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Recurring Invoicing Software: Top 10 Best Software

Recurring Invoicing Software: Top 10 Best Software

By Lucas Brachet & Coralie Petit

Updated: July 4, 2024, first publication: April 18, 2023

Recurring invoicing software can be a crucial tool for your business. But we know how difficult it can be to choose the right one for your business as there are tons of solutions available.

In this article, more than just showcasing the top 10 recurring invoicing software, we will look at the benefits of a good recurring invoicing system and the important factors to consider when picking yours.

💡 Before going through the heart of the subject, take a look at this guide we've worked on with Chargebee! If you're looking for growth strategies, starting with customer retention and pricing, this report on the state of the subscription management industry in 2023 is a must-have.

2023 State of Subscription Industry Report by Chargebee

Download the Report

The 10 Best Recurring Invoicing Software

Axonaut

FreshBooks

Bonsai

Chargebee

Chargify

Recurly

Stripe Billing

Wave Invoicing

Zoho Invoice

Zuora

For companies with 1 to 50 employeesFor all companiesFor all companiesFor companies with 2 to 250 employeesFor all companiesFor all companiesFor companies with more than 1 employeesFor all companiesFor companies with 2 to 5000 employeesFor companies with 2 to 5000 employees
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Paid version from €41.99 /month

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Paid version from $12.95 /month

close-circle Free version
check-circle Free trial
close-circle Free demo
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Pricing on request

close-circle Free version
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Paid version from €299.00 /month

close-circle Free version
close-circle Free trial
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Paid version from $149.00 /month

close-circle Free version
close-circle Free trial
close-circle Free demo
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Paid version from $99.00 /month

close-circle Free version
close-circle Free trial
close-circle Free demo
tag-outline

Pricing on request

close-circle Free version
close-circle Free trial
close-circle Free demo
tag-outline

Pricing on request

close-circle Free version
close-circle Free trial
close-circle Free demo
tag-outline

Pricing on request

close-circle Free version
close-circle Free trial
close-circle Free demo
tag-outline

Pricing on request

close-circle Free version
close-circle Free trial
close-circle Free demo
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Learn more about Axonaut Learn more about FreshBooks Learn more about Bonsai Learn more about Chargebee Learn more about Chargify Learn more about Recurly Learn more about Stripe Billing Learn more about Wave Invoicing Learn more about Zoho Invoice Learn more about Zuora

Axonaut

Axonaut is an all-in-one tool and perfectly-integrated ERP/CRM software that helps businesses manage all aspects of their projects and activities, in order to be more productive and competitive.

🙋🏼‍♀️ For Who?

It is mostly suitable for:

  • start-ups,
  • freelancers,
  • auto-entrepreneurs,
  • and managers of SMEs (1 to 50 employees).
 ⚒️ Key Features
        
  • Branded quotes and invoices.
  • Quotes to invoices conversion with one click.
  • eSignature.
  • Stripe and Gocardless enabled for online payment.
  • Manage deposits, invoicing status and balances, including for recurring invoices.
  • Bank transactions monitoring.
  • Detailed statistics.
  • Accounting tasks automation.
  • Custom export process.
  • Company-specific accounting codes Management.
  • Automation of sales, expenses, and taxes.
👍 Pros
  • Complete system: everything in one place.
  • Nice user interface.
  • Good mobile app.
  • Reactive support.
  • Great for small businesses.
  • Smart reminders help you follow up on outstanding invoices.
  • Direct connection with your bank account.
  • Affordable.

👎 Cons

  • Takes time to learn.
  • Not suitable for large businesses.
  • Needs more integration.

Bonsai

Bonsai is an all-in-one business & financial management solution that integrates and automates many business management tasks such as:

  • proposals,
  • contracts,
  • billing,
  • accounting,
  • and tax preparation.

Bonsai’s all-in-one package is relatively affordable and features a very intuitive interface.

🙋🏼‍♀️ For Who?

Bonsai is specifically geared toward freelancers, small businesses, agencies, and self-employed professionals.

 ⚒️ Key Features
        
  • Ready-to-go interactive proposal templates.
  • Contract templates.
  • Expenses tracking.
  • CRM within the app.
  • Contact forms.
  • e-Signatures.
  • Time-tracking and task management.
  • Automatic invoice generation and sending.
  • Bonsai tax.
👍 Pros
  • All-in-one solution.
  • Good customer support.
  • Strong mobile apps.
  • Easy to use.
  • Very useful time-tracker.
  • Great dashboard.
  • Looks professional when sending proposals and invoices.
  • Multiple payment and payout options.
  • Expense tracking.
  • Helpful with taxes.
  • CRM within the app.

