# FreshBooks alternatives for AI agents

2 alternatives to FreshBooks. 2 have an interface an agent can drive. 1 is open source. 2 reach every recorded job.

Page: alternatives/freshbooks.html

## Inkvoice

One-container invoicing for freelancers: Stripe and PayPal, expenses, German e-invoicing, REST API.

- Listing: apps/pigontech--inkvoice.html
- JSON: apps/pigontech--inkvoice.json
- License: MIT
- Agent interface: API, from the builder
- Reach: 10 of 10 jobs
- Last activity: 2026-09-02
- Effort: config-only
- Use it when: I am a freelancer who wants invoices and card payments on a €5 VPS with my data in one SQLite file
- Use it when: I invoice German businesses and need XRechnung or ZUGFeRD without a per-seat subscription
- Gotcha: COOKIE_SECURE defaults to true, so logins silently fail on plain HTTP unless you set it to false
- Gotcha: Keep the 512 MB memory cap or Bun grows its heap
- Gotcha: API tokens with scopes exist in routes/api-tokens.ts but the docs only describe JWT login
- Gotcha: Real-software signal is thin: 21 stars, 8 forks, issues from four people; kept on the Show HN thread, Dokploy template and hosted Cloud

## Invoice Ninja

Self-hostable invoicing, quotes, expenses and time tracking with a complete REST API.

- Listing: apps/invoiceninja--invoiceninja.html
- JSON: apps/invoiceninja--invoiceninja.json
- License: Elastic-2.0
- Agent interface: API, from the builder
- Reach: 10 of 10 jobs
- Last activity: 2026-09-03
- Effort: config-only
- Use it when: I bill a handful of clients and want invoices, quotes and card payments on my own server without a per-seat plan
- Use it when: I want my agent to raise and chase invoices from a project tracker without touching the invoicing UI
- Gotcha: License is Elastic License 2.0, not OSI open source: you may modify and self-host, but may not offer it as a managed service to third parties
- Gotcha: Default PDF_GENERATOR=hosted_ninja sends invoice HTML to Invoice Ninja's PDF service; switch to snappdf for fully local rendering
- Gotcha: APP_KEY encrypts stored data; losing it makes the database unreadable
- Gotcha: Removing Invoice Ninja branding from client-facing pages needs the $40/year white-label license

## Questions

### Is there an open source alternative to FreshBooks?

Yes. 1 of the 2 listings here is open source: Inkvoice (MIT).

### Which FreshBooks alternatives have an MCP server?

None of these has an MCP server from its builder on record. The recorded interface is API.

### Which FreshBooks alternative can an agent do the most with?

Inkvoice: 10 of 10 recorded jobs reachable. Invoice Ninja: 10 of 10 recorded jobs reachable. Jobs differ by listing, so read each list before you choose.