16 categories · RankedWave
Wave is small business software for bookkeeping and invoicing, including recurring billing · waveapps.com ↗
Strongest at mid-market. Thin evidence at enterprise: six labels.
The standing depends on who is buying. Every model is asked the same questions for each company size.
QuickBooks Online is first at 55%.
Sage Intacct is first at 47%.
Oracle NetSuite is first at 30%.
Why models recommend it
“for most small businesses the best genuinely-free accounting software is Wave. It gives you real double-entry accounting, invoicing and reporting at no cost.”Muse Glimmer 30B · Budget-constrained question · first choice
“The Best Completely Free Option: Wave Accounting ... Wave is generally considered the gold standard. It is free forever for core accounting features.”Qwen 3.7 Flash · Budget-constrained question · first choice
“For the tightest budget, Wave offers the most cost-effective solution with free basic accounting and reconciliation features.”MiniMax M2.5 · Budget-constrained question · first choice
“Wave stands out as the best cash application (or cash-based accounting) software for a company with a truly limited budget.”Grok 4.20 · Budget-constrained question · first choice
What gives them pause
“Not compliant with French PDP ... requirements as of mid-2026, meaning invoices issued to French companies may not be legally enforceable.”Mistral Small · Negative question · warning
“Platforms to Avoid or Be Cautious About: 1. Wave and Zoho Invoice (for use in France as of early 2026): ... not PDP compliant”Mistral Small · Negative question · warning
“their native revenue recognition capabilities break down as soon as business complexity increases”Gemini 3.5 Flash · Negative question · warning
“Wave and Zoho Invoice may not be suitable for businesses in France due to compliance issues”Llama 4 Maverick · Negative question · warning
Also on the shortlist
The products named in the same answers as Wave, over the 399 answers that named it, and how often each was the first choice instead.
| Product | Named together | Picked instead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 220 | 35 | Compare → | |
| 207 | 10 | View → | |
| 192 | 63 | Compare → | |
| 172 | 33 | Compare → | |
| 109 | 37 | Compare → | |
| 88 | 11 | Compare → | |
| 57 | 0 | View → | |
| 47 | 3 | View → | |
| 34 | 2 | Compare → | |
| 31 | 1 | Compare → |
What the models named instead of Wave →
A side-by-side page exists where both products are among a category's top eight.
At a glance
Stated on Wave's own site, not checked by Gane.
- For
- small business owners and solopreneurs at every stage—not accountants
- Price stated
- Starter Plan; Pro Plan
- Starting price
- 0
- Free plan or trial
- Get started for free; Sign up for the Starter Plan to take the bookkeeping and invoicing basics for a spin.
- Certifications
- PCI DSS
- Customers named
- TruCreates.com, Speaker Labs, Euphoria LGBT Inc.
How this is measured
Fourteen AI models from 12 labs are asked the same buying questions six ways, for three company sizes. Standings refresh every edition.
Gane sells AI visibility software. No company can pay to change a result.
Read the method →Sources returned with these answers
Fourteen of the fourteen models returned a source list in this edition: five return the pages they cited and nine the search results they consulted. These counts come from 363 of the 399 answers that named Wave and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
756 of the 756 domain citations in answers naming Wave came from a third party's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
By model
| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 11 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Grok 4.20 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 18 |
| Mistral Small | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 1 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| Kimi K2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
What it publishes
| Kind | Pages | Last 90 days | 2025-10 to 2026-09 | Latest | Categories named |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blog | 417 | undated | |||
| Comparison | 38 | undated | |||
| Glossary or explainer | 22 | undated | |||
| Template or tool | 16 | undated | |||
| News or press | 9 | undated | |||
| Report or ebook | 2 | undated | |||
| Webinar or virtual event | 1 | undated | |||
| Podcast or video | 1 | undated |
How it is countedHide how it is counted
Every page waveapps.com exposes, subdomains included. Kind is read from the address and title. The last 90 days, the latest date and the twelve months count pages by when they were published, from the site's feeds, a date in the address, or the page's own publication date, read from up to a hundred of its most recently changed pages; a page that says only when it last changed is counted in its kind but not in when, so the recent counts are a floor, and a kind none of whose pages gives a publication date reads undated. An event counts as online when its address or title says so (webinar, on demand, virtual or online summit); a conference, summit, trade show, expo or roadshow that does not say so is counted as a conference or event, which on a vendor's site is mostly in person. Read September 29, 2026.