooks plan includes unlimited time tracking. In BrassWell it is a Pro feature.
Where BrassWell is the better choice
The tax number. BrassWell works out self-employment tax and income tax on the real 2026 brackets, stacked on any W-2 wages, plus your state rate, and turns it into a set-aside percentage and a suggested quarterly payment. FreshBooks’ pricing page lists tax-time reports, not an estimate of what you owe through the year.
Uneven income. Goals, budgets and the Financial Freedom plan are built for months that don’t look alike. The question BrassWell answers on a big month is how much of it you can actually spend.
Price, for a business of one. Receipt scanning is in every BrassWell plan; in FreshBooks it starts at Plus, $43 a month. And no client cap: a sixth client never forces an upgrade.
A year of each, in dollars
Paying yearly, BrassWell Core is $199 and Pro is $299. FreshBooks Lite is $248.40 for the year and Plus, the first plan with receipt scanning, is $464.40. The fair comparison depends on what you’d use: a freelancer with a few clients who wants receipts scanned and a tax number is comparing $199 with $464.40; an agency billing fifty clients for time is comparing different products.
Switching from FreshBooks
Export your expenses and payments from FreshBooks as CSV files, and download your invoices as PDFs for your records. BrassWell imports a CSV of income and expenses, matches the columns to your file’s headers, and skips likely duplicates, so a year of history comes across in one sitting. Keep the old account until your first BrassWell month looks right, and download every receipt image first: receipts are what you need if a deduction is ever questioned, and they are the part most often lost in a move.
Questions, answered
Is BrassWell a good FreshBooks alternative?
For a self-employed person whose main problem is knowing what to set aside for tax on uneven income, yes: BrassWell estimates quarterly tax on the 2026 brackets and includes receipt scanning on every plan. For a business that lives on invoicing many clients, proposals and project billing, FreshBooks is the stronger tool.
Does FreshBooks calculate quarterly estimated taxes?
Its pricing page, checked October 24, 2026, lists tax-time reports but no quarterly estimated tax calculation. BrassWell estimates the year’s self-employment and income tax and suggests a quarterly payment.
How much does FreshBooks cost in 2026?
FreshBooks lists Lite at $23 a month, Plus at $43 and Premium at $70, with 10% off for paying yearly, after a price increase announced from March 5, 2026. Lite is limited to 5 billable clients and Plus to 50.
Can I move my data from FreshBooks to BrassWell?
Yes. Export expenses and payments from FreshBooks as CSV files and import them into BrassWell, which matches the columns to the file’s headers and skips likely duplicates. Download receipt images and invoice PDFs separately before closing the old account.
Sources
- FreshBooks pricing — FreshBooks. Plans, client limits and features by plan, checked October 24, 2026.
- 2026 price change FAQ — FreshBooks. The March 2026 increase and yearly prices.
- BrassWell pricing — BrassWell. Core and Pro, line by line.
