Stripe Invoicing is built for payment collection, not for the full invoicing workflow a freelancer needs. Tidybill adds time tracking, project management, a client portal, and automated reminders, while still using Stripe to process payments.
Why freelancers outgrow Stripe Invoicing
Stripe is an excellent payment platform. Its invoicing feature is functional but designed for developers and businesses that need a simple billing layer, not a full freelancer billing workflow.
Stripe Invoicing has no time tracking. Freelancers who bill hourly need to track their time elsewhere, calculate totals manually, then enter line items into each invoice. There is no way to pull logged hours directly into a Stripe invoice.
Stripe's free invoicing tier covers up to 25 invoices per month. Beyond that, Stripe Invoicing Plus charges 0.4% of each invoice paid. On top of standard payment processing fees, this adds up for higher-volume freelancers.
Stripe does not provide a portal where clients can log in to view all their invoices, check outstanding balances, or download PDFs from a single place. Each invoice arrives by email as a standalone item.
Stripe sends automatic reminder emails but the scheduling options are limited. Tidybill allows you to set custom reminder schedules: send a reminder 3 days before due, on the due date, and 7 days after. Each template is editable.
Stripe Invoicing is reliable for straightforward billing. If you need to send a payment link to a client or charge a card on file, Stripe handles it cleanly. The product integrates directly with Stripe's payment infrastructure, so if you are already a Stripe user, adding invoicing requires no new accounts or integrations.
Stripe Invoicing also has a strong API, which appeals to developers who want to automate billing programmatically. For SaaS products that need to send invoices to their own customers at scale, Stripe is often the right choice.
Freelancers need more than payment collection. A full invoicing workflow includes tracking the time you spend on a project, building an invoice from that time data, sending it to a client with your branding, following up automatically on late payments, and giving the client a way to review and pay all their invoices in one place. Stripe covers the payment step but not the rest.
Stripe Invoicing has two tiers:
Note that Stripe's standard card payment processing fees (typically 1.5% + 20p in the UK, or 2.9% + 30c in the US) apply on all card payments regardless of which invoicing tier you use. For current pricing, check the Stripe Invoicing pricing page.
Tidybill uses Stripe Connect for online payments. When a client pays an invoice online through Tidybill, the payment is processed via Stripe. Stripe's standard card processing fees apply. Tidybill's subscription fee covers the invoicing platform: $7/month (Starter) or $15/month (Pro) billed annually.
This means you get Stripe's reliable payment infrastructure plus a full invoicing platform on top of it. See our pricing page for what each plan includes, or the PayPal Invoicing alternative page if you are also evaluating PayPal.
Stripe allows you to export customer and invoice data from the Dashboard. Export your customer list as a CSV and import it into Tidybill under Settings. Your Stripe account and existing payment history remain intact. You can keep using Stripe for payment processing while Tidybill handles the invoicing layer.
Side by side
Beyond payment collection.
| Feature | Tidybill | Stripe Invoicing |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | $0 free / $7 Starter |
$0 (25 inv/mo free) |
| Per-invoice fee | None |
0.4% per invoice (Plus) |
| Time tracking | Built-in |
Not available |
| Client portal | Yes |
Not available |
| Quotes and estimates | Yes |
Not available |
| Payment reminders | Customisable schedules |
Basic automatic reminders |
| Payment processing | Via Stripe Connect |
Native Stripe |
Track time, send invoices, automate reminders, and get paid via Stripe. Start free, no credit card required.
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