Best Self-Hosted Invoicing & Billing Tools

Quick Picks

Use Case	Best Choice	Why
Full-featured invoicing	Invoice Ninja	Client portal, recurring invoices, payment gateways, expense tracking
Simple invoice generation	Crater	Clean UI focused on invoicing basics without bloat
Micro-business / freelancer	InvoicePlane	Lightweight, PHP-based, minimal server requirements

Why Self-Host Invoicing?

FreshBooks charges $17-55/month. QuickBooks Online starts at $30/month. Xero is $15-78/month. For freelancers and small businesses sending 10-50 invoices per month, that’s $200-700/year for what amounts to generating PDFs and tracking payments. Self-hosted invoicing tools do the same job with no per-user fees, no feature gates, and complete data ownership.

The Full Ranking

1. Invoice Ninja — Best Overall

Invoice Ninja is the most mature self-hosted invoicing platform. It handles the full billing cycle: quotes, invoices, recurring billing, payment processing (Stripe, PayPal, and 40+ gateways), expense tracking, time tracking, and client portals where customers can view and pay invoices directly. The v5 rewrite (Laravel + React) is modern and actively maintained.

Pros:

• 40+ payment gateway integrations
• Client portal for self-service payments
• Recurring invoices with auto-billing
• Expense tracking and vendor management
• Time tracking built-in (or integrates with external tools)
• White-labeling and custom branding
• REST API for automation
• Mobile apps (iOS and Android)

Cons:

• Heavier than simpler tools (~200 MB RAM with MariaDB)
• Feature-rich UI has a learning curve
• Some advanced features require the Ninja plan
• PDF generation needs a headless Chrome instance for best results

Best for: Freelancers and agencies who need professional invoicing with payment processing.

[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Invoice Ninja]

2. Crater — Best for Simplicity

Crater focuses on the basics: create invoices, send them, track payments. No time tracking, no complex project hierarchies — just clean invoicing. Built with Laravel and Vue.js, the interface is modern and uncluttered. If you just need to generate professional invoices and get paid, Crater does it without the complexity of a full billing suite.

Pros:

• Clean, modern UI
• Invoice and estimate generation
• Recurring invoices
• Payment tracking
• Multi-currency support
• Custom fields and templates
• Tax management

Cons:

• Fewer payment gateways than Invoice Ninja
• No expense tracking
• No time tracking
• Smaller community
• Mobile app discontinued

Best for: Small businesses that want invoicing without feature bloat.

3. InvoicePlane — Best Lightweight Option

InvoicePlane is a fork of the original FusionInvoice, built in CodeIgniter PHP. It’s lightweight, runs on basic LAMP hosting, and handles invoicing essentials: quotes, invoices, payments, and basic reporting. Development has slowed, but the core functionality works and the codebase is simple enough to customize.

Pros:

• Runs on basic PHP hosting — no Node.js, no Docker required
• Simple installation
• Quotes, invoices, payments
• PDF generation
• Minimal resource requirements

Cons:

• Development has slowed significantly
• Dated UI compared to newer tools
• Limited integrations
• No payment gateway support (manual payment recording only)
• No recurring invoices in the free version

Best for: Solo freelancers who need basic invoice generation with minimal infrastructure.

Comparison Table

Feature	Invoice Ninja	Crater	InvoicePlane
Invoicing	Full (quotes, invoices, credits)	Full (quotes, invoices)	Basic (quotes, invoices)
Recurring billing	Yes (auto-charge capable)	Yes	No (free version)
Payment gateways	40+ (Stripe, PayPal, etc.)	Limited	None (manual only)
Client portal	Yes	No	No
Expense tracking	Yes	No	No
Time tracking	Yes	No	No
Multi-currency	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tax management	Yes	Yes	Basic
PDF generation	Yes (Chrome + Snappdf)	Yes	Yes
REST API	Full REST API	Limited	None
Docker support	Official image	Community image	Community image
RAM usage	~200 MB	~100 MB	~50 MB
License	Elastic License (source available)	AGPL-3.0	MIT

Honorable Mentions

• SolidInvoice — Symfony-based, open-source (MIT). Supports quotes, invoices, and recurring billing. Good middle ground between Crater and Invoice Ninja.
• Akaunting — More of an accounting suite than pure invoicing. Handles double-entry bookkeeping, banking, and invoicing. Useful if you need accounting beyond invoicing.

Related

• Self-Hosted Alternatives to Wave Accounting
• Invoice Ninja Setup Guide
• Crater Setup Guide
• SolidInvoice Setup Guide
• Best Self-Hosted Time Tracking
• Best Self-Hosted Personal Finance
• Best Self-Hosted CRM
• Best Self-Hosted E-Commerce
• Docker Compose Basics
• Reverse Proxy Setup
• Backup Strategy