Pricing Units, Proprietary Limits & Migration Complexity
The operational fine print U.S. SaaS founders and small business owners check before committing.
| Evaluation Dimension | Bigcapital | Wave Accounting |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price & Billing Unit How your monthly bill scales | $0 Open Source (Open Source (AGPL-3.0)) Transaction / Processing Rate | Free / $16/mo Pro Plan Transaction / Processing Rate |
| Free Tier & Included Quotas Sandbox vs production allowance | Bigcapital is self-hostable (Open Source (AGPL-3.0)) at $0 license cost | Wave Accounting Starter (Accounting & Invoicing) tier (core accounting, billing & invoicing capabilities); Pro Plan upgrades start at $16/mo |
| Proprietary Limits & Gotchas Caps, lock-in & overage cliffs | Bigcapital tier notes — Flat-Rate Small Business Pricing: 100% free & open-source; Full API & Webhooks: Full source & API access | Wave Accounting tier notes — 1-Click Full Data Export: Accountant-ready CSV & financial statement exports; Flat-Rate Small Business Pricing: $0 Starter tier or $16/mo Pro |
| Migration Complexity Engineering & ops switching effort | Low (< 30 mins) Configure Bigcapital (Flat-Rate Small Business Pricing, Full API & Webhooks, Self-Hostable / Open Source) and import existing accounting, billing & invoicing records | Low (< 30 mins) Configure Wave Accounting (1-Click Full Data Export, Flat-Rate Small Business Pricing) and import existing accounting, billing & invoicing records |
| Target Company Stage Best operational fit | Solo Founders & Accounting, Billing & Invoicing SMBs | Solo Founders & Accounting, Billing & Invoicing SMBs |
| Data Privacy & Compliance U.S. & enterprise governance | Open Source / Self-HostGDPR / CCPA ReadyFlat-Rate Small Business | GDPR / CCPA Ready1-Click Full Data ExportTransparent USD Pricing |
Interactive Workload & Infrastructure Cost Simulator
Compare realistic monthly & annual platform spend by production workload stage (not fake per-seat math).
Bigcapital: Transaction / Processing Rate
Wave Accounting: Transaction / Processing Rate
Estimated Annual Savings with Bigcapital: $192/yr
Saves ~100% annually at this workload tier based on published USD rates.
Technical Capability Matrix
Side-by-side feature, API, and data-ownership checklist.
| Feature Specification | Bigcapital | Wave Accounting |
|---|---|---|
| Flat-Rate Small Business Pricing pricing | Supported 100% free & open-source | Supported $0 Starter tier or $16/mo Pro |
| Full API & Webhooks developer | Supported Full source & API access | Not Included |
| Self-Hostable / Open Source infrastructure | Supported Open Source (AGPL-3.0) repository | Not Included |
| 1-Click Full Data Export data-ownership | Not Included | Supported Accountant-ready CSV & financial statement exports |
Official Published USD Pricing Tiers
Verified plan structure for Bigcapital and Wave Accounting.
Bigcapital Plans USD Verified
Free / Open Source
monthly
Wave Accounting Plans USD Verified
Starter (Accounting & Invoicing)
monthly
Pro Plan
monthly
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Frequently Asked Questions
Key pricing, quota, migration, and security answers for Bigcapital vs Wave Accounting.
What is the main difference between Bigcapital and Wave Accounting in 2026?
Bigcapital ($0 Open Source (Open Source (AGPL-3.0)), billed by transaction / processing rate) is best suited for: 💵 Independent financial accounting with intelligent reporting, alternative to Quickbooks, Xero, Wave. By contrast, Wave Accounting (Free / $16/mo Pro Plan, billed by transaction / processing rate) is best for: Simple, free accounting and invoicing built for small business owners
How do Bigcapital and Wave Accounting compare on free tiers and USD pricing?
Bigcapital: Bigcapital is self-hostable (Open Source (AGPL-3.0)) at $0 license cost. Wave Accounting: Wave Accounting Starter (Accounting & Invoicing) tier (core accounting, billing & invoicing capabilities); Pro Plan upgrades start at $16/mo. Always compare based on your real workload metric (Transaction / Processing Rate vs Transaction / Processing Rate) rather than headline base tier alone.
What proprietary feature limits or overages should founders watch out for?
On Bigcapital: Bigcapital tier notes — Flat-Rate Small Business Pricing: 100% free & open-source; Full API & Webhooks: Full source & API access. On Wave Accounting: Wave Accounting tier notes — 1-Click Full Data Export: Accountant-ready CSV & financial statement exports; Flat-Rate Small Business Pricing: $0 Starter tier or $16/mo Pro.
How difficult is migrating from Wave Accounting to Bigcapital, and what compliance is supported?
Estimated migration effort to Bigcapital is Low (< 30 mins) (Configure Bigcapital (Flat-Rate Small Business Pricing, Full API & Webhooks, Self-Hostable / Open Source) and import existing accounting, billing & invoicing records). Security & data governance signals for Bigcapital include Open Source / Self-Host, GDPR / CCPA Ready, Flat-Rate Small Business, while Wave Accounting offers GDPR / CCPA Ready, 1-Click Full Data Export, Transparent USD Pricing.
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