Aplos vs Freshbooks
Features, use cases, pros and cons, and pricing side by side — and which one to pick.
Quick verdict: Pick Aplos if you're a nonprofit or church needing fund accounting, restricted-fund tracking, and board reporting; pick FreshBooks if you're a freelancer or small service business that wants fast invoicing, expenses, and payroll in one app.
Best for: Nonprofits that must track restricted funds, grants, and program spending separately., Churches managing donations, budgets, and board or finance-committee reporting.
Read the full Aplos reviewBest for: Freelancers who bill clients for time and expenses, Solopreneurs who want bookkeeping handled without hiring help
Read the full Freshbooks reviewCommission may apply at no extra cost
Aplos vs Freshbooks: features compared
Compare key features side by side
Feature Comparison Summary
Which should you choose?
Choose Aplos if
- You must track restricted funds, grants, and program spending in separate buckets.
- actual views and statements your board can read.
- You need Balance Sheet by Fund, Income Statement by Fund, and Bank Reconciliation built in.
Choose Freshbooks if
- You bill clients for time and want tracked hours added to invoices automatically.
- You want invoicing, expenses, and payroll in one app instead of several tools.
- You need automated reminders and online payments to steady your cash flow.
Aplos vs Freshbooks: pros and cons
Aplos
Fund accounting built for nonprofits
Aplos handles fund accounting, budgeting, and board-ready reporting for nonprofits and churches, with clear per-plan pricing and a 15-day trial that needs no card. Donor management and fundraising arrive through Keela and Raisely rather than in the app itself. Overall, a solid pick for fund-based books, as long as you confirm plan costs and donor tools first.
Pros
- Fund accounting is the core design, so restricted funds and grants stay tied to the right purpose.
- Real-time budget vs. actual views surface variances before they grow.
- Board-ready statements can be emailed from Aplos or exported to Excel.
Cons
- Full donor management and online fundraising come from Keela and Raisely, not Aplos alone.
- Lite and Core both cap at two users, so growing teams should confirm how extra seats are priced.
- Bookkeeping is a separate paid service, not part of the base software.
Freshbooks
FreshBooks bundles invoicing, expenses, and payroll with automation that keeps billing fast and cash flow steady. Third-party reviewers rate it 4.4 to 4.5 out of 5, though client caps on lower plans and a steep post-promo price jump deserve a closer look. Overall, it's a strong pick for freelancers and small service businesses that bill by time or project.
Pros
- Tracked time and expenses flow into invoices automatically, with taxes calculated for you — billing hourly or per project takes minutes instead of an evening of manual typing.
- Automated recurring invoices plus built-in payment reminders handle the awkward follow-up for late payers, keeping cash flow predictable without you chasing anyone.
- Expenses stay current with three low-effort inputs — phone-based receipt scanning, bank transaction imports, and automatic categorization.
Cons
- Billable-client caps bite early — Lite allows just 5 clients and Plus 50, so a growing roster forces you onto Premium at the full $70/month standard rate.
- There's no free plan — only a 30-day trial — and the advertised 90%-off promo applies to just the first 3 months, after which prices jump tenfold ($2.30 becomes $23, $4.30 becomes $43, $7 becomes $70).
- The Select plan has no listed price at all; you have to contact sales for a custom quote, which makes budgeting for high-volume billing impossible upfront.
Aplos and Freshbooks in detail
Aplos
Aplos is financial management software built for nonprofits and churches. It combines fund accounting, budgeting, reporting, and compliance workflows in one suite.
Teams can track restricted funds and grants, connect bank accounts, and manage payables and receivables. Reports can be filtered by fund, tag, or month, then shared with boards or exported to Excel.
Standout features
- Fund accounting that fits nonprofits
- Reports your board can read
- Control over every transaction
- Books, donations, and expert help
Use cases
- Fund accounting for restricted gifts and grants
- Board and leadership reporting
- Donation-to-ledger workflow with Keela and Raisely
- Small teams and outsourced bookkeeping
Freshbooks
FreshBooks is all-in-one accounting and invoicing software for small businesses. It covers invoicing, billing and payments, expenses, payroll, reporting, proposals, estimates, and time tracking. The site targets freelancers, solopreneurs, and businesses with employees or contractors, and says over 30 million small businesses have used it. You can work from desktop or mobile and collaborate with clients, your team, and your accountant.
Standout features
- Invoices in Minutes, Not Evenings
- Getting Paid Without the Chase
- Expense Tracking on Autopilot
- Payroll Under One Roof
- The Extras That Tie It Together
Use cases
- Freelancers who bill by the hour
- Small businesses tired of chasing payments
- Owners with a team to pay
- Businesses working with contractors
Pricing compared
List prices from each vendor's pricing page, before taxes and add-ons. Costs are per month.
| Pricing compared | Aplos | Freshbooks |
|---|---|---|
| From (cheapest paid plan) | $79/mo Lite | $23/mo Lite |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Free trial | 15 days | 30 days |
| Money-back guarantee | Not stated | 30 days |
| Annual billing savings | — | — |
| Pricing model | Flat price | Flat price |
| Cost for 1 user | $79/mo Lite plan, billed monthly | $23/moCheaper Lite plan, billed monthly |
| Cost for 5 users | — | $67/mo Lite plan, billed monthly |
| Cost for 10 users | — | $122/mo Lite plan, billed monthly |
| Cost for 25 users | — | $287/mo Lite plan, billed monthly |
| Plans | 4 | 4 |
| Prices checked | Prices not verified yet — see the vendor page. | Vendor page checked Oct 13, 2026 |
| Price history | No tracked prices yet | Tracking prices since Oct 1, 2026. No price change detected yet. |
- Cheapest plan that fits each team size. Per-user plans are multiplied by the number of users (respecting stated minimums and seat packs). Plans that include some users cost their base price plus the extra-user price for each user beyond those included. Flat-priced plans with no stated user limit are counted as one licence per user.
Cheaper for your team size
For 1 user (billed monthly), Freshbooks costs $23/mo vs Aplos at $79/mo.
Computed from published list prices on the dates shown. Excludes taxes, add-ons and promotions.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can FreshBooks handle nonprofit fund accounting?
No. FreshBooks targets small business invoicing, expenses, and payroll. Nonprofits tracking restricted funds or grants need Aplos, which filters reports by fund, tag, or month.