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Wave is free accounting with invoicing. It never sees the personal side.
Wave is small-business accounting: invoicing, a general ledger, payments, and paid bookkeeping. Starter is free; Pro is $8 a month or $72 a year; bookkeeping starts at $149 a month. It is business-only by design and does not compute what the owner owes.
| Capability | Wave | Contha |
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing and payments | Yes, the core | No, on purpose. Contha sits on top of the bank |
| General ledger, double entry | Yes | No. A transaction ledger with books and a worksheet, not a GL |
| Personal net worth beside the business | No | Yes, every account, personal and business |
| Quarterly estimated tax, self-employment tax | No | Yes, computed: four payments as a schedule, past due and next |
| S-corp, partnership owner position | No | Yes, owner share, basis, reasonable compensation described |
| Accountant handoff | Accountant access; paid bookkeeping | Yes, five files and a read-only link that needs no account |
| Price | Free; Pro $8 a month or $72 a year; bookkeeping from $149 a month | A free week, then Personal $5, Solo $10, Owner $49 a month; two months free on annual billing |
Invoicing and payments
- Wave
- Yes, the core
- Contha
- No, on purpose. Contha sits on top of the bank
General ledger, double entry
- Wave
- Yes
- Contha
- No. A transaction ledger with books and a worksheet, not a GL
Personal net worth beside the business
- Wave
- No
- Contha
- Yes, every account, personal and business
Quarterly estimated tax, self-employment tax
- Wave
- No
- Contha
- Yes, computed: four payments as a schedule, past due and next
S-corp, partnership owner position
- Wave
- No
- Contha
- Yes, owner share, basis, reasonable compensation described
Accountant handoff
- Wave
- Accountant access; paid bookkeeping
- Contha
- Yes, five files and a read-only link that needs no account
Price
- Wave
- Free; Pro $8 a month or $72 a year; bookkeeping from $149 a month
- Contha
- A free week, then Personal $5, Solo $10, Owner $49 a month; two months free on annual billing
Checked 9 September 2026, against Wave’s own published documentation: the Wave pricing page. If a row is out of date, tell us and it will be corrected on the page, not deleted.
The honest read
Keep Wave for invoices. Contha reads the bank it pays into.
Wave is where the invoice lives. Contha is where the deposit lands on the right return and the tax gets set aside.
Also against Monarch Plus, QuickBooks Solopreneur, Found, Keeper, Copilot Money, YNAB, Tiller.
Keep Wave if it is enough. If the tax is the reason you are here, start with Contha.
A free week, no card. Then Personal $5, Solo $10, Owner $49 a month. Read-only connections, cancel any time.