Freelance Web Developer Invoicing App (2026)
Freelance development gets paid on deposits, milestones, and monthly retainers — not on one invoice sent hopefully at the end. ShowTheReceipts ($15/mo) invoices the 50% deposit before work starts, bills each milestone with its own due date, runs monthly retainers, states net terms and a late fee on every invoice, and chases overdue balances automatically.
How we picked
Entry-plan prices as published in 2026, taken from each vendor's own pricing page or a recent third-party summary. Judged on the solo freelancer's workflow — deposits before work starts, milestone billing, monthly retainers, net terms and late fees, and getting an invoice through a business client's accounts payable — not on agency resource planning, multi-seat time tracking, or full double-entry accounting for a staffed firm.
| Software | Starting price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| ShowTheReceipts That's us | $15/mo | Solo designers and developers: deposits, milestone billing, monthly retainers, late fees, automatic chasing |
| FreshBooks | $21/mo+ | Invoicing bundled with small-business accounting |
| Harvest | Free / $13.75/seat/mo | Time tracking that converts to invoices |
| Bonsai | $25/mo+ | Contracts and proposals alongside invoices |
| QuickBooks Online | $38/mo+ | Full accounting for a firm with a bookkeeper |
Freelance cash flow is a sequencing problem
The work isn’t the risk. Carrying six weeks of unpaid build for a client who went quiet is the risk — and deposits plus milestones are the fix.
1. ShowTheReceipts — $15/mo
Deposit invoiced before work starts, milestone invoices with individual due dates, monthly retainers with capped hours, net terms and late fee on every invoice, automatic chasing of overdue balances, card and bank transfer both.
2. FreshBooks — $21/mo+
Invoicing bundled with small-business accounting features.
3. Harvest — Free / $13.75/seat/mo
Time tracking that converts tracked hours into invoices.
4. Bonsai — $25/mo+
Contracts and proposals sitting alongside the invoicing.
5. QuickBooks Online — $38/mo+
Full accounting, aimed at a firm that has a bookkeeper.
The lines a freelance project invoice needs
- Deposit — 50% — before work starts
- Milestone payments — sign-off, build, launch
- Included scope — pages and revision rounds
- Change orders — hourly, beyond included rounds
- Pass-throughs — theme, plugin, stock, domain
- Retainer — monthly, in advance, hours capped
- Late fee — stated, applied after the due date
Scope creep is a missing line item
“Two revision rounds included, $95/hr after” on the invoice means the third round bills itself. Written scope beats a difficult email every time.
Frequently asked questions
Can it bill a deposit and then milestones?
Yes — the 50% deposit invoices before work starts, and each milestone (design sign-off, build complete, launch) bills as its own invoice with its own due date. On projects over roughly $5,000 that keeps you from carrying more than a few weeks of unpaid work.
Does it handle a monthly maintenance retainer?
Retainers bill monthly in advance with a capped hour allowance, and overage bills at your hourly change-order rate. That's the line that turns an unpredictable freelance month into a floor you can plan against.
Will an invoice from it get through a company's accounts payable?
Yes, provided you use the fields: legal business name, tax ID, the client's PO or contact reference, net terms with a due date, and a stated late fee — sent to the AP address. Most 'slow payers' are invoices sitting in the wrong inbox, not clients refusing to pay.
Do I need accounting software as a solo freelancer?
Not at first. What a solo freelancer needs is deposits, milestone invoices, retainers, and automatic follow-up on overdue balances — full double-entry accounting matters once you have payroll and a bookkeeper, and it can read your invoice history when you get there.