Expert Guide

Best Free Invoice Generators in 2026: Limits, Watermarks and Card Fees

Eight free invoice tools compared on invoice caps, branding and the card fee on a single payment, with vendor prices read in October 2026.

Louis CorneloupFounder, Dupple · 30,000+ Finpresso subscribers · Updated Oct 2026

Product links may be affiliate links. How we rate 8 tools compared

TL;DR

Invoice Generator is the free invoice generator to open in 2026 when you need a PDF and nothing else, since its page offers unlimited invoices with no signup. Once a client pays by card, SumUp Invoices charges the lowest fee of the three card rates we compared, 2.90% + $0.15, or $29.15 on a $1,000 payment.

Wave Starter keeps invoices unlimited and free, but prints Wave branding in the footer until you pay for Pro. Zoho Invoice allows 500 invoices a year for two users, with "Powered by Zoho Invoice" on each document. QuickBooks Free allows 2 invoices a month, so three monthly clients pass that cap in the first month.

Key facts8 tools compared: Invoice Generator, SumUp Invoices, Wave Starter, Zoho Invoice, Invoice…

Updated: October 10, 2026
Top pick: Invoice Generator (best for: Freelancers who need one invoice now and want no account)
Top pick price as of October 10, 2026: Invoice Generator: Free. PDF invoices with no signup and unlimited invoices. The page lists no paid plan.

8 tools compared: Invoice Generator, SumUp Invoices, Wave Starter, Zoho Invoice, Invoice Ninja, PayPal Invoicing, Invoicely, QuickBooks Online Free
SumUp Invoices (best for: Freelancers and small shops that want card payments on a free invoice): Free to create. Card payments 2.90% + $0.15 per invoice paid online.
Wave Starter (best for: Sole traders who want unlimited invoices and bookkeeping records free): Starter free with unlimited invoices. Cards 2.9% + $0.60, Amex 3.4% + $0.60. Pro $19/mo or $190/yr.
Zoho Invoice (best for: Freelancers who want a free tool with a yearly cap they can count): Free: up to 500 invoices a year, 2 users, 3 projects, Zoho branding. The page names no paid plan.

Short answer: Invoice Generator for a one-off PDF with no signup, SumUp Invoices when a client pays by card, and Zoho Invoice for up to 500 invoices a year. The free plan is the simple part of this comparison. The card fee on each payment and the invoice cap decide what a free generator costs you.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, evaluated 221 invoicing tools in its October 2026 invoicing ranking, and 65 of the 200 tools it ranks have a free plan. This page reads the caps and the fees on each free plan, not the word "free" on a pricing table. Every price was read on the vendor's own pricing page on 10 October 2026.

Methodology: we read the free-plan caps and the fees on each vendor's own pricing page, then computed card fees on two invoice sizes. Nothing here is a hands-on test.

Top Picks

Based on features, real-world fit, and value for money.

#1 Top pick

Invoice Generator

Unlimited invoice PDFs with no account, a logo upload and editable labels, and no paid tier on the page.

Pricing

Free. PDF invoices with no signup and unlimited invoices. The page lists no paid plan.

Best for

Freelancers who need one invoice now and want no account

Visit Invoice Generator Details

SumUp Invoices

Unlimited invoices and quotes at no charge, with the lowest card rate of the three card providers compared here at every amount.

Pricing

Free to create. Card payments 2.90% + $0.15 per invoice paid online.

Best for

Freelancers and small shops that want card payments on a free invoice

Visit SumUp Invoices Details

Wave Starter

Unlimited invoices and bookkeeping records at no charge, with Wave branding in the footer until you pay for Pro.

Pricing

Starter free with unlimited invoices. Cards 2.9% + $0.60, Amex 3.4% + $0.60. Pro $19/mo or $190/yr.

