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Wave: Small Business Software

Wave Financial Inc · 6,551 ratings · ★ 4.4

4.4
★★★★★
6,551 ratings
5 ★
4,871 (74%)
4 ★
700 (11%)
3 ★
216 (3%)
2 ★
156 (2%)
1 ★
609 (9%)
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Top complaints - extracted from 70 negative reviews

Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.

1
"customer"
24 negative reviews mention this · 34% of all complaints
★★★★ "This app sucks. My experience with this platform has been terrible from start to finish. The platform itself is clunky, unreliable, and full of issues - but somehow their customer service manages to be even worse. They take forever to respond, they don’t s…" - Chicolai
2
"service"
23 negative reviews mention this · 33% of all complaints
★★★★ "This app sucks. My experience with this platform has been terrible from start to finish. The platform itself is clunky, unreliable, and full of issues - but somehow their customer service manages to be even worse. They take forever to respond, they don’t s…" - Chicolai
3
"wave"
23 negative reviews mention this · 33% of all complaints
★★★★ "Find a new app. I only use wave to create invoices and track income as a freelance creative professional. I refuse to use their online payment systems as the fees and holding times are ridiculous. I recently closed a bank account that was by default connec…" - Kwam Kwam
4
"support"
21 negative reviews mention this · 30% of all complaints
★★★★ "Terrible support. I am a pro subscriber to Wave accounting and there is no way to submit a support request to a human being. All I get is AI slop. I am writing this review in the hope that someone at wave will reach out to me." - ElegantTrogon
5
"customer service"
19 negative reviews mention this · 27% of all complaints
★★★★ "This app sucks. My experience with this platform has been terrible from start to finish. The platform itself is clunky, unreliable, and full of issues - but somehow their customer service manages to be even worse. They take forever to respond, they don’t s…" - Chicolai
6
"been"
16 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★ "This app sucks. My experience with this platform has been terrible from start to finish. The platform itself is clunky, unreliable, and full of issues - but somehow their customer service manages to be even worse. They take forever to respond, they don’t s…" - Chicolai
7
"business"
15 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★ "Owner. No phone number and no customer service. After authenticator app secondary verification was installed into this app. First phone was not able to access the app. then my lap top. And now my IPad. Leaving me with more than $15,000 in open inv…" - scottarita
8
"payments"
14 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★ "Not a serious accounting app. If you’re looking to take payments as a part of your business, do not use this app. They will flag reasonable amounts and cancel your transactions." - crazylegscali
9
"payment"
13 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★ "Find a new app. I only use wave to create invoices and track income as a freelance creative professional. I refuse to use their online payment systems as the fees and holding times are ridiculous. I recently closed a bank account that was by default connec…" - Kwam Kwam
10
"account"
13 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★ "Find a new app. I only use wave to create invoices and track income as a freelance creative professional. I refuse to use their online payment systems as the fees and holding times are ridiculous. I recently closed a bank account that was by default connec…" - Kwam Kwam
11
"money"
13 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★ "Find a new app. I only use wave to create invoices and track income as a freelance creative professional. I refuse to use their online payment systems as the fees and holding times are ridiculous. I recently closed a bank account that was by default connec…" - Kwam Kwam
12
"email"
13 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★ "A masterclass in hypocrisy and incompetence. I would give Wave zero stars if I could. My experience has been a Kafkaesque nightmare of "customer service" and technical irony. One day after opening an account, they suspended it because I used Apple Private Email Relay to protect my pr…" - JRC_JR

📋 All 70 negative reviews

Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").

