Aplos vs Wave
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 that needs fund accounting, and pick Wave if you're a freelancer or solopreneur who wants free, simple books.
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 want to pay themselves and any staff with confidence, Solopreneurs who want tidy books going into tax time
Read the full Wave reviewCommission may apply at no extra cost
Aplos vs Wave: features compared
Compare key features side by side
Feature Comparison Summary
Which should you choose?
Choose Aplos if
- You need true fund accounting that keeps restricted funds and grants separate.
- You report to a board and want statements you can email or export to Excel.
Choose Wave if
- You want to start free and upgrade only when you actually hit a limit.
- You're a freelancer or contractor who needs invoices and online payments fast.
- You want optional done-for-you bookkeeping from Wave Advisors.
Aplos vs Wave: 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.
Wave
Wave bundles accounting, invoicing, and payments in one place, backed by a genuinely free Starter plan and clearly published pricing. Card fees on every payment, Plaid-dependent bank imports, and weekday-only support are the main trade-offs. Overall, it's a solid, recommendable pick for freelancers and solopreneurs who want tidy books without a big monthly bill.
Pros
- The Starter plan is free indefinitely, not a time-limited trial, and still includes unlimited invoices, estimates, bills, and bookkeeping records
- Pro automates the tedious parts of bookkeeping — bank transactions are imported, merged, and categorized via Plaid, and receipts are captured digitally without limits
- Wave Advisors puts a dedicated bookkeeper on your account who prepares monthly financial statements and handles onboarding from software like FreshBooks
Cons
- Every card payment carries a processing fee—2.9% + $0.60 on Starter (3.4% + $0.60 for Amex)—which adds up for businesses with high card volume
- Bank auto-import runs through Plaid, and not every financial institution is supported, so a working connection isn't guaranteed
- The Pro subscription fee is per business, not per owner, so running a second business means paying for a second subscription
Aplos and Wave 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
Wave
Wave is all-in-one small business software that combines accounting, invoicing, payments, and payroll in a single system. It's built for people who didn't train as accountants—freelancers, solopreneurs, contractors, and consultants. You can manage your books, send professional invoices, accept payments, and check reports from a desktop or mobile app. More than 350,000 small businesses use Wave, and it holds a 4.5-star Google rating.
Standout features
- Invoicing and Estimates Without Limits
- Automated Bank Transaction Import (Pro)
- Built-In Payment Processing
- Receipt Capture and Expense Tracking (Pro)
- Automated Late Payment Reminders (Pro)
Use cases
- Freelancers: pay yourself with confidence
- Contractors: invoice and estimate in minutes
- Consultants: put repeat billing on autopilot
- Busy owners: hand off the books
Pricing compared
List prices from each vendor's pricing page, before taxes and add-ons. Costs are per month.
| Pricing compared | Aplos | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| From (cheapest paid plan) | $79/mo Lite | $19/mo Pro Plan |
| Free plan | No | Yes 2.9% + $0.60 per credit card transaction; 3.4% + $0.60 per Amex transaction |
| Free trial | 15 days | Not stated |
| Money-back guarantee | Not stated | Not stated |
| Annual billing savings | — | Up to 17% |
| Pricing model | Flat price | Flat price |
| Cost for 1 user | $79/mo Lite plan, billed monthly | FreeCheaper Starter Plan plan, billed monthly |
| Cost for 5 users | — | $15.83/mo Pro Plan plan, billed annually · price per account (user limit not stated) |
| Cost for 10 users | — | $15.83/mo Pro Plan plan, billed annually · price per account (user limit not stated) |
| Cost for 25 users | — | $15.83/mo Pro Plan plan, billed annually · price per account (user limit not stated) |
| Plans | 4 | 3 |
| Prices checked | Prices not verified yet — see the 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), Wave costs $0/mo vs Aplos at $79/mo.
- Only Wave has a free plan.
Computed from published list prices on the dates shown. Excludes taxes, add-ons and promotions.
More comparisons
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Aplos handle online donations and donor records?
Not on its own. Aplos links with Keela and Raisely so donations and donor data flow into the ledger. Wave covers bookkeeping and invoicing, not donor management.