Best for

Sole traders who want unlimited invoices and bookkeeping records free

Visit Wave Starter Details

Best Free Invoice Generators in 2026: Limits, Watermarks and Card Fees: 8 tools compared, updated Oct 2026
Tool	Pricing	Best for
Invoice Generator	Free. PDF invoices with no signup and unlimited invoices. The page lists no paid plan.	Freelancers who need one invoice now and want no account
SumUp Invoices	Free to create. Card payments 2.90% + $0.15 per invoice paid online.	Freelancers and small shops that want card payments on a free invoice
Wave Starter	Starter free with unlimited invoices. Cards 2.9% + $0.60, Amex 3.4% + $0.60. Pro $19/mo or $190/yr.	Sole traders who want unlimited invoices and bookkeeping records free
Zoho Invoice	Free: up to 500 invoices a year, 2 users, 3 projects, Zoho branding. The page names no paid plan.	Freelancers who want a free tool with a yearly cap they can count
Invoice Ninja	Free hosted: 5 clients, unlimited invoicing, recurring invoices. Pro $14/mo or $140/yr for unlimited clients.	Freelancers with five or fewer clients who want recurring invoices
PayPal Invoicing	Invoicing included with a PayPal account. Cards 2.99% + $0.49; bank transfers 1%, capped at $10.	Freelancers whose clients already pay through PayPal
Invoicely	Free: 5 invoices a month, 3 clients, branded PDF. Basic $9.99/mo for 100 invoices a month and 25 clients.	Freelancers who send five or fewer invoices a month and take PayPal payments
QuickBooks Online Free	Free: 1 user, 1 bank connection, 2 invoices a month. Simple Start $38/mo list, $19/mo for 3 months.	Solo owners who want a QuickBooks ledger and two invoices a month

Pricing read from each vendor's own pricing page, checked Oct 2026. Every vendor here publishes a price.

Lowest monthly figure each vendor publishes, checked Oct 2026. A tilde marks a figure the vendor states approximately. Per-seat and usage charges can sit on top of it. 3 of 8 do not publish a comparable monthly price and are left out rather than estimated.

Top Pick

Invoice Generator

Unlimited invoice PDFs with no account, a logo upload and editable labels, and no paid tier on the page.

Pricing: Free. PDF invoices with no signup and unlimited invoices. The page lists no paid plan.

Best for: Freelancers who need one invoice now and want no account

Pros

The page says unlimited invoices are free and that PDFs need no signup, so a one-off bill costs nothing to make.
You can add your logo and edit the labels before you download, which covers most of the branding a freelancer wants.
With no account there is no plan to cancel and no card on file.

Cons

The page mentions accepting payments online but describes neither the fee nor any limit, so check both before a client pays.
No watermark rule is published, so open the downloaded PDF before you send it to a client.

SumUp Invoices

Unlimited invoices and quotes at no charge, with the lowest card rate of the three card providers compared here at every amount.

Pricing: Free to create. Card payments 2.90% + $0.15 per invoice paid online.

Best for: Freelancers and small shops that want card payments on a free invoice

Pros

Creating an invoice is free, and the page describes unlimited invoices and quotes, so the free plan has no cap to reach.
Its fixed fee is $0.15 per card payment, below the fixed fee on Wave or PayPal, so it is the lowest of the three at every invoice size.
Clients pay online through a payment link on each invoice, and that link is the route the fee is priced on.

Cons

The page does not state a bank transfer fee, so an ACH payment has no published cost to compare.
The fee applies to every card payment, so a month of $10,000 in card invoices pays $290 plus a fixed fee on each invoice.

Wave Starter

Unlimited invoices and bookkeeping records at no charge, with Wave branding in the footer until you pay for Pro.

Pricing: Starter free with unlimited invoices. Cards 2.9% + $0.60, Amex 3.4% + $0.60. Pro $19/mo or $190/yr.

Best for: Sole traders who want unlimited invoices and bookkeeping records free

Pros

Starter has unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records, so the free plan has no invoice cap to reach.
The bookkeeping records sit in the same free account as the invoices, which an invoice-only generator does not offer.
On Pro, the first 10 card transactions each month carry no $0.60 fixed fee, which helps a freelancer with many small invoices.

Cons

Wave branding stays in the footer of Starter invoices, and removing it is a Pro feature.
Automatic bank import and the admin, editor and viewer seats are Pro features, so Starter bookkeeping stays manual.