★★★★ Chicolai 4/7/2026 v4.14.0
This app sucks
My experience with this platform has been terrible from start to finish. The platform itself is clunky, unreliable, and full of issues - but somehow their customer service manages to be even worse. They take forever to respond, they don’t solve anything, and every interaction leaves you more frustrated than before.
★★★★ Kwam Kwam 3/30/2026 v4.13.0
Find a new app
I only use wave to create invoices and track income as a freelance creative professional. I refuse to use their online payment systems as the fees and holding times are ridiculous. I recently closed a bank account that was by default connected to the wave app, and connected a new one just in case. Wave decides to TURN BACK ON the online payment system retroactively on an invoice, leading to my money currently being held hostage as I have bills to pay today.
★★★★ ElegantTrogon 3/27/2026 v4.13.0
Terrible support
I am a pro subscriber to Wave accounting and there is no way to submit a support request to a human being. All I get is AI slop.
I am writing this review in the hope that someone at wave will reach out to me.
★★★★ JRC_JR 3/19/2026 v4.13.0
A masterclass in hypocrisy and incompetence
I would give Wave zero stars if I could. My experience has been a Kafkaesque nightmare of "customer service" and technical irony.
One day after opening an account, they suspended it because I used Apple Private Email Relay to protect my privacy. They claimed they couldn’t support an "anonymized third-party service." The punchline? Wave uses Apple Private Email Relay for their own marketing and support emails. They literally told me they couldn’t help me via the very service they were using to send the message. It is beyond moronic; it’s an insulting double standard.
The "Pro" Trap: Since they suspended my account, I am now locked out and unable to log in to cancel my paid "Pro" subscription. I have been trying for nearly a month to get a resolution. I received one single "we're looking into it" response on March 4th and have been ghosted ever since.
 
