Wave vs Nexa The Real Comparison for Jewelry Makers
Wave
$19/mo ($228/yr)
VS
Nexa
$279 once — own forever
or 3 payments of $99
Break even: 14.7 months at Wave's current price.
Does Wave Fit Jewelry Makers? Our Read
What jewelry makers need from their software, from sources outside Wave and outside Nexa:
Jewelry makers who take large cash payments, for example on custom or bridal commissions, need to track them for IRS Form 8300. A person who receives more than $10,000 in cash must report it to the IRS. Payments that are linked within 24 hours are added together, and so are related transactions within 12 months. The form is due within 15 days after the cash is received. (irs.gov)
A custom order paid for in cash installments needs a running total per customer. A jewelry trade magazine gives the example of a $25,000 sale paid in five $5,000 cash installments, which still requires an 8300. It also says money orders and traveler's checks count as cash equivalents. Cashier's checks and bank-certified checks are also treated as cash. (jckonline.com)
Jewelry sold at craft shows and similar events is taxable in many states, so the maker needs to record sales tax by sale and by venue or state. Minnesota's Department of Revenue lists jewelry among taxable arts and crafts, and says sales at craft shows are subject to sales tax. These in-person sales sit outside any online marketplace's tax collection. (revenue.state.mn.us)
Makers need to separate the cost of materials that become part of a piece from tools and other supplies. Minnesota says component parts and materials that become part of the product, such as paint and glue, can be bought exempt from sales tax when making items for sale. For jewelry that would cover items like stones, findings and metal, but the page does not list them. The inventory records should show which purchases went into finished pieces. (revenue.state.mn.us)
Product records and listings need the correct karat fineness for each piece. Under the FTC Jewelry Guides (16 CFR 23.3), a gold alloy product may be described as "gold" only when the word is immediately preceded by a correct designation of the karat fineness. The records need to show the metal and fineness for each item sold. (law.cornell.edu)
Wave covers the bookkeeping side of this trade. Invoices, estimates and bookkeeping records are on its free plan. The $19 a month Pro plan adds automatic bank import, receipt capture and late-payment reminders. A maker can run it without an accountant. Wave does not list a running cash total per customer, which is what a custom or bridal maker needs to watch the IRS Form 8300 reporting threshold. That total has to add up linked payments and installments, and it has to count money orders and cashier's checks as cash. Wave also does not list sales tax records by sale and venue, a split between materials that go into finished pieces and tools, or a field for metal and karat fineness on each item.
Nexa lists sales tax tracking, expenses, purchase orders, receipt scanning, a CRM with notes and tags, jobs with costing and profit per job, and a simple stock count per product. Those fit craft-show tax records and commission work better than anything Wave lists. Nexa does not list a cash-total or Form 8300 feature, and it does not list a metal or fineness field. It has no full inventory management, so it cannot trace which purchases became finished pieces. It has no point-of-sale or card reader for craft-show sales. Card payments go only through the maker's own Stripe account. Nexa is software you own and run yourself, with no hosted support desk. If you use its automated emails, they send only while Nexa is open on one of your devices.
Over three years Wave Pro costs $684 at $228 a year. Nexa costs $279 once, or 3 payments of $99. Adding optional Cloud Sync at $4.99 a month brings it to $458.64, and without sync it runs on one device. A maker who relies on Wave's bank import and hosted support can stay put for now. A maker who mainly needs sales tax tracking could look at Nexa. Neither tool covers cash-reporting totals or karat records, so for those keep a separate log or use a jewelry-specific inventory and point-of-sale system.
Our read for jewelry makers: Neither Wave nor Nexa tracks cash-payment totals per customer or metal and karat fineness per item, so a maker needs a jewelry-specific inventory and point-of-sale system for those.
Read on each linked page in October 2026. Check them again before you decide; vendors change plans often.
