Compare · Trifold vs Wave

# Trifold vs Wave

Wave and Trifold both want small organizations to start without a bill: Wave's Starter plan is free today, and Trifold's free plan is planned. Wave is invoicing and bookkeeping for freelancers, solopreneurs and contractors, with its own payment processing, a payroll add-on and paid advisors. Trifold is for organizations paid through Stripe: payments become balanced books and a signed receipt for each payment that anyone can check.

Wave, in its own words: “Clear books. Confident decisions.”

## Where Wave is strongest

Honest first. If these matter most to you, Wave is likely the better fit.

### Free today

The Starter plan is free: unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records. Trifold's free plan is planned; the hosted service is early access.

### Simple, with help when you need it

Pro is $19 a month and adds bank import through Plaid. Add payroll ($25–40 a month), receipt scanning ($8–11 a month) or a paid Wave Advisor.

### Accountant roles on the free plan

Starter includes free tax-pro and payroll roles; Pro adds admin, editor and viewer roles.

## Where Trifold differs

Shipped means it works today in the engine. Next means it's on the roadmap and not built yet.

Shipped

### Anyone can check a receipt, with no account

A family, CPA or auditor pastes a receipt into the free verifier at /verify. It runs in their browser and sends nothing to us; the CLI does the same check offline.

Shipped

### Books built from Stripe events

Every Stripe payment and refund arrives as an event and posts as balanced double-entry books, with Stripe's record id on each one. Nothing is typed in by hand.

Shipped

### Sealed months and open formats

Seal each month so a later change shows, export to Parquet, hledger or CSV, and run the engine yourself if you like.

## Side by side

The companies and products, fact by fact. Trifold's prices are planned; the hosted service is early access. "Not stated" means Wave's public pages don't say; it doesn't mean the feature is missing.

| Fact | Trifold | Wave |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Built for | Schools, studios, non-profits and other organizations paid through Stripe | Freelancers, solopreneurs, contractors and consultants |
| Monthly price | Free, then Starter $29, Pro $79, Witnessed $149 a month, planned. Non-profit and co-op: $15 / $39 / $79 | Starter free; Pro $19 a month ($190 a year) |
| Free plan | Planned. The hosted service is early access; design partners are free during the pilot | Yes: Starter |
| Seats | No per-seat fees; CPA and bookkeeper seats free (planned) | Free tax-pro and payroll roles on Starter; user limits not stated |
| Payments | Uses your own Stripe account | Its own payment processing: 2.9% + 60¢ per card payment on Starter |
| Bank import | None today; bank-statement import (CSV/OFX) is planned | Through Plaid, on Pro |
| Payroll | None. A year-end package for your CPA is Later | Add-on, $25–40 a month |
| Who can check the records | Anyone, in a free browser verifier or the CLI, with no account | Not stated |
| AI | Rifo, Next (not shipped): drafts and explains, you approve, the engine does the math | Not stated |
| Export | Parquet, hledger and CSV, on every plan | Not stated |
| Self-hosting | The engine is self-hostable | No; hosted only |
| Stripe | Native: books built from Stripe events, Stripe's webhook signature checked | Not stated |

## Which one fits

### Choose Wave if…

You're a solo operator who needs free invoicing and simple books.

### Choose Trifold if…

You collect tuition, dues or class fees through Stripe and need reconciled books that others can check.

## Sources

-   Wave homepage: [https://www.waveapps.com](https://www.waveapps.com)
-   Wave pricing: [https://www.waveapps.com/pricing](https://www.waveapps.com/pricing)

Facts about Wave checked against its public pages as of 2026-11-06. Prices and features change; check theirs before you decide. Corrections: [hello@gettrifold.com](mailto:hello@gettrifold.com). [All comparisons](https://tfd-ledger.pages.dev/compare).

## Every dollar, three ways. Every month, sealed.

Books **✓**·Receipt **✓**·Stripe **✓**

[Get early access](https://tfd-ledger.pages.dev/early-access) [Verify a sample receipt](https://tfd-ledger.pages.dev/verify)

Design partners: founder onboarding, free during the pilot.