Label 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 Label Designer earns $45,000/year, so FreshBooks's annual cost is roughly 0.9% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
That's $1,329 gone. And you don't own anything. Stop paying, lose access.
You're not the only one who's had enough.
Label Designers face unique challenges: Clients don't account for regulatory text (TTB alcohol statements, FDA nutrition and allergen panels, government warnings), which is non-negotiable layout space that arrives late and constrains the design. Curved-container distortion means a label that looks balanced flat looks crooked wrapped around a bottle, and correcting for the wrap is invisible labor in a flat fee. Substrate and finish choices (clear-on-clear, foil, textured stock, waterproofing for chilled bottles) come from the printer and force art adjustments nobody quoted. A single label spawns a whole product range plus size variants for different bottle and jar formats, each needing its own dieline and relayout, with no per-SKU pricing in place. On top of all that, FreshBooks charges $33/month ($396/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median Label Designer earns $45,000/year. Software at $396/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your Illustrator for label layout and dielines 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.
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.
| 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 |
Most label designers are fully switched before the weekend.
Go to Settings → Export Data. Download clients, invoices, expenses, and time entries.
15-minute setup. Import your client list and expense categories from CSV.
Run both for 1-2 weeks. Verify invoice history and recurring invoices.
Cancel subscription. Download a final data export for your records.
You start by pulling the exact label dieline for the client's bottle, a tall slim format, because a label designed for the wrong dimensions wraps wrong and the seam lands in the worst place. Morning is layout in Illustrator: the brand name, the product story, the imagery, all balanced within the label's safe area, with the seam allowance kept clear of anything important. This is a kombucha label, so the FDA nutrition panel, ingredients, and allergen statement are required, and the client's text is longer than the space wants, so you set it legibly small without crowding the front. Around eleven you mock it on a 3D bottle to check how the design reads curved, and the logo that looked centered flat sits off to one side once wrapped, so you shift it. Lunch is at the desk reviewing brand colors against the Pantone guide because the brand green has to match across every product. Afternoon the printer specs come in: clear-on-clear stock with a white underprint behind the text, which changes how you build the white layer, so you add and mark it. You print a proof on adhesive stock and wrap it on a real bottle to confirm. The client emails that two more flavors are coming, each needing its own color and relayout, and you flag the per-flavor work. Late day you finalize the dieline, the white-layer build, and the scannable barcode, label the spot and underprint layers, and log the compliance text and the upcoming variants to the tracker.
Real label designers near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you a label designer? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every label designer on Nexa →
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.
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.
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.
30-day money-back guarantee. Full refund. If Nexa doesn't save you $500 in year one, you get every penny back.
Export your data from FreshBooks as CSV, import into Nexa in about 5 minutes.
The average solo operator there spends about $2,880/year on software — and Label Designer face their own version of that math. CT state licensing requirements apply.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Bridgeport metro. Your situation will vary.
Specific gaps Label Designers run into with FreshBooks, and what Nexa does instead.
$1,329 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.
Get Nexa — $279 Once