Buyer's guide
Wave is a well-loved free accounting and invoicing tool, and for many Singapore freelancers and service businesses it is genuinely enough. But if you sell products across a counter, a warehouse and an online store, you end up bolting a POS, an inventory app and an e-commerce plugin onto Wave. Tallium AI is one app that already contains all of that — here is a fair look at both so you can choose well.
Key takeaways
Wave built its reputation on free, clean accounting and invoicing that a solo owner can run in an afternoon. Tallium AI takes a different angle: one paid app that unifies accounting with POS, inventory and e-commerce, priced per unit in USD with unlimited users.
| Feature | Tallium AI | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Core accounting & invoicing | Full double-entry accounting, invoicing and expense tracking included on every plan | Strong, genuinely free accounting and invoicing — its biggest strength |
| Point of sale (POS) | Built-in POS for shops and restaurants under the same login | No true retail/restaurant POS; a separate payments/checkout flow only |
| Inventory & stock control | Real inventory, purchase orders and multi-location stock included | No dedicated inventory module; you track stock manually or add a third-party tool |
| E-commerce / online store | Online store and order management built in and synced to stock | Not offered; you connect an external store and reconcile by hand |
| Users / seats | Unlimited users on every plan, no per-seat fees | Limited collaboration; built around a single owner or very small team |
| GST handling for Singapore | GST tracking and reports designed to help you prepare your GST F5 return | General tax/sales-tax fields you configure yourself |
| Receipt scanning & AI | AI receipt scanning, auto-categorisation and business insights | Manual entry or basic receipt upload on paid add-ons |
| Marketing & CRM | Marketing and CRM included in the same Tallium AI suite account | Not part of the product |
| Pricing model | Flat USD per-unit price (shop $79, online store $159, warehouse $99, factory $269/mo), billed monthly, cancel anytime | Free core accounting; charges for payments, payroll and advisory add-ons |
| Best fit | Product businesses that sell in-store and online and want one system | Freelancers and service firms who only need clean books and invoices |
The honest verdict
If you are a solo consultant, freelancer or service business in Singapore who mainly sends invoices and tracks expenses, Wave is excellent and hard to beat on price — stay on it. Switch to Tallium AI when you start selling physical products, need a POS, real inventory or an online store, or when juggling separate tools for each is costing you time and accuracy. Tallium AI costs money where Wave's core is free, but it replaces a whole stack with one app and unlimited users.
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