I run a design studio in Bangalore, and I've invoiced design work every way there is. A Canva template, a Google Doc, a proper invoicing app, and now a tool I built myself. So when someone asks which invoicing app is best for a graphic designer, my honest answer is that most lists answer a different question. They're written for shops.
A shop needs stock, barcodes and a counter. A designer needs to quote before starting, take an advance, survive two rounds of revisions, and send the final invoice from a phone, usually from the same WhatsApp chat where the client said "looks good". If you illustrate, add one more: saying what the client is allowed to do with the artwork.
The short answer: if your clients are mostly in India, pick an app that works from your phone, puts your own UPI QR on the invoice, and turns an accepted quote into the invoice without retyping. Riffit (which I built) and Refrens both do all three. Zoho Invoice does most of it for free, if you can live with UPI only through a payment gateway. If your clients pay in dollars or pounds, Bonsai or FreshBooks fit better, and neither does UPI.
What design work needs from an invoicing app
Five things, in the order they bite.
A quote first, then the invoice, without retyping. Most design projects start with a priced scope and a revision limit. If your app can't turn the accepted quote into the invoice, you will type the same line items twice, and the second time is where mistakes happen. I wrote up how I put revision limits in a quote separately.
An advance, then the rest. 30 to 50% upfront is normal for design work, and it is less about the money than about filtering out clients who never meant to pay. The app should make an advance invoice and a balance invoice easy, against the same quote. More on asking for 50% upfront.
It works from your phone. Approvals happen in chat, at odd hours. If invoicing needs a laptop, it waits until you're at a laptop, and that is how a Tuesday approval becomes a Friday invoice.
The client can pay the way they already pay. For Indian clients that means UPI, ideally a QR on the invoice with the amount filled in. For clients abroad it means their own currency and a way to pay from their country, which is a different problem, covered in invoicing international clients.
A PDF you aren't embarrassed by. Clients judge a designer's invoice the way they judge the portfolio. Your logo, your colours, a layout that looks considered.
Illustrators have one extra line to get right: the usage. Write it into the quote and repeat it on the invoice line, for example "Book cover illustration, print and ebook, 5 years". It is what the client is actually paying for. If you're still working out the number itself, my design rates in India post has real ranges.
The apps, side by side
Checked against each app's own pricing and help pages in October 2026. Prices change, so treat them as a starting point.
| App | Free plan | UPI on the invoice | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Invoice | Free for good: 500 invoices a year, with a Zoho line on the PDF | Through a connected payment gateway | You share it by hand. Automatic reminders go by email | Free, full-featured invoicing, if you don't mind the setup |
| Refrens | 15 documents, with Refrens branding | Your own UPI ID as a QR | Sharing on paid plans, from ₹5,900 a year before GST | GST-heavy invoicing with quotes |
| Swipe | Unlimited invoices, with a watermark | Your own UPI ID as a QR, or Razorpay on Pro | Sharing on every plan, automatic messages on prepaid credits. Its updates page lists invoicing over WhatsApp since 2025 | Designers who also sell prints or products |
| Bonsai | None. Invoicing starts at $19 a month, billed yearly | None | None | Clients abroad, with proposals and contracts |
| FreshBooks | None. From $23 a month, or $248.40 a year | None | None. Reminders go by email | Clients abroad, billed by the hour |
| Riffit | 5 invoices a month and 5 clients, unlimited quotes, with a small Riffit badge | Your own UPI ID: a QR and a link, amount filled in | Made inside WhatsApp. Delivery and reminders on WhatsApp on Pro | Indian clients, invoicing from your phone |
Every app in that table except Riffit has iOS and Android apps. Riffit has none on purpose: it runs inside WhatsApp, with a web dashboard for tracking.
Zoho Invoice is free forever and genuinely full-featured: up to 500 invoices a year, estimates that convert to invoices, automatic reminders and good phone apps. The trade-offs for a designer: UPI comes only through a connected payment gateway, reminders go by email, and sending on WhatsApp is a manual share. Zoho's help pages also say Zoho Invoice works in your base currency only, so it isn't the tool for a client paying in dollars.
Refrens is built for India and properly GST-aware. Your own UPI ID becomes a QR on the invoice, quotes convert in one click, and it has iOS and Android apps. The free plan stops at 15 documents, with Refrens branding. The things a working designer wants (unlimited documents, WhatsApp sharing, other currencies, no branding) start on the paid plan at ₹5,900 a year before GST. Its September 2026 app release notes mention an AI assistant on WhatsApp; there were no details on its help pages when I checked.
Swipe is fast and generous on the free plan: unlimited invoices and quotations, phone apps, WhatsApp sharing, and your UPI ID as a QR. It was built for businesses that sell products, and it shows in the screens and the vocabulary. Free invoices carry a watermark, Pro starts at about ₹233 a month billed yearly, and automatic WhatsApp sends and reminders use prepaid credits. Its product updates page also lists invoicing over WhatsApp since 2025, so check how far that goes if chat is how you work.
