You're Switching from FreshBooks. Here's Why Graphic Designers 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 graphic designer, former FreshBooks customer
The Bottom Line
Graphic Designers 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 graphic designer earns $52,000/year, so FreshBooks's annual cost is roughly 0.8% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
Key Numbers
$52,000
Median graphic designer income
3.5%
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 Graphic Designers 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.
Graphic Designers are leaving FreshBooks every week.
You're not the only one who's had enough.
Why This Matters for Graphic Designers
You're designing a brand identity for Client A while Client B's website mockups are due Friday. You switch between projects four times today and your Toggl timer is on the wrong client for an hour. Client C emails asking for 'just one small change' to the logo you delivered last month — revision 8 on a project you quoted flat-rate. By the end of the day you've worked 9 hours but can only bill for 6 because the rest was admin, emails, and untracked context-switching.
Graphic Designers face unique challenges: Tracking billable hours across 5+ client projects. Scope creep — 'one more revision' eating into fixed-price projects. Separating creative time (billable) from admin time (not billable). FreshBooks + Toggl combined costing $27+/month for basic time tracking and invoicing. On top of all that, FreshBooks charges $33/month ($396/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median graphic designer earns $52,000/year. Software at $396/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your Adobe Creative Cloud subscription 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."
— Graphic designer 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 graphic designers 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 graphic designers actually deal with
Tracking billable hours across 5+ client projects
Scope creep — 'one more revision' eating into fixed-price projects
Separating creative time (billable) from admin time (not billable)
FreshBooks + Toggl combined costing $27+/month for basic time tracking and invoicing
A day in the life of a graphic designer
You're designing a brand identity for Client A while Client B's website mockups are due Friday. You switch between projects four times today and your Toggl timer is on the wrong client for an hour. Client C emails asking for 'just one small change' to the logo you delivered last month — revision 8 on a project you quoted flat-rate. By the end of the day you've worked 9 hours but can only bill for 6 because the rest was admin, emails, and untracked context-switching.
The tools a working graphic designer actually owns
Adobe Creative Cloud subscription
High-resolution monitor (color-calibrated)
Drawing tablet (Wacom, iPad Pro)
Font licenses and stock subscriptions
Why graphic designers leave the big platforms
freshbooks: $17-55/month depending on client count. Good invoicing but the time tracking is bolted on and clunky.
toggl: $10/month for time tracking alone. No invoicing. You need Toggl PLUS FreshBooks — that's $27+/month combined.
harvest: $11/month for mediocre time tracking and basic invoicing. The reports are good but the rest is underwhelming.
Where graphic designers actually talk shop
r/graphic_design (Reddit)
r/freelanceDesigners (Reddit)
r/Design (Reddit)
r/logodesign (Reddit)
Dribbble Community (Forum)
Behance Forum (Forum)
Designer Hangout (Slack) (Forum)
The Futur (YouTube)
Local graphic designers on Nexa
Real graphic designers near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee.
Are you a graphic designer? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time.
Or browse every graphic designer on Nexa →
FAQ
Is Nexa really a FreshBooks replacement for graphic designers?
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.
Graphic Designers in Gilbert
The average solo operator there spends about $2,520/year on software — and graphic designer face their own version of that math. AZ state licensing requirements apply.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Gilbert metro. Your situation will vary.
If You Need These — Nexa Has Them
Specific gaps Graphic Designers 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 Graphic Designers Talk Shop
If you want to compare notes or see how other graphic designers are running their tools, here's where the conversation happens.
The Futur, Will Paterson, Flux Academy, Satori Graphics
Podcasts
The Futur Podcast, The Honest Designers Show, Overtime by Dribbble
"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."
— Graphic designer, switched from FreshBooks
Stop Losing $396/Year to FreshBooks
$1,329 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.