Freelance Writers on Wave pay $19/month — $228/year. Over three years, that's $684. Nexa is $279 once. Break-even runs about 14.7 months. The median freelance writer earns $48,000/year, so Wave's annual cost is roughly 0.5% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
That's $684 gone. And you don't own anything. Stop paying, lose access.
See the full history of Wave price changes in the SaaS Graveyard →
You're not the only one who's had enough.
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, Wave charges $19/month ($228/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median freelance writer earns $48,000/year. Software at $228/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.
Wave is just one piece. What else are you losing money on?
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Your exact Wave cost, full stack total, and what switching saves. 10 seconds.
| Feature | Wave | Nexa |
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| CRM | ✗ | ✓ |
| Time Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Full Accounting | ✓ | ✓ (SIMPL) |
| Task Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Works offline | ✗ | ✓ |
| Price | $19/mo forever | $279 once or 3 × $99 |
| 3-Year Cost | $684 | $279 |
| Stop paying? | Lose everything | Keep everything forever |
Most freelance writers are fully switched before the weekend.
Go to Settings → Data Export. Download customers, invoices, transactions, and accounts.
15-minute setup. Import your client list and bank transactions from CSV.
Run both for 1-2 weeks. Re-create recurring invoices in Nexa and check your bank imports.
Cancel paid features. Your free account data stays accessible for records.
I juggle five or six clients at a time: a couple of monthly blog retainers, a white paper for a software company, and one-off articles from editors I've worked with for years. A piece starts with the brief and, more often than not, the questions the brief didn't answer: who's the reader, what should they do next, what's the angle nobody has covered. Then research, interviews when the piece needs a real voice, an outline the client signs off on, and the draft. Writing is maybe half the time; the rest is reading, revising and checking every fact and quote. Revisions are where projects go sideways, so my contract says two rounds and I stick to it. Pitching never stops: story ideas to editors, follow-ups on the ones that went quiet, and keeping my portfolio current. I invoice on delivery or at the end of the month for retainers, and I track who pays in thirty days and who needs three reminders. Quarterly taxes are on my calendar, because nobody withholds anything for me.
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 →
For solo operators and small teams (1-5), yes. Nexa includes invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting. Wave may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
It's $7.75/month over 3 years. Wave is $19/month — that's $684 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 Wave as CSV, import into Nexa in about 5 minutes.
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.
Specific gaps Freelance Writers run into with Wave, and what Nexa does instead.
If you want to compare notes or see how other freelance writers are running their tools, here's where the conversation happens.
$684 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.
Get Nexa — $279 Once