Zoho Invoice

500 invoices a year, two users and three projects at no charge, with a Powered by Zoho Invoice line on the document.

Pricing: Free: up to 500 invoices a year, 2 users, 3 projects, Zoho branding. The page names no paid plan.

Best for: Freelancers who want a free tool with a yearly cap they can count

Pros

500 invoices a year is about 42 a month, enough for a steady solo business, and the cap is printed on the page.
Recurring invoices are listed as a feature with no limit given, so a monthly retainer client can be billed on a schedule.
Two users covers a freelancer and one helper without a paid seat.

Cons

The Powered by Zoho Invoice line sits on the invoice, and the page does not say whether it can be removed on the free plan.
The page names no paid Zoho Invoice plan and points to Zoho Billing for growing businesses, so the upgrade is a different product.

Invoice Ninja

Unlimited invoices and recurring billing at no charge while the client list stays at five, then Pro at $14 a month.

Pricing: Free hosted: 5 clients, unlimited invoicing, recurring invoices. Pro $14/mo or $140/yr for unlimited clients.

Best for: Freelancers with five or fewer clients who want recurring invoices

Pros

The free plan keeps unlimited invoicing and recurring invoices, so a retainer client stays free to bill.
Pro adds US sales tax calculation, which the free plan does not list.
Pro is $14 a month or $140 a year for unlimited clients and invoice, expense and P&L reports.

Cons

The comparison table lists removing the Created by Invoice Ninja line as a Pro feature, which implies free invoices carry it.
P&L reports are on Pro, so the free plan does not produce a profit and loss report.

PayPal Invoicing

Invoices sent from a PayPal account with no monthly invoice cap stated, a card fee of 2.99% + $0.49 and a bank fee capped at $10.

Pricing: Invoicing included with a PayPal account. Cards 2.99% + $0.49; bank transfers 1%, capped at $10.

Best for: Freelancers whose clients already pay through PayPal

Pros

The page says creating and sending invoices is included with the account, with no monthly invoice cap stated.
Bank transfers are 1%, capped at $10, so the bank fee stops rising on large invoices.
Cards, Apple Pay and bank payments are all priced on the page, so a client's choice of method has a known fee.

Cons

International payments carry an extra percentage-based fee that the page does not state, so a foreign client's total is unknown until you check.
Its card rate costs more than SumUp's at every amount and more than Wave's above about $122, so it is the most expensive card choice for larger invoices.

Invoicely

Five invoices a month and three clients on the free plan, with Basic for 100 invoices a month and full branding.

Pricing: Free: 5 invoices a month, 3 clients, branded PDF. Basic $9.99/mo for 100 invoices a month and 25 clients.

Best for: Freelancers who send five or fewer invoices a month and take PayPal payments

Pros

Basic adds 100 invoices a month, 25 clients, recurring invoices and credit card payments.
Basic includes full business branding, which the free plan's branded-only PDF does not offer.
The free plan takes online payments through PayPal only, so the PayPal fee schedule applies to every payment.

Cons

On the free plan, PDF invoices are branded only, and the page does not say what that branding looks like on the document.
Five invoices a month is 60 a year, and once you pass that cap the Basic plan at the monthly price is $119.88 a year.

QuickBooks Online Free

A QuickBooks ledger for one user and one bank at no charge, capped at two invoices a month.

Pricing: Free: 1 user, 1 bank connection, 2 invoices a month. Simple Start $38/mo list, $19/mo for 3 months.

Best for: Solo owners who want a QuickBooks ledger and two invoices a month

Pros

One user and one bank connection cover a single operating account at no charge.
Simple Start lists at $38 a month, and the page shows 50% off for the first three months.
The page says there is no annual contract, so Simple Start can be left monthly.

Cons

Two invoices a month is 24 a year, so three monthly clients pass the cap in the first month.
The cap makes the free plan a ledger trial rather than an invoice generator, so a free generator is the cheaper buy for billing alone.

