ClaryBook vs Wave Accounting: Why "Free" Isn't Free for Landlords (2026)

Wave Accounting is one of the first results when you search for "free bookkeeping software." The free tier exists, and for a simple service business that just needs invoicing and basic accounting, Wave Starter is a legitimate option. But if you're a landlord or freelancer searching for free bookkeeping, the reality is more complicated than the marketing suggests.

Wave's free tier (Starter) has no bank connections, no receipt scanning, and is limited to a single user. The version most people actually need — Wave Pro — costs $19/month. That's only $11 less than ClaryBook ($30/month), and it still lacks every property-specific feature a landlord needs: no Schedule E, no per-property P&L, no depreciation, no mileage tracking, no material participation hours.

This is an honest comparison. We'll explain what Wave does well, where it falls short for landlords and freelancers, and when the $11 difference between Wave Pro and ClaryBook is worth paying.

What is Wave?

Wave was founded in 2010 as free accounting software for small businesses. It offered double-entry bookkeeping, invoicing, and receipt scanning — all free, funded by payment processing fees. In 2019, H&R Block acquired Wave for approximately $537 million.

Since the acquisition, Wave's pricing has changed significantly. Features that were previously free — bank connections and receipt scanning — now require paid tiers. The product is structured around three tiers:

• Starter (Free): Single user, unlimited invoicing, double-entry accounting, no bank connections, no receipt scanning
• Mobile Receipts ($8/month): Add-on for receipt scanning only — no accounting features unless combined with Starter
• Pro ($19/month): Everything: unlimited users, bank sync, receipt scanning, discounted payment processing

Wave also charges for payment processing: 2.9% + $0.60 per credit card transaction on Starter (2.9% + $0 on Pro), and 1% per ACH payment. Payroll is a separate product starting at $20/month + $6/employee.

The "free" reality check

Wave Starter is genuinely free for basic invoicing and manual bookkeeping. But here's what free doesn't include:

• No bank connections — you can't connect your bank accounts. Every transaction must be entered manually or imported via CSV.
• No receipt scanning — you can't photograph receipts and have them processed. Manual entry only.
• Single user only — no team access, no accountant access.

For a landlord with multiple properties and dozens of transactions per month, the free tier means manual data entry for everything. Most users who try Wave Starter end up on Wave Pro ($19/month) within a few weeks because manual entry for every transaction isn't sustainable.

So the real comparison is Wave Pro at $19/month vs. ClaryBook at $30/month. An $11/month difference.

Feature-by-feature comparison

Expense categorization

Wave: Rule-based categorization. You create rules ("transactions from Home Depot go to Repairs & Maintenance") and Wave follows them. No AI, no context awareness. A Home Depot purchase for your rental property gets the same category as a Home Depot purchase for your office — unless you manually change it.

ClaryBook: AI-powered categorization. Send a receipt photo or describe the expense: "Home Depot $347 for new water heater at 456 Oak St." ClaryBook categorizes it to the correct Schedule E deduction category and assigns it to the right property. Context matters.

Property-specific features

Wave: Generic small business accounting. No Schedule E mapping, no per-property P&L, no depreciation schedules, no rent roll, no NOI calculation. You can create separate categories or accounts for each property, but Wave doesn't help you with property-specific tax reporting. Your CPA will need to map everything to Schedule E manually.

ClaryBook: Built for landlords and freelancers. Per-property P&L, Schedule E Part I mapping (Lines 3-19), depreciation schedules, mileage tracking, material participation hours, 1099 contractor tracking per property, and NOI calculations.

Receipt scanning

Wave: Available on Pro ($19/month) or as a standalone add-on ($8/month). Basic OCR extracts amount and date. Rule-based categorization after extraction.

ClaryBook: AI-powered. Send a photo via Telegram, web app, or iOS app. Extracts vendor, amount, date, and line items with context-aware categorization. Receipt images stored permanently and linked to transactions. Searchable via full-text search.

Mileage tracking

Wave: None. No mileage tracking of any kind. You need a separate app.

ClaryBook: IRS-compliant mileage log. Text "drove 18 miles to the rental for a plumbing inspection" and it's logged with automatic deduction calculation at the current IRS rate ($0.725/mile for 2026).

Hours tracking

Wave: None.

ClaryBook: Material participation hours tracked toward the IRS 500-hour threshold (Form 8582). Log via chat: "spent 3 hours painting unit 2."

Depreciation

Wave: No depreciation tracking. No schedules, no auto-journal entries, no cost basis tracking. Your largest annual deduction as a landlord — you need to track it elsewhere.

ClaryBook: Depreciation schedules with cost basis, placed-in-service date, useful life, and monthly auto-journal entries.

Double-entry accounting

Wave: Yes — this is a genuine strength. Full double-entry with chart of accounts, journal entries, and financial reports (P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, Tax Summary, Aged Receivables). Wave's accounting engine is solid.

ClaryBook: Also full double-entry. Chart of accounts, journal entries, trial balance, income statement, balance sheet, cash flow. Both tools do proper accounting — the difference is in the property-specific and AI features layered on top.

Invoicing

Wave: Comprehensive. Customizable templates, online payment acceptance (credit card + ACH), automated payment reminders, recurring invoices, estimates. Invoicing is one of Wave's core strengths.

