You're Switching from FreshBooks. Here's Why Home Bakers 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 home baker, former FreshBooks customer
The Bottom Line
Home Bakers 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 home baker earns $28,000/year, so FreshBooks's annual cost is roughly 1.4% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
Key Numbers
$28,000
Median home baker income
2.5%
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 Home Bakers 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.
Home Bakers are leaving FreshBooks every week.
You're not the only one who's had enough.
Why This Matters for Home Bakers
You have 3 custom cake orders this weekend — a birthday cake, a baby shower cake, and two dozen cupcakes for a corporate event. The birthday cake client changed the flavor yesterday and you already bought ingredients. You need to price the corporate cupcakes but butter went up 20% since your last order. The baby shower client wants delivery 45 minutes away — did you charge a delivery fee? Your costs are tracked in a notebook, your orders come through Instagram DMs, and invoicing is Venmo requests sent manually.
Home Bakers face unique challenges: Pricing baked goods when ingredient costs change monthly. Tracking ingredient costs per order for accurate profit margins. Managing custom orders with deposits, dietary restrictions, and delivery logistics. Cottage food law compliance — order limits, labeling requirements. On top of all that, FreshBooks charges $33/month ($396/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median home baker earns $28,000/year. Software at $396/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your Stand mixer (KitchenAid, commercial) 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."
— Home baker 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 home bakers 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 home bakers actually deal with
Pricing baked goods when ingredient costs change monthly
Tracking ingredient costs per order for accurate profit margins
Managing custom orders with deposits, dietary restrictions, and delivery logistics
Cottage food law compliance — order limits, labeling requirements
A day in the life of a home baker
You have 3 custom cake orders this weekend — a birthday cake, a baby shower cake, and two dozen cupcakes for a corporate event. The birthday cake client changed the flavor yesterday and you already bought ingredients. You need to price the corporate cupcakes but butter went up 20% since your last order. The baby shower client wants delivery 45 minutes away — did you charge a delivery fee? Your costs are tracked in a notebook, your orders come through Instagram DMs, and invoicing is Venmo requests sent manually.
The tools a working home baker actually owns
Stand mixer (KitchenAid, commercial)
Cake decorating supplies and turntables
Commercial-grade oven or home oven
Packaging and delivery supplies
Why home bakers leave the big platforms
square: Good for farmers market sales but can't handle custom orders, deposits, or ingredient cost tracking per recipe.
quickbooks: $55/month for a cottage baking business making $28K/year. That's over 2% of gross revenue on accounting software.
wave: Free invoicing but can't calculate cost-per-recipe or help with custom order management.
Where home bakers actually talk shop
r/Baking (Reddit)
r/CakeBusiness (Reddit)
r/cottagefoods (Reddit)
CakeCentral.com Forum (Forum)
Chelsweets (YouTube)
Cake by Courtney (YouTube)
How To Cake It (YouTube)
Preppy Kitchen (YouTube)
Local home bakers on Nexa
Real home bakers near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee.
Are you a home baker? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time.
Or browse every home baker on Nexa →
FAQ
Is Nexa really a FreshBooks replacement for home bakers?
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.
Home Bakers in Cambridge
The average solo operator there spends about $3,720/year on software — and home baker face their own version of that math. MA state licensing requirements apply.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Cambridge metro. Your situation will vary.
If You Need These — Nexa Has Them
Specific gaps Home Bakers 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 Home Bakers Talk Shop
If you want to compare notes or see how other home bakers are running their tools, here's where the conversation happens.
Reddit
r/Baking, r/CakeBusiness, r/cottagefoods
Forums
CakeCentral.com Forum
YouTube
Chelsweets, Cake by Courtney, How To Cake It, Preppy Kitchen
Podcasts
The Home Baker's 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."
— Home baker, switched from FreshBooks
Stop Losing $396/Year to FreshBooks
$1,329 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.