FreshBooks Pricing for Small Business (2026): Plans, Add-Ons, and Real Cost

FreshBooks pricing starts at $23 per month for Lite, rises to $43 for Plus and $70 for Premium, while Select is quote-only in the US. Those are the normal month-to-month prices we verified on July 26, 2026—not the temporary checkout teaser. New customers were being offered 90% off Lite, Plus, or Premium for the first six months, after which the selected plan returns to full price.

For most small service businesses, Plus is the practical starting point because it supports up to 50 billable clients and adds proposals, retainers, accounting reports, bank reconciliation, accountant access, and receipt capture. Lite works for a freelancer with five or fewer active clients. Premium becomes relevant when you need unlimited clients, accounts payable, bill capture, or project profitability. Select is a sales-led option for higher-volume businesses that want two included team accounts, Advanced Payments, lower payment rates, onboarding, and dedicated support.

Pricing and plan availability were verified against FreshBooks' public US pricing and support pages on July 26, 2026. Taxes, payment volume, payroll headcount, app integrations, and negotiated Select terms can change the total.

FreshBooks' real cost is the plan plus users, payment processing, payroll, and any Advanced Payments charge—not just the promotional subscription price.

FreshBooks pricing at a glance

The normal plan price is the best number for budgeting because the current promotion lasts only six months.

Annual billing provides a 10% discount against 12 monthly payments. The public annual prices above equal $20.70, $38.70, and $63 per month when averaged across a year, but the full annual charge is paid upfront.

On the verification date, FreshBooks advertised 90% off for six months to new customers on Lite, Plus, and Premium. That made the temporary monthly prices $2.30, $4.30, and $7. FreshBooks says the account returns to full price after the promotional period. For an annual purchase, the full year is charged at checkout and the displayed promotional annual total combines the first-six-month promotion with the 10% annual discount: $136.62 for Lite, $255.42 for Plus, or $415.80 for Premium. Renewal pricing is subject to the then-current rate.

The offer is limited-time, for new customers, and cannot be combined with other offers. FreshBooks also displays a 30-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. A trial and a paid promotional subscription are different offers, so confirm the checkout terms before assuming both apply together.

Which FreshBooks plan should a small business choose?

Choose based on client count and the accounting work you need, then add team, payroll, and payment costs separately.

The right tier changes when client limits, accounting depth, project controls, or high-volume support become operational requirements.

Choose Lite for five or fewer billable clients

Lite is the cheapest sensible option for a solo operator who mainly needs invoicing, estimates, expense tracking, time tracking, automated bank imports, mileage tracking, recurring invoices, late-fee rules, reminders, deposits, and tax-time reports.

Choose Lite if:

• you have no more than five active billable clients;
• estimates and invoices are enough;
• you do not need proposals, retainers, bank reconciliation, accountant access, or full double-entry reports;
• you are the only regular user.

Skip Lite if archived and active clients could push you over the five-client limit, or if your accountant expects a fuller bookkeeping workflow. The subscription is cheaper, but the forced upgrade can arrive quickly for a growing freelancer.

Choose Plus for most small service businesses

Plus is the strongest default for a service business because it raises the billable-client limit to 50 and adds proposals, e-signatures, client retainers, business-health and double-entry accounting reports, bank reconciliation, accountant access, and automatic expense-receipt capture.

Choose Plus if:

• you serve up to 50 billable clients;
• you sell project or retainer work;
• you want invoices, expenses, time, payments, and core accounting in one system;
• your accountant needs access and bank reconciliation.

Skip Plus if you need accounts payable, bill capture, project-profitability reporting, or unlimited clients. Those needs point to Premium, not a pile of workarounds.

Choose Premium for unlimited clients and deeper cost tracking

Premium removes the billable-client cap and adds accounts payable, automatic bill-receipt data capture, and project-profitability reporting. It also supports customized email templates and the Plus invoicing, expense, accounting, time, and project features.

Choose Premium if:

• you bill more than 50 clients;
• you need to track vendor bills and payables;
• project profitability matters to pricing and staffing decisions;
• receipt and bill capture will save meaningful admin time.

Skip Premium if your only reason to upgrade is adding employees. Team members still cost $11 per person per month. Premium does not bundle a team allowance.

Choose Select only after getting the full quote

Select is a custom-priced plan for higher-volume businesses. FreshBooks publicly lists unlimited clients, two included team-member accounts, Advanced Payments, lower card transaction rates, capped ACH fees, automatic multi-line bill capture, removal of FreshBooks branding from client emails, Easy Switch data migration, customized onboarding, and dedicated Select support.

