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Zoho Invoice Review
This free invoicing software has a generous feature set to meet your small business needs.
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Expert Analyst & Reviewer
UPDATED
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Zoho Invoice
| Total Rating | 5.0 |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Excellent |
| Features | Excellent |
| Customer Service | Excellent |
| Integrations | Fair |
| Reviews | Excellent |
| Show More Ratings | |
| Integrations | Fair |
| Show Fewer Ratings |
Invoice Limit
UnlimitedPricing
$0/monthBusiness Size
Small to mid-sized businessesZoho Invoice At A Glance
- Free invoicing software is ideal for freelancers and small to mid-sized businesses looking for a no-cost plan with excellent features
- Sixteen professional templates to go along with some basic accounting features as well as the ability to send invoices in multiple languages
- Simple and intuitive interface and an excellent Client Portal that allows you to manage your invoicing and time tracking needs quickly and efficiently
Pros
- Easy to use
- Excellent mobile apps
- Good customer support
- Advanced invoicing features
- International invoicing
Cons
- Limited integrations
- No inventory
Table of Contents
What Is Zoho Invoice?
Zoho Invoice is a free invoicing service with 16 templates, a beautiful client portal, the option to auto-schedule Zoho invoices, and the ability to send invoices in 14 different languages. Zoho Invoice also offers strong mobile apps, excellent customer service, and many other helpful business features, such as expense tracking and project management.
The only downside we can nitpick is the small number of integrations and the lack of a true inventory feature. If you need full-fledged accounting software, you may as well buy Zoho Books instead, as it has far more features. However, if you’re looking for just a free invoicing solution, Zoho Invoice is a great option.
Zoho Invoice Pricing
| Zoho Invoice Plans | Price | When To Use |
|---|---|---|
| Zoho Invoice Forever Free | $0/month | If you are a freelancer or small business owner on a budget with invoicing needs |
You can sign up with Zoho Invoice for free; no contract and no credit card information are required. According to its website, Zoho Invoice claims it has no ads, no contracts, and no hidden fees; its platform is now completely free to better serve freelancers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners.
Free
Zoho Invoice’s Free plan is forever free, and you get the following:
- Create up to 1,000 invoices/year
- Easily create estimates
- Secure data storage
- A self-service portal for clients
- Expense tracking
- Project management
- Time tracking
- Reports
- Multicurrency support
- Multiple invoice languages
- Accept a variety of payment methods
Is Zoho Invoice Easy To Use?
Zoho Invoice is well-organized and easy to use. A comprehensive help section can walk you through any issues that might arise, but overall, it’s an intuitive interface. Zoho features multiple templates that are easily customizable. Customers can make payments online, and you can also set up automated reminders.
When you’re getting started, populating a customer list is simple, as is importing a previously existing list. The dashboard is functional, and you can assign permissions and create your preferences. There’s a decent amount to sort through, but it’s pretty easy to navigate through the extensive feature set.
Zoho Invoice Features
| Zoho Invoice Features | Availability |
|---|---|
| Customizable Invoices | |
| Estimates | |
| Client Portal | |
| Contact Management | |
| Expense Tracking | |
| Multilingual Invoicing | |
| Invoice Scheduling | |
| Automatic Invoice Reminders | |
| Inventory | |
| Time Tracking | |
| Project Management | With Zoho Projects |
| Sales Tax Support | |
| Payment Gateway Integrations | |
| Number Of Reports | 30+ |
Zoho Invoice offers tons of invoicing features and automations, especially compared to other invoicing software. Here are some of the most notable features:
Dashboard
The Zoho Invoice dashboard is made up of charts and graphs that help you keep up with your business’s activity. These graphs show Total Receivables, Sales and Expenses, Projects, Top Expenses and Sales, Receipts, and Dues. You can change the color of your dashboard and interface, which is a nice touch.
Invoicing & Estimates
- Invoicing: When it comes to invoicing, it doesn’t get better than Zoho. The software offers 16 invoice templates that are easy to customize. You can add discounts, shipping charges, attachments, and sales tax. You can also opt to add a salesperson to each invoice as well as custom fields. Zoho Invoice supports invoice reminders, late fees, packing slips, and retainer invoices. Additionally, the software supports recurring invoices and the ability to auto-schedule invoices. Zoho Invoice also offers the unique features of invoicing your customers in 14 languages and watermarking your invoices for added security. Invoices can be sent via email or snail mail.