👎 Cons

  • Potentially expensive monthly cost.
  • Limited features.
  • Limited integrations.
  • Contract creation tool has its limits.
  • Time tracking feature doesn’t capture evidence of your work.
  • Only available in English.
  • Geographical limitations for payment options.

Chargebee

Chargebee is a plug-and-play cloud-based subscription business tool and billing solution that provides numerous products, features, and customizations for its customers.

Businesses can use Chargebee to:

  • combine usage-based, one-time, and recurring pricing models,
  • organize promotions,
  • and bill their customers accurately.

It has a sleek and easy-to-use API, providing both free and paid plans, making it accessible to all.

🙋🏼‍♀️ For Who?

Chargerbee is a great software for businesses of all sizesstartups and enterprise-level companies alike.

 ⚒️ Key Features
        
  • Subscription management.
  • Recurring billing and invoicing.
  • Recurring payments.
  • Accounting and taxes.
  • SaaS reporting.
  • Enterprise billing.
  • Integrations.
  • Offline Billing.
  • Reports and notifications.
👍 Pros
  • Free option.
  • Easy to use.
  • Customize payment options (flat fee, usage, custom).
  • 100 different currencies and payment options.
  • Special promotions can be organized.

👎 Cons

  • Quite expensive once you upgrade past their free plan.
  • No parent-child functionality.
  • Not possible to export multiple invoices in one go.

Chargify

Chargify is a billing and subscription management tool, specifically designed to help companies manage their monthly subscriptions.

🙋🏼‍♀️ For Who?

Chargify is specifically designed for B2B SaaS, either you are:

  • a small business,
  • a startup,
  • or a large enterprise that bills large numbers of clients monthly.
 ⚒️ Key Features
        
  • Multi-gateway support.
  • Customer portal.
  • Good recurring billing system.
  • Business intelligence tools.
  • ACH/e-check.
  • Invoicing.
  • Recurring billing API.
  • Dunning management.
  • Subscription management.
  • PCI-compliant security.
  • Branded payment websites.
  • Mobile app.
  • Automatic emails.
👍 Pros
  • Designed specifically for B2B SaaS companies.
  • No commitment: month-to-month subscription.
  • Stable and reliable.
  • Scalable.
  • Easy-to-use dunning system.
  • User-friendly interface.
  • Customer service available 24/7.
  • Easily adjustable customer bills and information.
  • Multi-currency.
  • Basic email marketing included to create email funnels.

👎 Cons

  • Can be overwhelming.
  • Monthly subscription on the higher end of prices.
  • Each Chargify account can only charge in one currency.
  • Reporting tool.
  • Not ideal for one-time charges.

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is a web-based SaaS that allows users to:

  • create and send invoices,
  • track expenses,
  • manage projects and clients,
  • and view reports.

It offers four different plans that vary in terms of the maximum number of billable clients and features available. And, if you're not sure FreshBooks is the right system for your business, you can try it for free for 30 days.

🙋🏼‍♀️ For Who?

FreshBooks is best for small business and freelancers.

 ⚒️ Key Features
        
  • Invoicing tools.
  • Mobile application.
  • Estimate and proposal conversion into invoices.
  • Multiple languages and currencies.
  • Integration with more than 100 third-party applications.
  • User roles and permissions to improve security.
👍 Pros
  • Intuitive cloud-based app.
  • Complete bookkeeping system.
  • Unlimited invoices included in all plans.
  • Less expensive than other popular accounting software.
  • Electronic signatures on estimates and proposals.

👎 Cons

  • Not possible to view reports or manage team members from the app.
  • Recurring invoice feature unavailable with Lite Plan.
  • Extra fee for additional users.
  • Lite plan only allows for five billable clients.

Recurly

Recurly is an all-in-one integrated platform that helps companies to improve billing continuity and maximize revenue.

The software provides tools to easily automate large-scale subscription billing by enabling teams to manage and optimize their subscriber lifecycles.

🙋🏼‍♀️ For Who? 

Recurly is best for companies with large recurring revenues around the world.