What it is

A free invoice generator makes a PDF with your business details, line items, tax and a total, and sends it without a subscription. The document is the free part. The money arrives through a card or bank payment, and that fee is where the cost sits. So a generator is judged on three things: how many invoices the free plan allows, whether the PDF carries a brand you did not choose, and what the payment step costs.

A generator makes the invoice only. The bank feed, the ledger and the tax file are a separate tool, and our free accounting software guide covers that side. For the paid apps that bill freelancers, the freelancer invoicing guide compares fees on a $6,000 monthly billing. Six of the tools here have Toolradar profiles: Zoho Invoice, Wave, Invoice Ninja, PayPal, Invoicely and QuickBooks.

Why it matters

The fee on each payment adds up faster than a free plan saves. On a $1,000 card payment, SumUp takes $29.15, Wave Starter takes $29.60, and PayPal takes $30.39. The spread is $1.24 on that payment, so twenty such payments cost $24.80 more on PayPal than on SumUp. That is small next to the caps, which decide the choice first.

Invoicely's free plan allows 5 invoices a month, so a freelancer sending 10 a month needs its Basic plan, which is $119.88 a year at the monthly price. Look at the branding too. Wave prints its name in invoice footers until Pro, and Invoice Ninja's comparison table puts removal of its own name behind Pro.

Key features to look for

No signup for a one-off PDF

Invoice Generator says you can create and download invoice PDFs with no signup, which suits a single bill.

The cap that ends free

Invoice counts, client counts and seats end a free plan first, so count a year of invoices before you pick.

Who pays the card fee

SumUp, Wave and PayPal each charge a card fee on every payment, and that fee repeats on every sale while the plan stays at $0.

Branding on the document

Wave footers, Zoho's Powered by line and Invoicely's branded free PDF all appear on the document a client sees.

Clients and team seats

Invoice Ninja's free plan caps clients at five and Zoho caps free users at two, so a growing client list or a bookkeeper hits the limit first.

Pricing

The free plan is only part of the price. The three card rates on this list are a percentage plus a fixed fee, so the fixed part decides small invoices and the percentage decides large ones. On a $100 invoice, SumUp is $3.05, PayPal $3.48 and Wave Starter $3.50. On a $1,000 invoice, SumUp is $29.15, Wave $29.60 and PayPal $30.39. PayPal is the most expensive card rate once an invoice passes about $122, and it costs more than SumUp at every amount.

Caps matter more than fees for a low-volume freelancer. Zoho Invoice's 500 a year is about 42 a month. Invoicely's free plan allows 60 a year and QuickBooks' allows 24. Invoice Generator and SumUp publish no cap on invoices, and Invoice Ninja's free plan has no invoice limit, only a five-client limit. Prices were verified on each vendor's own pricing page on 10 October 2026: Invoice Generator, SumUp Invoices, Wave pricing, Zoho Invoice pricing, Invoice Ninja pricing, PayPal Invoicing, Invoicely pricing and QuickBooks pricing.

Plan	Price	Best for
Invoice Generator	Free	Unlimited invoice PDFs, no signup. No paid plan on the page
SumUp Invoices	Free to create	Unlimited invoices and quotes, per the page
SumUp card payments	2.90% + $0.15	Per invoice paid online through the payment link
Wave Starter	Free	Unlimited invoices, estimates and bookkeeping records. Wave branding in the footer
Wave Pro	$19/mo or $190/yr	Removes the footer branding, adds bank import and team seats
Wave card payments	2.9% + $0.60	Amex 3.4% + $0.60. Pro waives the fixed fee on the first 10 card transactions each month
Zoho Invoice Free	Free	500 invoices a year, 2 users, 3 projects, Powered by Zoho Invoice line
Invoice Ninja Free	Free	5 clients, unlimited invoices, recurring invoices
Invoice Ninja Pro	$14/mo or $140/yr	Unlimited clients, US sales tax calculation, invoice, expense and P&L reports
PayPal Invoicing	Included with account	No monthly invoice cap stated. Cards 2.99% + $0.49; bank transfers 1%, capped at $10
Invoicely Free	Free	5 invoices a month, 3 clients, branded-only PDF, PayPal payments
Invoicely Basic	$9.99/mo	100 invoices a month, 25 clients, recurring invoices, card payments, full branding
QuickBooks Online Free	Free	1 user, 1 bank connection, 2 invoices a month
QuickBooks Simple Start	$38/mo list, $19/mo for 3 months	No annual contract. Shown at 50% off for the first three months

Mistakes to avoid

×Counting only the free PDF. The card fee on each payment repeats on every sale, and it is where the three card providers here differ.

