Comparisons
Local Books vs. Wave: free bookkeeping or a broader business system?
Wave offers a free start. Local Books includes a wider business toolkit in a one-time license.
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Wave Starter is a useful starting point for a small business that needs invoicing and basic bookkeeping. It is free, not a trial. Local Books costs more upfront, with inventory, job-cost and payroll tools included in the same business application.
The choice comes down to the work you need to do, how many companies and people use the books, and whether you want a payroll filing service.
What Wave costs
These are regular US prices, before tax, checked October 28, 2026. Canadian prices and payroll terms differ.
| Wave option | Regular US software price | What to compare |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $0 | Unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records |
| Pro, paid monthly | $19/month per business | Automatic bank imports, receipt capture and additional automation |
| Pro, paid annually | $190/year per business | The Pro features with annual billing |
| Payroll | $40/month plus $6 per active employee and $6 per contractor paid | Separate from the accounting plan |
Wave's pricing page explains the plans. Pro also unlocks invitations for Admin, Editor and Viewer collaborators. Starter is not entirely without collaboration: Payroll Managers are available across plans. Wave's invitation guide describes those roles; it does not state a numerical collaborator limit.
One sign-in can hold several Wave businesses, but Pro is purchased separately for each one. Three businesses on annual Pro cost $570 a year before payroll or payment-processing fees.
What the Local Books price includes
Local Books Desktop is $3,495 once, including five office computers total: one host and four connected workstations. Server is $4,995 once for larger teams and access across locations through one business-managed host. Both editions include unlimited companies and unlimited user accounts without per-user or per-company software fees.
The included tools cover estimates, invoices, customer payments, bills, purchase orders, bank reconciliation, inventory, job budgets and costs, payroll and nonprofit workflows. Both licenses include 12 months of eligible updates. You can keep using your version and choose whether to buy a later upgrade. Server hosting, backups and secure remote access are managed by your business. Compare Local Books editions.
That makes Local Books worth considering when the accounting is tied to stock, purchasing, jobs and employees. You can follow work from an estimate into a job budget, compare committed purchases with actual costs, and include labor in the job's costs. Those connections matter more than simply having another way to produce an invoice.
Included payroll tools and a payroll service are different purchases
For five active US employees and no paid contractors, Wave Payroll is $70 a month and includes automatic state and federal tax payments and filings in all 50 states. See its payroll offering and subscription calculation.
Local Books includes pay runs, withholding calculations, pay stubs, time entries, employee records, benefits and tax-form preparation without a separate monthly payroll software tier. You or your payroll professional review the calculations and handle filing and tax payments.
At current rates, five years of Pro for one business is $950. Add the five-employee payroll example and the total is $5,150, assuming those prices stay the same. Wave Starter without payroll remains free. These software totals exclude taxes, payment processing, optional services, Local Books upgrades and equipment, and Wave’s payroll filing service is not part of the Local Books license.
Ask for help inside Local Books
The built-in AI Assistant can answer questions from the current manual or help with supported bookkeeping work, such as finding an invoice. It follows the signed-in user’s company permissions, and you choose whether proposed changes need approval. Connecting an AI provider is optional, and provider charges may apply.
When the work grows beyond bookkeeping
Local Books includes stock counts, partial purchase order receiving, barcode lookup, stock movements and inventory valuation in both editions. Optional Advanced Inventory adds locations and bins, lot and serial tracking, assemblies, warehouse fulfillment and advanced pricing. Start with basic stock records and enable the controls your business needs; Advanced Inventory is off by default for a company with no saved preference. See the inventory workflows.
Sales receipts, supplier receipts and inventory reports let a product business follow the stock as well as the money. Job budgets, recorded mileage and payroll detail support service work in the same application. Compare those workflows with the separate tools you would otherwise maintain alongside Wave.
Review the books with your accountant
Accountant Review adds working balances, account workpapers and protected handoff packages when you need to work with a bookkeeper or accountant. See the full feature list.
What Wave users report
On Capterra, Kalvin E.'s August 2026 review describes useful invoice organization and time savings while criticizing parts of the interface. Tim O.'s March 2026 review describes difficulty getting payroll support and is labeled incentivized. These are individual accounts; older reviews may also describe different prices and features.
Wave fits a small operation that wants low-cost hosted bookkeeping and, with its payroll plan, filing services. Local Books includes a wider business toolkit and unlimited companies in a one-time license. Compare those workflows and the payroll service you need, not just the first month’s bill.
Written by Local Books, the maker of one of the products discussed. Prices and product details are linked to their sources. Other product names belong to their respective owners; no affiliation or endorsement is implied.
