Akaunting vs Invoice Ninja

Akaunting is a full double-entry accounting platform (Chart of Accounts, Balance Sheet, General Ledger) with optional payroll, CRM, and inventory apps on…

Best for Akaunting: Akaunting suits a small business that wants formal double-entry bookkeeping (Chart of Accounts, Balance Sheet, General Ledger) with the option to add payroll or CRM apps as it grows, on cloud plans from $8/month or a free self-hosted On-Premise version.
Best for Invoice Ninja: Invoice Ninja suits a freelancer or service business that wants to start invoicing for free (5 clients, unlimited invoices) with built-in time tracking, Kanban project boards, and broad payment gateway support (Stripe, PayPal, Square, GoCardless).

At a Glance

 AkauntingInvoice Ninja
Primary categoryAccountingAccounting
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFree (open source, self-hosted) + Subscription (cloud)Freemium / Open Source
Starting priceFree (self-hosted)Free (self-hosted or up to 5 clients); hosted Pro from $14/month
Free planYesYes
Free trialNot documentedNot documented
PlatformsWeb, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android, Mac, Windows
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresNot documentedNot documented
Public APIYesYes

Key Differences

Free Plan Depth

Akaunting: Akaunting has no perpetually free cloud plan; its cheapest hosted tier is Standard Cloud at $8/month, though the On-Premise version is free to self-host.

Invoice Ninja: Invoice Ninja offers a perpetually free hosted plan with 5 clients and unlimited invoicing, plus a separate free open-source self-hosted version.

A business wanting a truly free hosted tool with no self-hosting effort gets that from Invoice Ninja but not from Akaunting's cloud plans.

Client and User Scaling

Akaunting: Akaunting's Standard Cloud plan covers 1 company, 1 user plus 1 accountant, and 1,000 invoices; Ultimate Cloud ($145/month) removes these caps entirely.

Invoice Ninja: Invoice Ninja's free plan is capped at 5 clients; its Enterprise plan ($18/month) supports up to 100 users.

Businesses with more than a handful of clients need to know which caps apply and at what price they're removed.

Time Tracking and Project Management

Akaunting: Akaunting bundles generic 'project tracking' inside its inventory/project tools, gated to higher-priced cloud tiers, with no Kanban board documented.

Invoice Ninja: Invoice Ninja explicitly documents time tracking and Kanban-style project boards as core features.

Service businesses billing by the hour need dedicated time-tracking tools, which Invoice Ninja documents more explicitly.

Quotes with E-Signature

Akaunting: Akaunting's documented feature set does not mention e-signature support for quotes or proposals.

Invoice Ninja: Invoice Ninja explicitly supports quotes and proposal generation with e-signature.

Businesses that need clients to formally sign off on quotes before work begins need e-signature support.

Payroll/CRM Apps vs. Payment Gateway Breadth

Akaunting: Akaunting offers optional payroll and CRM apps on its Elite ($56/month) and Ultimate ($145/month) cloud tiers.

Invoice Ninja: Invoice Ninja documents a wider named set of payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Square, GoCardless) plus Zapier/Make/Pabbly automation integrations, but no payroll or CRM app.

A business choosing based on which non-invoicing capability it needs most (payroll vs. payment gateway variety) should weigh this trade-off.

Feature-by-Feature

Invoicing & Billing

FeatureAkauntingInvoice Ninja
Recurring invoicesAvailableAvailable
Invoice template countNot documentedAvailable
Quotes with e-signatureNot documentedAvailable

Plans & Access

FeatureAkauntingInvoice Ninja
Perpetually free hosted planUnavailableAvailable
Free self-hosted open-source versionAvailableAvailable
Max users on paid tierAvailableAvailable

Operations & Integrations

FeatureAkauntingInvoice Ninja
Time tracking with Kanban boardsNot documentedAvailable
Payroll appAvailableUnavailable
Named payment gateway integrationsNot documentedAvailable
Zapier/Make/Pabbly automationNot documentedAvailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Akaunting

Standard Cloud — $12/month ($8/month billed yearly) monthly or yearly
Premium Cloud — $36/month ($24/month billed yearly) monthly or yearly
Elite Cloud — $84/month ($56/month billed yearly) monthly or yearly
Ultimate Cloud — $218/month ($145/month billed yearly) monthly or yearly

