Paymavo vs FreshBooks — Which invoicing tool is right for Canadian freelancers?
FreshBooks is polished and feature-rich. But at $35+/month with manual Canadian tax setup and no French invoicing — it's a lot to pay for features you'll rarely use.
Bottom line
- FreshBooks is a solid tool — well-designed with great project management features for small teams.
- But FreshBooks has no free plan, requires manual tax setup for Canadian provinces, and is English-only — built for the US market, not Canadian freelancers.
- Paymavo gives you unlimited free invoicing with automatic Canadian taxes (TPS/TVQ/GST/HST/QST), bilingual support (Loi 96 compliant), and free migration from FreshBooks.
At a glance
| Feature | Paymavo | FreshBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Unlimited — clients, invoices, Stripe | None — from $22/month (5 clients max) |
| Pro price | $29/month | $35–$60+/month |
| Auto GST/HST/QST/PST | Automatic, per province | Manual setup required |
| $30k GST threshold tracking | Built-in alerts | Not available |
| Quebec Loi 96 / French invoicing | Bilingual EN/FR | English only |
| Setup time | 2 minutes | 15–20 minutes |
| Built for Canada | Canadian-first | US product |
| Team collaboration | Solo & freelancer focused | Multi-user team features |
| Project management | Not included | Time tracking + projects |
The #1 complaint about FreshBooks
FreshBooks has no free plan — and charges $60+/month for unlimited clients.
FreshBooks offers no free plan. The Lite tier starts at $22/month but caps you at 5 clients. Exceed that and you're forced onto the Plus plan at $35/month — which still limits you to 50 clients. Unlimited clients requires the $60/month Premium plan. For a freelancer sending 10 invoices a month, that's a steep overhead for features they'll rarely touch.
Paymavo's free plan includes unlimited clients, unlimited invoices, and Stripe payment processing — no credit card required. When you need more, Pro is $29/month — and the price has never changed.
I may have missed the fact that the lesser plan only allowed for 5 clients. I had to upgrade to the next level and I wasn't prepared for that.
— G2 Review
Read the full articleDetailed comparison
Canadian tax compliance
- Automatic GST/HST/QST/PST based on your client's province
- TPS/TVQ registration numbers printed on every invoice
- Tracks your $30,000 GST registration threshold with alerts
- CRA-ready GST/HST summary reports
- Tax rates entered manually on each invoice
- No province-based automatic calculation
- No $30k GST threshold tracking
- Built around the US tax system — Canadian taxes are an afterthought
Pricing
- Free: unlimited clients, invoices, quotes, Stripe payments — forever
- Pro ($29/month): recurring invoices, expense tracking, Plaid bank sync, Paymavo AI 1.0 (OCR & auto-categorization), time tracking
- No credit card required for the free plan
- Price has never changed
- No free plan — Lite starts at $22/month for only 5 clients
- 50-client cap at $35/month — unlimited clients cost $60/month (Premium)
- Credit card processing fees on top of the monthly subscription
- Pricing has increased significantly over the years
Bilingual & Quebec compliance
- Full English/French interface — switch instantly
- Invoices generated in your language — switch between English and French instantly
- Loi 96 / Bill 96 compliant for Quebec businesses
- TPS/TVQ numbers displayed correctly on French invoices
- English-only interface
- No French invoice generation
- Not Loi 96 compliant
- Quebec freelancers risk legal non-compliance
Which tool is right for you?
Choose Paymavo if you...
- Are a Canadian freelancer who doesn't want to pay $35+/month
- Need automatic GST/HST/QST without manual tax setup
- Invoice Quebec clients and need French invoices (Loi 96)
- Are approaching the $30,000 GST registration threshold
- Want unlimited free invoicing with no credit card required
- Need to migrate your FreshBooks data at no cost
FreshBooks might be better if you...
- Run a small agency with multiple team members
- Need built-in project management and client retainers
- Are already deep in the FreshBooks ecosystem with years of data
- Have an accountant who handles Canadian taxes manually
Switching from FreshBooks to Paymavo
I offer free data migration from FreshBooks. Your clients, invoices, and expenses import automatically in minutes.
Connect your FreshBooks account
Authorize Paymavo to connect to your FreshBooks account via OAuth — no CSV export needed.
Preview your data
Review your clients, invoices, and expenses before confirming the import.
You're ready
Start invoicing in under 5 minutes. No manual re-entry, no data loss.
Professional invoicing. Zero monthly fees.
Try Paymavo free — unlimited invoices, automatic Canadian taxes, bilingual invoicing. No credit card required.