A freelancer-friendly invoicing tool — pick AllSquare if you want quick, offline-friendly invoicing on your iPhone.
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If you work on site and want to invoice from an iPhone in pounds, AllSquare is the better fit and the cheaper one. FreshBooks is the better fit if you bill by the hour or by project from a laptop, want time tracking linked to your invoices, or want a client portal. It's a good product aimed at a different way of working from most trades.
FreshBooks is a cloud invoicing and basic bookkeeping tool popular with freelancers. It's capable and well-designed, but priced in USD and geared toward retainer/project tracking rather than on-site trade invoicing.
Pick AllSquare if
You spend most of your working day on-site and the fastest way to invoice is on your phone.
Pick FreshBooks if
You bill by project or retainer, track time against clients, and work mostly from a desk.
It can be, but it's aimed at a different way of working. FreshBooks is popular with freelancers, and its strengths — project time tracking that feeds into invoices, expense tracking with receipt capture, and a client portal where customers can see their invoices — suit consultants, designers and other people who bill hours against a project from a desk.
Most trade work is billed differently: a fixed quote for the job, labour plus materials, sometimes a deposit, then a final invoice when you finish. FreshBooks can produce those invoices, but you'd be paying for project and time features built around hourly work. The plan prices we have on file are also in US dollars ($17–$55 a month at the time of writing), so check what you'd actually pay in pounds.
FreshBooks makes most sense for a tradesperson whose income is largely hourly — maintenance contracts, surveying or consultancy — and who needs detailed time records per client, or customers who expect to log in and see their invoice history.
| Feature | AllSquare | FreshBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Core invoicing | Yes | Yes |
| AI invoice drafting (voice or text) | Yes — optional; manual form always available | Check their current AI features |
| Offline mode | Works offline, syncs when back online | Mostly online |
| Project time tracking | No — free browser timesheet generator only | Full project time tracking + invoicing linkage |
| Expense tracking | No | Yes, with receipt capture |
| Client portal | No | Yes |
| UK pricing & VAT | GBP-first, UK VAT native | USD-first; UK VAT works but less idiomatic |
| Starting price | £0 free tier, £5.99/mo Pro | $17 USD/mo starter (~£14) |
FreshBooks pricing at the time of writing: $17–$55 USD/mo per plan — check their site for current pricing. AllSquare: free tier, or Pro at £5.99/month or £49.99/year.
Best fit: AllSquare
Fixed-price estimates that turn into invoices in one tap match how decorators bill. A saved price list — per room, per coat, per roll of lining paper — keeps quotes consistent, and the app keeps working in an empty property with no Wi-Fi. There's no hourly time to track, so FreshBooks' main advantage goes unused.
Best fit: FreshBooks
Hourly billing against projects is FreshBooks' home ground: time logs feed straight into invoices and clients can see them in the portal. With AllSquare you'd log hours separately (for example in our free timesheet generator) and type them onto the invoice — fine occasionally, tedious every week.
Best fit: AllSquare
Homeowners rarely want a portal login; they want a clear invoice with your bank details on it. AllSquare's branded PDF does that, with bank details in the invoice notes, and AllSquare Pro at £49.99 a year costs less than twelve months of FreshBooks' entry plan at the prices on this page.
Example: A sole trader invoicing most weeks of the year, who needs more than the free tier.
| AllSquare | FreshBooks | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | £5.99 (Pro) | $17–$55 USD depending on plan |
| 12 months, paying monthly | £71.88 | $204–$660 USD (sterling cost depends on the exchange rate) |
| Annual option | £49.99 a year | Check FreshBooks' site |
| Free option | Free tier: 2 invoices, 2 estimates and 10 AI credits a month | Check FreshBooks' site |
Twelve months of FreshBooks' entry plan ($204) costs more than AllSquare Pro's £49.99 annual plan at any realistic exchange rate. The difference is worth paying only if you'll use the time tracking, expense capture or client portal.
FreshBooks figures are the prices quoted on this page at the time of writing — check their site for current pricing.
There's no import from FreshBooks, so plan a clean cut-over rather than a migration. Most sole traders can do it in an evening:
Want to try before installing anything? Our free invoice generator, estimate generator and timesheet generator run in any browser.
Yes, on price: AllSquare Pro is £5.99 a month or £49.99 a year, against FreshBooks' $17–$55 USD a month at the time of writing. It's a like-for-like replacement only if you mainly need invoices and estimates — AllSquare has no project time tracking, expense tracking or client portal.
No. AllSquare has no built-in time tracking. You can log hours with AllSquare's free browser timesheet generator and add them to an invoice as a line item, but if hourly billing is most of your work, FreshBooks' linked time tracking will save you more effort.
No. AllSquare gives you a branded PDF invoice to send to the customer; there's no client portal and no payment link. Customers pay you directly, usually by bank transfer, so put your bank details in the invoice notes.
No — AllSquare has no import from FreshBooks. Download anything you need from FreshBooks before cancelling, then re-add your active clients and price list in AllSquare.
Yes. AllSquare supports UK VAT on invoices and estimates, so VAT-registered traders can show VAT on their branded PDFs. You only have to register for VAT once your taxable turnover goes over £90,000 (the threshold since 1 April 2024); below that you can invoice without VAT. AllSquare doesn't submit VAT returns — that stays with your accountant or your accounting software.
Free to download, free to use for your first invoices and estimates. No sign-up card required.