FullDiary vs Wave
The simpler alternative to Wave.
Wave takes new businesses in the United States and Canada only, and prices in dollars. FullDiary does invoices and quotes for UK businesses - pounds, UK VAT, HMRC-shaped documents - written from one sentence. Here is the honest comparison, with Wave's own numbers, checked 13 September 2026.
3 free invoices and 3 free quotes a month. No card, no signup to try it.
The numbers, side by side
Both columns told straight.
Wave is accounting software priced in US and Canadian dollars for businesses in those two countries; FullDiary is invoicing and quoting for the UK, with bookings in the same login. The table is Wave's published numbers next to ours, checked 13 September 2026.
| FullDiary | Wave | |
|---|---|---|
| Available in the UK | Yes - built for UK businesses, in pounds | No. Wave supports businesses in the United States and Canada only; a UK business cannot open a new account |
| Monthly price | Free for 3 invoices and 3 quotes a month; FullDiary Pro 9.99 GBP a month for unlimited | Starter plan free; Pro 19 USD (25 CAD) a month, or 190 USD (250 CAD) a year |
| Currency and tax | Pounds, with UK VAT at 0, 5 or 20 percent on every line, worked out by code | Priced and billed in US or Canadian dollars |
| Per-invoice cost | None on any plan | None; fees apply when a customer pays by card |
| Card payment fee | Your own Stripe account at Stripe's standard rates; FullDiary adds nothing on top and never holds your money (Pro plan) | 2.9% + 0.60 USD per card transaction, 3.4% + 0.60 USD for Amex; Pro waives the 0.60 on the first ten transactions a month |
| Invoice designs and branding | 26 designs, your logo and brand colour on all of them, on every plan | Branding customisation is a Pro plan feature |
| Quote to invoice | One click: the accepted quote becomes the invoice and takes the next number | Estimates convert to invoices |
| Free plan | Free with no card and no expiry, 3 invoices and 3 quotes a month | A free Starter plan, for businesses in the United States and Canada |
Available in the UK
FullDiary
Yes - built for UK businesses, in pounds
Wave
No. Wave supports businesses in the United States and Canada only; a UK business cannot open a new account
Monthly price
FullDiary
Free for 3 invoices and 3 quotes a month; FullDiary Pro 9.99 GBP a month for unlimited
Wave
Starter plan free; Pro 19 USD (25 CAD) a month, or 190 USD (250 CAD) a year
Currency and tax
FullDiary
Pounds, with UK VAT at 0, 5 or 20 percent on every line, worked out by code
Wave
Priced and billed in US or Canadian dollars
Per-invoice cost
FullDiary
None on any plan
Wave
None; fees apply when a customer pays by card
Card payment fee
FullDiary
Your own Stripe account at Stripe's standard rates; FullDiary adds nothing on top and never holds your money (Pro plan)
Wave
2.9% + 0.60 USD per card transaction, 3.4% + 0.60 USD for Amex; Pro waives the 0.60 on the first ten transactions a month
Invoice designs and branding
FullDiary
26 designs, your logo and brand colour on all of them, on every plan
Wave
Branding customisation is a Pro plan feature
Quote to invoice
FullDiary
One click: the accepted quote becomes the invoice and takes the next number
Wave
Estimates convert to invoices
Free plan
FullDiary
Free with no card and no expiry, 3 invoices and 3 quotes a month
Wave
A free Starter plan, for businesses in the United States and Canada
Wave prices and fees are US and Canadian dollar rates read from waveapps.com/pricing on 13 September 2026; they can change, so check their page before deciding. Wave is a trademark of its owner. FullDiary is made by Cynical Software Ltd, an independent company not affiliated with or endorsed by Wave.
The FullDiary column
Where FullDiary is better.
FullDiary is not trying to be Wave's whole accounting suite. It is the invoicing and quoting a UK trade or freelancer actually does, made fast, with the parts that get you paid.
Built for the UK
Pounds, UK VAT rates per line, prices quoted including VAT worked back to net, sort codes and account numbers on the invoice, and numbering HMRC is happy with. Nothing to translate from dollars.
Written from a sentence
Say the job the way you would to a customer and the invoice writes itself. Every total, discount and VAT figure is calculated by deterministic code in exact pence; the AI never touches the maths.
Quotes that accept themselves
A quote goes out with a valid-until date and an accept link. The customer taps yes on their phone, the answer is recorded, and the quote becomes the invoice in one click.
Chasing that is polite and automatic
On Pro, an unpaid invoice is chased the day after it falls due and a week later, in your name, never threatening. Quiet quotes get the same treatment. It stops the moment they pay or reply.
Every claim above is the same enforced product the main invoice generator page sells, or the full matrix on the pricing page.
If you switch
An afternoon, start to finish.
- 01
Type your first invoice
No account to start. Fill in the boxes or say the job in a sentence, and the invoice appears with VAT worked out in exact pence.
- 02
Download it, and your details are saved
Downloading the PDF creates the free account. Your business details, bank details and logo go in once and print on every invoice after.
- 03
Bring your customers across
Export your customer list from Wave as a CSV and import it under Customers; names, emails and addresses come in, and duplicates are skipped.
- 04
Send from FullDiary, in your name
On Pro, invoices and quotes go out by email with an online copy, unpaid ones are chased politely and customers can pay by card into your own Stripe.
There is no import of your old invoices from Wave - honestly. Customers come across by CSV, your details are entered once, and the next invoice takes a sentence. Keep your Wave export for your records.
FAQs
The switching questions, answered straight
Whether you can still use Wave from the UK, what FullDiary does and does not do, and how the switch works.
Something else on your mind? Ask a human.
Can I still use Wave in the UK?
Wave's own help centre says it supports businesses in the United States and Canada only, so a UK business cannot open a new account. If you have an older UK account, ask Wave what still works for it; this page does not speak for them.
Does FullDiary do bookkeeping like Wave?
No, and it does not pretend to. FullDiary is bookings, invoices and quotes. There are no bank feeds, no ledger and no accounts; your accountant's software or a spreadsheet still does the books.
Can I import my Wave customers?
Yes. Export your customers from Wave as a CSV and import the file under Customers in your FullDiary dashboard: the columns are matched for you, nameless rows and duplicates are skipped with their line numbers, and rerunning the same file creates nothing twice. Old invoices do not come across.
What does FullDiary cost?
Free for 3 invoices, 3 quotes and 20 bookings a month, with no card and no time limit. Pro is 9.99 GBP a month a person, never more than 39.99 GBP, for unlimited invoices and quotes with sending and online accept links, card payments through your own Stripe, automatic chasing and booking packages.
Where is my data kept?
In the EU, and it is never used to train AI models. Your documents stay yours on every plan, and the PDFs are yours to keep.