Bottom Line
Wave costs jewelry makers $228/year at today's list price. Nexa is $279 once for invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking and accounting in one suite — so after 14.7 months it has cost less than Wave, and you own it after that. What it is not: hosted-for-you software with a support desk and a roadmap you can lobby. That is the trade, and the rest of this page is the detail behind it.
Can it pay for itself?
Nexa is $279 once, about $23 a month over its first year. Its Drain Guard reads your expenses (from a linked bank, an imported statement, or ones you type in), finds the charges that repeat, and adds them up by the month. Keep or Cut then walks you through them one at a time. Cancel $23 a month of charges you'd forgotten about and Nexa has paid for itself inside the first year, before you count the Wave bill you'd stop paying.
It depends on what you find and what you cancel, so we don't promise a number. In our demo data, Drain Guard finds 5 subscriptions adding up to $110.13 a month. That is sample data, not a customer's.
The verdict for jewelry makers: Neither Wave nor Nexa is the main system for this work; start with software built for it. Nexa only makes sense beside it, at $279 once against $684 for Wave over three years.
Choose Nexa if:
You're done paying monthly forever
You're a solo operator or small team (1-5)
You need financial suite, task manager and invoicing in one tool
You're tired of price increases
You want to own your tools like you own your equipment
Choose Wave if:
You have a large team (10+) needing enterprise features
You're deeply invested in Wave's specific workflow
You need a feature Nexa doesn't have yet
Sound Familiar?
Most of my pieces are made to order, so every week is a queue of rings, necklaces and earrings with a customer waiting on each. I work mostly in sterling silver and gold-filled wire, with some stone setting, and each piece moves through the same steps: cutting and shaping the metal, soldering, filing, setting stones, then polishing through several compounds until it shines. Soldering and pickling mean ventilation and careful handling of the torch and chemicals. Custom orders start with a sketch and a conversation about budget, metal and sizing, and ring sizes have to be right the first time, because resizing a set piece is real work. Metal prices move every week, so I price materials at today's cost plus my time, and I keep a record of what each design costs me to make. I photograph every finished piece in natural light for my shop, pack it in a box with a care card, and ship it insured. A few times a year I sell at markets and trunk shows, which means building inventory ahead.
Fluctuating metal prices affecting cost per piece
Custom order pricing with varying materials and labor time
Etsy fees plus payment processing eating margins on $20-50 pieces
Managing custom orders, ready-made inventory, and wholesale simultaneously
The books, job tracking, invoicing and client records are the pieces of that day. Some tools rent you each piece separately. A few — Nexa among them — bundle the lot into something you buy once. The sections below price both routes honestly.
None of that is a software problem you can buy your way out of in one click — it is why the tool you pick matters more than what it costs. Wave solves some of it. So does Nexa. The difference is what you are left holding in three years.
What Wave Actually Costs Jewelry Makers
Today's list price is $19/month — $228 a year, from Wave's own pricing page. Every figure below is that price, multiplied. Nothing is projected.
Three years at today's price
Year 1$228
Year 2$228
Year 3$228
Three years of Wave$684
Nexa: $279 once (or 3 × $99). Over the same three years, that is $405 less.
If Wave raises its price, the three-year cost goes up; if it cuts it, the cost comes down. We don't guess which. Add-ons, extra seats and card-processing fees are not included, on either side.
Feature-by-Feature
Feature
Wave
Nexa
Invoicing
✓
✓
Scheduling
✗
✓
CRM
✗
✓
Time Tracking
✗
✓
Full Accounting
✓
✓ (SIMPL)
Task Management
✗
✓
Works offline
✗
✓
Price
$19/mo
$279 once or 3 × $99
3-Year Total
$684
$279
You own it?
No — stop paying, lose access
Yes — forever
✓ and ✗ for Wave come from its own published feature list. — means the feature isn't in that list, which is not the same as Wave lacking it: check with them. Three years is at today's price.
What "$279 Once" Does And Doesn't Buy
It buys the software, not a service contract. You install Nexa and it runs on your machine. There is no seat count, and nothing stops working if you stop paying, because there is nothing to stop paying.
