Compare
QuickBooks invoicing alternative: invoices without the suite
A QuickBooks invoicing alternative for people who only need invoices. Compare PayToMe (beta) with QuickBooks Online on scope, limits and price.
Updated · By PayToMe Editorial
Facts about QuickBooks Online (Intuit) last verified on . Sources: QuickBooks Online pricing.
If you only send invoices, a QuickBooks invoicing alternative can make sense, because QuickBooks Online is an accounting suite and invoicing is one part of it. PayToMe (beta) takes the opposite approach: it does invoicing and getting paid, and nothing else. This page compares the two honestly. QuickBooks details come from its official pricing page and are accurate as of October 2026. PayToMe is a public beta, and we mark what is live and what is still in development.
TL;DR comparison
| Item | PayToMe (beta) | QuickBooks Online |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Invoicing and get-paid product with an AI assistant, Via | Accounting software suite that includes invoicing |
| Live today | Invoices, estimates, online payments, Via (beta), free tools | Full product with plans from Free to Advanced |
| Scope | Invoices, estimates, receipts, getting paid | Invoicing plus bookkeeping, bank connections, reports, accountant access |
| Free option | Free plan: 100 invoices per day, 500 per month, 1,000 in total | Free plan listed at $0 with invoicing limited to 2 per month |
| Paid prices | Pro $12/mo, Business $39/mo (or $120 and $390 a year) | Simple Start $38, Essentials $85, Plus $140, Advanced $340 per month list price |
| Promotions | None announced | 50% off for 3 months listed on the paid plans |
| Users | See the pricing page | 1 on Free and Simple Start, 3, 5 and 25 on higher plans |
| AI drafting | Via, live in beta | Not covered by the page we reviewed |
Who each is best for
QuickBooks is a good fit if
- You need real bookkeeping: bank connections, categorized transactions and financial reports.
- You work with an accountant who expects QuickBooks access. The plans list accountant seats.
- You have employees or a team that needs several user logins.
- You want one system of record for invoices, expenses and taxes, and you are willing to learn it.
PayToMe is a good fit if
- You are a freelancer or small service business who mostly needs to create invoices, estimates and receipts quickly.
- You do not want to pay for or learn an accounting suite you will barely use.
- You like the idea of describing a job in plain words and reviewing a draft. That is Via, and it is live in beta.
- You want exact invoice math on every invoice, with a Free plan to start.
The two are not mutually exclusive. Some businesses use a light invoicing tool for the front end and hand a summary to a bookkeeper at month end.
A QuickBooks invoicing alternative: where PayToMe is different
Speed: the draft comes to you
In a suite, an invoice is a form inside a larger application. PayToMe’s design starts from the sentence you would say to an assistant: “invoice Acme for twelve hours at one hundred an hour, due in two weeks.” Via turns it into a draft with client, lines, tax and terms, and you confirm before anything goes out. See AI invoicing for how it works. Via is in beta, so review every draft before it goes out, which is how it is designed to be used.
Via, the assistant
Via asks when something is unclear, never sends without your confirmation, and does not do the arithmetic. A tested money engine calculates every total to the cent. PayToMe does not claim that this makes it more accurate than any other tool. It is simply how PayToMe is designed, and the free invoice generator uses the same engine.
Free limits
PayToMe’s Free plan is 100 invoices per day, 500 per month and 1,000 in total over the life of the account. QuickBooks’ pricing page lists a Free plan with invoicing limited to 2 per month. On those published numbers, the two free tiers are very different in invoicing capacity. Keep the context in mind: QuickBooks Free is a way into a full accounting product, and PayToMe’s plan is for invoicing only. The 1,000 total cap also means heavy senders will eventually need a paid plan, such as Pro at $12 a month with 3,000 invoices a month.
Free tools, no account needed
You can try PayToMe without signing up. The invoice generator creates a PDF with tax and discounts, and the late fee calculator works out what an overdue invoice should cost. These do not require an account. When you want to send and get paid, sign in to the Free plan.
Pricing comparison (as of October 2026)
QuickBooks Online, from its pricing page:
| Plan | List price per month | Promotional price listed | Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Not applicable | 1 |
| Simple Start | $38 | $19 for 3 months | 1 |
| Essentials | $85 | $42.50 for 3 months | 3 |
| Plus | $140 | $70 for 3 months | 5 |
| Advanced | $340 | $170 for 3 months | 25 |
The page lists a 2-per-month invoicing cap for the Free and Simple Start plans, and says unlimited invoices require QuickBooks Payments. It does not state invoice limits for the other paid tiers. The only payment fee listed is $0.50 per standard ACH bill-pay transaction above monthly allotments, which the page says may vary. It does not list card processing rates, and we did not find them on that page. It also mentions a 30-day free trial. The terms behind the promotional asterisks were not visible to us, so read them before you buy.
PayToMe (beta), pricing in US dollars:
| Plan | Price | Invoices | Via actions a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 100 per day, 500 per month, 1,000 in total | 50 |
| Pro | $12 per month or $120 per year | 3,000 per month | 1,000 |
| Business | $39 per month or $390 per year | 15,000 per month | 5,000 |
Plans are bought by card through Stripe and you can cancel any time. See the pricing page.
Switching notes
Moving off an accounting suite needs more care than switching between two invoicing tools, because your invoices are tied to your books.
- Talk to your accountant first. If invoices feed your books, ask how they will record income if invoices live elsewhere.
- Export your customer list and invoice history. QuickBooks supports exporting reports, but we did not verify the formats, so check Intuit’s help pages.
- Do not delete anything. Keep your QuickBooks account for the records even if you stop issuing invoices there.
- Start new invoices on the Free plan. Sign in to create and send them, or use the invoice generator with no account. Keep a simple sheet of numbers, dates and totals for your bookkeeper.
- Move payments last. Keep collecting payments where you do today until open invoices are settled, then take new ones online through Stripe.
Mistakes to avoid when choosing
- Paying for a suite you do not use. If you never open the reports, a lighter tool may do.
- Dropping the suite when you actually need it. If you have employees, sales tax filing or an accountant who works in QuickBooks, keep it.
- Reading only the promotional price. Both pages show introductory pricing in places. Check the regular price.
- Treating planned features as live. PayToMe’s smart reminders, cash-flow forecast, text-to-pay and mobile app are in development.
Also see the FreshBooks alternative comparison. Names are used only to identify the products being compared, and PayToMe is not affiliated with Intuit or QuickBooks.