Wave is free. QuickBooks is $35+/mo. Xero is beloved by accountants. But which one actually sends escalating follow-up emails until your clients pay? Spoiler: only one does.
Most invoicing tools let you send onepayment reminder. You click a button, an email goes out, and then it's back to you.
But real invoice chasing isn't one email. It's a sequence β from friendly to firm to urgent to βmy accountant is handling this.β And the magic is in the consistency: clients who know you always follow up pay faster.
None of the major invoicing platforms automate this full escalation sequence. They assume you'll do the follow-up yourself. Chaser is built specifically for that one job.
Focus: Free invoicing & accounting
Weakness: Manual follow-up only β you still have to write the emails
Verdict: Great for free invoicing. Zero automation for late payments.
See full comparison βFocus: Full accounting suite
Weakness: Has reminders but they're generic one-offs, not escalating sequences
Verdict: Overkill if you just need to get paid. No true escalation logic.
See full comparison βFocus: Accounting & bookkeeping (8M+ users)
Weakness: 1 manual reminder per invoice β no escalation, no payment link
Verdict: Your accountant loves it. It won't chase your invoices for you.
See full comparison βFocus: Cloud accounting (UK/ANZ focus)
Weakness: Invoice reminders require manual trigger every time
Verdict: Excellent for bookkeeping. Silent on chasing overdue invoices.
See full comparison βFocus: All-in-one for freelancers
Weakness: Reminders exist but aren't intelligent β same tone every time
Verdict: Good all-in-one but late payment chasing isn't its focus.
See full comparison βFocus: CRM + proposals + invoicing
Weakness: Built for photographers/events β limited for general freelancers
Verdict: Heavy CRM that happens to have invoicing. Overkill for most.
See full comparison βFocus: Invoicing inside the Zoho suite
Weakness: Reminder emails exist but are one-tone β no escalation sequence
Verdict: Free and decent for invoicing. The chase is still on you.
See full comparison βFocus: CRM + workflows for creative businesses
Weakness: Workflow automation exists but requires complex setup for follow-ups
Verdict: Powerful for client management. Invoice chasing needs a workflow engineer.
See full comparison βFocus: Open-source invoicing suite
Weakness: Manual reminders only β no intelligent escalation logic
Verdict: Solid free option. The escalation problem remains unsolved.
See full comparison βFocus: Simple invoices for existing PayPal users
Weakness: No follow-up automation at all β you're on your own
Verdict: Convenient if clients already use PayPal. No chasing whatsoever.
See full comparison βFocus: UK accounting + invoicing (6M+ businesses)
Weakness: Manual reminders only β no escalation sequence
Verdict: The UK accountant's favourite. Still won't chase your invoices.
See full comparison βFocus: Time tracking + invoicing for agencies/freelancers
Weakness: No follow-up automation β manual resend every time
Verdict: Excellent for time tracking. Invoice chasing is manual.
See full comparison βFocus: Time tracking + basic invoicing
Weakness: No invoice follow-up at all β invoicing is secondary to time tracking
Verdict: Industry-leading time tracking. Invoice chasing doesn't exist in Toggl.
See full comparison βFocus: Workspace / project management + manual invoice tracking
Weakness: Tracks what's overdue β does nothing to chase it
Verdict: Great for organizing your business. Silent on actually getting paid.
See full comparison βFocus: Work management / project tracking for teams
Weakness: Can build automations but no escalation logic, no payment links, no billing focus
Verdict: Excellent for projects. Not designed for invoice follow-up.
See full comparison βFocus: Writing emails yourself
Weakness: You forget, you procrastinate, and every email takes 25 minutes
Verdict: Free but costs you hours, stress, and thousands in forgotten follow-ups.
Focus: Automated invoice escalation β one job, done right
What it does: 4-stage escalating email sequence (day 3, 7, 14, 30) β professional tone, your reply-to, Stripe payment link in every email
Verdict: The only tool that automates the full chase sequence without requiring you to do anything after setup.
Want a deeper look at a specific tool? We've built 16 dedicated comparison pages:
Free for 3 invoices. Takes 2 minutes to set up.
If Chaser recovers one invoice, it pays for itself 100Γ over.