Choose Select if payment volume is high enough for negotiated rates to outweigh the higher subscription quote, or if migration and onboarding assistance materially reduce risk.

Skip Select if you cannot quantify the payment-rate savings or the value of guided onboarding. The subscription price, specific discounted processing rates, and contract terms are not publicly verifiable; get them in writing before comparing Select with Premium.

What invoicing, accounting, expense, time, project, reporting, and automation features are included?

FreshBooks includes basic invoicing, expenses, time tracking, bank import, and recurring billing across the public plans, but the accounting and project controls become materially stronger above Lite.

“Included” means the public comparison table assigns the capability to that plan. It does not mean every connected service is free. Online payment processing carries transaction fees, payroll is separate, and some integrations may have their own subscription costs.

What do FreshBooks add-ons and payments cost?

The predictable add-ons are team members at $11 per person per month, Advanced Payments at $20 per month, and FreshBooks Payroll starting at $40 per month plus $6 per paid person per month. Select includes two team accounts and Advanced Payments; payroll remains separate.

FreshBooks Payments also deducts a fee from each processed payment:

• standard US consumer credit and debit cards: 2.9% + $0.30;
• commercial, corporate, business, and American Express cards: 3.5% + $0.30;
• Advanced Payments, credit-card AutoPay, and AutoCollect: 3.5% + $0.30;
• ACH bank transfer: 1%, with caps available on Select;
• Affirm or Afterpay: 6% + $0.30;
• instant payout: an additional 1.5%;
• international card: an additional 1.5%;
• foreign exchange: an additional 2%;
• disputes: $15; failed ACH transfers: $4.

Transaction fees are not refunded when you refund a customer. These variable costs can dwarf the subscription for a business collecting large invoices, so model the payment mix—not just the plan.

Payroll is powered by Gusto and is a US-focused add-on. At the published starting price, payroll for five paid people is $70 per month; payroll for eight is $88 per month. Confirm state tax, benefits, contractor, and Gusto service requirements before treating that as the complete payroll budget.

What does FreshBooks cost after the promotion?

Post-promotion cost ranges from $23 per month for a solo Lite account to hundreds per month once team, payroll, and payment tools are included. The scenarios below use normal subscription prices and exclude sales tax, payment-processing volume, and third-party app fees.

Freelancer: Lite with no paid add-ons

A freelancer with four recurring clients, no staff, and standard invoicing can use Lite for $23 per month or $248.40 per year on annual billing. Payment processing remains variable.

This is the cleanest low-cost scenario, but the fifth-client limit is a hard planning constraint. If the freelancer regularly rotates clients, Plus may be cheaper than managing the account around the cap.

Small service firm: Plus, three added team members, and five-person payroll

The post-promotion monthly total is:

• Plus: $43;
• three team members: $33;
• payroll for five people: $70;
• total fixed software cost: $146 per month, or $1,752 over 12 months on monthly billing.

If only the core plan is billed annually, the base falls to $464.40 for the year. Adding 12 months of the published team and payroll charges produces an illustrative fixed total of $1,940.40 per year. Confirm whether FreshBooks offers different add-on billing terms at checkout.

Growing client-heavy business: Premium, five team members, Advanced Payments, and eight-person payroll

The post-promotion monthly total is:

• Premium: $70;
• five team members: $55;
• Advanced Payments: $20;
• payroll for eight people: $88;
• total fixed software cost: $233 per month, or $2,796 over 12 months on monthly billing.

With the Premium base billed annually, the illustrative fixed annual total is $2,712. Payment fees are still extra. At this size, request a Select quote too: two included team accounts, included Advanced Payments, and negotiated processing rates may change the comparison, but no public Select price makes a universal break-even claim possible.

Hidden FreshBooks costs to check before buying

The subscription is only one line in the budget.

Model every recurring and volume-based cost before approving the plan; the banner price is not the operating budget.

