Simple Invoice vs Stripe Invoicing

Stripe Invoicing is optimised for one outcome: the client pays with as little friction as possible. The email carries a hosted page, the page takes a card, and the invoice status updates itself. For clients who expect to pay online, that removes days from the cycle. Simple Invoice is optimised for a different outcome: the invoice is correct, numbered in sequence, formatted for the client's locale and laid out exactly as you designed, then delivered as a PDF. Payment happens by bank transfer or through whatever link you print on it. Invoice payment terms explained covers how to set the terms either way.

Beyond taking payment, Stripe emails invoices, sends reminders, retries failed payments, handles partial payments and credit notes, calculates tax where you enable it, and runs subscriptions for recurring billing. Clients can manage their payment methods in a customer portal. Because it sits on a payments platform, the reporting is about money in — payouts, fees, disputes — and it connects to accounting software rather than being accounting software. Team members can share the dashboard, and there is a mobile app. All of it requires a verified Stripe business account.

Stripe Invoicing has no subscription for basic use, but each invoice paid through it carries a fee in addition to the card processing charge. That is proportionate — you pay when you are paid — but it is a percentage of revenue, and on a freelancer's larger invoices it adds up. Simple Invoice charges nothing at any point because nothing moves through it: the client pays you directly by bank transfer, and no intermediary takes a cut. If your clients are businesses that pay by transfer anyway, Stripe's fee buys little. Free vs paid invoicing software discusses when payment features earn their cost.

Stripe's invoice PDF is clean and consistent, with your logo and brand colour, but its layout is Stripe's. Simple Invoice gives you the layout: blocks chosen and ordered, six presets, typefaces, colours, table styles, paper size, and per-invoice currency and date formatting from an ISO code and locale. That matters when a client requires particular fields, when you invoice in several countries, or when the invoice is part of how your business presents itself. The PDF is produced by the browser's print engine with explicit pagination.

The two combine naturally. Design and number the invoice in Simple Invoice, and in its payment details block include bank details alongside a Stripe payment link you have created separately. The client sees your document and still has a card option. You keep the layout control and the free, local record; Stripe handles the card transaction if the client chooses it. When most clients start paying by card and recurring billing appears, moving fully to Stripe Invoicing is straightforward — take the JSON export as your archive.