Wave's monthly fee is not only rent. It pays for their hosting, their support desk, and their engineers shipping changes every week. If those matter to how you work, that is a real thing you would be giving up.
Cross-device sync is the one optional extra — $4.99/month if you want your data mirrored between machines. Skip it and Nexa still works; you just sync manually.
The honest risk of buying once: you are betting on us still being here to improve it. The honest risk of renting: the price is theirs to raise, and the graveyard section below is a record of tools that did exactly that.
What Wave Does Better
Straight from Wave's own feature set. If one of these is the reason you pay them, that reason does not disappear because Nexa is cheaper.
Free plan covering unlimited invoices and bookkeeping
Bank transaction import on Pro
Receipt capture
Late payment reminders
Simple enough to run without an accountant
A free plan to start on (with limits), so you can use Wave before paying anything.
Wave is the better call if you need free plan covering unlimited invoices and bookkeeping specifically, or if your team is large enough that per-seat pricing still beats buying software outright.
What Wave Is Built For
Wave says it is built for small business owners and solopreneurs at every stage, not accountants. Its page names freelancers, contractors and consultants. (waveapps.com)
The Starter plan costs $0 and includes unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records. (waveapps.com)
Pro costs $19 USD a month or $190 USD a year. It adds automatic bank transaction import (for banks Plaid supports), automatic merging and categorizing of bank transactions, and automated late-payment reminders at 3, 7 and 14 days after the due date. (waveapps.com)
Pro lets you put your logo and brand colors on invoices, remove Wave branding from footers, and attach files to invoices and estimates. It also adds user roles (admin, editor, viewer), and the payroll manager and Block Advisors tax pro roles are free. (waveapps.com)
Online card payments on Starter cost 2.9% + $0.60 (Amex 3.4% + $0.60). On Pro the first 10 transactions each month are 2.9% + $0, then 2.9% + $0.60. (waveapps.com)
Wave Advisors starts at $149 a month and includes a dedicated bookkeeper and monthly financial statements. Payroll is an add-on starting at $25 a month in one region and $40 in the other; the page does not say which price applies where. (waveapps.com)
Wave lists a mobile app for invoices, expenses and receipts, and 256-bit SSL encryption with PCI-DSS Level 1 certification. Live chat and email support runs Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 4:45 PM Eastern, and is tied to optional add-ons. (waveapps.com)
What people outside Wave and outside Nexa say:
NerdWallet lists a free plan and straightforward invoicing as pros. Its cons are no built-in third-party integrations, no advanced features such as mileage, time tracking or inventory, no live support unless you pay, and no audit trails. (nerdwallet.com)
NerdWallet says "An overwhelming number of Wave reviewers criticize its customer support." It adds that the paid plan "doesn't address Wave users' biggest complaint: customer service." (nerdwallet.com)
Tech.co praises the free tier, affordable add-ons and the way Wave "does the basics well." It concludes "Wave is definitely worth it" for side businesses that don't need specialist accounting features. (tech.co)
Tech.co criticizes Wave for lacking advanced features such as budgeting, cash flow projections, stock handling and project accounting, and for struggling to scale with growing businesses. It also says phone and live chat support come at a premium. (tech.co)
Read on each linked page in October 2026. Check them again before you decide; vendors change plans often.
Where business tools fit — for a jewelry maker
Software doesn't do the actual work — it automates the business around it. And that part is the same for every jewelry maker: find the work, manage it, bill for it, get paid. Each step has a tool — and the right single tool runs the whole loop, so the handoffs are automatic and you get back to the actual work. Tap a step to see what gets automated.
1
Find the work
Win the job
↓
A lead, a call, a referral — and a quote or estimate that turns it into a booked job.
CRM / contacts
Estimates & proposals
Booking / scheduling
then ↓
2
Manage the work
Do the job
↓
The part you actually get paid for — with the time, materials, add-ons, and tasks tracked as you go, not guessed at later.
