Coordinator vs Wave Accounting
Wave made free accounting normal. Coordinator makes the whole business free — accounting plus projects, scheduling, chat and a client network — everywhere in the world, on payment rails you choose.
Free. No card. About two minutes to set up.
Wave, side by side
The best-known free accounting tool — invoicing and bookkeeping for very small businesses in the US and Canada.
| What you're paying for | Coordinator | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 — everything | Free (shrinking); Pro ~$19/mo; payroll extra |
| Users | Unlimited, free | Single-user free tier; team needs Pro |
| Invoicing & estimates | Included — sent from your own email | Emailing invoices now requires Pro |
| Automatic bank feeds | Included | Pro plan |
| Online payments | Your own Stripe, PayPal or Wise | Wave Payments only, at their rates |
| Where it works | Anywhere | US & Canada |
| Projects, tasks & time tracking | Included | |
| Booking pages & team scheduling | Included | |
| Team & client chat | Included | |
| Clients collaborate from their own workspace | Included (the network) | |
| Public storefront & marketplace | Included |
Wave pricing and plan limits are approximate, from their published plans as of August 2026 — check their site for current figures. Coordinator's column doesn't change: $0.
The Wave line on your P&L
Wave's free plan shrank in June 2026: bank feeds, collaborator access, receipts — even emailing invoices from the platform — moved to the ~$19/mo Pro plan, including for long-time free users. Payroll is a paid add-on, and card payments run only through Wave's own processor at their rates.
Users: Free tier is single-user; collaborators require Pro.
What you get that Wave doesn't give you
Wave routes every card payment through Wave Payments. Coordinator connects your own Stripe, PayPal or Wise — you pick the rails and keep the relationship.
Wave is built around one owner. Coordinator gives you unlimited teammates with roles and permissions — bookkeeper, field crew, sales — at no cost.
Projects with job costing, booking pages, team scheduling, chat, records and a storefront — none of which Wave attempts.
Wave serves the US and Canada. Coordinator is free for everyone, anywhere in the world.
What Wave users complain about — answered
Recurring themes from public reviews and forums (G2, Capterra, Reddit), paired with what changes here. We only list complaints Coordinator actually solves.
“June 2026: bank feeds, collaborators, receipts — even emailing invoices — were pulled from free accounts with a month's notice”
Nothing here is bait. Bank feeds, unlimited teammates and file capture are free because free is the model, not the funnel — there's no Pro tier for features to retreat into.
“'Free forever' turned out to mean 'until the Pro plan needed features'”
Coordinator's free plan can't be hollowed out to upsell you, because there is nothing to upsell. Every feature, every seat, $0 — structurally.
“Support is a chatbot unless you pay”
Support is a real email address, and the founder's note on the landing page carries it. No bot maze, no support paywall.
“Wave Payments held our money — payouts frozen for months”
Coordinator never touches your money. Payments settle on your own Stripe, PayPal or Wise, directly to you — there is no balance for anyone to hold.
“The free tier is single-user now — my bookkeeper can't log in”
Invite your bookkeeper, your team, your business partner — unlimited users with real roles, free.
“US and Canada only”
Free for everyone, anywhere in the world.
What they love about Wave — kept
Kept: professional templates, recurring invoices, automatic reminders — plus hosted pages your clients pay by card.
Kept: send your first invoice in minutes; the deep accounting stays out of your way until your accountant wants it.
Where Wave may still fit
No tool wins everything, and we'd rather you pick with open eyes.
Wave's paid payroll add-on files taxes in some US states. Coordinator records payroll and imports from providers, but doesn't calculate or file taxes.
Wave has been at free accounting since 2010. If maximum maturity in a narrow tool is the priority, that history counts.
Switching from Wave is the smoothest path there is: Coordinator has a dedicated Wave CSV importer — export from Wave, import your books, and keep going.
Free. No card. About two minutes to set up.
The free Wave Accounting alternative, summarized
If you're searching for a Wave Accounting alternative, the short version: Coordinator is free for unlimited users — no tiers, no usage meters, no renewal-day surprises — and it covers what Wave does for accounting alongside the rest of a small business's operations: real accounting, projects with job costing, booking pages and staff scheduling, client records and forms, team chat, and a cross-company network where your invoice lands in your client's books. Wave still fits some buyers — see the fair print above — but if the complaints on this page sound familiar, switching is usually an afternoon.
Explore the accounting side of Coordinator on free-accounting-software, see everything it does, or read why it's free.
Keep the Wave money
Set up free in minutes, import what you have, and put the subscription line to better use.
Free. No card. About two minutes to set up.