Coast vs Wave
Features, use cases, pros and cons, and pricing side by side — and which one to pick.
Quick verdict: Pick Coast if you run a fleet or trades business needing controlled card spending; pick Wave if you're a freelancer or small owner wanting free accounting.
Best for: Fleet-based trades like HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, and landscaping companies, Construction firms tracking fuel, tools, and job-site supplies
Read the full Coast 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
Coast vs Wave: features compared
Compare key features side by side
Feature Comparison Summary
Which should you choose?
Choose Coast if
- You run a fleet and want fuel, field, and office spending on one controlled Visa card.
- You want up to 9 cents per gallon in rebates at 30,000+ partner stations.
- You need deep two-way sync with QuickBooks, Samsara, Geotab, or BuildOps.
Choose Wave if
- You're a freelancer or solopreneur who wants to start free and stay organized.
- You want accounting, invoicing, payments, and payroll in one simple system.
- You want done-for-you bookkeeping through Wave Advisors when you're too busy.
Coast vs Wave: pros and cons
Coast bundles fuel, field, and office spending onto one Visa card with strong controls, fuel rebates, and integrations like QuickBooks and Samsara, all at $4 per active user monthly. Limits include no free trial, late fees, Bill Pay overage charges, and a 2.5% foreign transaction fee. Overall, it's a solid pick for fleet-based trades that already use its supported tools.
Pros
- Cards lock by default and unlock via a secure mobile process, with limits set by driver, vehicle, dollar amount, merchant type, or time of day — plus a $25,000 fuel fraud guarantee when advanced security features are enabled
- Fuel savings stack up to 9¢ per gallon at 30,000+ partner stations (Exxon, Circle K, 7-Eleven) on top of a 1¢ per gallon statement rebate and 1% cash back on non-gas purchases
- One Visa card replaces separate fuel cards, corporate cards, and expense tools — accepted anywhere Visa is, including instant virtual cards for subscriptions and back-office spending
Cons
- No free plan or free trial is advertised — you can only explore the platform through an interactive demo before committing
- Late payments trigger a fee of the greater of $35 or 2.5% of the past-due amount (rising to the greater of $35 or 5% after 31 days), and foreign transactions add a 2.5% fee
- Full automation value depends on being in Coast's integration ecosystem; applications can take 3-5 business days with extra documents, and cards ship in 5-10 business days via USPS
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
Coast and Wave in detail
Coast
Coast is an expense platform built around a Visa commercial card for fleet-based businesses. It covers fuel at the pump, field purchases like tools and supplies, and back-office spending through instant virtual cards. You get controls, receipt capture, and accounting integrations in one program. It targets trades such as HVAC, plumbing, construction, landscaping, and transportation.
Standout features
- One card for fuel, field, and office
- Stop misuse before it happens
- Syncs with the tools you already use
- Less admin, faster month-end
- Fuel savings without the guesswork
Use cases
- Stop fuel fraud before it happens
- Replace three card programs with one
- Close the books faster
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 | Coast | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| From (cheapest paid plan) | $4/mo Fleet & Fuel Cards · per user | $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 | Not stated | Not stated |
| Money-back guarantee | Not stated | Not stated |
| Annual billing savings | — | Up to 17% |
| Pricing model | Per-user and flat plans | Flat price |
| Cost for 1 user | $4/mo Fleet & Fuel Cards plan, billed monthly | FreeCheaper Starter Plan plan, billed monthly |
| Cost for 5 users | $20/mo Fleet & Fuel Cards plan, billed monthly | $19/mo Pro Plan plan, billed monthly · price per account (user limit not stated) |
| Cost for 10 users | $40/mo Fleet & Fuel Cards plan, billed monthly | $19/mo Pro Plan plan, billed monthly · price per account (user limit not stated) |
| Cost for 25 users | $100/mo Fleet & Fuel Cards plan, billed monthly | $19/mo Pro Plan plan, billed monthly · price per account (user limit not stated) |
| Plans | 2 | 3 |
| Prices checked | Vendor page checked Oct 12, 2026 | Checked Oct 12, 2026 |
| Price history | Tracking prices since Sep 9, 2026. No price change detected 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 Coast at $4/mo.
- Only Wave has a free plan.
Computed from published list prices on the dates shown. Excludes taxes, add-ons and promotions.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do Coast and Wave work together?
There's no direct integration listed. Both sync with QuickBooks, so you could run Coast cards for fleet spending and route transactions into Wave-connected books, but setup isn't advertised or guaranteed.
Can I cancel either tool anytime?
Wave lets you cancel anytime; it ends at the close of your paid billing period. Coast bills monthly with no long-term commitment mentioned, and applying won't affect your credit score.