KitebillInvoice spreadsheet or invoicing app?
Plenty of freelancers invoice from an Excel or Google Sheets template, and for many that's fine. Here's where a spreadsheet does the job, where it starts to cost you, and how Kitebill compares. We make Kitebill and we also give away free spreadsheet templates, so we have no reason to pretend one always wins.
| Spreadsheet template | Kitebill app | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free if you already use Excel, or use a free option such as Google Sheets or LibreOffice Calc. | Free for 3 clients and 10 invoices, no time limit. Pro is US$29 once (no subscription) for unlimited use. |
| Invoice numbers | You type the next number yourself. Easy to skip one or use the same number twice. | Numbers itself (INV-0001, INV-0002…) and refuses to save a number that is already used. |
| Who has paid? | You add a "paid" column or colour the cells, and remember to check it. | Each invoice is draft, sent or paid. A sent invoice turns overdue after its due date, and the dashboard shows what is outstanding. |
| Clients | Copy-paste from the last invoice, or keep a separate sheet. | A client list with each client's default currency (3 on the free plan). Import clients from a CSV. |
| Several currencies | Your own formulas and a rate you look up. | Each invoice has its own currency. Enter your exchange rate once and totals show in your home currency, with the fees taken off and the amount that actually arrived. |
| Layout | Anything you can design. Export each invoice to PDF yourself. | One clean layout, with English, English + Arabic or English + Urdu labels. Print / Save PDF. Your logo with Pro. |
| Where the data lives | Files on your computer or a cloud drive you choose. Easy to share with an accountant. | In this browser only (no account, no sync between devices). Export a backup file from Settings; the app reminds you. |
| Flexibility | Unlimited: any column, any formula, any sheet. | Fixed fields. No custom fields, recurring invoices, sending email from the app, online card payments or bank sync. |
Stay with a spreadsheet if…
- you send a handful of invoices a year and always know who has paid;
- you want a layout or columns no app gives you;
- your accountant wants the spreadsheet itself, or the files must live in a shared drive;
- you already track payments in your bank or accounting software.
Move to an app (ours or another) if…
- you have ever sent two invoices with the same number, or had to search your inbox to find out whether a client paid;
- you bill in more than one currency and want to know what you actually earned in your own currency after fees;
- you invoice the same clients every month (in Kitebill, Duplicate makes next month's invoice with a new number and today's date);
- you want late invoices to show up by themselves instead of relying on memory.
Kitebill is one option, built for people who want no account and their data on their own device. If you need online card payments, a client portal or a team, a cloud tool fits better. See our sourced comparisons with Zoho Invoice, Wave, Invoice Ninja and others.
Moving over from a spreadsheet
- Clients: put your clients in a sheet with the columns
Name, Email, Address, Currency, save it as CSV, and use Clients → Import CSV in the app (up to 3 on the free plan, unlimited with Pro). - Open invoices: re-create only the unpaid ones and mark them sent, so they turn overdue on time. Keep the old paid invoices as PDFs; they are not imported.
- New invoices: make them in the app from now on. The free plan includes 10 invoices, enough to try it on a real month.
Nothing on this page is a statistic or a customer quote. The table describes what spreadsheets and Kitebill can do as of October 2026. Pro is US$29 once with a 30-day money-back guarantee (refund policy).
Questions
Is Kitebill just a spreadsheet in a browser?
No. It is an invoicing app: it keeps a client list, numbers invoices, tracks draft / sent / paid / overdue and adds up totals across currencies. You cannot add your own columns or formulas the way you can in a spreadsheet.
Can I get my invoices back into a spreadsheet?
With Pro, Invoices → Export CSV gives one row per invoice (number, client, dates, status, currency, totals, exchange rate, amount received, fees), which opens in Excel or Google Sheets. On both plans you can export a full backup file (.json) from Settings.
Do I have to stop using my spreadsheet templates?
No. Many people keep a template for odd one-off documents and use an app for regular clients. Our free templates stay free.
What happens to my data if I clear my browser?
The app keeps data in your browser, so clearing site data deletes it. Export a backup from Settings regularly (the app reminds you once you have invoices); you can restore it in any browser.