SoloDesks vs Zoho Invoice, for a sole trader
Zoho Invoice is free. Not a trial, not free for thirty days, free, with a cap of 500 invoices a year that most sole traders will never reach. Any honest comparison has to start there, because if all you need is a tidy VAT invoice emailed to a customer then the correct advice is to use it and keep your £12. What you trade for that is a Powered by Zoho Invoice line on documents you send to your customers, and a product that knows about invoices but not about the job that produced them: the quote, the calendar, the chasing.
Free plan, no card needed. £12/month for unlimited when you want it.
SoloDesks vs Zoho Invoice, side by side
| Feature | SoloDesks | Zoho Invoice |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price for one person | £12 flat (or £0 on Free) | £0, genuinely free |
| Invoice limit | 10/month on Free, unlimited on Pro | 500 a year |
| Their branding on your invoice | No, it is your document | Powered by Zoho Invoice line |
| Quote → invoice without retyping | Yes, the quote becomes the invoice | Invoicing tool, not a quoting one |
| Chases overdue invoices for you | Yes, Overdue Autopilot on Pro | Reminders available |
| Job calendar | Yes | No, it invoices |
| Making Tax Digital for Income Tax | No, you need accounting software | No, not accounting software |
Zoho Invoice's plans
Zoho Invoice is a genuinely free invoicing tool, capped at 500 invoices a year, with Zoho branding on the documents. For reference, here is what Zoho Invoice publishes, next to SoloDesks's flat £12/month.
Free
£0
500 invoices/year, 2 users
There is one plan and it costs nothing. The limits are 500 invoices a year and two users, and invoices carry a Powered by Zoho Invoice line. SoloDesks Pro is £12 a month, which buys unbranded documents, the quote-to-invoice flow and automatic payment chasing. If those three are not worth £12 to you, Zoho Invoice is the better answer and we would rather say so than argue with free.
Questions people ask
- Is Zoho Invoice actually free?
- Yes, genuinely, not a trial. The limits are 500 invoices a year and two users, and your invoices carry a Powered by Zoho Invoice line. For a lot of sole traders that is enough and the right choice.
- Why would I pay £12 when Zoho Invoice is free?
- Three things, and if none of them apply you should not. Your invoices carry your name and nothing else. The quote you built at the door becomes the invoice without being retyped. And overdue invoices get chased automatically on Pro instead of by you, awkwardly, three weeks later. That is the whole pitch against free.
- Which has the better free plan?
- Zoho Invoice, on volume. Theirs allows 500 invoices a year; ours allows 10 quotes, 10 invoices and 10 emailed PDFs a month with unlimited clients and jobs. Ours includes quoting and a job calendar, theirs does not. Pick on which limit you would hit first.
Comparing more than these two? See our comparison of eight invoicing apps for UK tradespeople, including Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent, with every price dated and linked to the page it came from.
Built for one, priced for one
Start on the free plan, no card. Upgrade to Pro for £12 a month when the work picks up.
Start freePricing and features shown for Zoho Invoice are as of August 2026, taken from Zoho Invoice UK pricing page. Plans and prices change. Verify on Zoho Invoice's own site before you buy. Zoho Invoice is a trademark of its owner; SoloDesks isn't affiliated with or endorsed by it, and this comparison is our own.