You're Switching from FreshBooks. Here's Why Freelance Writers Choose Nexa.
FreshBooks
$33/mo
$396/year — every year, forever
Nexa
$279
Once. Own it forever.
or 3 payments of $99
Break even in 8.5 months. Then it's free forever.
"Switched from FreshBooks after the last price increase. Nexa does everything I needed for $279. Wish I'd done it sooner."
— Verified freelance writer, former FreshBooks customer
The Bottom Line
Freelance Writers on FreshBooks pay $33/month — $396/year. Over three years, that's $1,329. Nexa is $279 once. Break-even runs about 8.5 months. The median freelance writer earns $48,000/year, so FreshBooks's annual cost is roughly 0.8% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
Key Numbers
$48,000
Median freelance writer income
3%
Typical SaaS spend as % of revenue
8.5 mo
Break-even vs FreshBooks
$1,050
3-year savings switching to Nexa
What FreshBooks Is Costing You
The Damage
FreshBooks monthly$33/mo
Annual drain$396/yr
Year 2 (11.4% SaaS inflation)$441
Year 3$491
3-year total$1,329
That's $1,329 gone. And you don't own anything. Stop paying, lose access.
Your FreshBooks subscription has cost you $0.00 since you opened this page.
Why Freelance Writers Leave FreshBooks
✗Client caps force upgrades ($5 to $50 clients is $20 jump)
✗Per-user pricing adds $132/year per team member
✗Loses all data access upon cancellation
✗Limited customization options
✗No bank reconciliation on Lite plan
✗When I canceled my FreshBooks subscription, I lost access to all my old invoices and customer data. It felt like canceli
✗Lite was useless after 2 months. Had to upgrade to Plus as soon as I crossed 5 clients.
Freelance Writers are leaving FreshBooks every week.
You're not the only one who's had enough.
Why This Matters for Freelance Writers
You're juggling articles for three different clients with deadlines this week. You started a blog post at 9am, switched to editing a white paper at 11, and forgot to stop your timer on Toggl. Now your time tracking is wrong and you need to invoice Client A by Friday but aren't sure how many hours you actually spent on their project. FreshBooks charges you $17/month and Toggl charges $10/month — $324/year just to track time and send invoices.
Freelance Writers face unique challenges: Tracking hours across 5-8 different client projects simultaneously. Late payments from clients — net-30 regularly turns into net-60. Managing contracts, scope creep, and revision rounds. Tax tracking and quarterly estimated payments with irregular income. FreshBooks costs $17/month just to invoice 5 clients. On top of all that, FreshBooks charges $33/month ($396/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median freelance writer earns $48,000/year. Software at $396/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your Laptop / writing workstation is yours. You bought it once. Nexa works the same way — $279 once for invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, and full accounting. All connected. All offline-capable. You own it like you own your tools.
Your Full Stack Cost
FreshBooks is just one piece. What else are you losing money on?
Want this breakdown emailed to you?
Your exact FreshBooks cost, full stack total, and what switching saves. 10 seconds.
"I was paying FreshBooks $33/month and didn't question it until I did the math. $1,329 over 3 years for tools I don't even own. Nexa was $279. Once. Done."
— Freelance writer business owner
What You Get Instead
Feature
FreshBooks
Nexa
Invoicing
✓
✓
Scheduling
✗
✓
CRM
✗
✓
Time Tracking
✗
✓
Full Accounting
✗
✓ (SIMPL)
Task Management
✗
✓
Price
$33/mo forever
$279 once or 3 × $99
3-Year Cost
$1,329
$279
Stop paying?
Lose everything
Keep everything forever
Switching Takes 1-2 Days
Most freelance writers are fully switched before the weekend.
1
Export your data
Go to Settings → Export Data. Download clients, invoices, expenses, and time entries.
2
Set up Nexa
15-minute setup. Import your client list and expense categories from CSV.
3
Parallel run
Run both for 1-2 weeks. Verify invoice history and recurring invoices.
4
Cancel FreshBooks
Cancel subscription. Download a final data export for your records.
