Best for
Best for finance teams paying many suppliers, contractors or creators across borders, where onboarding and tax compliance matter more than bookkeeping.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Accounting & Invoicing Comparison
Tipalti vs. Wave
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for freelancers and very small businesses that want free invoicing and bookkeeping, with paid add-ons for bank automation, receipts and payroll.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Tipalti | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Accounts Payable from $99 / month; Mass Payments from $249 / month Both figures are the published starting points and include unlimited users, with no per-user or per-approver fee. Transaction pricing per invoice and per payment comes on top, and the monthly cost depends on payment volume, number of legal entities, enabled modules and the payment methods and currencies used. There is no free tier; mid-market and enterprise pricing is quoted. | lower value Free; Pro from $19 / month The Starter plan is free with unlimited invoicing and bookkeeping. The Pro plan adds bank connections, automatic categorization, invoice branding and reduced payment fees. Receipt scanning (from $8 / month) and Wave Payroll (from $25 / month) are paid add-ons. |
| Free trial | No free tier | Not stated |
| API | Yes, a documented REST API plus legacy SOAP APIs, an iFrame SDK and webhooks | Not stated |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS) | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Invoicing and quotes | Incoming supplier invoices only: AI invoice capture, two-way and three-way purchase order matching, approval routing and payment scheduling, with self-billing available in Mass Payments. Customer invoicing and accounts receivable are not among the listed modules | Yes, unlimited professional invoices, estimates and bills on every plan, with recurring billing, online payments and automated late-payment reminders on Pro |
| Bookkeeping and bank feeds | No general ledger of its own; bills, payments and GL accounts sync with Oracle NetSuite, Sage, QuickBooks, Xero, SAP Business One and Microsoft Dynamics GP or Business Central | Yes; the Pro plan connects bank accounts and auto-imports, merges and categorizes transactions, while the free Starter plan records them manually |
| Expenses and receipts | Yes, an Expense Management module with corporate card support for Mastercard, Visa, American Express and the Tipalti Card, an employee mobile app for receipt capture, and reimbursements across more than 200 countries | Receipt scanning with OCR is a paid add-on (from $8 / month); expenses are otherwise tracked through categorized transactions and the Tags feature |
| Tax and compliance | Yes, a continuously maintained tax engine covering W-9 and W-8 collection, 1099 filing, VAT and DAC7 reporting, alongside AML, OFAC and sanctions screening of payees; SOC and GDPR certified | Through the paid Wave Payroll add-on: automatic payroll tax payments and filings with state agencies and the IRS, excluding 1099 filings, plus W-2, W-3 and 1099-NEC forms in the US and T4 and T4A slips and summaries in Canada |
| Payroll | No payroll module; the platform covers accounts payable, mass payouts, procurement, expenses and treasury | Available as a paid add-on, Wave Payroll, from $25 / month |
| Reports and exports | Yes, spend analytics across the procurement and payables flow, payment reconciliation across currencies and subsidiaries, cash visibility and forecasting in Treasury, and a Reporting Agent that builds reports from a written request | Yes, financial reports and dashboard insights, with a Tags feature for tracking profitability by project or client |
| Integrations and API | Yes, a documented REST API covering payees, invoices, payments, payment terms, payer entities, GL accounts, tax codes and custom fields, plus legacy SOAP APIs authenticated with API keys, an iFrame SDK for embedded payee onboarding, and webhooks with a three-attempt retry policy | Yes, a documented GraphQL API on Wave's developer portal, with OAuth applications, a single public endpoint, webhooks and an API playground |
| AI features | stated Yes | No |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Not stated | Email helpdesk, Chat |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Guided onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized |
| Integrations | more entries Oracle NetSuite, Sage, QuickBooks, Xero, SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Slack | Plaid |
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Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Tipalti Accounts Payable from $99 / month; Mass Payments from $249 / month Wave Free; Pro from $19 / month
- Company size Tipalti Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Wave Freelancers, Small and mid-sized
- AI features Tipalti Yes Wave No
- Invoicing and quotes Tipalti Incoming supplier invoices only: AI invoice capture, two-way and three-way purchase order matching, approval routing and payment scheduling, with self-billing available in Mass Payments. Customer invoicing and accounts receivable are not among the listed modules Wave Yes, unlimited professional invoices, estimates and bills on every plan, with recurring billing, online payments and automated late-payment reminders on Pro
- Bookkeeping and bank feeds Tipalti No general ledger of its own; bills, payments and GL accounts sync with Oracle NetSuite, Sage, QuickBooks, Xero, SAP Business One and Microsoft Dynamics GP or Business Central Wave Yes; the Pro plan connects bank accounts and auto-imports, merges and categorizes transactions, while the free Starter plan records them manually
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Tipalti
Strengths
- Payouts to more than 200 countries and territories in 120 currencies across over 50 payment methods
- Suppliers and payees onboard themselves and supply their own banking and tax details
- Maintained tax engine for W-9, W-8, 1099, VAT and DAC7, with AML and sanctions screening
- Unlimited users on both published plans, with no per-user or per-approver fee
- Documented REST API, iFrame SDK and webhooks for embedding the payment flow elsewhere
Limitations
- No free tier, and transaction fees per invoice and per payment come on top of the monthly price
- Not a general ledger; a separate accounting system is still needed
- No customer invoicing or accounts receivable
- Procurement, Expense Management and Treasury are separate modules rather than part of the entry price
- Complex implementations may need paid professional services
Wave
Strengths
- Free Starter plan with unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping
- Pro plan connects bank accounts and auto-categorizes transactions
- Add-ons for receipt scanning, payroll and expert bookkeeping through Wave Advisors
- Accepts credit card, bank transfer and Apple Pay payments
Limitations
- Bank connections, invoice branding and reduced fees require the paid Pro plan
- Receipt scanning and payroll are paid add-ons rather than included
Plans
Pricing
Tipalti
- Accounts Payable $99 / month Published starting price. Unlimited users, self-service supplier portal and core AP automation, with cashback rewards on card payments. Transaction pricing per invoice and per payment comes on top.
- Mass Payments $249 / month Published starting price. Unlimited users, self-service payee portal and core automation, with standard implementation included. Transaction pricing per payment comes on top.
- Custom Not stated Mid-market and enterprise pricing is quoted on request, based on the number of payments processed, the number of legal entities, the modules and features enabled and the global payment methods and currencies used.
Wave
- Starter Free Unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping, plus the mobile app. Online payments cost 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction.
- Pro $19 / month Adds bank connections with automatic import and categorization, custom invoice branding, automated late-payment reminders and reduced payment-processing fees. Also $190 / year.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Tipalti
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Wave
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Tipalti https://tipalti.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-08
Wave https://www.waveapps.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-12
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.