Thinking about Xero? Here’s the honest comparison.
Xero’s entry plan is $25 USD/month — and it caps you at 20 invoices and 5 bills a month. Lifting that cap costs $55, and full multi-currency doesn’t arrive until the $90 tier. LineLedger is free and open source: unlimited invoices, bills, and users with multi-currency included, running on your own server under the AGPLv3.
Comparison as of July 2026.
What you actually pay
LineLedger is free software — you host it, so nobody bills you. Xero sells tiered plans with caps on invoices, bills, and features, so growing alone moves you up a tier.
LineLedger
Free. No tiers, no caps, no per-seat math.
- Open source under the AGPLv3 — $0, forever
- Unlimited invoices, bills, and users
- Full multi-currency included
- Inventory, budgets, classes & locations
- Runs on your server; portable ZIP export
Xero
$25–$90 USD/mo by tier
Billed monthly, with tier upgrades and add-ons on top.
- Early $25: capped at 20 invoices & 5 bills/mo
- Growing $55: unlimited invoices & bills
- Established $90: adds full multi-currency
- Inventory Plus is an optional paid add-on
- Introductory discounts expire after three months
| Same books | LineLedger | Xero |
|---|---|---|
| Send 30 invoices a month | $0 | $55 USD Early caps at 20 → Growing plan |
| Enter 15 bills a month | $0 | $55 USD Early caps at 5 → Growing plan |
| Invoice clients in another currency | $0 | $90 USD Multi-currency is Established-only |
Xero figures are current US list pricing, promotional discounts excluded as of July 2026. Source.
Feature for feature
Where each one is ahead — including the things Xero does that we don’t yet.
| Capability | LineLedger | Xero |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | $0 — open source | $25–$90 USD by tier |
| Invoices per month | Unlimited | 20 on the $25 Early plan |
| Bills entered per month | Unlimited | 5 on the $25 Early plan |
| Full multi-currency | Included | $90 Established tier only |
| Annual price increases | None — there’s no price | Tiered; terms reserve the right to change |
| Runs on your own server | Yes | No |
| Get your data out Xero has no one-click “export everything”; you pull each area separately and some exports are role-restricted. | Portable ZIP export, anytime | Piecemeal CSV per area; imports capped |
| Open source — audit, patch, or fork (AGPLv3) | Yes | No |
| Sales tax with drill-down | Yes | Yes |
| Inventory tracking Xero sells Inventory Plus as an optional paid add-on on the Growing and Established plans. | Included | Paid add-on |
| Automatic bank feeds | On roadmap | Yes |
| Payroll Xero has no native US payroll — it integrates Gusto. LineLedger works the same way today: run your processor alongside it and post the journal entry. | Coming soon | Via Gusto (third party) |
What it costs
Invoices per month
Bills entered per month
Full multi-currency
Annual price increases
Runs on your own server
Get your data out
Xero has no one-click “export everything”; you pull each area separately and some exports are role-restricted.
Open source — audit, patch, or fork (AGPLv3)
Sales tax with drill-down
Inventory tracking
Xero sells Inventory Plus as an optional paid add-on on the Growing and Established plans.
Automatic bank feeds
Payroll
Xero has no native US payroll — it integrates Gusto. LineLedger works the same way today: run your processor alongside it and post the journal entry.
Free, with no caps
Xero’s $25 Early tier throttles you to 20 invoices and 5 bills a month. LineLedger doesn’t meter your bookkeeping — and there’s no price to raise, because there’s no price.
Read the code
LineLedger is open source under the AGPLv3. Audit exactly how your books are calculated, patch it, or fork it. Xero is closed and cloud-only.
Your data is yours
Your books sit on your own server, and export to a portable ZIP in one click. Xero makes you export area-by-area, capped and role-gated.
Common questions
- Isn’t Xero’s entry plan only $25?
- It is — but Xero’s $25 Early plan caps you at 20 invoices and 5 bills a month. The moment you outgrow that you’re on the $55 Growing plan, and full multi-currency doesn’t arrive until the $90 Established plan. LineLedger costs nothing at all, with unlimited invoices, bills, users, and multi-currency included.
- Will my price go up like Xero’s?
- You have no price. LineLedger is free software under the AGPLv3, installed on hardware you control. Xero’s plans are tiered — growing alone moves you up a tier — and its terms reserve the right to change pricing at any time. The discount on its pricing page is introductory and expires after three months.
- Can I get my data back out if I leave?
- Your data never leaves in the first place — LineLedger runs on your server. Export any company to a portable ZIP, plus CSV and XLSX from every report. Xero has no one-click “export everything”: you pull each area (contacts, invoices, bills, transactions) separately, and some exports are role-restricted.
- Can I self-host Xero?
- No — Xero is cloud-only and closed source. LineLedger is the opposite: open source under the AGPLv3, designed to run on your own server, and the only way to get it.
See the difference on your own books.
Free and open source under the AGPLv3. Clone it, run it on a server you control, and bring your history with you — there is nothing to subscribe to.
Xero is a trademark of Xero Limited, used here for identification and comparison only. LineLedger is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Xero Limited. Comparison based on publicly available information as of July 2026; pricing and features may have changed — see the source.