Clearmargin vs Wave
Wave is a great free invoicing tool. Clearmargin runs the whole client business — proposals, contracts, time, profitability, AI, and tax prep — for $19/month billed annually.
Pricing and feature data scraped directly from Wave’s site — last verified April 17, 2026.
Pricing, side by side
Best monthly rate (paid annually). Both products show the same way: lowest publicly advertised annual price.
Clearmargin
- Get Found$19/moor $23/mo billed monthlyWebsite + inquiry form + CRM. For people who need a website that actually captures leads.
- Get Paid$19/moor $23/mo billed monthlyProposals, invoices, expenses, taxes, AI. The full business platform minus the website.
- Everything$34/moor $42/mo billed monthlyGet Found + Get Paid. Custom Domain & SEO ($9/mo value) included. Save $13/mo vs buying separately.
Unlimited clients on every plan. 14-day free trial, no credit card.
Wave
- StarterFreeFree — invoicing, accounting, receipts
- Pro$19/mopromo: $9.5 monthly for first 3 months ($28.50 off)Per business; flat $19/mo with no advertised annual discount
Only one has an AI assistant.
In 2026, your business software should answer questions, draft proposals, and read receipts — not just store them.
Clearmargin AI
Click it. Ask it. Both work.
Every workflow has two ways in: a clean UI to click through, and an assistant to ask. Draft a proposal, scan a receipt, look up profit on a project — same data, same result. Use whichever is most natural for you.
- Ask anything: "How profitable was the Smith wedding?", "Show overdue invoices over $1k" — answers come from your own data
- Snap a receipt with your phone, forward an invoice from your inbox, or drop in a PDF — the assistant reads it and queues a categorized expense for you to approve
- Send a questionnaire, then one-click draft a proposal from the response
- The assistant can act anywhere in the app — drafting invoices, finding clients, looking up files, suggesting next steps
- Optional onboarding helper: describe your business in plain English, get a configured workspace
- Real-time web search for market rates and pricing benchmarks when you need them
Safety rail: The assistant drafts and proposes; it never sends, deletes, or charges. Every action waits for your click — so you can move fast without worrying about a runaway agent.
Wave AI
Wave does not advertise AI features on its pricing page.
No AI features advertised on the pricing or product pages.
Where it shines: Free pricing.
Wave’s gap: No AI for any task.
Feature comparison
Every cell verified against Wave’s public pricing & feature pages.
| Feature | Clearmargin | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Proposals | ||
| Contracts & e-signatures | ||
| Invoicing | ||
| Recurring billing | Pro only | |
| Payment schedules | ||
| ACH payments | ||
| Time tracking | ||
| Rate cascading | ||
| Minimum billable hours | ||
| Expense tracking | ||
| Receipt capture | ||
| Mileage tracking | ||
| Recipe / BOM costing | ||
| Per-client profitability | ||
| Schedule C tax exports | ||
| Quarterly estimated tax | ||
| Inquiry form | ||
| Pipeline / kanban | ||
| Client questionnaires | ||
| CRM messaging & timeline | ||
| Client portal | ||
| Meeting scheduler | ||
| Calendar sync | ||
| AI assistant | ||
| Receipt & document scanning | receipts only | |
| Workflow automation | via Zapier | |
| REST API | ||
| Webhooks | ||
| Zapier | ||
| Unlimited clients |
The honest take
Where each tool genuinely wins. No spin.
Where Clearmargin wins
- Proposals, contracts, and a client portal — all built in
- Time tracking, mileage, and per-client profitability
- A real AI assistant — drafts proposals, scans receipts, answers business questions
- Questionnaires, an inquiry form, and a kanban pipeline
- Schedule C tax exports and quarterly estimated tax calculations
Where Wave wins
- Free Starter tier covers invoicing, accounting, and receipts
- Double-entry accounting from $0
- Per-business (not per-user) pricing on Pro
Frequently asked questions
Wave is free. Why pay for Clearmargin?+
Wave's free tier is genuinely good for invoicing, accounting, and receipts. The trade is everything you don't get: no proposals, no contracts, no e-signatures, no client portal, no time tracking, no questionnaires, no inquiry form, no pipeline, no AI assistant, no per-client profitability with cost detail, no mileage, no recipe costing, no quarterly tax estimates. Wave is for businesses where invoicing and bookkeeping are the whole job. Clearmargin is for freelancers running a client business end-to-end.
Does Wave have AI?+
Wave does not advertise AI features on its product or pricing pages. Clearmargin includes a full assistant — answer financial questions in plain English, draft proposals from questionnaire responses, snap receipts and have them filed, and get help with setup all from one place.
What does Wave Pro add over the free plan?+
Wave Pro ($19/month per business, or $16/month annual) adds bank-feed reconciliation, recurring billing, automated invoice reminders, digital invoice signatures, and unlimited bank connections. It does not add proposals, contracts, time tracking, AI, or any client-experience features.
Does Clearmargin have double-entry accounting like Wave?+
No. Clearmargin is not a double-entry accounting system. We focus on the operational and tax-prep layer: proposals, contracts, time, expenses, mileage, profitability, and Schedule C exports. If you need a true general ledger and balance sheet, pair Clearmargin with Wave or QuickBooks for the accounting side.
Can Wave handle freelancers who run client projects?+
Wave handles the books for solo businesses well. It does not handle the client side — proposals, contracts, project tracking, time tracking, client portal — at all. Most freelancers using Wave end up paying for 4–6 other tools (Calendly, DocuSign, Toggl, Typeform, a portal, an AI tool) on top.
Free is great until you need everything else.
14-day free trial. No credit card required.
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