You want clients to click a link and pay, no account, no portal login. Both QuickBooks and Wave do that. The real difference is what it costs you to send it.
The fastest way to get paid is an invoice your client can open and pay in two clicks, without being forced to create an account or remember a portal password. It is a small thing that quietly loses you money when it is missing, because every extra step is a reason to pay you later. The good news is that both QuickBooks Online and Wave handle this the same way, with a payment link customers can use as guests. So the choice between them is not really about the link, it is about cost, fees, and how much accounting you actually need. Here is how the two compare for exactly this workflow.
The Verdict
Both QuickBooks Online and Wave let your customer pay an emailed invoice by clicking a link and choosing a card or bank payment, with no login or account required. Wave is the cheaper starting point, since its invoicing is free and its paid plan runs around nineteen dollars a month, while QuickBooks Online ranges from roughly twenty to several hundred dollars a month depending on the plan. Processing fees are similar, near three percent for cards and about one percent for bank transfers. If all you need is to send payable invoices without a client login, start with Wave. Choose QuickBooks when you need its deeper accounting, reporting, and scale.
Both send no-login payment links
Start with the worry that sends people comparing these tools in the first place. Neither app makes your customer create an account to pay. With QuickBooks Online, the client clicks the link in the invoice email and picks a payment method, no QuickBooks login involved. With Wave payments, the invoice email carries a “Review and Pay” button that opens a page with the payment options you enabled, again with no account needed. The idea that a customer must log in to a portal is the thing to leave behind, because on both platforms the guest payment link is the default once online payments are switched on.
How the invoice-link flow works in each
The steps are nearly identical. In both tools you create the invoice, make sure online payments are enabled on it, and send it by email. Your customer receives a message with a pay button, opens it, and completes a card or bank payment on a hosted page. You get notified and the payment is recorded against the invoice automatically. The one setting that matters is turning on online payments, because that is what generates the clickable link. Skip it and you send a plain invoice with nothing to click, which is the single most common reason a “link” never appears.
Cost: where they really differ
This is the deciding factor for most people. Wave lets you create and send invoices for free, with a paid plan at around nineteen dollars a month if you want its extra features, and it does not cap the number of users. QuickBooks Online, on its payments and invoicing plans, starts near twenty dollars a month for a solo tier and climbs through Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced as you add features, reaching several hundred dollars a month at the top. For the narrow job of sending payable invoices, that is a real gap, and it is why freelancers and very small businesses so often land on Wave.
Processing fees compared
Both charge a transaction fee when a customer pays online, and the two are close. QuickBooks Payments runs around 2.99 percent on invoiced card payments and about 1 percent on ACH bank transfers with no cap. Wave charges roughly 2.9 percent plus 60 cents per card transaction and about 1 percent on bank payments with a small minimum, and its paid plan waives that per-transaction 60 cents for the first several payments each month. In practice the card rates are neck and neck, while the flat per-transaction add-on and any plan discounts are where small differences show up. As always, confirm the current rates on each provider’s page, since these change.
What can break the no-login link
A few things quietly stop the guest link from working. If online payments are not enabled on the invoice, there is no pay button to click. If you send a downloaded PDF instead of the app’s own emailed invoice, the link does not travel with it. And an invoice that has been voided, edited after sending, or already paid can leave a customer staring at a page that will not take payment. When a client says the link does not work, check those three things first before assuming the platform is at fault.
Which should you choose
Match the tool to the size of the job. If your main need is to send professional invoices that clients can pay instantly without an account, Wave does that for free and is the obvious starting point. If you need real double-entry accounting, payroll, inventory, detailed reporting, or you are scaling a team, QuickBooks Online earns its higher price with depth Wave does not match. The mistake is paying for a full accounting suite when all you actually wanted was a payable link, or outgrowing free invoicing and forcing it to do a job it was never built for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do customers need an account to pay a QuickBooks or Wave invoice?
No. On both platforms, customers click the payment link in the invoice email and pay as a guest with a card or bank transfer. No login, account, or portal password is required on their end.
Is Wave really free for invoicing?
Yes, creating and sending invoices is free on Wave, with a paid plan around nineteen dollars a month for added features. You still pay standard processing fees when a customer pays online, as you would with any provider.
How much does QuickBooks Online cost for invoicing?
Plans range from roughly twenty dollars a month for a solo tier up to several hundred for the top plan. Even the entry tiers support online-payable invoice links, so you are largely paying for accounting depth, not the link itself.
Which has lower payment processing fees?
They are close. Both charge near three percent on cards and about one percent on bank transfers. Wave adds a small flat fee per card transaction that its paid plan can waive on early monthly payments, so the winner depends on your volume.
Why is there no pay link on my invoice?
Almost always because online payments were not enabled on that invoice, or because you sent a PDF instead of the app’s own emailed invoice. Enable online payments and send through the platform, and the clickable link appears.
Can I switch from QuickBooks to Wave later?
Yes, many small businesses start on Wave and move to QuickBooks as they grow, or the reverse. Export your data first, and expect to re-enter or import customers and outstanding invoices during the switch.
Practical Takeaway
For the specific goal of sending an invoice link a client can pay without logging in, QuickBooks Online and Wave are functionally the same, so do not let that feature alone decide it. Wave sends payable, no-login invoices for free, which makes it the smart default for freelancers and small operations that mostly need to get paid. QuickBooks Online is worth its higher cost when you need full accounting behind those invoices. Enable online payments, send through the app rather than as a PDF, and confirm the current fees before you commit. For more, see these tips for starting a business and practical ways for writers to earn online.
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