Best Free Invoice Apps in Australia (2026)

Quick answer

The best free invoice app in Australia for most sole traders and tradies in 2026 is one that’s actually built for Australia - so GST, ABN, and ATO tax invoice formatting are handled for you, in AUD. On that test, Free Invoice App leads, with Zoho Invoice the strongest globally oriented free option and Invoice2go the best-known mobile name (though its free tier is limited). Below is the honest breakdown, including what each free tier blocks.

How we judged them

A free invoice app is only useful if the free tier does the job. We looked at five things that matter to an Australian sole trader or tradie:

• Australian fit - GST, ABN, ATO tax invoice formatting, AUD.
• What “free” blocks - send limits, watermarks, gated features.
• Mobile use - can you invoice from your phone on a job site?
• Getting paid - can clients pay by card?
• Room to grow - sensible paid upgrades when you need them.

1. Free Invoice App - best for Australia

Built specifically for Australian freelancers, tradies, and small businesses. Invoices are formatted to meet ATO tax invoice requirements, with ABN and GST fields handled by default, and everything runs in AUD.

• Free tier: A$0/month, 7 invoice sends per month, no credit card. Create unlimited invoices, export PDFs, manage clients, track expenses, view reports. PDFs carry a small “Powered by” footer.
• Mobile: mobile-first web app you can add to your home screen - good for invoicing on site.
• Get paid: pay-by-card via Stripe on every plan, settling to your own account in AUD.
• Extras: AI receipt scanning included on every plan.
• Upgrades: Pro A$5/month (removes the footer, 250 sends, recurring + scheduled), Pro+ A$20/month (unlimited sends, custom sending domain, per-service T&Cs, team access).

Best for: any Australian sole trader or tradie who wants GST done right and to get paid by card without paying for full accounting software. Start free.

2. Zoho Invoice - best free feature set

Zoho Invoice is genuinely free and surprisingly capable - recurring invoices, time tracking, multi-currency, and a polished app. The catch for Australians is that it’s a globally oriented tool: you configure the tax yourself, and it nudges you toward the wider (paid) Zoho ecosystem.

• Free tier: free for a capped number of customers; feature-rich.
• Australian fit: workable, but GST/ABN are setup-it-yourself rather than built in.
• Best for: users who want maximum features for free and don’t mind configuring tax.

3. Invoice2go - best-known mobile name

Invoice2go popularised phone-based invoicing for tradies. It’s polished and mobile-first, but the genuinely free option is limited and it pushes you to a paid subscription quickly. We wrote a dedicated free Invoice2go alternative guide for tradies if that’s your situation.

• Free tier: very limited; effectively a trial of a paid product.
• Best for: people who specifically want the Invoice2go brand and will pay for it.

4. Square Invoices - free if you take card payments

Square Invoices is unlimited and free to send - Square makes its money on the card fee when your client pays. If your clients already pay you by card, that model can work well; if they mostly pay by bank transfer, you’re using a tool designed around a payment flow you don’t use. See the full Free Invoice App vs Square comparison.

• Free tier: unlimited invoices; per-transaction card fees when clients pay through Square.
• Australian fit: available in Australia with GST support, but branding is generic.
• Best for: businesses whose clients pay by card on the spot - some trades and mobile services.

5. Wave - good, but built for North America

Wave is a free invoicing and accounting tool that’s excellent in the US and Canada. For Australians the fit is the problem: it bills in USD, its online card payments aren’t available here, and its tax handling isn’t ATO-tailored. See the full Free Invoice App vs Wave comparison.

• Free tier: yes (Starter), plus a paid Pro plan in USD.
• Best for: sole traders based in North America.

At a glance

                        Built for AU   Free tier        Card pay (AU)   Mobile
Free Invoice App        Yes            7 sends/mo       Yes (Stripe)    Yes
Zoho Invoice            No             Capped customers Via Zoho        Yes
Invoice2go              Partly         Very limited     Yes             Yes
Square Invoices         Partly         Unlimited*       Yes (card fees) Yes
Wave                    No (US/CA)     Yes (Starter)    Not available   Yes

* Square is free to send; Square charges card fees when clients pay.