• Promotion expiry: budget the normal rate from month seven, not the 90%-off teaser.
• Client limits: Lite supports five billable clients and Plus supports 50; growth can force an upgrade.
• Team access: each extra team member is $11 per month except the two accounts included with Select.
• Payment processing: card type, ACH, buy-now-pay-later, international cards, currency conversion, refunds, disputes, and instant payouts affect cost.
• Managed payment rate: Advanced Payments and automated card collection use the 3.5% + $0.30 managed-payments rate.
• Payroll headcount: the base fee is only part of the charge; add $6 per paid person each month.
• Sales tax: FreshBooks may collect applicable tax on the subscription.
• Third-party integrations: connected apps can require separate subscriptions.
• Annual prepayment: annual billing is cheaper but paid upfront and reduces flexibility.
• Downgrade cleanup: moving to a smaller plan may require reducing active and archived clients, team members, connected accountants, and retainers.
• Select ambiguity: subscription price, negotiated processing rates, and any commitments require a sales quote.

FreshBooks versus QuickBooks: which fits better?

FreshBooks generally fits freelancers and service businesses that organize work around clients, estimates, proposals, time, expenses, invoices, and getting paid. Its plan ladder is easy to understand, but per-person charges can make a growing team expensive.

QuickBooks Online generally fits businesses that put broader accounting depth, inventory, bill workflows, accountant familiarity, and financial controls ahead of a simpler client-service experience. Its own plan and add-on structure also needs a full-cost comparison.

Choose FreshBooks when client billing and service delivery are the center of the workflow. Choose QuickBooks when bookkeeping complexity, inventory, or deeper financial operations are the center. Read our QuickBooks Online pricing guide, best invoicing software guide, and best AI accounting software guide for the adjacent decisions.

How cancellation and downgrades work

FreshBooks says you can downgrade during a subscription or cancel the account. A cancellation remains active until the end of the current billing cycle. Downgrades made mid-cycle generate a prorated credit that applies to the next subscription payment.

Before downgrading, you may need to remove excess active and archived clients, team members, connected accountants, or retainers. Select customers and accounts without self-service controls must contact support. FreshBooks Payroll cancellation also requires contacting support.

FreshBooks' support page says recent-payment refund requests have a grace period of five business days or seven calendar days, while other refund or charge-dispute requests covering up to three months of fees must be made within 90 days. That is not the same as a promise of a prorated cash refund for unused annual time, so confirm the exact consequence before buying annually.

FreshBooks pricing FAQ

How much is FreshBooks per month in 2026?

As verified July 26, 2026, FreshBooks costs $23 per month for Lite, $43 for Plus, and $70 for Premium at normal US monthly rates. Select is quote-only. Add-ons and payment fees are extra.

Is FreshBooks really 90% off?

FreshBooks was offering new customers 90% off Lite, Plus, or Premium for six months. After six months, monthly accounts return to the full selected-plan price. It is a temporary promotion, not the long-term cost.

How much does FreshBooks cost annually?

The verified annual prices paid upfront were $248.40 for Lite, $464.40 for Plus, and $756 for Premium, reflecting a 10% annual discount. Select annual pricing was not public.

Which FreshBooks plan is best for a small business?

Plus is the best starting point for most small service businesses because it supports 50 billable clients and includes proposals, retainers, bank reconciliation, accountant access, and double-entry reports. Lite is better for a freelancer with five or fewer clients; Premium is better for unlimited clients, bills, payables, and project profitability.

Are team members included?

Lite, Plus, and Premium charge $11 per added team member per month. Select includes two team-member accounts, with additional people listed at $11 each per month.

Does FreshBooks include payroll?

No. FreshBooks Payroll is an add-on starting at $40 per month plus $6 per paid person per month. It is powered by Gusto and availability is region-dependent.

Does FreshBooks charge payment fees?

Yes. Standard US consumer card payments cost 2.9% + $0.30, while business and American Express cards cost 3.5% + $0.30. ACH costs 1%, and other methods or circumstances can add fees.

Can I cancel FreshBooks anytime?

FreshBooks allows cancellation, with access continuing until the end of the billing cycle. Select and some other accounts must contact support. Annual subscribers should confirm refund consequences before purchase because cancellation access and refund eligibility are separate issues.

Methodology and sources

This is a vendor-document-verified editorial analysis, not a hands-on product test. We checked the public US FreshBooks pricing page, its plan-comparison data, FreshBooks' accounting page, US payment-fee documentation, and cancellation guidance on July 26, 2026. We used independent search results only to identify recurring buyer questions; prices and plan inclusion claims were verified against FreshBooks.

Primary sources:

• FreshBooks pricing and plan comparison
• FreshBooks accounting features
• FreshBooks Payments transaction fees (USD)
• FreshBooks cancellation and downgrade rules

FreshBooks can change prices, promotions, plan limits, and feature packaging. Recheck the live checkout and written Select quote before purchasing.