While they claim they "can't support" my email for account access, they have absolutely no problem using it to hit me with relentless marketing spam.
Bottom line: If you value your time, your money, or basic logic, stay far away from Wave. They will take your subscription fee, lock you out of your own data for exercising basic privacy rights, and then ignore your pleas for help.
★★★★ Dockmatt 3/17/2026 v4.13.0
THIS IS A JOKE
This system is a joke. They do not offer half of the things that you need. I’m trying to finish my books for the end of the year and you can’t even run the reports correctly because it doesn’t show half of the information, mind you there’s not an actual phone number for you to call to get a hold of them. You have to wait on a chat system and the last time I had to talk to someone in order to file my 1099‘s which spoiler alert you can’t file anymore on here. I had to wait five hours on a chat and if you don’t answer the chat in enough time, you don’t get to talk to someone don’t waste your time to have to change your books over again for this system.
★★★★ Hkghjmfgkufhjj 3/17/2026 v4.13.0
Cant cancel subscription
Been trying to cancel for months.
★★★★ Drewbott 3/10/2026 v4.13.0
VERY limited
Been using the free version of Wave on my desktop web browser for almost a year. The app makes you subscribe to do almost anything, including free browser features. Scammy
★★★★ scottarita 3/6/2026 v4.13.0
Owner
No phone number and no customer service. After authenticator app secondary verification was installed into this app. First phone was not able to access the app. then my lap top. And now my IPad. Leaving me with more than $15,000 in open invoices. All are welcome to contact me to confirm my claim.. small business beware.
★★★★ Real fhstorm 3/5/2026 v4.13.0
Worked great till my account was randomly suspended
Worked great, after testing for 2 weeks was going to upgrade to the paid service but my account was suspended with no notification, no communication. I have no clue what happened, whether i did something incorrectly etc. the only way to contact support is if you have a paid account, otherwise you can only talk to an ai chat bot and then only if you are signed in. So i have no access to any support whatsoever, not even an ai chatbot. I guess all my invoices are dead, gotta go remake them, be wary if you use this program.
Edit: 4 days later i have been informed i was banned for using bitcoin. For the record, i have never used bitcoin in my life, they have given me no further responses, and cannot provide me any context as to what the transaction was, the date of it etc. So after spending hours getting everything setup, I’m banned for nothing (i seriously have never associated with bitcoin nor would i know how to receive a bitcoin payment), and i have no recourse, my files, invoices, estimates, receipts are all gone now.
Edit2: A week later I have been informed it was not a bitcoin issue, their automated system improperly flagged my account and had it banned. Ridiculous that I had to be locked out of my account for 1.5 weeks, I will no longer be using this software, ymmv.
★★★★ crazylegscali 3/3/2026 v4.13.0
Not a serious accounting app
If you’re looking to take payments as a part of your business, do not use this app. They will flag reasonable amounts and cancel your transactions.
★★★★ Bhwunder 2/27/2026 v4.13.0
Useless compared to website
If you’re using the free version don’t even both downloading this app it’s completely useless. You can’t see any of your transaction or even pull up a simple report from the app
★★★★ ford95810 2/25/2026 v4.13.0
Great option to make you look like a fool.
I was ready to upgrade my service with them after a payment or two went through with no issues and it was charged back and said my business payments aren’t supported by wave. Now I have multiple invoices sent out and look like a fool because wave wants to lead you on with services and not deliver.
★★★★ Calvin montgomery 2/20/2026 v4.13.0
Useless app
App does not do much, at first you think it’s just hard to navigate, after a while you realize it’s as simple as it is. Not a very helpful app at all and you have to pay a monthly membership. I’m using stride for free, it does so much more.
★★★★ CC business owner 2/10/2026 v4.12.0
Useless
Didn’t file my year end tax forms like I paid them to, won’t respond to emails and can’t get thru their useless chat box. No phone line either. 1099s are incorrect and W2s were late. Save yourself the trouble and do NOT use this company.
★★★★ robbingyouoffreedom 2/9/2026 v4.12.0
False advertising
They said they could process my payments and a customer paid and the app said that the funds would be available in 2 to 7 business days, then after 7 days they asked me for additional information holding my money hostage. I processed a refund to my client and have now caused a major inconvenience in cashflow and client relations. Will be using another payment process and invoice software
★★★★ Vegasluke. 2/9/2026 v4.12.0
Payroll
Signed up for payroll with wave earlier this year and im finding out they never sent quarterly tax payments to the irs or filed the proper forms. Haven’t even been able to get in touch with anyone from support it’s been weeks already. They took the tax money from my paycheck but never made the payments to the irs
★★★★ Magusdoc 2/4/2026 v4.12.0
Seems like a scam
The
