5 Best Indy Alternatives in 2026 for Freelancers

Indy started as the cheap, friendly freelancer tool. Long-time users tell a different story now: on Trustpilot, reviewers trace the price from $5.99 a month to $12, then to $25, with some saying promotional rates they were promised were not honoured at renewal.

Indy sits around 2 out of 5 on Trustpilot, and the striking thing is that the anger is rarely about the product. It is about billing surprises and support that goes quiet. Meanwhile the free plan caps you at 3 proposals, 3 contracts, and 3 invoices a month, which most working freelancers outgrow in their first week.

If you are re-shopping your freelancer stack, here are five alternatives worth considering in 2026.

Disclosure: We built LeaveItToBumBum, so our own tools appear in this comparison. Our recommendations reflect publicly documented product features and intended use cases. We have not conducted controlled hands-on testing of every competitor. External vendor plan details were reviewed in November 2026.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	Main advantage
Leave It to Bum Bum	Invoice chasing and follow-ups	One job per tool, free to start
Bonsai	Proposals, contracts, invoicing	Closest like-for-like workspace
Wave	Invoicing and accounting	Free starter plan
Dubsado	Contracts and client portals	Deep workflows for studios
Moxie	Client management	Lower starting price, well reviewed

1. Leave It to Bum Bum: Best for the weekly jobs

Leave It to Bum Bum splits the freelancer admin stack into small tools that each do one job: the Invoice Chaser for late payments, the Client Follow-Up Tracker for promised follow-ups, and Cutline for tracking your own subscriptions, so the next surprise price hike is one you see coming.

No per-seat pricing, no two-year prepay to unlock a fair rate, and a free tier that is not capped at three of anything per month.

Why consider it?

Chase invoices and track follow-ups as standalone tools
Track your own subscriptions and renewal dates
Free to start, one flat plan when you outgrow it
No client accounts forced on the people you invoice
Cancel without losing a whole workspace

Where Indy wins: Proposals, contracts, and time tracking inside one freelancer workspace, with an integrated feel the toolbox approach does not try to match. If you send proposals weekly, that integration is real value.

Best for: Freelancers whose weekly reality is invoices, follow-ups, and renewals, not proposal volume.

Try the Invoice Chaser

2. Bonsai: Closest like-for-like workspace

Bonsai covers the same ground as Indy: proposals, contracts, invoicing, and time tracking. Essentials ($25 per month) is the first tier with invoicing. One consideration: Zoom acquired Bonsai in late 2025 and says its capabilities will be incorporated into Zoom over time, so the standalone roadmap is less certain than it was.

Best for: Freelancers who want Indy's shape from a bigger, more established vendor.

3. Wave: Best free invoicing and accounting

Wave's Starter plan is free and includes invoicing and real accounting. Unrestricted automatic payment reminders require Pro ($19 per month), and a few previously free features moved behind that paywall in recent years, but for straightforward billing it is the strongest free option here.

Best for: Freelancers who need proper books, not just documents.

4. Dubsado: Best for contracts and portals

Dubsado (Starter $35 per month, Premier $55) goes deeper than Indy on forms, contracts, and client portals, with workflow automation on Premier. The tradeoff is setup: reviews consistently describe a long configuration process before it pays off.

Best for: Studios with a repeatable client journey they want automated.

5. Moxie: Best lower-cost suite

Moxie starts at $12 per month (Pro $25) and is well reviewed by freelancers (4.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot). Portal access and automations sit on the higher tiers, but the pricing has stayed calm while competitors hiked.

Best for: Solopreneurs who want a suite without renewal roulette.

Is Indy worth it in 2026?

Indy Pro is $25 per month billed monthly, $225 a year on the annual plan, or $300 prepaid for two years to get the $12.50 rate. The product itself still does its job. The question its own users keep asking in public is whether the billing relationship is trustworthy: rates that changed faster than the product did, and support that stopped answering.

A freelancer tool should be the most boring subscription you own. If yours is generating surprise renewals, that is the feature to switch away from.

Our recommendation: Choose Bonsai for the like-for-like workspace, Wave for free accounting, and Leave It to Bum Bum for the weekly jobs of chasing, following up, and tracking.

See what you are actually paying for

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free alternative to Indy?

Yes. Wave's Starter plan is free for invoicing and accounting, and Leave It to Bum Bum has a free tier for invoice chasing, follow-up tracking, and subscription tracking. Indy's own free plan caps you at 3 proposals, 3 contracts, and 3 invoices a month.

Why are freelancers leaving Indy?

Price. Long-time users on Trustpilot trace Indy's price from $5.99 a month to $12, then $25, and some report promotional rates not being honoured at renewal. Indy scores around 2 out of 5 on Trustpilot, with billing and support the dominant complaints.

Does Leave It to Bum Bum replace Indy?

Not fully. Bum Bum does not write proposals or contracts. It covers chasing invoices, tracking follow-ups, and tracking your subscriptions, which for many freelancers is the work they actually do weekly.

How much does Indy cost in 2026?

Indy Pro is $25 per month billed monthly, $225 per year on the annual plan, or $12.50 per month if you prepay two years up front ($300).

What is the best Indy alternative for just invoicing?

Wave if you want invoicing with accounting on a free plan. If the pain is late payers rather than the invoice itself, a dedicated invoice chaser is the more direct tool.