Stripe vs Wave
Two tools coaches often weigh against each other, compared on the same terms.
Stripe
Card and subscription payments with no monthly fee — the standard way to take recurring coaching payments without chasing bank transfers.
Wave
Free invoicing and lightweight accounting for solo coaches — send an invoice, track what is unpaid, and have something tidy to hand an accountant.
Pricing
Stripe: No monthly fee; charges a percentage plus a fixed fee per transaction
Wave: Invoicing and accounting have a free tier; payments charge per transaction
Category
Stripe: Software
Wave: Business
Topics
Stripe: Payment
Wave: invoicing, Revenue Calculator, Client Tracker
Last checked
Stripe: 2026-09-16
Wave: 2026-09-16
What it is
Stripe
Payment infrastructure. For a coach the useful parts are payment links you can send without any code, and subscriptions that bill a monthly coaching fee automatically until someone cancels.
Wave
Small-business invoicing and bookkeeping with a free core. You raise invoices, chase them, categorise income and expenses, and export the result at year end.
Best for
Stripe
Recurring revenue. Moving clients from "please transfer me £200 each month" to an automatic subscription fixes most cash-flow and chasing problems in one step.
Wave
The independent coach who has outgrown a notes app but does not need real accounting software, and who wants invoices that look like a business sent them.
Watch out for
Stripe
Per-transaction fees are real money at scale, failed cards need a dunning process, and availability varies by country. Set expectations in your agreement about what happens when a payment fails.
Wave
Card payments carry the usual per-transaction fee — free invoicing is not free money movement. Feature availability varies by country, so confirm your region is supported before you build a process on it.
Editorial comparison — nothing here is paid placement. Pricing changes often; treat the vendor’s own page as the truth. How we review