BookKeeper vs Wave

What Free Actually Costs You

Wave's Starter plan is genuinely free — and for basic invoicing and bookkeeping, it is hard to beat on price. But "free" comes with significant gaps:

• No bank connections — You must manually enter every transaction
• No receipt scanning — Available as a $11 CAD/mo add-on, or included in Pro ($25/mo)
• No live support — Free users only get an AI chatbot
• No auto-categorization — Manual categorization for every transaction
• No branded invoices — Wave branding on your invoices

Once you add receipt scanning ($11/mo) to the free plan, you are paying $11/mo for basic OCR with no auto-matching and no AI intelligence. BookKeeper Solo at $14/mo gives you Gemini 2.0 Flash AI, auto-matching, Canadian tax detection, and Google Drive import — $3 more for dramatically more capability.

If you upgrade to Wave Pro to get everything ($25/mo), BookKeeper Solo is still 44% cheaper at $14/mo with superior AI.

Basic OCR vs Modern AI

Wave's receipt scanning uses traditional OCR — the same technology that has existed for a decade. It can extract basic data from clean, well-lit receipts, but struggles with:

• Faded thermal paper (gas station, parking receipts)
• Crumpled or folded receipts
• Handwritten amounts
• Multi-item receipts with complex tax breakdowns

BookKeeper uses Gemini 2.0 Flash, a modern large language model that understands receipt context. It reads vendor names, amounts, individual tax components (GST, HST, PST, QST), categories, and payment methods — even from poor-quality photos.

The self-learning aspect is unique: BookKeeper's AI improves from your corrections. Fix a vendor name or category once, and it remembers for all future receipts from that vendor. Wave has no equivalent.

Auto-Matching Changes Everything

Wave has no receipt-to-transaction matching at all. You scan a receipt, you import bank transactions, and then you manually verify that each expense corresponds to the right transaction. For a freelancer with 30-50 receipts per month, this is tedious busywork.

BookKeeper automatically matches receipts to bank statement transactions by analyzing amounts, dates, and vendor names. Import your bank statements, scan your receipts, and the matching happens for you. This alone saves hours per month.

Where Wave Wins

Wave has real strengths that deserve acknowledgment:

• Free forever — Wave Starter includes unlimited invoicing and basic bookkeeping at no cost. For someone who just sends invoices and tracks income, it is unbeatable.
• Invoicing — Unlimited invoices on all plans, including free. Estimates, deposits, and online payment acceptance.
• Canadian company — Wave is Toronto-based with native Canadian tax support and CAD pricing.
• Bank connections — Wave Pro connects to Canadian banks via Plaid for automated transaction import.
• Payroll — Available as an add-on for Canadian payroll processing (though reliability has been a concern after Wave's provider switch in 2025).

If you send invoices but rarely deal with receipts, Wave's free plan is genuinely useful.

Who Should Choose Which?

Choose BookKeeper if you have receipts to manage. Uber drivers, delivery couriers, freelancers with business expenses, small business owners tracking purchases — anyone who needs AI-powered receipt scanning and automatic matching. BookKeeper handles the volume.

Choose Wave if you primarily need free invoicing with basic bookkeeping. You rarely have physical receipts to scan, your transaction volume is low, and free matters more than AI automation.

Built for Receipt-Heavy Workflows

Canadian gig workers — Uber drivers, DoorDash couriers, freelance contractors — generate dozens of small receipts every week. Fuel, vehicle maintenance, phone bills, office supplies, parking.

Manually entering each receipt into Wave is unsustainable at this volume. BookKeeper's batch AI scanning handles 50 receipts in minutes, auto-categorizes them using CRA-compliant categories, and matches them against your bank statements. The time savings at $14/mo pay for themselves after the first batch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Wave really free?

Wave Starter is truly free for invoicing and basic bookkeeping. But bank connections, receipt scanning, auto-categorization, branded invoices, and live support all require Wave Pro ($25/mo) or add-ons. The useful free features are invoicing and manual transaction entry.

Why not just use Wave's free plan plus BookKeeper?

You could. Some users send invoices through Wave (free) and manage expenses through BookKeeper (Solo $14/mo). This gives you best-in-class invoicing plus AI receipt management for $14/mo total.

Has Wave's payroll improved after the 2025 issues?

Wave switched payroll providers in mid-2025, which caused widespread issues including incorrect withholdings, missed payments, and tax filing errors. Check Wave's current status before relying on their payroll service.

Is BookKeeper's $14/mo worth it over Wave's free plan?

If you have more than 10 receipts per month, yes. The AI scanning accuracy, auto-matching, and time savings easily justify the cost. If you only have a handful of receipts, Wave's free plan with manual entry may be sufficient.