×Choosing Invoicely for a busy month. Its free plan allows 5 invoices a month, so the sixth invoice needs the Basic plan, and a full year on Basic at the monthly price is $119.88.

×Accepting the Wave footer on client documents. Starter invoices carry Wave branding, and removing it is a Pro feature.

×Using QuickBooks Free for invoices alone. Two invoices a month is 24 a year, and three clients billed monthly are one invoice over the monthly cap of two.

×Choosing PayPal for a large card invoice. Above about $122, its card rate costs more than Wave's, and it costs more than SumUp's at every amount.

Expert tips

→Count invoices against the cap before you pick. 500 a year on Zoho Invoice is about 42 a month, while Invoicely's 5 a month is 60 a year.

→Open a test invoice before a client sees it. Invoice Generator's page does not publish a watermark rule, and Invoicely's free PDF is branded only.

→Keep a copy of each PDF in your own folder, since none of these free plans describes a saved invoice history.

→Treat the card gap as small on any one sale. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive card rate here is $1.24 per large invoice, so the cap usually decides the choice, not the fee.

The bottom line

Open Invoice Generator for a one-off PDF with no signup. Choose SumUp Invoices when a client pays by card, since its card rate is the lowest of the three here at every amount. Wave Starter is the free account that keeps invoices and bookkeeping records together, with a footer you can remove on Pro.

Zoho Invoice fits up to 500 invoices a year for two users. Invoice Ninja fits five clients, and Invoicely and QuickBooks Free are free only for a handful of invoices a month. Our freelancer invoicing ranking covers the paid apps, and the free accounting guide covers the ledger.

This page is general information, not personalized financial advice. Confirm terms and fees with each provider before you sign up. Cite this: Finpresso, "Best Free Invoice Generators in 2026", October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free invoice generator in 2026?

Invoice Generator, when you need a PDF with no signup, since its page offers unlimited invoices at no charge. If the client pays by card, SumUp Invoices has the lowest of the three card rates compared, at 2.90% plus a fixed fee. Both were read on each vendor's own page on 10 October 2026.

Is Wave free for invoices?

Yes. Wave Starter has unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records at no charge. Invoices carry Wave branding in the footer, removing it is a Pro feature at $19 a month or $190 a year, and card payments cost 2.9% + $0.60, or 3.4% + $0.60 on Amex.

How much do card fees cost on a free invoice?

On a $1,000 card payment the fee is $29.15 on SumUp, $29.60 on Wave Starter and $30.39 on PayPal. On a $100 invoice it is $3.05, $3.50 and $3.48. The fee applies to every payment, so it grows with volume while the free plan stays at $0.

How many invoices can I send free with Zoho Invoice?

Up to 500 a year, which is about 42 a month, for up to two users and three projects. The free plan carries a Powered by Zoho Invoice line on the document, and the pricing page names no paid Zoho Invoice plan.

Does Invoicely have a free plan?

Yes, with 5 invoices a month and 3 clients, and PDF invoices are branded only on that plan. The Basic plan costs $9.99 a month for 100 invoices a month and 25 clients, which is $119.88 a year at the monthly price.

Is PayPal Invoicing free?

Creating and sending invoices is included with a PayPal account, with no monthly invoice cap stated. Cards cost 2.99% + $0.49 and bank transfers 1%, capped at $10, so PayPal costs more than SumUp on every card amount.

Is QuickBooks Free a good invoice generator?

Not for billing alone. Its free plan allows two invoices a month, one user and one bank connection. Simple Start lists at $38 a month, with a discounted first three months, and no annual contract.

Sources

Prices and plan details come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker.