A one-person trades business weighing a $0 stack (Wave for invoices and books, Connecteam for the crew) against Jobber and QuickBooks. The subscription gap is $67 a month. The card-fee line is the same size either way.
Wave Starter plus Connecteam's free plan is $0 a month in subscriptions. Jobber Core plus QuickBooks Online Simple Start is $67. Collect $8,000 a month by card in 16 invoices of $500 and the free stack still pays $242 in fees against $237 on Jobber, so the real gap is $62 a month, $746 a year, not $67 and not the whole bill.
| Line | Free stack | Paid stack |
|---|---|---|
| Invoices and books | Wave Starter: $0 | QuickBooks Online Simple Start: $38 |
| Jobs, scheduling, quotes | Not part of Wave. Crew schedules and time clocks: Connecteam Small Business, $0 up to 10 users | Jobber Core, 1 user, billed annually: $29 |
| Subscriptions | $0 | $67 ($804 a year) |
| If you add Wave Pro | $19 monthly billing, $190 a year | |
| Wave extras | Receipt capture add-on $8 to $11; payroll from $25 | Payroll not included in either column |
Worthd arithmetic from list prices, before tax and promotions. Wave and Connecteam checked Oct 15, 2026; Jobber Core and QuickBooks checked Oct 14, 2026. Wave's $9.50 Pro promotion on its pricing page ran only until Jan 6, 2026 and is not counted. QuickBooks showed a 50% off for 3 months promotion on Oct 14 with terms not shown, also not counted. Full Jobber tiers in Jobber pricing.
| Collected by card a month | Wave Starter fees (2.9% + 60c) | Free stack total | Jobber fees (2.9% + 30c) | Paid stack total | Gap per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000 (4 invoices) | $60.40 | $60.40 | $59.20 | $126.20 | $65.80 |
| $5,000 (10 invoices) | $151.00 | $151.00 | $148.00 | $215.00 | $64.00 |
| $8,000 (16 invoices) | $241.60 | $241.60 | $236.80 | $303.80 | $62.20 |
At $8,000 that is $746 a year for the paid stack. The gap shrinks as volume grows because Jobber's fee is 30c an invoice lower, never larger. Wave Pro at $19 waives the 60c on the first 10 card payments a month: at $8,000 the fees fall to $235.60 and the total to $254.60, which is still $49.20 below the paid stack. Wave's pricing page lists no rate for bank payments; Jobber lists 1%, which on $8,000 is $80 against about $237 by card (see getting paid by bank transfer).
Wave card rates from its pricing page: 2.9% + 60c Starter; Pro 2.9% + 0 on the first 10 payments a month, then 60c. Jobber 2.9% + 30c. Fees only; chargebacks, disputes and instant payout are extra. Totals are Worthd arithmetic on an illustrative month.
| If you | Stack | Per month before fees |
|---|---|---|
| Send a few invoices a month from a phone and your books are simple | Wave Starter | $0 |
| Run a crew of 2 to 10 and need schedules and time clocks, not customer quotes | Add Connecteam free | $0 |
| Book jobs online, send quotes and want one place for the customer and the invoice | Jobber Core | $29 |
| Share books with a bookkeeper who works in QuickBooks | QuickBooks Online Simple Start | $38 |
The test: name the missed call, late quote or double-entered invoice the $62 stops. If you can, it likely pays for itself. If you cannot, the free stack costs about what the paid one does in card fees, so you lose nothing by waiting. Switching later is cheaper than a contract you do not use; see contract and cancellation terms.
You have two or more people on the schedule every day and need job dispatch (the paid tiers are on Jobber pricing and Housecall Pro pricing); your bookkeeper requires QuickBooks; or you will hire and need payroll in the first quarter (payroll for your 2nd to 5th tech). The full one-person paid stack is on the solo electrician page, and a 3-person shop on the 3-person HVAC stack. Crew-tool detail is in crew scheduling and time tracking.
For invoices and books, yes: Wave Starter is $0 and its pricing page lists unlimited estimates, invoices and bookkeeping records. What it does not list is job scheduling or dispatch. The bigger bill is card processing: on $8,000 a month in 16 invoices of $500, Wave's 2.9% + 60c comes to $242 a month.
No. Wave Starter charges 2.9% + 60c per card payment and Jobber charges 2.9% + 30c, so on 16 invoices of $500 Wave costs $242 and Jobber $237. The 30c per invoice goes the other way. Free removes the subscription, not the processing fee.
About $67 a month of subscriptions. Jobber Core adds the scheduling, online booking and quotes that Wave's pricing page does not describe, and QuickBooks Online Simple Start is the books most bookkeepers already use. If your bookkeeper insists on QuickBooks, Wave's $0 is not a saving.
Connecteam lists a Small Business plan as free for life for up to 10 users with all hubs and most features. Paid hubs start at $29 a month billed yearly ($35 monthly) and include 30 users. It is a crew tool for schedules, time clocks and forms, not a customer invoicing tool.
When the $62 a month gap (about $746 a year at $8,000 of card volume) is less than the time or jobs it saves you, and you can name which: fewer missed appointments, quotes sent the same day, invoices paid by link. If you cannot name one, stay on free until you can.
$19 a month, or $190 a year, on the pricing page we read on Oct 15, 2026. A $9.50 launch promotion on that page ran only until January 6, 2026 and is not counted. Pro waives the 60c on the first 10 card payments each month: $3.60 less on 16 invoices.
Both cost extra on Wave: receipt capture is an add-on at $8 to $11 a month and payroll starts at $25 a month, per its pricing page. Neither is in the $0 figure. The first-hire payroll comparison is in the payroll cost page.
Prices are US list prices. The vendor's checkout or written quote controls: verify before you buy. Totals are Worthd arithmetic from those prices. The $2,000, $5,000 and $8,000 months and the $500 invoices are illustrations, not averages: replace them with your own in the cost calculator. What Wave's pricing page does not describe, such as scheduling, is not a claim that the product lacks it. How Worthd checks prices. Report a correction.
