Wave Pricing & Free Plan Limits
Complete pricing breakdown for Wave including all plans, hidden costs, and limitations.
Pricing score: 75/100
Is Wave free?
Yes — the Starter (Free) plan costs nothing. Paid plans start at $16.00/month (Pro).
Free plan limits
- Users: Unlimited users
- No automatic bank transaction imports, limited receipt scanning, no phone support, chatbot only
Watch out: Automatic bank imports require Pro plan, payment processing fees apply (2.9% + $0.60 per credit card transaction)
Plans & Pricing
User limit: Unlimited users
User limit: Unlimited users
User limit: Base fee + $6/employee
User limit: Base fee + $6/employee
User limit: Dedicated bookkeeper
Pricing Issues Reported by Users
Free until you need useful features like auto-imports
Wave shifted from fully free to a tiered model with Starter (free) and Pro ($16/month). Features like automatic bank transaction imports are now behind the paywall, making the free version less useful than it used to be.
Payroll costs add up quickly with base fee plus per-employee charges
Wave Payroll costs $40/month base plus $6 per employee for tax-service states, or $20 base plus $6 per employee for self-service states. A business with 5 employees pays $70/month just for payroll, on top of any other Wave fees.