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APIs · head to head

Formance vs Invoice2go

Formance logo

Formance

APIs

Open source double-entry ledger and payment orchestration for money-moving software

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Invoice2go logo

Invoice2go

Accounting

Mobile-first invoicing app for small businesses and freelancers

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Formance has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Formance formance holds no money and provides no regulatory cover, so it must be paired with a payments provider or bank, and buyers occasionally mistake a ledger for a treasury system and discover the gap late.; Invoice2go starter plan caps invoices at just 30 per year, forcing an upgrade for most active businesses.
  • They diverge on capability: Formance covers Double-entry ledger, Invoice2go covers Invoice creation and customization.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Formance and Invoice2go actually diverge.

Attributes where Formance and Invoice2go differ
AttributeFormanceInvoice2go
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, APIweb, ios, android
CategoryAPIsAccounting

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Formance

  • Double-entry ledger
  • Numscript transaction DSL
  • Multi-currency
  • Payments connectivity
  • Reconciliation
  • Self-hosted deployment
  • Cloud offering
  • API and SDKs

Only in Invoice2go

  • Invoice creation and customization
  • Estimates and projects
  • In-app payments
  • Automated reminders
  • Accounting integrations
  • Team member access

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Formance

  • A marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditablenot Invoice2go
  • A fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an auditnot Invoice2go
  • A payments team that wants one normalised model across several PSPs so reconciliation is not written separately for eachnot Invoice2go
  • A company that wants its ledger under a licence it can keep running even if the vendor disappearsnot Invoice2go

Invoice2go

  • Freelancers invoicing clients from a mobile devicenot Formance
  • Small service businesses tracking estimates and projectsnot Formance
  • Businesses wanting integrated card and ACH paymentsnot Formance
  • Businesses syncing invoices with QuickBooks or Xeronot Formance

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Formance

  • Formance holds no money and provides no regulatory cover, so it must be paired with a payments provider or bank, and buyers occasionally mistake a ledger for a treasury system and discover the gap late.
  • Numscript is a domain-specific language your team must learn, and while it makes complex splits expressible it also means transaction logic sits outside the languages your engineers already debug well.
  • Self-hosting a ledger that must never lose or duplicate a transaction is a serious operational commitment covering backups, upgrades and Postgres tuning, which is real cost the zero licence fee hides.
  • Enterprise pricing is not published, so the difference between the free path and the supported path cannot be evaluated without a sales conversation.
  • The company is much smaller than the incumbent alternatives, and while the MIT licence protects the code it does not protect the roadmap, so features on the hosted side may arrive slowly or change direction.

Invoice2go

  • Starter plan caps invoices at just 30 per year, forcing an upgrade for most active businesses.
  • Card processing fees are higher than some dedicated payment processors.
  • Accounting integrations are limited to QuickBooks and Xero, excluding other platforms.
  • Premium plan requires roughly $100k+/year revenue to be cost-effective, per its own positioning.

Pricing, plan by plan

Formance

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • MIT licensed core ledger
    • Numscript transaction DSL
    • Multi-currency tracking
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Managed or private deployment
    • Payments connectivity and reconciliation
    • Support with response commitments

Invoice2go

On request
  • Starter$undefined/month
    • 30 invoices/year
    • 3.5% card payment fee
    • Free ACH bank transfers
  • Professional$undefined/month
    • 100 invoices/year
    • 3% card payment fee
    • QuickBooks/Xero integration
  • Premium$undefined/month
    • Unlimited invoices
    • 2.9% card payment fee
    • Recurring invoices

Which should you pick?

Choose Formance if

  • You need double-entry ledger.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, API.
  • You also want numscript transaction dsl.
Formance review

Choose Invoice2go if

  • You need invoice creation and customization.
  • You work on web, ios, android.
  • You also want estimates and projects.
Invoice2go review

Questions people ask

Is Formance or Invoice2go better?
Neither clearly leads. Formance starts at Free and Invoice2go at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Formance or Invoice2go?
Formance has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Formance and On request for Invoice2go.
Does Formance or Invoice2go run on more platforms?
Formance runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, API. Invoice2go runs on web, ios, android.
Can I use Formance for free?
Yes. Formance has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Invoice2go starts at On request.
What is Formance best used for?
Formance is most often used for a marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditable, a fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an audit, a payments team that wants one normalised model across several psps so reconciliation is not written separately for each, a company that wants its ledger under a licence it can keep running even if the vendor disappears. Of those, a marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditable and a fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an audit are not what Invoice2go is typically brought in for.
What can Formance do that Invoice2go cannot?
Formance covers Double-entry ledger, Numscript transaction DSL, Multi-currency, Payments connectivity. Invoice2go covers Invoice creation and customization, Estimates and projects, In-app payments, Automated reminders.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Formance: Is Formance really open source?

Yes. The core ledger is MIT licensed with full source access and no deployment restrictions.

Invoice2go: What does Invoice2go cost?

Invoice2go offers three tiers - Starter (30 invoices/year), Professional (100 invoices/year), and Premium (unlimited invoices) - distinguished by invoice volume and card processing fees from 3.5% down to 2.9%.

Source
Formance: Does Formance move money?

No. It records and orchestrates movements; the actual payments happen at a PSP or bank you connect.

Invoice2go: Is there a free trial?

Yes, Invoice2go offers a 30-day free trial that requires a credit card but includes a 100% money-back guarantee if canceled within 30 days.

Source
Formance: What does the enterprise version cost?

Not published. It is an annual subscription quoted per customer.

Invoice2go: Does Invoice2go integrate with accounting software?

Yes, the Professional and Premium plans include integration with QuickBooks and Xero.

Source
Formance: Do I have to use Numscript?

Yes for anything beyond the simplest transfers. It is how multi-party transactions are expressed atomically.

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