// BILLING
Chargebee vs Invoice Ninja
Chargebee's paid tiers get expensive fast and meter you on revenue. Invoice Ninja handles recurring billing, invoices, and payments on your own server — no revenue cut, no per-seat fees.
RENTED
Chargebee
From ~$599/mo (Performance)
OWNED
Invoice Ninja
Free + your hosting
// AT A GLANCE
How they compare
Chargebee
Invoice Ninja
Pricing model
Subscription, scales with revenue
Free, open-source license
Revenue fees
Higher tiers as you grow
No revenue cut
Who owns the data
Chargebee's cloud
Your server, your billing
Recurring billing
Yes (tier-gated)
Yes, included
Lock-in
Proprietary platform
Open data, leave anytime
* Pricing is illustrative of published list rates and scales with seats/usage; open-source figures reflect license cost only.
// THE CATCH
Where Chargebee starts to hurt
X
Revenue metering
The more you bill, the more Chargebee charges — growth raises your costs.
X
Tier ceilings
Advanced billing logic and reporting sit behind expensive higher tiers.
X
Billing in their cloud
Your customer and revenue data live on Chargebee's infrastructure.
// THE ALTERNATIVE
Invoice Ninja does the same job — and you own it
Invoice Ninja is a full billing platform — recurring invoices, quotes, payments, client portal, and expense tracking — self-hosted with no revenue fees or seat limits.
Unlimited invoices and recurring billing
Quotes, payments, and a client portal
Expense and project tracking
Multi-currency and multiple companies
All billing data stays on your server
// THE MATH
What it costs over three years
Chargebee · 3-YEAR LICENSE
$21,500+
Based on the Performance tier; pricing scales with billed revenue and jumps sharply at higher volumes.
Invoice Ninja · LICENSE FEES
$0
No per-seat or usage fees ever. You pay only for the hosting you already run — plus our flat build & maintenance.
// WHY BUILTSTEAD, NOT DIY
Open-source is only free if your time is.
Invoice Ninja is free to self-host — but it still needs deploying, securing, payment gateways wired up, and ongoing upkeep. We install it, secure it, move your data over, connect it to the rest of your tools, and keep it running — all set up in your name. You get the savings of open-source without becoming your own IT department.
01
We host it for you
Deployed on reliable infrastructure, configured, secured, and monitored — no servers for you to babysit.
02
We migrate your data
Your existing records, contacts, and history moved over cleanly, so nothing is lost in the switch.
03
We connect your stack
Wired into your other tools so data flows automatically instead of being re-entered by hand.
04
We maintain & update
Updates, backups, and security patches handled on an ongoing basis — it just keeps working.
05
Set up in your name
Everything is titled to your company on your domain. No lock-in, no markup — the keys are yours.
06
Real people to call
When something needs attention, you reach us directly — not a ticket queue in another time zone.
Ready to drop Chargebee?
Get a free audit. We'll price out your switch to Invoice Ninja, map the migration, and show you the three-year savings — no obligation.
// MORE COMPARISONS
// GROWTH
// FINANCE
// OPERATIONS