The self-hosted FreshBooks alternative
Invora — Invoicing & Billing System (PHP + MySQL, Self-Hosted) — Self-hosted invoicing software, bought once — $99 one-time, full PHP source, runs on ordinary shared hosting. Own it once, run it on your own server, and stop paying FreshBooks every month.
Stop renting FreshBooks
5 months of FreshBooks equals this one-time price.
Assumption: Calculator uses the regular Lite price $23.00/mo - the '90% Off for 6 Months' promo shown on the page is temporary.
How FreshBooks pricing grows with you
FreshBooks tiers its plans by client volume and charges an additional per-user fee for every extra team member added to an account.
“Team Members ($11/mo per user)” — their own page, read 2026-08-11
What FreshBooks does that we don't
FreshBooks provides dedicated customer support to help users transition from spreadsheets or other accounting software.
“Our support staff is with you every step of the way, starting the moment you make the switch from spreadsheets or any other accounting software.” — their own page
Who should stay with FreshBooks
If you need automated invoice email sending with branded templates instead of a manual PDF/link workflow, stay with FreshBooks — Invora sends a branded PDF and public client link rather than automated invoice emails. Full honest limitations are on the product page.
Why owning beats renting FreshBooks
- One payment. No monthly, per-seat, or per-location fees — the license is perpetual.
- Your data stays on your server. It never lives in FreshBooks's cloud.
- No plan ceilings. Records and users are limited by your hosting, not a pricing tier.
- It keeps working if the vendor doesn't. Self-hosted software can't be sunset or price-hiked out from under you.
Fair trade-offs: you host it, back it up, and apply updates yourself — see the product page for honest limitations, and the full Invora — Invoicing & Billing System (PHP + MySQL, Self-Hosted) vs FreshBooks comparison.
Sources
- FreshBooks — price checked 2026-07-05 —
source “Lite $2.30USD/mo”
Competitor prices change — always confirm on the linked page. We only print figures we could verify on the date shown. This vendor is tracked in the Price Observatory — every figure verbatim, dated, re-checked quarterly.