FreshBooks has long been marketed as an intuitive accounting solution for freelancers, consultants, and small businesses. However, as businesses grow in complexity and demand more flexibility and customization, many users begin to seek a FreshBooks alternative that offers more robust features without sacrificing ease of use.
GlassJar vs FreshBooks
| GlassJar | FreshBooks | |
|---|---|---|
| Core Features We Both Offer | ||
| Invoicing | Yes | Yes |
| Bank Integration & Reconciliation | Yes | Yes |
| Expense Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Bill Management | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-User Access with Roles | Yes | Yes |
| Where GlassJar Pulls Ahead | ||
| Single-Screen Transaction Entry | Yes | No |
| Same Person, Same Contact | Yes | No |
| Customizable Report Library | Yes | No |
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“Switching from FreshBooks to GlassJar has made bookkeeping more enjoyable again.”
JASMINE BRANTLEY
Get Early Access
GlassJar is scheduled to launch January 2027!
Sign up early to try GlassJar for FREE. No commitment or credit card required 😊
Intro
$59$29.50/mo
50% off for 6 months, then $59/mo
Save $177 over 6 months
- 1 user
- Free seat for your CPA or bookkeeper
- Create accounts and enter transactions
- Bank integration
- 3 reports
- Support from the GlassJar team
Essentials
$99$49.50/mo
50% off for 6 months, then $99/mo
Save $297 over 6 months
Everything in Intro, plus
- 2 users
- Free seat for your CPA or bookkeeper
- Bank reconciliation
- Payables and receivables
- Budgeting and recurring transactions
- User permissions
- 1 custom tag Custom tags let you categorize transactions and report on them without adding new accounts to your chart of accounts.
- 70 reports
Advanced
$299$149.50/mo
50% off for 6 months, then $299/mo
Save $897 over 6 months
Everything in Essentials, plus
- 5 users
- Free seat for your CPA or bookkeeper
- Advanced budgeting
- Allocations
- 5 custom tags Custom tags let you categorize transactions and report on them without adding new accounts to your chart of accounts.
- 200 reports
*Promotional pricing shown. Pricing subject to change at launch.
GlassJar Intro is $59 per month, GlassJar Essentials is $99 per month, and GlassJar Advanced is $299 per month. All three are 50% off for the first six months at launch.
Designed by People Who Understand Accounting
One of the reasons GlassJar stands apart as a FreshBooks alternative is who built it. GlassJar was co-founded by Ryan Joneson, who spent the previous decade building and scaling cloud accounting software. That background means GlassJar prioritizes things that actually matter in real-world bookkeeping, like an activity trail, clear chart of accounts customization, and transparent balance sheet management.
With GlassJar, users can create custom account structures tailored to their industry. Service providers, creative agencies and other small businesses can set up accounts that match how they actually operate.
Why Switch To GlassJar From FreshBooks?
GlassJar is more than just a FreshBooks alternative. It gives small businesses full double-entry books with the simplicity FreshBooks users are used to. From a customizable report library to support on every plan, GlassJar offers modern tools tailored to today’s business owner.
FreshBooks Has Its Limits
While FreshBooks does many things well, users often encounter friction in areas critical to long-term growth. For one, FreshBooks reserves key accounting tools like automated bank reconciliation for its higher-tier plans, which means businesses may outgrow the entry plan quickly. Reporting capabilities are limited, especially when trying to drill into transaction-level data. Project tracking is simple on the surface but lacks the depth needed for multi-layered budgeting and cost allocation.
Another common complaint is FreshBooks’ pricing model. While it’s positioned as affordable, the Lite plan caps billable clients at 5 and Plus caps them at 50, and bank reconciliation starts on Plus. That cost creep leads many business owners to search for a better, more scalable solution.
“We’ve saved over 20 hours of bookkeeping every month by switching to GlassJar.”
– Damien Conway
IronGate Vineyard & Winery
GlassJar Delivers on Functionality and Flexibility
GlassJar offers a full-featured accounting platform that’s both intuitive and comprehensive. It includes true double-entry accounting, unlimited invoicing, advanced expense tracking, and daily bank feeds through Plaid right out of the box. Users get detailed financial statements, custom reporting, and the ability to tag and filter transactions with custom tags.
FreshBooks layers extra per-user fees on top of its plans. GlassJar publishes exactly what each plan includes. Extra users are a published flat monthly price, and your CPA or bookkeeper is free on every plan. Every plan includes recurring transactions and role-based permissions, tools that are essential for small teams managing growing workloads.
GlassJar also connects to your bank accounts through Plaid, which reduces manual entry and simplifies reconciliation.
More Insight with Advanced Reporting
GlassJar’s reporting goes well beyond the basics. You choose which reports live in your report library, compare historical trends, and track unpaid invoices in granular detail, with larger report libraries available on higher tiers.
FreshBooks reports often lack customization, which makes it hard to isolate actionable insights. With GlassJar, reports are interactive and filterable, allowing users to make data-driven decisions without needing a degree in finance or hours spent copying and pasting numbers into spreadsheets.
Real-Time Collaboration Without the Guesswork
Many small businesses involve multiple stakeholders, from accountants and bookkeepers to project managers and clients. FreshBooks offers limited role-based access, which can create confusion or limit collaboration. GlassJar provides granular control over user permissions, allowing you to define exactly what each user can see and do within the platform.
For example, you can give a bookkeeper access to day-to-day transaction entry without exposing every part of your books, and control exactly what each user can see and do, which reduces the need for back-and-forth emails.
FreshBooks is often the starting point for people working for themselves. If that is you, the freelancers and self-employed page is the closer comparison, and consultants and service businesses covers billing by engagement.
Moving Over From FreshBooks
Switching platforms can be daunting, especially if you have years of client invoices, expense records, and bank data stored in your current system. With GlassJar, most businesses can connect a bank and start entering transactions the same day.
Built for Long-Term Growth
FreshBooks often works well for early-stage businesses, but as your needs evolve, it can begin to feel like a limiting system. GlassJar, on the other hand, is built with scalability in mind. As you add clients, team members and reporting needs, GlassJar adapts to your pace.
From budgeting to a report library that grows with you, GlassJar enables business owners to operate with confidence, clarity, and control. It’s more than just a FreshBooks alternative. It’s a platform designed to support your business today, tomorrow, and years into the future.
