The best invoice software for Mac in 2026
Choosing invoice software for a Mac comes down to four questions: do you want to pay once or every month, should your data live in the cloud or on your Mac, do you need time tracking built in, and are you working solo or with a team? We compared six options against exactly those questions.
Last updated October 16, 2026 · Prices checked October 2026 on each vendor's own site
Disclosure: we make Contando Pollos, so weigh our pick accordingly. Every competitor fact below links to its source, we list where other apps beat ours, and we do not use star ratings or scores we cannot back up.
Quick picks
- Best one-time purchase with time tracking: Contando Pollos, $27.99 once, native, offline, no account.
- Best free: Zoho Invoice, free with a 500-invoice yearly cap and Zoho branding.
- Best for teams: Harvest, per-seat time tracking with project budgets and integrations.
- Best open source / self-hosted: Invoice Ninja, free to self-host or hosted from $14/month.
- Mac-native subscription: GrandTotal, plans from €5.90/month.
- For a handful of invoices a year: Apple's Pages or Numbers invoice templates, free.
Mac invoice software compared
| App | Price model | Starting price | Native Mac app | Works offline | Account required | Built-in time tracking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contando Pollos | One-time purchase | $27.99 once | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Zoho Invoice | Free | $0 (500 invoices/ |
Mac app available | Cloud service | Yes (Zoho) | Yes |
| Harvest | Per seat + usage fees | Free (1 seat, 2 projects); Teams $9–$11/ |
Mac app; invoicing mainly on the web | Cloud service | Yes | Yes |
| Invoice Ninja | Freemium / self-host | Free (5 clients); Pro $14/ |
Mac app (connects to a server) | Needs its server | Yes (hosted) | Yes |
| GrandTotal | Subscription | €5.90/ |
Yes | Yes | See GrandTotal | L plan and above |
| Pages / Numbers templates | Free with macOS | $0 | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Prices and limits checked October 16, 2026 on Zoho Invoice pricing, Harvest pricing, Invoice Ninja pricing and GrandTotal. Prices may change.
1. Contando Pollos: best one-time purchase for freelancers
Contando Pollos is a native macOS invoicing app with built-in time tracking. It stores everything locally on your Mac, works fully offline, needs no account, and costs $27.99 once on the Mac App Store. It includes 15 invoice templates, client and product management, multi-business support, multiple currencies, PDF export, a revenue dashboard, and automatic local backups.
Pros: pay once; data never leaves your Mac; time tracking and invoicing in one app; no invoice or client caps; manage several businesses in one place.
Cons: solo use only, no team features; no online payment processing (you send PDF invoices); no cloud sync between devices; Mac only; requires macOS 14.6 or later.
Who it's for: freelancers, consultants and small business owners on a Mac who want time tracking and invoicing in one app without a monthly bill.
2. Zoho Invoice: best free cloud invoicing
Zoho Invoice is part of the Zoho suite and is free. Per Zoho's pricing page (October 2026), the free plan covers up to 2 users, 3 projects, 500 invoices a year and 2 organizations, and invoices include "Powered by Zoho Invoice" branding. It offers web, mobile and Mac apps tied to your Zoho account.
Pros: free; online payments, client portal, recurring invoices and reminders; integrates with the rest of Zoho.
Cons: requires a Zoho account; data lives in Zoho's cloud; 500-invoice yearly cap and Zoho branding on the free plan.
Read the full Zoho Invoice alternative comparison.
3. Harvest: best for teams tracking time
Harvest is a cloud time tracking and invoicing service built around teams. Per Harvest's pricing page (October 2026), the Free plan covers 1 seat and 2 projects; Teams is $11 per seat per month, or $9 billed yearly; Enterprise is $17.50, or $14 billed yearly. On paid plans, additional invoices, projects, clients and tasks are billed based on usage.
Pros: strong team timesheets and project budgets; integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, Asana, Slack and more.
Cons: per-seat pricing plus usage-based fees; cloud-only data; more than a solo freelancer usually needs.
Read the full Harvest alternative for Mac comparison.
4. Invoice Ninja: best open source
Invoice Ninja is an open-source invoicing platform you can use hosted or self-host. Per Invoice Ninja's pricing page (October 2026), the hosted Free plan allows up to 5 clients with unlimited invoicing; Ninja Pro is $14/month or $140/year; Enterprise starts at $18/month for 1–2 users. It offers web, desktop and mobile apps, including one for Mac, that connect to its hosted service or your own server.
Pros: open source; self-hosting option; proposals, recurring invoices and online payments.
Cons: 5-client cap on the free hosted plan; self-hosting means running and securing a server; your data lives on a server rather than on your Mac.
Read the full Invoice Ninja alternative comparison.
5. GrandTotal: Mac-native, now a subscription
GrandTotal by Mediaatelier is a long-running native Mac invoicing app. Per GrandTotal's site (October 2026), it is now sold as a subscription with four plans: S €5.90, M €7.90, L €9.90 and XL €14.90 per month. Built-in work time recording starts on the L plan, it works without an internet connection, and it requires macOS 10.15 or newer.
Pros: native Mac app; works offline; supports older macOS versions; long track record and plug-ins.
Cons: subscription pricing; time recording only on the higher plans.
Read the full GrandTotal alternative without a subscription comparison.
6. Pages and Numbers templates: free, if you invoice rarely
Apple's free Pages and Numbers apps both include invoice templates. Fill one in, then choose File > Export To > PDF to send it. Numbers can add up line items for you.
Pros: free; already on your Mac; works offline.
Cons: you track invoice numbers, clients, due dates and payments yourself; no time tracking; easy to make mistakes as volume grows. If that sounds familiar, see our invoice templates for Mac that fill themselves in.
How we evaluated
We looked at what matters most to freelancers and small businesses invoicing from a Mac:
- Total cost for one user over three years, using each vendor's published prices.
- Where your data lives: on your Mac, in a vendor's cloud, or on a server you run.
- Offline use and whether an account is required.
- Built-in time tracking, because billable hours are where most freelance invoices start.
- Mac experience: native app or browser-first.
We did not score or rate the apps. Competitor details come only from each vendor's own pricing or product page, checked October 16, 2026.
One-time purchase vs subscription: 3-year cost
| App (one solo user) | Year 1 | 3 years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contando Pollos | $27.99 | $27.99 | One-time purchase, future updates included |
| Zoho Invoice | $0 | $0 | Within free-plan limits (2 users, 500 invoices/ |
| Harvest Teams | $108 | $324 | Billed yearly at $9/ |
| Invoice Ninja Pro | $140 | $420 | Billed yearly; Free plan covers up to 5 clients |
| GrandTotal L | €118.80 | €356.40 | At the €9.90 monthly price; first plan with built-in time recording |
| Pages / Numbers | $0 | $0 | Manual numbering, totals and payment tracking |
Subscriptions make sense when you need what they add: teams, online payments, client portals. If you are a solo freelancer who sends PDF invoices, one-time purchase invoice software usually costs a fraction as much.
Do you need cloud invoicing or local?
Choose cloud (Zoho Invoice, Harvest, hosted Invoice Ninja) if several people need access, you want clients to pay online from the invoice, or you need your invoices on multiple devices.
Choose local (Contando Pollos, GrandTotal) if you work solo on a Mac, want to work without internet, and would rather your client list and revenue never sit on someone else's servers. Learn more about how an offline invoice app for Mac works.