Job / project tracking
Time tracking
Expenses, materials & add-ons
then ↓
3
Bill for it
Send the bill
↓
The work becomes the invoice — the hours, the add-ons, the materials, the deposit credited — totaled and sent, instead of re-typed at 9pm.
Invoicing
Deposits & credits
then ↓
4
Get paid
Collect payment
↓
Paid by card or link, the deposit credited, and what's overdue chased — without you doing it by hand.
Card / online payments
Automatic reminders
You can stitch four separate subscriptions across these four steps, or run one tool that does the whole flow so a booking becomes a job becomes an invoice becomes a payment without re-typing. Either way the goal is the same: less time on the business of the business, more on the actual work. (Nexa is built to be the one — but the honest options for each step are above and below.)
Calculate Your Full Stack
Wave plus whatever else you're paying for:
Email yourself this comparison?
Switching from Wave
1
Export your data — Go to Settings → Data Export. Download customers, invoices, transactions, and accounts.
2
Set up Nexa — 15-minute setup. Import your client list and bank transactions from CSV.
3
Parallel run — Run both for 1-2 weeks. Re-create recurring invoices in Nexa and check your bank imports.
4
Cancel Wave — Cancel paid features. Your free account data stays accessible for records.
✓ 30-day money-back guarantee. Zero risk.
What This Means for Jewelry Makers
The median jewelry maker earns $30,000/year. At $228/year, Wave is a recurring slice of that — paid again every year, whether the year was good or not. Owning the same jobs outright is $279 once, and the slice stops.
Nexa is $279 once. Invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, accounting — all connected, built for jewelry makers. You own it like you own your Bench tools (pliers, cutters, files).
Is Nexa actually right for a jewelry maker?
An honest fit check — because the wrong tool is worse than no tool.
Right for you if
You run solo or a small team — like the 80,000 jewelry makers in the US who do, and you wear every hat.
You're tired of paying every month for quickbooks and a pile of apps that don't talk to each other.
You want invoicing, scheduling, and client tracking in one place — not scattered across five apps.
You'd rather own your software once, the way you own your Bench tools (pliers, cutters, files).
Look elsewhere if
You have a large team that needs enterprise seats, granular roles, and dedicated admin staff — Nexa is built for solo and small operators (1–5), and a bigger platform will serve you better.
You need full payroll for a large team or deep, SKU-level inventory — that's not what Nexa is for.
You're genuinely happy paying monthly and don't mind stitching tools together. No tool fixes a workflow you already like.
The honest fit: if you're a solo or small jewelry makers business that owns its tools and is sick of renting software, Nexa replaces your whole stack for $279 once. If you're scaling into a large team with dedicated admin staff, a bigger platform may fit better — and we'd rather tell you that now than sell you the wrong thing.
The books, job tracking, invoicing and client records are the pieces of that day. Some tools rent you each piece separately. A few — Nexa among them — bundle the lot into something you buy once. The sections below price both routes honestly.
What jewelry makers actually deal with
Fluctuating metal prices affecting cost per piece
Custom order pricing with varying materials and labor time
Etsy fees plus payment processing eating margins on $20-50 pieces
Managing custom orders, ready-made inventory, and wholesale simultaneously
A day in the life of a jewelry maker
Most of my pieces are made to order, so every week is a queue of rings, necklaces and earrings with a customer waiting on each. I work mostly in sterling silver and gold-filled wire, with some stone setting, and each piece moves through the same steps: cutting and shaping the metal, soldering, filing, setting stones, then polishing through several compounds until it shines. Soldering and pickling mean ventilation and careful handling of the torch and chemicals. Custom orders start with a sketch and a conversation about budget, metal and sizing, and ring sizes have to be right the first time, because resizing a set piece is real work. Metal prices move every week, so I price materials at today's cost plus my time, and I keep a record of what each design costs me to make. I photograph every finished piece in natural light for my shop, pack it in a box with a care card, and ship it insured. A few times a year I sell at markets and trunk shows, which means building inventory ahead.
