vs FreshBooks
Looking for a FreshBooks alternative?
FreshBooks is small-business accounting software with time tracking and invoicing as features. Hoursmith is a focused time-and-billing tool with no accounting beyond CSV export. The two overlap on invoicing; FreshBooks covers a much wider surface (expenses, accounting reports, proposals); Hoursmith pays off on the narrower one with flat-fee pricing and direct-to-your-Stripe payments.
Free for solo freelancers · No credit card required
FreshBooks is good for
- · Customers who need full small-business accounting in one tool — expenses, P&L, balance sheet, accountant access.
- · Teams that work with their accountant inside the product (FreshBooks' Accountant role + book-closing workflows).
- · Retainer workflows that set a fee and allotted hours per period, deduct tracked time from that allowance, and bill excess hours separately, or use cases that need built-in proposals + e-signatures.
Current base list prices before temporary promotions are $23/month Lite, $43 Plus, and $70 Premium. Lower tiers cap billable clients; additional team members are $11/month each.
Hoursmith is good for
- · Your accountant lives in QuickBooks / Xero and you just need clean CSV exports from your billing tool.
- · You bill more clients than FreshBooks' tier cap allows on your plan and don't want to pay up for that alone.
- · You want payments to your own Stripe account directly, not routed through a separate processor.
- · You want flat-fee pricing instead of paying extra per team member.
Flat-fee pricing. Free for solo, Studio $4.08/mo annual up to 10, Agency $8.33/mo annual up to 25.
Monthly list price by team size
USD public monthly billing, before tax or temporary promotions. FreshBooks Lite's $23 base and $11 for each additional team member are illustrated; client caps or required plan upgrades can raise the total.
| Members | FreshBooks | Hoursmith |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $23.00 Lite | $0 Free (5 invoices/month) |
| 3 | $45.00 Lite + members | $0 Free (5 invoices/month) |
| 10 | $122.00 Lite + members | $5.00 Studio |
| 25 | $287.00 Lite + members | $9.99 Agency |
Core tasks and advanced planning are different questions
Core task management in Hoursmith
Global and per-project Kanban boards, list view, multiple assignees (up to 20 per task), dates, priorities, estimates, tags, checklists, rich descriptions, comments, @mentions, attachments, project-scoped access, and a timer started from the task.
Advanced planning Hoursmith does not provide
No custom status columns, recurring tasks, Gantt charts, task dependencies, resource planning, or formal time approvals. Those omissions can make the competitor the better fit.
At a glance
Compared on 2026-08-21. Both tools change fast — if you spot something out of date, email hi@hoursmith.app and we'll fix it within 48 hours.
| Feature | FreshBooks | Hoursmith |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per-tier with billable-client caps; per-extra-member fees | Flat fee per workspace; unlimited clients on every plan |
| Billable-client cap | Yes — lower tiers cap billable clients (5 / 50 etc., check current) | No cap — unlimited clients, even on Free |
| Time tracking | Yes — built-in | Yes — server-side timer, manual entry, all plans |
| Invoicing from tracked time | Yes | Yes — previews eligible entries, then saves exactly the selected work, rounded + priced |
| Recurring invoices | Yes — repeating templates, automatic invoice delivery, and client-opted AutoPay or configured AutoCollect | Studio+: repeatable manual-fee and unbilled-usage series, future/one-off edits, pause, skip, and guarded auto-send; no autopay or full retainer ledger |
| Online payments destination | FreshBooks Payments (their processor) | Stripe Connect direct charges to your own Stripe account |
| Accounting (P&L, balance sheet, etc.) | Yes — full small-business accounting | No — CSV export to your accountant's tool |
| Expenses & receipts | Yes — receipts, categorization, mileage | Yes — client expenses with categories + receipt files, billed onto invoices; no mileage |
| Proposals & e-signatures | Yes (on some tiers) | No |
| BYO email for invoices | Custom from-address available; verify current docs | Studio+: SMTP / Amazon SES / Resend with encrypted credentials |
| Importer from prior tool | FreshBooks is the prior tool here | CSV/Excel importer (clients, projects, time entries); free on every plan |
Choose FreshBooks if…
- · You want full small-business accounting in one tool — not just billing.
- · You collaborate with your accountant inside the tool (FreshBooks' accountant role is well-built).
- · You need mileage tracking, proposals, or a retainer workflow with a fee and hour allowance per period, automatic time deduction, and separate excess-hour billing.
- · Billable-client caps aren't a constraint for you.
Choose Hoursmith if…
- · Your accountant lives in QuickBooks / Xero and you just need clean CSV exports from your billing tool.
- · You bill more clients than FreshBooks' tier cap allows on your plan and don't want to pay up for that alone.
- · You want payments to your own Stripe account directly, not routed through a separate processor.
- · You want flat-fee pricing instead of paying extra per team member.
Switching questions
Can I import my FreshBooks data?
Clients, projects, and time entries — yes, via CSV/Excel. FreshBooks exports each of these; map columns in Hoursmith's importer and run. Invoices and accounting data don't import — those stay in FreshBooks for historical reference.
What do I lose moving from FreshBooks to Hoursmith?
P&L / balance-sheet reports, mileage tracking, proposals + e-signatures, the accountant collaboration role, and FreshBooks' retainer allowance, automatic time-deduction, excess-hour, and recurring-payment workflows. (Client expense tracking, recurring invoices, and receipts are available in Hoursmith.) If those accounting workflows are central to your work, FreshBooks remains the better tool.
Does Hoursmith export to QuickBooks or Xero?
Via CSV, yes. There's no native direct integration today. The CSV is RFC-4180-compliant and includes invoice and time-entry data; your accountant's tool typically accepts that format directly.
What about recurring / retainer invoices?
Studio and Agency can schedule repeatable manual fees, eligible unbilled time and expenses, or a hybrid invoice; generate drafts or use guarded auto-send; and pause, skip, or edit future occurrences. Hoursmith does not track included hours, rollover, prepaid balances, or other full retainer-ledger accounting, and it never collects payment automatically. FreshBooks supports client-opted AutoPay and configured AutoCollect on recurring templates or retainers when those payment workflows are required.
Sources and corrections
Material third-party claims were checked against the official sources below on 2026-08-21. Read the comparison methodology for normalization assumptions and the corrections policy.
Related
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Free forever for up to 3 members — no card. Paymo has a dedicated importer; supported exports from other tools can be mapped through CSV or Excel. Paid plans add a 14-day trial.
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