If you invoice clients regularly, check what recurring billing and stored cards actually cost on your current tool before you assume the free plan covers you. PayPal's invoicing looks free on the surface, 2.99% plus 49 cents per card payment, but it charges an extra $10 a month for recurring billing and $30 a month for stored card payments, features Wave includes at no extra charge (source: fitsmallbusiness.com, PayPal vs Wave, 2026). If you bill the same clients monthly or want to keep a card on file, that's $120 to $360 a year most comparisons don't mention.
Why this comparison needed correcting
Most "best invoicing tool" posts compare headline transaction rates and stop there: PayPal charges roughly 3%, Wave charges roughly 3%, Stripe charges roughly 3%, so they read as interchangeable. They aren't, once you add in the fees that only show up if you use recurring billing, stored cards, or Stripe's separate invoicing charge on top of its processing rate. The real cost of invoicing software is the sum of the software fee, the per-transaction rate, and whatever add-ons your actual billing pattern triggers.
What each tool actually charges
Wave. The Starter plan is free with no time limit, and it processes cards at 2.9% plus 60 cents, with a 3.4% plus 60 cents rate for American Express (source: saasrat.com, Wave pricing, 2026). Recurring billing and stored cards are included at no extra monthly cost. The Pro plan, $19 a month, reduces your first 10 monthly transactions to 2.9% with no per-transaction fixed fee, worth it once you're processing more than about 6 transactions a month (source: saasrat.com, 2026).
PayPal. Invoicing itself is free to set up, and card payments run 2.99% plus 49 cents, with PayPal Checkout at 3.49% plus 49 cents and eChecks at 3.49% capped at $300 (source: fitsmallbusiness.com, 2026). The costs that don't show up on the headline rate: $10 a month for recurring billing and $30 a month to store customer cards for repeat charges (source: fitsmallbusiness.com, 2026). If you bill the same client every month, that recurring-billing fee alone can exceed what you'd pay in Wave's transaction fees over the same volume.
Stripe. Standard card processing runs 2.9% plus 30 cents, the lowest fixed fee of the three. But Stripe Invoicing itself carries a separate charge, 0.4% per paid invoice, capped at $2, on top of the processing fee when the client pays by card (source: checkoutpage.com, Stripe processing fees, 2026). For a $2,000 invoice, that's an extra $8 (0.4%) added to the roughly $58 card processing fee, still well under the cap.
Comparison
| Tool | Software cost | Card processing rate | Hidden costs to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wave | Free (Pro: $19/mo) | 2.9% + $0.60 | None on Starter; Amex adds 0.5% |
| PayPal | Free | 2.99% + $0.49 | +$10/mo recurring billing, +$30/mo stored cards |
| Stripe | Free (pay per invoice) | 2.9% + $0.30 | +0.4% per paid invoice, capped at $2 |
Do this math before picking
Four numbers to check against your own billing pattern, not the headline rate:
- How many invoices do you send a month, and at what average amount?
- Do you bill the same client on a recurring schedule, which is where PayPal's $10 add-on kicks in?
- Do you need to keep a card on file for repeat charges, which is PayPal's $30 add-on?
- Multiply your monthly invoice total by each tool's percentage rate, add any fixed and monthly fees, and compare the actual dollar total, not the advertised percentage.
FAQ
Is Wave really free, or does it have hidden costs like PayPal?
The Starter plan is genuinely free for invoicing and includes recurring billing and stored cards at no extra monthly charge. You only pay the per-transaction processing rate when a client actually pays.
Which tool is cheapest for a solopreneur billing the same clients monthly?
Wave, in most cases, since PayPal's $10-a-month recurring billing fee is a fixed cost that doesn't scale down with lower invoice volume, while Wave includes the same feature free.
Does Stripe's 0.4% invoicing fee apply on top of its card processing fee?
Yes. A card-paid Stripe invoice carries both the 2.9% plus 30 cents processing fee and the separate 0.4% invoicing fee, capped at $2 per invoice.
When does Wave's $19-a-month Pro plan actually pay for itself?
Once you're processing more than roughly 6 card transactions a month, since Pro drops your first 10 monthly transactions to 2.9% with no fixed fee, according to Wave's own fee structure (source: saasrat.com, 2026).
If you take one thing from this: run your actual monthly invoice count and billing pattern through each tool's real fee structure, add-ons included, before assuming the one with the lowest headline percentage is the cheapest one for you.
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