Xero too expensive just to send invoices? You’re not imagining it.
If you’re a sole trader paying $35–75 a month for Xero to do three things — send invoices, track GST, hand numbers to your accountant at BAS time — you’re paying for payroll, bank feeds and inventory you never touch. Users begged Xero for a cheaper sole-trader tier. The answer was another price rise.
What Xero’s own users are saying
★★★“Xero needs a less expensive simpler version for sole traders that doesn't need GST but allows you to send more than 20 invoices!”
★“Xero was great — 5 years ago. Now we're paying almost double and getting the same basic functionality.”
★“$75 monthly to make invoices and track expenses is terrible.”
All excerpts are public App Store reviews, quoted with their dates. Xero’s plans and pricing may have changed — last checked August 2026.
What a sole trader actually needs vs what Xero sells
| Xero | Dinkum Invoice | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | From ~$35/mo, rising most years | Free unlimited invoicing; $9/mo BAS layer, locked for life |
| Unlimited Tax Invoices | Cheapest plan historically capped invoices per month | Unlimited on the free tier |
| GST / BAS | Full BAS lodgement support | BAS-ready GST summary matching ATO labels — you or your agent lodge |
| Invoicing from your phone | A decade of reviews call the mobile app a second-class citizen | Phone-first and offline-first: invoice from the ute in 60 seconds |
| Payroll, bank feeds, inventory | Yes — that’s what you’re paying for | Deliberately not included. If you need these, stay on Xero. |
| Your accountant | Accountants love Xero | Xero sync included — your accountant keeps their workflow |
Honest guidance
Keep Xero if you run payroll, carry inventory, or your accountant does your books inside it daily. It’s good software priced for real businesses.
Switch if you’re a sole trader or 1–3 person operation whose Xero usage is “send invoice, check who’s paid, export GST at BAS time.” That’s a $9 job, not a $35–75 one — and with Xero sync, your accountant doesn’t have to change anything.
Drop to $9 before the next price rise
Xero’s increases typically land April–July. Join the waitlist and lock in $9/mo for life when the beta opens.