The tools a working jewelry maker actually owns
Bench tools (pliers, cutters, files)
Soldering torch or kiln
Gemstone and metal inventory
Photography setup with macro lens
Why jewelry makers leave the big platforms
quickbooks: $55/month and can't handle per-piece material cost tracking with fluctuating metal prices.
square: Processing fees on every sale. At a craft fair doing $800 in sales, Square takes $24. That's materials for 3 more pieces.
Where jewelry makers actually talk shop
r/jewelers (Reddit)
r/jewelrymaking (Reddit)
r/Etsy (Reddit)
r/Silversmith (Reddit)
Ganoksin Jewelry Forum (Forum)
Jewelry Making Daily (Forum)
Andrew Berry (YouTube)
Nancy LT Hamilton (YouTube)
Local jewelry makers on Nexa
Real jewelry makers near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee.
Are you a jewelry maker? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time.
Or browse every jewelry maker on Nexa →
The kit a working jewelry maker owns
The tools of the trade — each a one-time buy that earns its keep for years.
Bench tools (pliers, cutters, files)
Soldering torch or kiln
Gemstone and metal inventory
Photography setup with macro lens
You paid for these once because good tools last. That's the bar your software should clear too — priced like a tool you own, $279 once, not a subscription that costs more than your kit every year.
How To Read This Page
We make Nexa. It is one of the two options compared here, so read this with that in mind. We have tried to make Wave's case the way we would want ours made — their strengths above are their own published feature list, not our summary of it.
The prices are Wave's published list prices, checked on the date shown in the sources below. Plans change; check theirs before you decide.
No customer quotes appear on this page because we do not have any from jewelry makers we can verify. For user testimony, read the independent reviews — Wave on G2 and on Capterra — where the reviewers are not selling you anything.
Check the price yourself:Wave's own pricing page is the source for every figure above, read on the date shown in the sources section below.
We are not neutral about subscriptions, and that is the argument, not a hidden assumption: software you pay for once is cheaper over three years than software you rent, unless you need something only the rented one does.
How we put this guide together
We build a jewelry maker's guide the same way every time, and we'd rather you trust it than take it on faith. Nexa is our product, so the test we hold ourselves to is simple: a tool only "wins" a job here when it genuinely does that job better for a jewelry maker — and where something free, open-source, or buy-once does it better, we say so and link you to it. Where Nexa falls short (payroll is the honest example), we name the alternative outright.
Where the numbers come from
Vendor pricingQuickBooks $456/yr, Wave $228/yr, Square, FreshBooks $516/yr — taken from each company's published plans, last verified September 2026. Pricing moves; each name above links straight to that vendor’s own pricing page so you can confirm it before you decide.
Income contextThe $30,000 median we cite for the typical jewelry maker is occupational median annual pay from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics), compiled April 2026. We use it only to show software spend as a share of real income — your own numbers will differ.
Three-year mathMulti-year totals are today's list price multiplied by the number of years. No price rise is projected, so the figure can be checked against the vendor's own pricing page; if they raise it, the real cost is higher.
Found something out of date? Prices change and we don't catch every move the day it happens. This guide is published and maintained by the Nexa team; if a figure here is wrong, tell us and we'll fix it — getting it right matters more to us than the sale.
FAQ
Is Nexa really a Wave replacement?
For solo jewelry makers and small teams, yes. invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting — all for $279 once. Wave may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
What does Wave do that Nexa doesn't?
Wave has features like Free plan covering unlimited invoices and bookkeeping and Bank transaction import on Pro that some businesses rely on. For most solo jewelry makers, these aren't dealbreakers.
How fast does Nexa pay for itself?
At $19/month, Nexa pays for itself in 14.7 months. After that: $228 saved every year.
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.