FreshBooks

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to FreshBooks

A curated collection of the 4 best self hosted alternatives to FreshBooks.

FreshBooks is cloud-based accounting and invoicing software for small businesses and freelancers, offering invoicing, time and expense tracking, online payments, and financial reporting to simplify billing and bookkeeping.

Alternatives List

#1
Bigcapital

Bigcapital

Self-hosted accounting software for invoicing, expenses, bank reconciliation, financial reports, and multi-currency bookkeeping for small businesses and freelancers.

Bigcapital screenshot

Bigcapital is an open-source accounting and financial management application aimed at small businesses, freelancers, and startups. It provides core bookkeeping workflows—such as invoicing, expense tracking, and reporting—through a modern web interface designed to run on your own infrastructure.

Key Features

  • Sales invoicing with customer management and invoice lifecycle tracking
  • Expense tracking with vendor management and categorization
  • Double-entry accounting foundation with chart of accounts
  • Bank account connectivity/import and reconciliation workflows
  • Financial statements and reporting (e.g., profit & loss, balance sheet)
  • Multi-currency support for transactions and accounting
  • Role-based access for multi-user organizations
  • Data import/export and audit-friendly recordkeeping capabilities

Use Cases

  • Replace lightweight SaaS accounting tools for a small company’s invoicing and expense workflows
  • Maintain internal bookkeeping records and produce periodic financial statements
  • Track business performance across multiple currencies and accounts

Limitations and Considerations

  • May not cover advanced enterprise needs such as complex payroll, deep inventory/MRP, or country-specific tax filing out of the box
  • Feature completeness and integrations depend on the current project roadmap and community contributions

Bigcapital is a strong fit when you need a transparent, extensible accounting system with core financial workflows and reporting. It’s especially relevant for teams that want control over their accounting data and deployment while retaining a modern UI.

3.5kstars
371forks
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#2
InvoicePlane

InvoicePlane

Free invoicing app to create quotes, invoices, recurring billing, clients, payments, and reports with a web UI and PDF output.

InvoicePlane is a web-based invoicing application for freelancers and small businesses. It helps you manage clients, create quotes and invoices, track payments, and generate PDF documents from customizable templates.

Key Features

  • Create and manage quotes and invoices with status workflows
  • Convert quotes to invoices and email documents to clients
  • Recurring invoices for repeating billing cycles
  • Client management with contact details and client-specific settings
  • Payment tracking and configurable payment methods
  • PDF generation for invoices/quotes using built-in templates
  • Tax rates, discounts, and multi-currency support
  • Reporting and dashboards for invoice/payment overview
  • Customizable templates and theming; translations for multiple languages

Use Cases

  • Freelancers issuing quotes and invoices and tracking paid/unpaid status
  • Small businesses handling recurring retainers or subscription-like billing
  • Organizations needing on-prem invoicing with customizable PDF templates

Limitations and Considerations

  • Project activity has historically been slower compared to newer invoicing platforms; verify maintenance status and PHP version support before deploying.

InvoicePlane provides the core tools needed to run a lightweight billing workflow—quotes to invoices, recurring billing, payment tracking, and PDF/email delivery—without requiring a full accounting suite. It is best suited to simple invoicing needs where customization and local control are priorities.

2.9kstars
853forks
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#3
EspoCRM

EspoCRM

Self-hosted CRM with leads/opportunities, email & calendar sync, marketing automation, workflows, and extensible entity-based customization.

EspoCRM screenshot

EspoCRM is a self-hosted customer relationship management (CRM) platform focused on managing leads, accounts, contacts, opportunities, and customer interactions in a single system. It provides sales pipeline tools, email-centric communication features, and a flexible entity model that supports customization and extensions.

Key Features

  • Sales pipeline management with leads, opportunities, accounts/contacts, activities, and reporting dashboards
  • Email integration (IMAP/SMTP) with email archiving to CRM records and templates for outbound communication
  • Calendar and activities (calls, meetings, tasks) with scheduling and reminders
  • Workflow automation (rules/actions) and business process tools (BPM) for automating CRM operations
  • Role-based access control (teams, roles, permissions) and audit/logging capabilities
  • Custom entities, fields, layouts, relationships, and formulas for tailoring data model and UI
  • Extensions ecosystem (add-ons/modules) and API for integrations

Use Cases

  • Track B2B sales pipelines from lead capture through opportunity stages to close
  • Centralize customer communication by linking emails, calls, meetings, and notes to records
  • Automate routine CRM tasks (assignment, notifications, stage changes) with workflows

Limitations and Considerations

  • Some advanced capabilities are delivered via paid extensions; feature set depends on edition/modules enabled

EspoCRM fits teams that need a customizable, email-integrated CRM with strong automation options and an extensible architecture. It is particularly suitable for organizations wanting control over CRM data and flexible customization without building a CRM from scratch.

2.7kstars
787forks
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#4
InvoiceShelf

InvoiceShelf

Self-hosted invoicing app for creating quotes and invoices, managing clients/products, tracking payments and expenses, and exporting reports for small teams.

InvoiceShelf screenshot

InvoiceShelf is a self-hosted web application for small businesses and freelancers to create professional invoices and estimates, manage customers and products, and track payments and expenses. It focuses on a clean workflow from quote to invoice, with configurable taxes, discounts, and numbering.

Key Features

  • Create and send invoices, estimates/quotes, and payment receipts
  • Client (customer) management with billing/shipping details and contact info
  • Product/item catalog with pricing, taxes, and discounts
  • Payment tracking (record payments, due amounts, and status)
  • Expense tracking with categories and vendor association
  • Multi-currency support and configurable tax settings
  • PDF generation for invoices/estimates with customizable templates/branding
  • Reporting and exports (e.g., summary reports and data export options)

Use Cases

  • Freelancers issuing quotes and invoices and tracking whether they’re paid
  • Small agencies managing recurring client billing and expense bookkeeping
  • Small businesses needing branded PDFs and basic finance reporting

Limitations and Considerations

  • Not a full accounting system (e.g., advanced ledger/accounting workflows are limited compared to dedicated accounting suites)

InvoiceShelf is best suited for lightweight billing operations where you need a straightforward quote-to-invoice flow, expense tracking, and professional PDF documents. It provides core invoicing functionality without the complexity of full general-ledger accounting products.

1.5kstars
315forks
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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running