Wave alternative
The flat-fee alternative to Wave.
Wave is free accounting software: but transaction fees and no project management make it incomplete for agencies. Melororium delivers the full stack with invoicing, tasks, and time tracking for $59/mo flat, no seat tax.
Common questions answered
What is Melororium?
Melororium is a modular team workspace that unifies task management, time tracking, client CRM, and financial reporting in one application. One flat monthly fee for your whole team: from $29/mo. No seat tax, no per-user billing.
How does Melororium replace Wave pricing?
Unlike Wave's recurring per-seat billing, Melororium charges one flat monthly fee for your whole team: Starter $29/mo (4 users), Agency $59/mo (15 users), Studio $119/mo (25 users). Add team members and your price doesn't change. No seat tax, no hidden costs.
Is Melororium a good alternative to Wave?
Yes. Melororium is a strong Wave alternative for digital agencies, small teams, and studios that need fast project management, built-in time tracking, and financial visibility: without paying per-seat subscription fees.
Is Wave's transaction-fee model becoming more expensive than a flat subscription?
Wave's free plan sounds appealing: but payment processing fees of 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction add up quickly for agencies billing thousands per month. And Wave has no project management, time tracking, or CRM built in.
Transaction fees compound on volume
Wave charges 2.9% + $0.60 per credit card transaction for ACH payments via Wave. An agency billing $20,000/month in client invoices through Wave Payments pays $580+ in transaction fees monthly: $6,960/year, far exceeding any flat-fee alternative.
No project management or time tracking
Wave covers invoicing and basic accounting: not project execution. Agencies using Wave for billing still need Asana or ClickUp for task management and Toggl or Clockify for time tracking, maintaining a multi-tool stack regardless of Wave's free tier.
Accounting tool, not agency workspace
Wave is built for small business bookkeeping: not for agency project delivery. Its interface centers on income, expenses, payroll, and tax preparation, not on Kanban boards, milestone tracking, and client relationship management.
Why teams are leaving Wave for Melororium.
2.9% + $0.60 per transaction: costs compound fast on agency billing volume.
No project management or time tracking: requires additional subscriptions.
Bookkeeping tool interface, not an agency project delivery workspace.
Flat-fee invoicing with no per-transaction percentages on billing volume.
Project management, time tracking, CRM, and invoicing in one workspace.
$59/mo (Agency): replaces Wave + PM tool + time tracker with one flat-fee workspace.
Head-to-head feature breakdown.
See exactly how we compare against Wave on what matters.
What is Wave? A complete overview for 2026.
Wave is a free accounting and invoicing platform founded in 2009 in Toronto by Kirk Simpson and James Lochrie, acquired by H&R Block in 2019. Offering free invoice generation, expense tracking, receipt scanning, and basic accounting with no monthly subscription, Wave generates revenue through payment processing fees (2.9% + $0.60 per credit card transaction) and optional Wave Payroll. Wave's free tier is genuinely comprehensive for small businesses: unlimited invoices, unlimited customers, and basic financial reporting with no time limit. The fundamental limitation for agencies is that Wave is an accounting tool with no project management, no time tracking, and no client CRM capabilities.
What Wave does well
Free invoice generation with no monthly subscription: Wave's invoicing module covers unlimited invoices, unlimited customers, customizable invoice templates, recurring invoice schedules, and automatic payment reminders at zero monthly cost. For businesses primarily needing professional invoice generation without PM integration, Wave's free tier is hard to beat on cost.
Integrated payment processing: Wave Payments allows clients to pay invoices online via credit card or bank transfer directly from the invoice link. Payment status updates automatically in Wave when processed. The 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction fee is the only cost for agencies processing low invoice volumes.
Basic accounting with income, expense, and financial reporting: Wave tracks income and expenses, connects to bank accounts for automated transaction import, and generates profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and other financial reports. Small businesses can manage their bookkeeping in Wave without a separate accounting tool.
Who Wave is best for
Sole proprietors, micro-businesses, and early-stage service providers with low invoice volume (under $3,000/month) who need professional invoicing and basic bookkeeping at zero software cost: and manage their project work informally or through a free PM tool. Wave is the right choice when invoice volume is low enough that transaction fees are minimal and accounting quality is the primary requirement.
Where it falls short
Transaction fees compound on volume: Wave charges 2.9% + $0.60 per credit card transaction for ACH payments via Wave. An agency billing $20,000/month in client invoices through Wave Payments pays $580+ in transaction fees monthly: $6,960/year, far exceeding any flat-fee alternative.
No project management or time tracking: Wave covers invoicing and basic accounting: not project execution. Agencies using Wave for billing still need Asana or ClickUp for task management and Toggl or Clockify for time tracking, maintaining a multi-tool stack regardless of Wave's free tier.
Accounting tool, not agency workspace: Wave is built for small business bookkeeping: not for agency project delivery. Its interface centers on income, expenses, payroll, and tax preparation, not on Kanban boards, milestone tracking, and client relationship management.
Wave pricing in 2026: the real cost for teams.
Before choosing a tool, it's important to calculate the full cost, not only the monthly sticker price, but what your team will spend over 2, 3, and 5 years of continued subscription.
