Ghostwriters on FreshBooks pay $43/month — $516/year. Over three years, that's $1,548. Nexa is $279 once. Break-even runs about 6.5 months. The median ghostwriter earns $48,000/year, so FreshBooks's annual cost is roughly 1.1% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
That's $1,548 gone. And you don't own anything. Stop paying, lose access.
You're not the only one who's had enough.
Ghostwriters face unique challenges: Books take 3-6 months with milestone-based payment schedules. Per-word vs. flat rate vs. royalty share pricing models. Client feedback cycles can stall projects for weeks. NDAs and confidentiality make referral marketing impossible. On top of all that, FreshBooks charges $43/month ($516/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median ghostwriter earns $48,000/year. Software at $516/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your Writing software (Scrivener, Google Docs) is yours. You bought it once. Nexa works the same way — $279 once for invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, and full accounting. All connected. All offline-capable. You own it like you own your tools.
FreshBooks is just one piece. What else are you losing money on?
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Your exact FreshBooks cost, full stack total, and what switching saves. 10 seconds.
| Feature | FreshBooks | Nexa |
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| CRM | ✗ | ✓ |
| Time Tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full Accounting | ✓ | ✓ (SIMPL) |
| Task Management | — | ✓ |
| Works offline | — | ✓ |
| Price | $43/mo forever | $279 once or 3 × $99 |
| 3-Year Cost | $1,548 | $279 |
| Stop paying? | Lose everything | Keep everything forever |
Most ghostwriters are fully switched before the weekend.
Go to Settings → Export Data. Download clients, invoices, expenses, and time entries.
15-minute setup. Import your client list and expenses from CSV.
Run both for 1-2 weeks. Re-create unpaid and recurring invoices in Nexa; keep the FreshBooks export as your invoice history.
Cancel subscription. Download a final data export for your records.
By 8 I'm listening back to yesterday's interview with my business-book client, a founder who talks in stories, not chapters. I transcribe the good parts, pull the lines that sound like him, and build an outline for chapter 6 of 12: the opening anecdote, the framework, three examples, and a close that leads into chapter 7. The book is 50,000 words over four months, and I'm two months in. The problem is that chapters 4 and 5 have been sitting with him for three weeks unreviewed, and my next milestone payment is tied to his sign-off, so I send a polite nudge with a date and the short list of questions I need answered. Midmorning I write, about 2,000 words, keeping his verbal habits and cutting mine. After lunch I switch to my memoir client, an 80-year-old woman whose recordings I'm working through for her childhood chapter. I check dates and names with her daughter, because memory blurs. At 3 I write three blog posts for my monthly retainer clients, each in a different voice. Late afternoon is the business side: updating my chapter tracker with word counts and review status, sending an NDA to a new prospect, and writing a quote where I have to choose between per-word, a flat fee, or a lower fee plus a royalty share. I can't show that prospect my best work, since none of it has my name on it, so I send redacted samples.
Real ghostwriters near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you a ghostwriter? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every ghostwriter on Nexa →
For solo operators and small teams (1-5), yes. Nexa includes invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting. FreshBooks may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
It's $7.75/month over 3 years. FreshBooks is $43/month — that's $1,548 over 3 years. Which is more? And if you'd rather split it, Nexa is also available as 3 payments of $99.
Yes. Nexa is $279 as a one-time payment, or 3 payments of $99 ($297 total). Either way it's a one-time purchase — no subscription, no recurring fees ever.
30-day money-back guarantee. Full refund. If Nexa doesn't save you $500 in year one, you get every penny back.
Export your data from FreshBooks as CSV, import into Nexa in about 5 minutes.
The average solo operator there spends about $2,112/year on software — and ghostwriter face their own version of that math. WI state licensing requirements apply.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Green Bay metro. Your situation will vary.
Specific gaps Ghostwriters run into with FreshBooks, and what Nexa does instead.
If you want to compare notes or see how other ghostwriters are running their tools, here's where the conversation happens.
$1,548 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.
Get Nexa — $279 Once