✓ Run both in parallel. Cancel FreshBooks when you're confident. Zero risk.
What freelance writers actually deal with
Tracking hours across 5-8 different client projects simultaneously
Late payments from clients — net-30 regularly turns into net-60
Managing contracts, scope creep, and revision rounds
Tax tracking and quarterly estimated payments with irregular income
FreshBooks costs $17/month just to invoice 5 clients
A day in the life of a freelance writer
You're juggling articles for three different clients with deadlines this week. You started a blog post at 9am, switched to editing a white paper at 11, and forgot to stop your timer on Toggl. Now your time tracking is wrong and you need to invoice Client A by Friday but aren't sure how many hours you actually spent on their project. FreshBooks charges you $17/month and Toggl charges $10/month — $324/year just to track time and send invoices.
The tools a working freelance writer actually owns
Laptop / writing workstation
Grammarly or ProWritingAid subscription
Google Workspace or Microsoft 365
Reference library and style guides (AP, Chicago)
Noise-canceling headphones
Their portfolio website
Why freelance writers leave the big platforms
freshbooks: $17/month for the 'Lite' plan (5 clients). Want more clients? $30/month. Want proposals? $55/month. Prices keep climbing.
toggl: $10/month just for time tracking. Doesn't do invoicing. So you need Toggl PLUS an invoicing app. That's $27+/month combined.
harvest: $11/month per user for time tracking and basic invoicing. The invoicing templates look amateur.
Where freelance writers actually talk shop
r/freelanceWriters (Reddit)
r/copywriting (Reddit)
r/freelance (Reddit)
r/WorkOnline (Reddit)
Absolute Write Water Cooler (Forum)
Freelance Writing Jobs Forum (Forum)
Location Rebel (YouTube)
Elna Cain (YouTube)
Local freelance writers on Nexa
Real freelance writers near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee.
Are you a freelance writer? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time.
Or browse every freelance writer on Nexa →
FAQ
Is Nexa really a FreshBooks replacement for freelance writers?
For solo operators and small teams (1-5), yes. Nexa includes invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting. FreshBooks may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
$279 seems like a lot.
It's $7.75/month over 3 years. FreshBooks is $33/month — that's $1,329 over 3 years. Which is more? And if you'd rather split it, Nexa is also available as 3 payments of $99.
Can I pay in installments?
Yes. Nexa is $279 as a one-time payment, or 3 payments of $99 ($297 total). Either way it's a one-time purchase — no subscription, no recurring fees ever.
What if I don't like it?
30-day money-back guarantee. Full refund. If Nexa doesn't save you $500 in year one, you get every penny back.
Can I import my FreshBooks data?
Export your data from FreshBooks as CSV, import into Nexa in about 5 minutes.
Freelance Writers in Lakewood
The average solo operator there spends about $2,592/year on software — and freelance writer face their own version of that math. CO state licensing requirements apply.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Lakewood metro. Your situation will vary.
If You Need These — Nexa Has Them
Specific gaps Freelance Writers run into with FreshBooks, and what Nexa does instead.
✗
FreshBooks gapLimited inventory management
✓
NexaInventory tracking included for product and service businesses.
✗
FreshBooks gapNo scheduling/booking
✓
NexaBuilt-in scheduling and booking — no separate tier.
✗
FreshBooks gapBasic reporting compared to QB
✓
NexaP&L, balance sheet, and 21 reports — built in.
Where Freelance Writers Talk Shop
If you want to compare notes or see how other freelance writers are running their tools, here's where the conversation happens.
Absolute Write Water Cooler, Freelance Writing Jobs Forum
YouTube
Location Rebel, Elna Cain, Zulie Rane
Podcasts
The Copywriter Club Podcast, High-Income Business Writing, The Freelance Writing Podcast
"FreshBooks raised prices again and I was done. Found Nexa — $279 once. I own it. No more 'we're updating our pricing' emails. Best business decision this year."
— Freelance writer, switched from FreshBooks
Stop Losing $396/Year to FreshBooks
$1,329 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.