ClaryBook: Branded PDF invoices, recurring templates, payment tracking, A/R aging, overdue reminders, credit notes. Solid invoicing, but Wave's payment processing integration gives it an edge here.

Contractor tracking

Wave: Basic vendor management. No 1099-NEC tracking, no $600 threshold alerts.

ClaryBook: 1099-NEC contractor management with $600 threshold alerts across all properties.

Loan and mortgage tracking

Wave: No amortization schedules. No principal/interest split tracking.

ClaryBook: Loan/mortgage tracking with amortization schedules and automatic principal/interest split journal entries.

Where Wave is better (honest assessment)

Wave has real advantages in several areas:

Free tier exists. Wave Starter is genuinely free for basic invoicing and manual double-entry accounting. If you're a one-person service business that sends a few invoices per month and does bookkeeping manually, the free tier works. ClaryBook has no free tier — just a 30-day trial.

Live bank feeds. Wave Pro connects directly to your bank accounts. Transactions sync automatically. ClaryBook currently uses CSV import — functional but more manual.

Built-in payment processing. Accept credit cards and ACH payments directly through invoices. Wave Payments is powered by Stripe on the backend. ClaryBook invoices track payments but don't process them — customers pay via bank transfer, check, or other methods outside ClaryBook.

Payroll. Wave offers payroll as an add-on ($20/month + $6/employee). ClaryBook has no payroll features.

Android app. Wave has both iOS and Android. ClaryBook has an iOS app and web app, but no Android app.

Multi-currency. Wave supports multiple currencies natively. ClaryBook works in USD and EUR but doesn't have full multi-currency support.

Lower price (usually). Wave Pro at $19/month is $11 less than ClaryBook. Wave Starter at $0 is $30 less. The price gap is real, especially for price-sensitive users.

Where ClaryBook is better

ClaryBook's advantages center on property-specific bookkeeping and AI-powered automation:

• AI receipt scanning — context-aware categorization, not just OCR with manual rules
• Conversational AI — log expenses by text message instead of navigating a dashboard
• Schedule E mapping — expenses categorized to IRS lines, per-property
• Per-property P&L and NOI — see each property's performance individually
• Depreciation schedules — automatic monthly journal entries (Wave has none)
• Mileage tracking — IRS-compliant log with deduction calculation (Wave has none)
• Material participation hours — 500-hour threshold tracking (Wave has none)
• 1099 contractor tracking — $600 threshold alerts (Wave has basic vendor management)
• Loan/mortgage amortization — principal/interest split journals (Wave has none)
• Complete CPA tax package — one export with Schedule E, depreciation, receipts, mileage
• Document management — OCR, expiration tracking, full-text search for leases and policies
• Dutch/NL market support — BTW, kilometerregistratie, bilingual (Wave is US/Canada only)

The $11 question

The real comparison is Wave Pro ($19/month) vs. ClaryBook ($30/month). What do you get for $11 more per month ($132/year)?

• AI-powered receipt scanning that categorizes expenses by context, not just vendor rules
• Schedule E mapping for rental properties — your expenses land on the correct IRS lines
• Per-property P&L reports that your CPA can use directly
• Depreciation schedules with monthly auto-journal entries — the biggest deduction most landlords have
• IRS-compliant mileage tracking with automatic deduction calculation
• Material participation hours tracking toward the 500-hour threshold
• 1099 contractor tracking with $600 threshold alerts
• Loan/mortgage amortization with principal/interest split
• A conversational AI interface — text your expenses instead of filling out forms
• A complete CPA tax package in one download

If you own rental properties, the depreciation tracking alone justifies the $132/year difference. A $300,000 residential property generates roughly $10,900/year in depreciation deductions. Missing depreciation because your bookkeeping tool doesn't track it costs far more than $132.

If you're a pure service freelancer with no properties, no contractors, and no mileage needs, Wave Pro is a reasonable choice. The $11 savings makes sense when the landlord-specific features don't apply to you.

Who should use Wave?

Wave is a reasonable choice if:

• You run a simple service business (consulting, design, writing) with no rental properties
• You primarily need invoicing with payment processing built in
• You want double-entry accounting at the lowest possible price
• You don't need mileage tracking, depreciation, or Schedule E
• You want live bank feeds and are willing to pay $19/month for Wave Pro
• You need payroll ($20/month add-on)

Who should use ClaryBook?

ClaryBook is the better choice if:

• You own rental properties and need Schedule E reporting
• You need depreciation schedules tracked automatically
• You want receipt documentation stored with AI categorization
• You need mileage and material participation tracking
• You track 1099 contractor payments across properties
• You want your CPA to receive a complete tax package, not raw reports
• You prefer logging expenses by text message instead of forms
• You're a freelancer who also has rental properties (ClaryBook handles both Schedule C and E)

The bottom line

Wave is honest accounting software with a genuine free tier and solid double-entry bookkeeping. For simple service businesses that primarily need invoicing and basic accounting, it's a reasonable choice — especially Wave Pro at $19/month.

But Wave is generic. It doesn't know what a rental property is. It can't track depreciation, mileage, or material participation. It doesn't map to Schedule E. It doesn't produce a CPA tax package with all the property-specific data your accountant needs.

ClaryBook costs $11/month more than Wave Pro. For landlords, that $11 buys depreciation tracking, Schedule E mapping, mileage logs, receipt AI, contractor management, and a complete CPA handoff — features Wave doesn't have at any price.