Which one is best for your situation

The ranking above is the general case. In practice the right answer changes with how you work, so here is the short version for the four situations people ask about most.

Best invoice app for a sole trader

Free Invoice App. The things that trip sole traders up are the ABN on every invoice, getting the GST label right when you are not registered, and keeping five years of records. Those are defaults here rather than settings you have to find. Zoho Invoice is the strongest alternative if you want a bigger feature set and do not mind configuring Australian GST yourself. Full detail: free invoicing for sole traders.

Best invoice app for tradies

Free Invoice App or Invoice2go. A tradie invoices from the ute, not a desk, so the test is whether you can produce a compliant invoice on a phone in a few minutes. Both pass. Invoice2go has the better-known brand and a heavier app; Free Invoice App runs in the browser with nothing to install and does not put the ATO fields behind a paid tier. Square is worth a look if most of your customers tap a card on the spot, but you pay for that in processing fees.

Best invoice app for a small business with staff

None of the five, eventually. Once you are running payroll, holding inventory, or reconciling bank feeds, a free invoicing tool is the wrong shape and you want Xero or MYOB. The honest threshold is employees: up to that point the tools on this page do the job. See is Xero free? for what that step up actually costs.

Best if you also need to track expenses

Invoicing is only half of tax time. The other half is the receipts, and most free invoice apps either ignore expenses or put them behind a paid plan. If that matters to you, check what each one does with a photographed receipt before committing. Ours is at business expense tracker.

Invoice app vs invoicing software: is there a difference?

Not any more. “Invoicing software” used to mean desktop accounting suites; today the free invoice apps above are the free invoicing software - they run on your phone and your computer from the same account. The real dividing line in Australia is between free invoicing tools (everything in this guide) and full accounting platforms: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks and Reckon have no free tier at all - only 30-day trials, then A$30–$99 per month. They earn that price if you need payroll, inventory, or bank reconciliation; for invoicing alone they’re overkill. See vs Xero, vs MYOB and vs QuickBooks for the detailed breakdowns.

What “free” really means

Almost every free invoice app limits something. The common catches:

• Send limits - a cap on emailed invoices per month (Free Invoice App: 7/month free).
• Watermarks - a “powered by” footer on the free PDF.
• Gated features - recurring billing, scheduled sends, or custom domains locked to paid tiers.
• No card payments - some free tiers don’t let clients pay online at all.

None of these are dealbreakers - they’re how free tools stay free. The point is to pick the tool whose limits you won’t hit, and whose paid step-up is affordable when you do.

Our recommendation

If you run an Australian business, start with the tool built for Australia. Free Invoice App gets GST, ABN, and tax invoices right, lets clients pay by card in AUD, and is free for up to 7 sends a month. When you outgrow that, Pro is A$5/month. If you specifically want full accounting features for free and don’t mind configuring tax yourself, look at Zoho Invoice. Create your first invoice free - no card required.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free invoice app in Australia?

For Australian sole traders and tradies, Free Invoice App leads because GST, ABN, AUD, and ATO tax invoices are built in, with card payments and AI receipt scanning. Zoho Invoice is the strongest globally oriented free option.

Are free invoice apps actually free?

Usually with limits - send caps, watermarks, gated features, or no card payments. Check what the free tier blocks, not just whether one exists.

Which free invoice app is best for tradies?

One that invoices well from a phone and formats ATO-compliant tax invoices. Free Invoice App is mobile-first and can be added to your home screen so it opens like an app; Invoice2go is also mobile but its free tier is limited.

Do free invoice apps create ATO-compliant tax invoices?

Australian-built tools like Free Invoice App do it out of the box. Globally oriented tools can be configured to, but you set up the tax and check the wording yourself.

What is the best free invoicing software in Australia?

The same shortlist - for sole traders, free invoice apps and free invoicing software are now the same products. Free Invoice App (AU-built), Zoho Invoice (feature-rich, capped customers) and Square Invoices (free, card-fee funded) are the genuine free tiers; Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks only offer 30-day trials.