- Estimates: There are 15 estimate templates. You can easily duplicate estimates or convert estimates into invoices or projects. One unique touch is the ability to add an expiration date to your estimates.
- Client Portal: Zoho Invoice has one of the best client portals out there. Clients can view their home dashboard, estimates, invoices, and projects and make partial or full payments directly through the portal. They can easily request estimate changes as well. You can also let your clients view the billable and unbillable hours attached to their project. The best part is that you get real-time notifications about when your invoices and estimates have been viewed and paid.
Contact Management
The contact settings are particularly well developed. You can save your client’s basic contact information (e.g., name, business address, shipping address, etc.) as well as tax preferences, payment preferences, custom fields, and notes. You can even attach a default currency and language to each client. Each contact is given a dashboard where you can view their information, including any outstanding invoices. Even better, you can request customer reviews and testimonials straight from your clients.
Through Zoho Invoice, you can set default emails for ten different types of emails, including invoices, customer statements, payment thank-yous, and more.
Project Management
While you won’t find a tab for Projects, you can still create and track projects and tasks. You can add time, expenses, and attachments to projects. You can also create budgets and assign tasks to staff members. Furthermore, you can easily convert projects to invoices. When you click on each new project, you are taken to a project dashboard that includes charts and graphs showing the real-time progress of your project.
Zoho Invoice Customer Service & Support
| Zoho Invoice Support | Availability |
|---|---|
| Phone Support | |
| Email Support | |
| Support Tickets | |
| Live Chat | |
| Dedicated Support Representative | |
| Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
| Videos & Tutorials | |
| Company Blog | |
| Social Media |
Zoho Invoice offers excellent customer support and tons of support resources for its users. Phone wait times are short, and representatives are kind and usually helpful, although sometimes it takes a while for reps to understand what you’re asking. In my experience, emails and support forms were responded to within two to three hours. The best part is that almost all of the support sources can be accessed straight from within the software.
Customer support is available 24/5, Monday through Friday. Here’s a list of the support options available:
- Phone: You can contact Zoho Invoice support via phone. Wait times are generally short, and representatives are helpful.
- Email: You can email the Zoho Invoice team for help.
- Support Form: You can also submit a support form.
- Live Chat: There’s a chat feature within Zoho Invoice that you can use to talk directly with Zoho Invoice representatives.
- Knowledgebase: Zoho Invoice has an extensive online knowledgebase, complete with guides, how-to articles, FAQs, video demos, blog posts, and a community forum. Even better, these resources can be accessed directly from within Zoho Invoice.
- YouTube: Zoho has a YouTube channel, although there aren’t very many videos related specifically to Zoho Invoice.
- Social Media: Zoho can also be found on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Zoho Invoice Integrations
Zoho Invoice doesn’t have a huge selection, but the company is adding more options, slowly but surely. Zoho Invoice offers 14 integrations and ten payment gateway options. The software also integrates directly with other select Zoho products. API is available for developers.
Zoho Invoice Reviews
Negative Zoho Invoice Reviews & Complaints
For the most part, Zoho Invoice is highly regarded by customers and receives strong ratings across the board. Most complaints regarding Zoho Invoice are about minor feature flaws. However, a few recurring issues show up:
- Lack Of Integrations: This is the biggest complaint about Zoho Invoice. Although the company has added a few more integrations, this is still a big drawback for many.
- Poor Customer Service: Several customers report poor customer service. They complain that response times are slow and that reaching a representative via phone is difficult. A few also mention an occasional language barrier with their customer service representatives. Complaints of this nature have decreased over the last year.
- Hard To Navigate: Several users complain that the software is difficult to navigate.
It is worth noting that Zoho does a good job of responding to customer reviews and complaints both quickly and kindly, and representatives do what they can to set things right.
Positive Zoho Invoice Reviews
Zoho Invoice is given predominantly high praise from its users. The software receives 4.7/5 stars on G2 Crowd (based on 196 ratings) and 4.6/5 stars on Capterra (based on 337 ratings).
The mobile apps are also well-loved and receive 4.8/5 on Google Play Store (based on nearly 10,000 ratings) and 4.8/5 on iTunes for its mobile apps.
The company’s website also showcases customer testimonials and case studies.