 ⚒️ Key Features
        
  • Subscription management.
  • Flexible subscription billing models (fixed recurring, quantity-based, usage-based, one-time charges, hybrid options).
  • Invoice and receipt customization.
  • Custom charges and credits on customer accounts.
  • Automated recurring billing.
  • Global sales tax management.
  • Integration with ERPs and CRMs.
  • Revenue recognition.
  • Intelligent retention.
  • Analytics.
  • Subscription renewal reminders.
👍 Pros
  • Month-to-month service without commitment.
  • Machine learning to minimize churn and maximize revenue.
  • Many subscription billing models.
  • Multilingual.
  • Great customer support.
  • Analysis of subscriber retention and other metrics.

👎 Cons

  • No details on past due invoices when generating a single payment invoice.
  • No option to edit the quantity, pricing, and charge description once the invoice has been created.
  • Lacks options for customizing or disabling “session timeout”.

Strip

Stripe is a versatile payment processing and subscription management platform that enables businesses to handle online payments and recurring billing with ease.

This software offers a suite of tools to manage the complete subscription lifecycle, from billing to revenue recognition, providing a reliable solution for companies aiming to streamline their financial operations.

🙋🏼‍♀️ For Who?

Stripe is best suited for:

  • start-ups,
  • SMEs,
  • e-commerce businesses,
  • SaaS companies,
  • and enterprises with large-scale recurring revenues.
 ⚒️ Key Features
        
  • Customizable invoicing and billing.
  • Support for multiple payment methods (credit cards, ACH, etc.).
  • Subscription lifecycle management.
  • Automatic proration for billing changes.
  • Comprehensive dashboard with analytics and reporting.
  • Automated dunning for failed payments.
  • Multicurrency support.
  • Integration with major CRMs and ERPs.
  • Advanced fraud protection and security.
  • Real-time financial reporting.
  • Developer-friendly API for custom integrations.
👍 Pros
  • Highly customizable and scalable.
  • Excellent documentation and developer support.
  • Supports a wide range of payment methods.
  • Strong security features.
  • Detailed analytics and real-time reporting.
  • Seamless integration with various platforms.
  • Robust API for customization.
  • Global reach with multicurrency support.

👎 Cons

  • Complex setup for advanced features.
  • Higher transaction fees compared to some competitors.
  • Limited offline payment options.
  • Customer support can be slow at times.
  • Requires technical expertise for customization.

Wave

Wave recurring invoicing software is a very popular solution, saving time by providing a simple, all-in-one financial management tool via a suite of products that work seamlessly together.

On top of that, Wave it is completely free, with no limitations, including:

  • invoicing,
  • accounting,
  • and receipt scanning.

🙋🏼‍♀️ For Who?

Wave can be a great and cost-effective option for small businesses and freelancers who don’t need extensive billing features.

 ⚒️ Key Features
        
  • Better and faster bookkeeping.
  • Invoicing.
  • Calculation of tax and deductions.
  • Direct credit card payments.
  • Fully integrated single login solution.
  • Profit and loss statement.
  • Automatic data backup.
👍 Pros
  • Free.
  • No commitment.
  • Reporting is easy to create, with many options.
  • Multi-currency.
  • Straightforward setup, easy to use.
  • Unlimited users.
  • Smooth transaction management.

👎 Cons

  • Not appropriate for large businesses.
  • Limited third-party integrations.
  • Lacks time-tracking features.
  • Linking with bank account can be troublesome.
  • Basic reporting options.
  • Not able to set up separate income and expenses by classes or locations.
  • Customer support could be better.

Zoho Invoice

Zoho Invoice serves as a free standalone recurring billing software that can be integrated with Zoho Subscriptions to handle all your customer subscription billing life cycle.

🙋🏼‍♀️ For Who?

Zoho is one of the best recurring billing software for small businesses and freelancers, as it offers free and cost-effective options.

It is also perfect for businesses that are either starting or don’t require a complex and expensive system and can handle plenty of billing processes.

 ⚒️ Key Features
        
  • Recurring billing.
  • Recurring invoice reports.
  • Estimates and proposals.
  • Integration.
  • Powerful APIs.
  • Project invoicing.
👍 Pros
  • Free and cost-effective pricing options.
  • Project time management features.
  • Easy to set up.
  • 1,000+ invoices per year.
  • Multiple integration capabilities.
  • Multiple payment methods.
  • Multiple currencies, multilingual.

👎 Cons

  • Integration is not always seamless.
  • Must purchase Zoho Books for accounting functions other than invoicing.
  • Manages outgoing invoices only.
  • No approval workflows for issuing invoices.

Zuora

Zuora is a comprehensive software solution that combines:

  • business,
  • finance,
  • and billing systems. Many Fortune 100 companies in the subscription economy, such as Zoom, Caterpillar (CAT), Toyota, and NBC Universal, rely on Zuora for its sophisticated and flexible features.

