You're Switching from FreshBooks. Here's Why Virtual Assistants 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 virtual assistant, former FreshBooks customer
The Bottom Line
Virtual Assistants 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 virtual assistant earns $38,000/year, so FreshBooks's annual cost is roughly 1.0% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
Key Numbers
$38,000
Median virtual assistant 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 Virtual Assistants 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.
Virtual Assistants are leaving FreshBooks every week.
You're not the only one who's had enough.
Why This Matters for Virtual Assistants
You support 7 clients today. Client A needs travel booking, Client B needs their inbox managed, Client C wants you to research vendors for their event. You switch between tasks every 30 minutes and your Toggl timer is on the wrong client again. Client D's invoice is 21 days late and they haven't responded to your follow-up. You're paying $10/month for Toggl and $17/month for FreshBooks — $324/year — and you bill at $25/hour. That's 13 hours of work just to pay for software.
Virtual Assistants face unique challenges: Tracking hours across 5-10 clients billing at different hourly rates. Clients expecting 'always available' response times. Scope creep when 'admin support' expands to social media, bookkeeping, and personal errands. Late payments from clients who see VA work as low-priority. On top of all that, FreshBooks charges $33/month ($396/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median virtual assistant earns $38,000/year. Software at $396/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your Home office setup (desk, chair, dual monitors) 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."
— Virtual assistant 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 virtual assistants 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 virtual assistants actually deal with
Tracking hours across 5-10 clients billing at different hourly rates
Clients expecting 'always available' response times
Scope creep when 'admin support' expands to social media, bookkeeping, and personal errands
Late payments from clients who see VA work as low-priority
A day in the life of a virtual assistant
You support 7 clients today. Client A needs travel booking, Client B needs their inbox managed, Client C wants you to research vendors for their event. You switch between tasks every 30 minutes and your Toggl timer is on the wrong client again. Client D's invoice is 21 days late and they haven't responded to your follow-up. You're paying $10/month for Toggl and $17/month for FreshBooks — $324/year — and you bill at $25/hour. That's 13 hours of work just to pay for software.
The tools a working virtual assistant actually owns
Home office setup (desk, chair, dual monitors)
High-speed internet and backup connection
Project management tools (Asana, Trello, ClickUp)
Communication tools (Slack, Zoom)
Why virtual assistants leave the big platforms
toggl: $10/month for a timer. When you're billing at $25/hour, that's almost half an hour of work per month just for the timer app.
freshbooks: $17/month for 5 clients. Most VAs have more than 5. Next tier is $30/month — over an hour of billable work gone.
harvest: Time tracking and invoicing in one — but $11/month and the invoicing is too basic for client-facing work.
Where virtual assistants actually talk shop
r/VirtualAssistant (Reddit)
r/WorkOnline (Reddit)
r/freelance (Reddit)
FreeU Academy Community (Forum)
Abbey Ashley (YouTube)
Esther Inman (YouTube)
$10K VA (YouTube)
Local virtual assistants on Nexa
Real virtual assistants near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee.
Are you a virtual assistant? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time.
Or browse every virtual assistant on Nexa →
FAQ
Is Nexa really a FreshBooks replacement for virtual assistants?
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.
Virtual Assistants in Escondido
The average solo operator there spends about $2,832/year on software — and virtual assistant face their own version of that math. CA state licensing requirements apply.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Escondido metro. Your situation will vary.
If You Need These — Nexa Has Them
Specific gaps Virtual Assistants 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 Virtual Assistants Talk Shop
If you want to compare notes or see how other virtual assistants are running their tools, here's where the conversation happens.
Reddit
r/VirtualAssistant, r/WorkOnline, r/freelance
Forums
FreeU Academy Community
YouTube
Abbey Ashley, Esther Inman, $10K VA
Podcasts
The Virtual Assistant Podcast, VA Mastered 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."
— Virtual assistant, switched from FreshBooks
Stop Losing $396/Year to FreshBooks
$1,329 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.