y take your money and they say it’s being processed it’s being paid to your bank and then they say one week later oh there’s like a security check you need to give us like 10 different documents and then i asked , what is the quickest way maybe just refund so I can ask the client to pay me a check. It would be faster. They don’t even give you a choice saying if you don’t provide the documents. They just sent an email saying we’re blocking. You can’t receive your funds for 70 days. I mean, who does that take your money and then don’t give it back for 70 days without any choice of resolution and you can’t even call them
★★★★ thatguyspike26 1/24/2026 v4.11.0
Trash
Dishonest trash company just kicked rates up by $3 a month with zero notice. ZERO ability to contact customer service. Software wasn’t that good in the first place so I’m leaving.
★★★★ Wave is dishonest 1/17/2026 v4.11.0
No communication
Wave is cheap, unreliable, unprofessional, distasteful and 100% not what they use to be. Run away and whatever you do, don’t do anything beyond the free version.
I have 10 emails into support for confirmation numbers for refunds from 5 days ago. Still nothing, my customers have nothing. So the funds just disappeared…
★★★★ Doors and more 1/15/2026 v4.11.0
Don’t use!! Get QuickBooks
Worst choice I could have made as a small business. I set up to take credit card payments. They don’t process it for 7 days (no big deal) then tell you it couldn’t be processed because they’re “missing information”. First transaction I made they needed the contract. No issue, sent them the contract, after 4 weeks payments finally went through. Did a few more payments and then suddenly, with the same customer, same job, they’re “missing information” and it will take 70 days to refund. No explanation on what they are missing or what they need. My customer and I are without over $14,000 during a time sensitive project. No customer service number to call. Email support is the only option and they respond vaguely with only one email per day, if you’re lucky enough to get correspondence back at all.
★★★★ Nola nun ya 1/8/2026 v4.10.6
Issues
I can not get the app to open.
★★★★ realityrevision 12/17/2025 v4.10.5
Poor customer service
Poor customer service
★★★★ thisNickNameIsFkingTaken 11/6/2025 v4.10.2
Nightmare stress for an employee
I clicked the invitation link my employer sent me, it asked me to sign up, I put in my email and created password it says page not found. So I did sign in with Google, it asks me questions as if I OWN a business and there’s no relationship to my employer.
★★★★ Nicknsme@ 11/2/2025 v4.10.2
Would not recommend
Would not recommend
★★★★ @-",-@ 10/30/2025 v4.10.2
App always not working
After updating iOS always app stop working
★★★★ 2592dkq 10/10/2025 v4.10.0
AVOID WAVE AT ALL COSTS - They Will Hold Your Money Hostage Infefinitely
If I had the option to give zero stars, or negative stars, that would be more accurate.
If you value getting paid in a reasonable timeframe, RUN from Wave.
I had a client pay via bank transfer. Wave’s system showed the payment received, but then decided to hold MY money for an indefinitely with ZERO transparency, ZERO ability to expedite, and ZERO care for the fact that small business owners rely on timely payments. Their “AI Chat” is a sham. It’s meant to prevent people from actually getting to someone who can help because they don’t want to staff actual humans. What a complete joke of a company.
Their customer “service” is an outsourced nightmare - completely useless, scripted responses, no ability to actually help. Oh, and they are only open 4 hours a day during the busiest time of the day. They are ALWAYS experiencing “unusually long”wait times because they are terrible at their job. When I explained I needed the funds urgently, they basically shrugged and said “wait.” No empathy, no solutions, no accountability.
The UX is confusing and poorly designed. They don’t clearly communicate which payment methods qualify for instant payout vs. being held hostage. The instant transfer marketing tactics are deceitful. There whole operation is deceitful. They seem like a con job.
For a payment processing company, the ONE JOB is to process payments reliably and transparently. Wave fails spectacularly at both.
Small businesses deserve better. I’m switching to literally ANY other platform - Stripe, Square, PayPal, even Venmo for Business would be better than this disaster.
Wave: You’re holding people’s livelihoods hostage with your incompetent processing times and non-existent customer service. Do better, or get out of the business.
TL;DR: Wave will receive your payment, confirm it’s there, then hold it indefinitely while it gets lost in the black hole of incompetence. Absolute garbage company and products. You’ve been warned.
★★★★ Eirbbrind 10/9/2025 v4.10.0
Really bummed, can’t even sign in and app crashes
I really wanted to like this as a friend uses the app and seems to not have issues but I’ve tried no less than 5 different occasions to just set up my account and the app freezes, won’t allow input and crashes. Not something I want to use for my financial records. Big bummer
★★★★ Ruben3599 10/8/2025 v4.10.0
Double Charged
Why is my refund being denied if I have been double charged for months?
★★★★ StrokeofRed 10/6/2025 v4.10.0
Scam