Here are some of the aspects Zoho Invoice users like in particular:
- Easy To Use: The biggest praise of Zoho Invoice by far is that it is easy to use and understand. Users enjoy how quick it is to send invoices and the time they save by not having to learn complicated software.
- Powerful Mobile Apps: This is one of the most common praises of Zoho Invoice. Users appreciate the full-featured mobile apps and that they can send invoices on the go. Some users especially like that they can run their business from their iPad or Kindle.
- Friendly Customer Service: Although some users report poor customer service, others find the customer service to be friendly and helpful.
- Good International Options: A few people mention that the options for international currency and language help their business.
Zoho Invoice Integrations
In the past, Zoho Invoice had very few integrations. While there still isn’t a huge selection, the company is adding more options. Some popular integrations include QuickBooks, Google Workplace, Office 365, and Slack. API is available for developers.
Is Zoho Invoice Secure?
Zoho Invoice uses 256-bit SSL encryption, two-factor authentication, and regular virus detection and prevention scanning. Zoho Invoice regularly backs up data onto multiple servers in undisclosed locations.
Additional physical measures are taken to ensure data security, including 24/7/365 surveillance, video monitoring, and bulletproof walls. Learn more about Zoho’s security measures by visiting the company’s website.
The Final Verdict: Is Zoho Invoice Worth It?
| Zoho Invoice Review Summary | |
|---|---|
| Pricing | $0/month |
| Choose If You Need |
|
In terms of invoicing, it doesn’t get much better than Zoho Invoice. This software has a lot to offer, with ample invoice automations, international invoicing, and a great client portal. Top that with expense tracking, time tracking, project management, and some unique touches, such as requesting customer reviews, all for free, and the deal gets even sweeter. The software and its customer service continue to improve over the years, and slowly but surely, Zoho Invoice is adding much-needed integrations to its limited pool.
The forever-free plan can be a great fit for freelancers and micro-businesses; however, a severe customer invoice limit may make it impractical for most small businesses. If you’re looking for more advanced accounting features, Zoho Books would be a better fit. Zoho Books is also the better choice if you need advanced features, such as inventory, bill management, and tax support.
If you’re set on invoicing software, Zoho Invoice is a great choice. The software could work for both service-based and product-based businesses, and the strong mobile apps are great for business owners that need to work on the go.
Zoho Invoice FAQs
Matt Sherman
Expert Analyst & Reviewer at Merchant Maverick
A former sports editor and journalist, Matt Sherman has been writing about and researching small business software since 2015, with a special emphasis on retail and restaurant sales. Matt's expert opinions are cited in various industry publications, including Fox Business. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon.
View Matt Sherman's professional experience on LinkedIn.
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The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
Zoho Invoice |
|---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Zoho Invoice for yourself.
The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
Zoho Invoice |
|---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Zoho Invoice for yourself.
Nice overview!I’m just about to move my invoicing to Zoho myself. There is one really important feature. It can be set up for real multilingual sales. Possibility to translate invoice templates and most importantly the e-mail templates makes it really usable in different languages. There’s still room for improvement like selecting e-mail template per recurring invoice etc. but so far the best I have found.Many invoicing systems claim to have it but as been through more than few of them I must say it’s mostly just talk. Best you can have is translated invoice but still end up writing e-mails over and over again in different languages.Way to go Zoho 🙂
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Tanel,
Thank you for the really nice feedback. We are super glad to hear that you will be switching over to Zoho Invoice.
With regards to selecting an email template per recurring invoice in Zoho Invoice, you can associate an invoice template to a customer. You can do this through the contacts section > select more > choose a template in the Invoice PDF field. This would be the default invoice template ( both recurring and regular invoice) for that particular customer.
Hope this helps.
If you are looking for a different functionality, please write to us at [email protected]. We’ll get right back to you.
Regards,
Krupa
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Katherine,
Thank you for reviewing Zoho Invoice.
We recently made changes to the pricing of Zoho Invoice in order to encourage small business owners and freelancers to do more business around the world and not worry about the hassles of invoicing.
In the Free plan of Zoho Invoice, you can now invoice upto 25 customers (previously 5 customers) in multiple currencies. In the Basic plan, you can invoice upto 50 customers (previously 25 customers) in multiple currencies.
Regards,
Krupa
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Krupa,
Thanks for the update! I’ve adjusted the pricing in the review accordingly. If you see anything else that’s out of date, please let me know!
Best,
Katherine
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.