Bonsai is the best-known all-in-one for creative freelancers worldwide: proposals, contracts with e-signature, and invoices that create themselves when a client accepts a proposal. It's now owned by Zoom. For an Indian designer the catches are real. There's no free plan, invoicing starts at $19 a month billed yearly (the $9 plan has none), and there is no UPI or Razorpay, so it suits clients abroad who pay by card or PayPal. I've written a longer Bonsai vs Riffit comparison.
FreshBooks is polished, with estimates that convert to invoices and good time tracking. There's no free plan, the Lite plan is $23 a month (or $248.40 a year) for up to 5 billable clients, and its own payments work only in the US and Canada. No UPI, and reminders go by email. Worth it if your clients are mostly abroad and you bill by the hour.
myBillBook and Vyapar are popular GST billing apps built for shops and traders, both with your UPI ID as a QR on the bill and phone apps. If you also sell products, they're worth a look. For pure design work, you'd be working around inventory screens. I compared them with Riffit in myBillBook vs Riffit and Vyapar vs Riffit.
A template is fine if you send one or two invoices a year. A Canva layout plus a free UPI QR does the job, and I did it that way for years. The moment you have three clients at once, the tracking is what breaks, not the design. Templates vs invoicing apps goes into where that line sits.
What I'd pick, depending on your clients
- Mostly Indian clients, approvals on WhatsApp: Riffit if you want to stay in the chat, Refrens if you want deeper GST features and don't mind paying.
- You want it free, and your clients are all in India: Zoho Invoice.
- Mostly clients abroad: Bonsai for proposals and contracts, FreshBooks for time tracking. Get paid through Wise, PayPal or Payoneer, since UPI stops at the border.
- You also sell prints, merch or products: Swipe, myBillBook or Vyapar.
- One or two invoices a year: a template.
If your clients are in India and the approvals happen on WhatsApp, try invoicing from the chat. Free for 5 invoices a month, with unlimited quotes.Try Riffit freeWhere Riffit fits, and where it doesn't
Disclosure: I built Riffit, so weigh this section accordingly.
Riffit is built for the phone-first, Indian-client version of this job. You type new in WhatsApp, fill a short form in the chat, and the invoice goes out as a PDF with a UPI QR to your own UPI ID (once you've added it), in under two minutes. Quotes work the same way, and your client accepts one from a link. An accepted quote becomes the invoice, or a contract they e-sign, with the line items carried across, and you can bill one quote in parts, so the advance and the balance come off the same quote. Each line has room for details, which is where an illustrator's usage line goes. There are six PDF designs on every plan; Pro adds your logo, colours and fonts, and takes off the small Riffit badge.
What it doesn't do matters just as much. It bills in rupees only, so if your clients pay in dollars or pounds, it is the wrong tool today. There's no time tracking and no expense tracking, and GST support is your GST number and one rate per invoice, with no CGST and SGST split. Free covers 5 invoices a month, 5 clients in total and unlimited quotes, with a small Riffit badge on the PDF. Pro is ₹249 a month, or ₹199 a month billed yearly.
For the wider version of this comparison, not just design work, see the six invoicing tools compared.
FAQ
For a designer billing Indian clients from a phone, pick an app that puts your own UPI QR on the invoice and turns an accepted quote into the invoice. Riffit and Refrens both do that. Zoho Invoice is the best free all-rounder if UPI through a payment gateway is enough. For clients abroad, Bonsai or FreshBooks fit better.
Zoho Invoice, Refrens, Swipe, Bonsai and FreshBooks all have iOS and Android apps. Riffit works inside WhatsApp instead, with no app to install: you type new, fill a short form in the chat, and the invoice goes out in under two minutes.
Yes. Riffit, Refrens, Swipe, myBillBook and Vyapar can all put your own UPI ID on the invoice as a QR. Zoho Invoice takes UPI through a connected payment gateway instead, and Bonsai and FreshBooks have no UPI. A QR straight to your own UPI ID means no gateway fee.
Bill in the client currency with a tool that supports it, such as Bonsai, FreshBooks, or Refrens on its paid plan. UPI does not work across borders, so get paid through a service like Wise, PayPal or Payoneer, and write the usage you agreed on the invoice line.
Yes. Zoho Invoice is free for up to 500 invoices a year, Swipe has a free plan with unlimited invoices and a watermark, Refrens is free for 15 documents, and Riffit is free for 5 invoices a month and 5 clients, with unlimited quotes and a small Riffit badge. Bonsai and FreshBooks offer trials, not free plans.
Pick the one you'll actually open on the day the client says "looks good". For most designers I know, that's the phone, not the laptop.