So far, I can only determine this is a scam. I use this account for years as a free account. Then I upgraded so that I could scan receipts and they charged me, but it never upgraded. When I reached out to customer service, they told me to make sure that the app was up-to-date, which I did. Then I uninstalled and reinstalled the app. It never upgraded. I decided maybe it was my phone issue so I created a new account under a new email address and I paid the fee again. Again, I had the same issue. It will not give me the features and tells me to upgrade even though I’ve already paid for it. I reached out to customer service but got an AI bought. It gave me no help and told me that it would send an email to get a resolution. That was a week ago and I’ve still heard nothing. At this point, I can only determine this is a scam and will be going with another service and trying to get my money back.
★★★★ OtakuHeaven 10/3/2025 v4.10.0
Poor support
I like this software in general but just know that if you use the free version-there is ZERO customer support. So they kind of force you to either wing it or upgrade and THAT I don’t like. Support should be available at each tier. Additionally, I’ve tried to upgrade my account in order to accept credit card payments through the invoices, but they won’t allow me to do so and there’s so much to go though to reach a real human. For this reason, I mostly use Square invoices instead. Wave could level up, if only they would!! :(
★★★★ Beau Chevassus 10/2/2025 v4.10.0
They 100% lock you out until you update
Good luck if you barely have a signal.
★★★★ rthawk1 10/1/2025 v4.10.0
Lack of customer support
Customer support does not exist. No phone number to speak to someone. The steps to stop charging a credit card are hours to implement if possible. I have been dealing with poor customer service for more than 2 months with no success. I have gotten nowhere with these jerks. We are a HOA of 12 and we are being treated like idiots
I will continue to post bad reviews until someone gets on the phone and supports this product
★★★★ tonitii24 9/29/2025 v4.10.0
Downloaded app to track receipts-paid only feature
On the Wave website, which I’ve been using for years, I can work with my transactions for free and upload receipts for free. When I went to view my transactions, I was told to pick a plan, though I can do this online without paying for a plan. Same thing with receipts.
So… what’s the point of using the app then?
★★★★ durango2000 9/26/2025 v4.8.4
Can’t use my app
Saying to update it won’t let me since my phone can’t run is 16. So what do I do. Don’t want to buy new phone
★★★★ Smart Handy repairs 9/3/2025 v4.9.6
Title: Extremely Frustrating: Funds Held Without Cause
I have been using Wave for my handyman business. While their invoicing and bookkeeping features work, the payment system is extremely unreliable.
My clients paid invoices promptly, yet Wave has held my funds for days without releasing them. Support provided only ticket numbers and no actual resolution. The Risk Team demanded email or text confirmations from my clients, effectively holding my money hostage and issuing arbitrary ultimatums, even though all services were fully rendered and payments were legitimate.
This practice is unacceptable and could constitute unlawful withholding of earned income. I have never experienced a payment provider that requires proof from clients for one-time services before releasing funds that are already paid.
Be warned: using Wave may seriously delay access to your earnings, and prolonged withholding could lead to legal action to recover your money. I cannot recommend this service to anyone who needs timely access to their funds.
★★★★ Joeytendsbar 8/25/2025 v4.9.5
I hate Wave
I pay for the pro accounting service and also the payroll service to help run my business and the more I deal with Wave, the more I hate them. To begin, the customer service is beyond awful, they have no phone number to call when I have a question and when the chat bot can’t help, I send an email to customer support that doesn’t get answered for 2 months. (No exaggeration no typo) Now this week they decided to migrate my payroll account to a third party provider (check??) so I’m locked out from running payroll. And to recap, no phone number I can call for help, they have a message on the chat service that says they’re having a large volume of traffic so they limited the chat hours from 11am to 2pm (three hours), so I have employees expecting paychecks and my payroll provider locked me out with no means to contact them for support. It’s well worth the extra $10 to pay Gusto for a service that works and they actually support when I have a question. Goodbye Wave 👋 (pun intended)
★★★★ Dr. Knique 8/16/2025 v4.9.4
DO NOT USE!
It all seems good and well until they change a critical feature that screws up your entire business and/or winds up costing you infinitely more than you planned. Absolute scum business practices that can destroy your small business.
★★★★ Mjj5098 8/15/2025 v4.9.4
Terrible
I have not had a functioning app for a couple days now and all I get is a chat bot. I submitted an email and no response. I have paid way too much money in processing fees and pro fees to get no support when the ability to bill my customers goes down! I’m leaving wave for quickbooks!
★★★★ Pinterest should be deleted 8/15/2025 v4.9.4
WORST PAYMENT APP-DO NOT TRUST!
