Why Our Members Switched
Amadae vs Wave
Amadae is best for
- Creators and solo businesses past the stage where saving $20 a month beats saving 10 hours
- People who want quarterly estimates and tax filing handled, not researched
- Owners who want S corp strategy someone actually models for them
Wave is best for
- Brand-new businesses where every dollar matters more than every hour
- People comfortable doing their own books who want the lowest possible cost
The verdict
Wave's free plan is not a gimmick: real double-entry accounting and unlimited invoicing for zero dollars is the best price in the category. The catch is honest too: free software means you are the bookkeeper, the tax preparer is a separate hire, quarterly estimates are your homework, and support is thin unless you pay. Amadae is the opposite trade: you pay a flat monthly fee and the work is done, books closed by accountants, taxes filed, estimates scheduled. Choose Wave when cash is tighter than time. Choose Amadae when your income has grown to where your time, and your tax strategy, are worth more than the subscription you are saving.
Free accounting software · Updated 2026-09-29
Wave pricing vs Amadae
Amadae
All plans 100% deductible
- LLC plan from $249/month: monthly bookkeeping, quarterly estimates, business and personal returns, real accountants
- S corp plan from $349/month: adds payroll, reasonable salary and the S corp return
- A free financial review comes first, so you know what you would save before paying
Wave
- Free starter plan for accounting and invoicing
- Paid Pro plan and add-ons like payroll; payment processing charged per transaction
- Tax filing is not included; you hire a preparer separately
Wave plan structure and rates change; check waveapps.com for current pricing. Amadae Accounting is quoted after a free review.
Feature comparison
| Amadae | Wave | |
|---|---|---|
| Automated bookkeeping on its own ledger | You do the bookkeeping in free software | |
| Business and personal tax filing | Included with Amadae Accounting | Not included; separate preparer |
| Quarterly estimated taxes | Calculated and scheduled for you | |
| S-corp formation and election | ||
| Business banking and cards | ||
| Invoicing and payments | Invoicing included; payments charged per transaction | |
| Intelligent Assistant (Mozart) | Included in every module | |
| Personal finance and forecasting |
Not sure if Wave or Amadae fits better? A 30-minute call tells you exactly where you stand.
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Pros and cons
Amadae
Pros
- Books closed monthly by real accountants, not by you at midnight
- Tax preparation, filing, and quarterly estimates included
- Banking, invoicing, and payroll native to the same ledger
- S corp election modeled and executed when it saves you money
Cons
- A real monthly cost where Wave's core is free
- Overkill for a brand-new business with a handful of transactions
Wave
Pros
- Genuinely free double-entry accounting and unlimited invoicing
- Simple enough for a first business
- You only pay for payments processed and optional add-ons
Cons
- Free means you do the work: categorizing, reconciling, closing
- No tax filing, no quarterly estimates, no strategy
- Support and features are thin unless you move to paid tiers
What Wave does well
Wave removed the price barrier from real accounting software. A new freelancer can invoice clients, connect a bank feed, and keep double-entry books without paying a subscription, which is exactly right for a business measured in hundreds of dollars a month. The paid Pro tier and per-transaction payments fund the free core.
Free software is paid for in hours
The free plan's real price shows up in your calendar. You categorize every transaction, reconcile every month, research your own quarterly estimates, and hire a preparer each spring who starts from whatever state your books are in. None of that is a criticism of Wave; it is what software, at any price, leaves to the operator.
Amadae flips the trade. A flat monthly fee buys the outcome: accountants close the books, estimates go out on time with safe-harbor logic, the S corp question gets modeled before the deadline, and the returns are filed from books that were never behind. The right moment to switch is usually when the tax strategy you are missing is worth more than the subscription you are avoiding.
How to choose
Starting out with thin revenue: use Wave, it is the best free tool in the category. Once the business clears real money, the math changes, because an unmodeled S corp election or a year of missed deductions costs far more than any software subscription. Amadae's free financial review will tell you, with your numbers, whether you are at that point yet.
What you get with Amadae
One flat monthly price. Real accountants who know how creators get paid.
- Automated bookkeeping on its own ledger
- Business and personal tax filing
- Quarterly estimated taxes, calculated and scheduled
- S-corp formation and election
- Business banking and cards, built in
- Intelligent Assistant (Mozart) included in every module
Free 30-minute review. Transparent pricing.
Plans from
$249/mo
If you make $40K - $69K. Flat, no hourly bills.
- Monthly profit and loss reports
- Tax set-aside management
- Expense categorization
- Real-time financial dashboard
- Business bank account connections
- Individual tax return included*
Common questions
Wave vs Amadae FAQ
Is Wave really free?+
The starter accounting and invoicing tools are genuinely free; Wave earns revenue from per-transaction payment processing, the paid Pro plan, and add-ons like payroll. The unpriced part is your time doing the bookkeeping and your own tax work.
Does Wave do taxes?+
No. Wave keeps the records you or a preparer will use, but it does not file returns or compute quarterly estimates. Amadae includes both, prepared and filed by accountants working from books they keep for you.
When should I switch from Wave to a service like Amadae?+
The usual trigger is growth: enough income that quarterly estimates, deduction capture, and the S corp question start moving real money, or enough bookkeeping that your evenings are the cost. Amadae's free review prices your situation and shows the tax strategy you would gain.
Can Amadae take over books I kept in Wave?+
Yes. Export your Wave transactions and statements, and Amadae rebuilds and reconciles the current year on its own ledger during onboarding.
See how Amadae compares to Wave
Free 30-minute review. We tell you exactly what you would save.