I've been a loyal Freshbooks client for a long time now. Freshbooks provides an easy way to send invoices to clients, set up payment options, and to keep track of all expenses. I love it. But, there's another contender in the invoicing and expense ring called Expensify.

What does Expensify offer that Freshbooks doesn't? Let's take a comparative look at both invoicing programs.

Freshbooks VS Expensify

Right off the bat, I don't love that you have to purchase a Professional Expensify account in order to send out invoices. Freshbooks lets you do this for free if you keep it to a handful of customers. That said, the invoicing tool is simple enough to use.

But a closer look at both Expensify and Freshbooks reveals something that most accounting sites aren't making very clear: these two tools aren't really competing for your invoicing business. In fact, Expensify and Freshbooks actually work together - you could say that they even compliment each other.

Let's Back Up...

FreshBooks is solely focused on invoicing. This site provides a fast way to send out invoices to clients. If the only thing that you want to do is send invoices, FreshBooks is really a no-brainer. If you're looking to track expenses, Expensify offers a lot of report options - but it's not a standalone invoicing tool.

Expensify's Territory

Expensify is really an expense tracking tool. Need to calculate expenses paid out on a recent business trip? Expensify is the best option. Want to send a list of expenses to a client? Yep, this is the tool to use. Sure, Expensify does have that invoicing option, but invoicing isn't this company's top priority - and that's why Expensify connects and compliments FreshBooks.

Using Expensify with FreshBooks

Expensify easily integrates with FreshBooks, so you can keep track of your expenses and send out invoices. When you combine both of these tools, what you will have is a complete expense and invoicing option that you can use just about anywhere you want to.

So, you see, Expensify and FreshBooks aren't really competitors (as so many business magazines would have you believe). Instead, these two companies work together to provide contractors and freelancers with the best tools to get all of those tedious accounting jobs done. Perhaps that's why Expensify doesn't make its invoicing option free - it's not why people use the program.

Pricing and Details

FreshBooks lets you set up accounts for five clients for free. After that, you have to pay for an upgraded account (worth it if you have a lot of clients or send out a lot of invoices). Expensify lets you use expense tracking tools for free, but you'll have to upgrade to use the invoicing tool. As you can see, if you combine the two you will have a lot of free options.

Both sites offer apps, and both sites are great ways to get your invoicing and expense reports done. Were you to add QuickBooks to the mix, you'd have a complete accounting program that's somewhat customized. Sounds good, right?