Cleaning businesses -I have an LLC, and apparently I am a glutton for punishment. I used them once and was so upset with their customer service that I discontinued use. Recently, I had some issues with one of my payment apps and I needed quick payment and I remembered that I still had this app. I went ahead and gave it another shot I’m still waiting on $700 worth of deposits. I have repeatedly reached out to customer service to the point. I am finally just angry and I’m writing a review. They absolutely will not get back to you in a timely manner, they will not discuss deposits with you and there is no one to call. And I do mean no one to call. The chat box is pretty much unhelpful. And there is always something wrong with the app. Trust the other negative reviews. Definitely trust mine as well. I have screenshots if anybody wants them.
Every single payment was made on August 6, and Wave chose to separate every single one of those payments out in different installments. It is now since last Wednesday and I still have received zero customer service help.
RUN FROM THIS COMPANY.
★★★★ JoManda0402 8/12/2025 v4.9.4
Not working
Worked for a minute, subscribed, and it has done nothing but crash since. Disappointing. Will be looking for a refund.
★★★★ Jesus Botero 8/11/2025 v4.9.4
I can’t even start
I just downloaded the app am filling the information (login whit my Apple ID) and kick me out immediately when I try again review everything and keep kicking me out.
★★★★ Jesus Christ is Risen 8/2/2025 v4.9.3
Worst
Customer service is terrible. Had issue with payroll, tried to get customer support. 5 days after my request I got an email saying they were sorry. No solution, just sorry. Another 2 weeks and still having issues. No live support.
★★★★ yea456123 7/29/2025 v4.9.3
Not free
They claim free but very little is free, you can set up and account and view their features but to actually use their features you have to pay.
★★★★ jtkoestler3 7/16/2025 v4.9.2
See before you type a letter on this line it says “optional”. That sums up this app
I am absolutely disgusted,
Bewildered and down right dissatisfied with the way this app has gone. No support. No questions answered, no payouts on time. Get it together.
★★★★ Userwill42 7/11/2025 v4.9.2
Do not use this invoicing service
I received a large invoice payment through their online payment portal. Wave refused to pay it to me and has given me no explanation for it. They are still holding onto this amount while I have not received any notification as to why. They have no live human support system, and you have to wait an endless amount of time to receive any thing from them.
★★★★ javielyss 7/9/2025 v4.9.2
Good for accounting, terrible for payments and customer service
This app works great for keeping track of my transactions, income and expenses. It’s terrible when receiving payments through it and they never reply to your emails. No phone number to call. I’ve had two payments pending for at least 10 days and the funds have not been released. After the funds are released I’m definitely switching to another app.
★★★★ GLX25 7/2/2025 v4.9.2
Unresponsive
This is the second time that I have had problems with wave. The first time there was a duplicate deduction on payroll taxes to the IRS. Initially customer service wanted me to contact the IRS and stated that it was not their responsibility after several weeks. They actually wrote a different message to me and resolve the issue. Most recently, they are yet having another payroll problem. Unable to reach a customer service via chat. System backlogged with issues. They deducted payroll money from corporate bank account, but did not make the payment to the employee. I have had to have the bank block further ACH deductions from wave. I hope they will respond to me soon to resolve this issue.
★★★★ Thompson#230 6/26/2025 v4.9.2
Held Fund Hostage
I opened an account with Wave in order to receive credit card payments for contracted work. Immediately after the first payment they flagged my account for having an all my payments come from one customer! They proceeded to hold my funds hostage for over a week!!Even after I complied with the required documentation the hugely over kill requirements!! Will never use them again.
★★★★ MendelyUser2020 6/26/2025 v4.9.2
Stay away and avoid fines with IRS
This service is pathetic in terms of customer service. NOBODY replies to the automated tickets that are created when you try to use the chat. No way to communicate with a person. Payroll have issues with IRS and you are in risk of fines because of the bad setup they have. I have the pro paid version and still I don’t get any support. Accounting is also a joke, many mistakes, you waste more time than what you save. Just go to a reliable company and avoid falling into this trap and fines!!!
★★★★ Lalalalalaa08 6/25/2025 v4.9.2
*MUST READ* stay with Quickbooks!!!
If I could give this platform ZERO stars, I would.
-I have a business and Wave withheld a large deposit of mine for almost a month and I fought them EVERYDAY to get the money through to my account, but ended up having to refund it back to my customer. (which was extremely unprofessional)
-NO customer service phone number to contact them at.
-When I did get through to a human being asking for assistance with my frozen account, he BLOCKED my number after our call. ( Talking to you, Oliver 🙃)
-For ANY questions, you must always talk to a chat bot, when you get “redirected to a professional” it’s just another chat bot through email.
-000/10. Spend the money and convert to Quickbooks. Real people, real customer service and they give you a 45 minute call to walk you through the whole platform.

+ 20 more in the clipboard copy

Sentiment summary

85%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
12%
Negative (1-2★)

✓ Strong positive sentiment - clone path is harder, users like the existing app.