🙋🏼‍♀️ For Who?

Zuora is more suitable for high-revenue and large companies.

 ⚒️ Key Features
        
  • Plan-based pricing catalog.
  • AR management.
  • Automated notifications.
  • Time based discounts.
  • Hierarchical enterprise billing.
  • Revenue recognition reports.
  • Account period management.
  • Key subscription metrics.
  • Taxation.
  • Quoting and subscription management in CRM.
  • Subscription insights and analytics in CRM.
  • Automated invoice generation and presentation.
  • Electronic payment automation.
  • One time, recurring and usage pricing.
  • Billing in advance and arrears.
  • Subscription lifecycle management.
  • Pre-built gateway integration.
👍 Pros
  • Free trial.
  • Flexible.
  • Customizable.
  • Sophisticated features.
  • Highly secure.
  • Can support large volume of data.

👎 Cons

  • Rates are on demand.
  • Complex and can be difficult to use.
  • Not for startups or small companies.

Frequently Asked Questions on Recurring Invoicing 

What Is A Recurring Invoicing Software?

Recurring invoicing software refers to systems designed to help companies send the same invoice to the same customer at regular intervals (weekly, monthly, annually…) for a specific product or service, containing the same invoice details.

Recurring invoicing software automatically invoices customers and handles the collection of payments.

💡 Recurring invoicing software are also coming handy when it comes to avoid unpaid invoice.

Who Is Recurring Invoicing Software Useful For?

Many businesses offer types of services or products that require them to create and send the same invoice to customers on a regular basis.

👉 They usually choose to invest in recurring invoicing software to automate invoice and payment processes in order to improve productivity and save money.

Businesses that often use recurring invoicing software include:

  • Rental company’s (flats, office buildings, etc.),
  • Subscription-based products and services (gym, software, monthly gift boxes, streaming services, etc.),
  • Marketing companies,
  • Consultants, and many more.

What is the Difference Between Billing and Invoicing?

Billing and invoicing, while often used interchangeably, have distinct roles in the financial process.

Billing is a broader term that encompasses the entire process of requesting payment for goods or services. It includes:

  • generating the bill,
  • sending it to the customer,
  • and ensuring payment is received.

Billing typically involves recurring payments, especially in subscription-based businesses.

Invoicing, on the other hand, is a specific part of the billing process. An invoice is a detailed document that itemizes:

  • the products or services provided,
  • their costs,
  • and the payment terms.

It serves as a formal request for payment and provides a record for both the buyer and seller. 

In essence, invoicing is a crucial step within the larger billing cycle, providing the necessary details and formal request for payment to facilitate the billing process.

 What is a Recurring Billing Software?

Recurring billing software is a specialized tool designed to automate the process of billing customers on a regular, repeating basis.

This type of software is essential for businesses that offer:

  • subscription services,
  • memberships,
  • or any other products and services that require periodic payments.

The core function of recurring billing software is to manage and streamline the entire billing cycle, from generating and sending invoices to processing payments and handling renewals.

👉 It typically includes features such as:

  • automated billing,
  • payment processing,
  • subscription management,
  • dunning management,
  • analytics and reporting,
  • tax compliance.

By automating these tasks, recurring billing software helps businesses:

  • save time,
  • improve cash flow,
  • enhance customer satisfaction,
  • and reduce the risk of missed payments.

How To Choose The Best Recurring Invoicing Software?

Identifying which recurring invoicing software is right for your business can be difficult… yet, it's not impossible.

When choosing a recurring invoicing software, you need to consider if it provides the features you need to run your business, and if it was designed for your type of business.

More than asking yourself "Is this tool made for me?", ask yourself more specific questions.

  • Can it process international payments?
  • Can it process all the transactions you perform each month?
  • Does it support the types of payment methods you need?
  • Does it integrate seamlessly with the other tools you use?
  • Is it easy to get up-and-running?
  • Can it run promotions?
  • Does the vendor have experience in your industry?
  • Is it adapted to the size of your business?

Final Thoughts On Recurring Invoicing Software

If your business provides products and services that require you to create and send the same invoice to customers on a regular basis, chances are you will benefit from investing in a good recurring invoicing software.

When choosing the right software for your business from this list, make sure it's tailored to your business, while offering all the features needed to automate the billing and payment processes to improve productivity and save money.

Want to discover more tools? Check out our list of invoicing software