Wave · subscription cost
Wave invoicing is free. Wave Payments charges 2.9% + $0.60 per credit card transaction (1% for bank payments, min $1). Wave Pro: $16/month ($192/year) for receipt scanning and bookkeeping support. For an agency billing $15,000/month in invoices: Wave payment fees = $435+/month = $5,220/year in transaction fees. Melororium: $59/mo flat, no transaction fees.
$0 in software subscription: but $26,100+ in transaction fees over 5 years for an agency processing $15,000/month in credit card invoices.
Melororium · flat fee
$29
4 people · flat
$59
15 people · flat
$119
25 people · flat
Agencies switch from Wave + a PM tool to Melororium when Wave's transaction fees on growing invoice volume exceed the cost of a premium alternative. At $15,000/month billed by credit card, Wave's 2.9% fee runs $5,220/year: more than 7× Melororium Agency's $708/year flat fee. Melororium's invoicing module doesn't charge transaction percentages, consolidating billing and project management into one owned workspace.
Project control tools Wave can't add without subscriptions
Budget Guardian · Agency+
Real-time project budget tracking via hours × rates. Wave tracks invoice amounts: Budget Guardian tracks cost burn, firing alerts when projects hit 80% and 100% of budget.
Proposals · Studio
Client-facing proposal page with online acceptance that auto-creates the project. Wave has estimates: Proposals turn accepted proposals directly into active projects with one click.
Recurring Projects · Starter+
Auto-clone full project structures for retainer clients. Wave automates recurring invoices: this automates recurring project setup so the billing and delivery both reset together.
Project Alerts · Agency+
Automated deadline risk, budget warning, and bottleneck detection alerts. Wave shows you financial history: Project Alerts catch active problems before they become financial losses.
How to switch from Wave to Melororium.
Most teams complete the migration in 5–7 days. Here's the process that minimizes disruption while getting your team fully operational on Melororium.
Step 1
Export your data from Wave
Export your existing projects, tasks, client contacts, and historical time data from Wave as CSV or Excel files. Most project management and billing tools support data export from the Account Settings or Admin panel. Check Wave's Help Center for the exact export path: typically found under Settings → Data → Export. Save the exported files as a backup regardless of whether you proceed with the migration.
Step 2
Start the Melororium 14-day free demo
Sign up for the Melororium free demo at crm.melororium.com: no credit card required. You get full Agency plan access for 14 days (15 users, all modules): task tracker, kanban boards, time tracking, client CRM, invoicing, work reports, and the full team workspace. Use the demo to explore the interface and confirm Melororium covers your team's workflow before purchasing.
Step 3
Configure your workspace structure
Set up your client list, project templates, team member profiles, and billing rates in Melororium. Most teams complete the initial workspace setup in 2–4 hours. Import client contacts and project names from the CSV files you exported in Step 1. Configure the modules included with your plan to match your team's specific workflow: kanban boards, time tracking, CRM, and invoicing are ready to use out of the box.
Step 4
Run both tools in parallel for one week
Keep Wave active while your team tests Melororium on a live project for one week. This parallel-run period is the most important step: it lets your team build confidence in the new tool without the pressure of a hard cutover, and ensures no in-flight project work gets lost during the transition. Track time in Melororium, manage tasks in Melororium, and let the team ask questions before fully switching over.
Step 5
Purchase Melororium and cancel Wave
Once the team is comfortable with the Melororium workspace after the parallel-run week, purchase your plan: from $29/mo (Starter, 4 users) to $59/mo (Agency, 15 users) to $119/mo (Studio, 25 users). Log into Wave and cancel your subscription to stop the recurring charge. The migration is complete: your team now runs on Melororium: one flat monthly fee, no seat tax, no price increase as the team grows.
Frequently
Asked Questions
Have a question that needs a human to answer?
No problem, email us at support@melororium.com
Melororium is the best Wave alternative for agencies that need project management and time tracking connected to invoicing. Wave is free for invoicing but charges 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction on payments and has no project management. Melororium Agency: $59/mo flat for 15 users, flat-fee invoicing, Kanban PM, time tracking, and CRM in one workspace.
Wave Payments charges 2.9% + $0.60 per credit card transaction. An agency processing $20,000/month in client invoices pays $580+/month in transaction fees: $6,960/year for payment processing alone. At that volume, a flat-fee alternative saves significantly. Melororium's invoicing module doesn't charge transaction percentages.
Yes. Melororium generates professional client invoices, tracks project budgets, and manages client payment records: covering Wave's invoicing function while adding Kanban project management, live team timers, and client CRM. For agencies processing significant invoice volume, Melororium's $59/mo flat vs Wave's transaction fees pays for itself quickly.
Yes. One flat monthly fee covers your whole team: Starter $29/mo (4 users), Agency $59/mo (15 users), Studio $119/mo (25 users). Add a new team member and your price doesn't change. No seat tax, no per-user billing.
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Flat fee · no seat tax
Ready to escape the seat-tax trap?
Consolidate your stack, drop Wave's per-seat bill and give the whole team one flat workspace. 14-day demo, no credit card.
$0
per seat, ever
28
instruments, one login
4–25
people on one price