Invoice Ninja

Free (Hosted or Self-Hosted) — Free N/A
Ninja Pro — $14/month or $140/year Monthly or annual
Enterprise — $18-$300/month (by user count) Monthly
Premium Business — Custom (from $280/year) Annual

Pros & Cons

Akaunting

Pros

  • Free, open-source self-hosted option with no per-user licensing cost
  • Low-cost cloud plans compared with mainstream accounting software
  • Wide app marketplace extends functionality (payroll, CRM, inventory, POS)
  • Translated into 50+ languages, useful for international freelancers and small businesses

Cons

  • Self-hosting requires technical setup and ongoing server maintenance
  • Entry-level cloud plan (Standard) is limited to one user and 1,000 invoices
  • Official Android app functions largely as a wrapper around the mobile web interface, and there's no dedicated native iOS app
  • Smaller ecosystem and support resources compared with larger incumbents like QuickBooks or Xero

Invoice Ninja

Pros

  • Free, unlimited self-hosted version with no artificial feature caps
  • Affordable hosted plans compared to FreshBooks or QuickBooks
  • Supports 40-plus payment gateways and multi-currency invoicing
  • Native desktop and mobile apps alongside the web app
  • Bootstrapped company with a long track record and stable pricing

Cons

  • Self-hosting requires technical setup with a PHP/Laravel server and database maintenance
  • The Elastic License v2 restricts reselling or offering it as a hosted service to others
  • Interface feels less polished than some modern SaaS competitors
  • Free hosted plan is capped at just 5 clients
  • Advanced features like bank sync and e-invoicing credits are reserved for higher tiers

Use Cases

Choose Akaunting: Akaunting suits a small business that wants formal double-entry bookkeeping (Chart of Accounts, Balance Sheet, General Ledger) with the option to add payroll or CRM apps as it grows, on cloud plans from $8/month or a free self-hosted On-Premise version.
Choose Invoice Ninja: Invoice Ninja suits a freelancer or service business that wants to start invoicing for free (5 clients, unlimited invoices) with built-in time tracking, Kanban project boards, and broad payment gateway support (Stripe, PayPal, Square, GoCardless).
Need both: There's no realistic scenario for running both simultaneously since they overlap directly on invoicing and business management; a team would choose one as its primary billing/bookkeeping system rather than maintain two.

Akaunting

  • Freelancer Invoicing — Sending professional invoices and tracking payments as a solo freelancer.
  • Self-Hosted Small Business Accounting — Running accounting software on a company's own infrastructure for data control and no subscription fees.
  • Multi-Client Bookkeeping — Accountants managing books for multiple client companies from one account.

Invoice Ninja

  • Freelance and consultant billing — Freelancers and consultants bill clients directly with recurring invoices and online payments.
  • Agency time and billing management — Small agencies track billable time and expenses across client projects and invoice accordingly.
  • Self-hosted, privacy-focused billing — Privacy-conscious businesses self-host their billing data instead of using a third-party SaaS provider.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Akaunting have a free plan like Invoice Ninja?

Not on the cloud side; Akaunting's cheapest hosted plan is $8/month. Its On-Premise version is free to self-host, similar in spirit to Invoice Ninja's free hosted plan (5 clients) and its own free self-hosted version.

Can both be self-hosted for free?

Yes, Akaunting offers a free On-Premise Standard plan and Invoice Ninja offers a free open-source version via GitHub.

Which has more payment gateway options?

Invoice Ninja documents more named gateways, including Stripe, PayPal, Square, and GoCardless; Akaunting's facts don't list specific payment gateway integrations.

Does either include time tracking?

Invoice Ninja documents time tracking with Kanban project boards. Akaunting only mentions generic project tracking bundled with its inventory tools.

What happens if I need more than 5 clients on Invoice Ninja's free plan?

You'd need to upgrade to Ninja Pro ($14/month) or Enterprise ($18/month, up to 100 users), both of which also unlock more invoice templates.

Which has payroll?

Akaunting offers an optional payroll app on its Elite Cloud plan ($56/month); Invoice Ninja does not document a payroll feature.

Read the full Akaunting review · Read the full Invoice Ninja review