Keel vs Invoice2go: On-Device Invoicing or Cloud Subscription?
Short answer: Invoice2go, now part of BILL, is a subscription invoicing app that runs on the web and on mobile, syncs across devices, and lets clients pay by card from a link on the invoice. Keel is an iPhone app that keeps everything on the device — no account, no cloud, no bank link — for a one-time price. Choose Invoice2go if you invoice from a desktop or want payments handled inside the product. Choose Keel if privacy and a single purchase matter more.
These two apps get compared a lot, and the comparison is usually framed as a feature fight. It isn’t one. They are built on opposite assumptions about where your business records should live, and that single decision drives almost every other difference between them — including the ones that will annoy you six months in.
If you have not settled the storage question yet, it is worth reading on-device vs cloud bookkeeping before you shop for apps at all, because it applies to every tool in this category. And if what you actually need is a correct invoice rather than a particular brand of software, the list of what to include on an invoice will get you paid regardless of which one you pick.
What does Invoice2go actually do?
Invoice2go is an invoicing product aimed at small businesses and sole operators, and it now sits inside BILL’s product family. You create an invoice from a template, apply your logo and brand colors, send it to the client, and the client can pay from a link on the invoice.
The records live in the vendor’s cloud behind an account login. That is what makes the multi-device story work: the same invoice you drafted on a laptop is on your phone when you get to the next job, and the same numbers show up on a tablet. It is sold as a subscription, with tiers that have changed more than once. Prices move, so check Invoice2go’s own pricing page for the current figures rather than trusting any comparison article, including this one.
Where is Invoice2go genuinely better?
Three places, and none of them are close.
Web access and multi-device sync. Keel has no web interface at all. None. If you do your paperwork at a desk, on a laptop, with a real keyboard and two windows open, Invoice2go simply does something Keel cannot do. Same if you carry an Android phone, or if you and a spouse both need to see the same books from different devices. The cloud account is the feature, not a side effect.
Payments are built in, not bolted on. With Invoice2go, the client taps the invoice and pays by card, and the payment status comes back into the product. Keel can put a payment link and a QR code on the PDF, but the money moves through whatever processor you already use, and Keel does not watch the transaction settle. For anyone who has spent a week chasing a client for payment, integrated card payment is a real reason to pay a subscription.
Cloud backup you did not have to remember. If your phone goes into a lake, an Invoice2go user logs in from a new device and their history is there. A Keel user has whatever they exported. That is a genuine tradeoff, not a footnote, and it is the price of the privacy model.
Template variety and brand customization also run deeper in Invoice2go than in Keel, which ships a smaller, more opinionated set.
Where is Keel better?
Keel is an iOS app that runs entirely on the device. There is no account to create, no password, no bank connection, and no server holding a copy of your invoices. Its App Store privacy label reads “Data Not Collected.” Because nothing depends on a network call, a Keel invoice can be written, numbered, and turned into a PDF in a basement with no signal, or in airplane mode at 30,000 feet.
Keel is also broader than an invoicing app. Alongside invoices with custom numbering, a logo, a brand color, and a payment-link QR code, it does on-device receipt reading with Apple Intelligence, a mileage log, a Freeboard view of the business, reports, an Accountant Pack, an append-only hash-chained ledger, and a one-file export of the whole year. Invoice2go’s center of gravity is the invoice; Keel’s is the year’s books.
And the money works differently. Keel Free is $0 with unlimited invoices, receipts, and mileage. Keel Pro is a one-time $249.99 Lifetime purchase, not a subscription.
How do Keel and Invoice2go compare side by side?
| Invoice2go | Keel | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Web and mobile | iPhone only |
| Where data lives | Vendor’s cloud | On your device |
| Account required | Yes | No |
| Works offline | Limited | Fully |
| Pricing model | Subscription | Free; Pro $249.99 one-time |
| Card payments | Integrated | Payment link/QR on the PDF |
| Automatic backup | Yes, via the cloud | No — you export the file |
| Estimates/quotes | Yes | Not yet (in development) |
| Receipt capture | Yes | Yes, on-device via Apple Intelligence |
| Mileage log | No | Yes |
| Template variety | Broad | Smaller, opinionated set |
| Privacy label | Cloud account | ”Data Not Collected” |
What can Keel not do?
Worth stating plainly before you buy anything. Keel does not create estimates or quotes yet — that feature is in development, but it is not there today. Keel does not import transactions from a bank feed, so expenses are captured from receipts and entries rather than pulled in automatically. Keel does not file your taxes. Keel does not manage a team, crews, or dispatch. And Keel has no web interface, so everything happens on the iPhone.
If two or more of those are dealbreakers, stop reading comparison articles and go look at cloud products, including Invoice2go.
Who is Invoice2go the right tool for?
The person Invoice2go fits is easy to picture. You do your invoicing at the end of the day, sitting down, on a laptop — not standing in a driveway. You want the client to be able to pay by card without a phone call. You would rather the software remember your history than remember to export a file yourself. Maybe you carry an Android phone, or you switch between a phone and a tablet during the week. Maybe someone else in the business needs access to the same records.
For that person, a subscription is not a tax, it is the cost of a service that is genuinely doing work — hosting, syncing, backing up, and moving money. Keel does not do any of those things, and pretending otherwise would not help you.
Who is Keel the right tool for?
Keel fits the one-person business on an iPhone that has decided its financial records should not live on someone else’s server. You invoice from the truck, the job site, or the kitchen table. You are tired of a monthly line item for software you use twice a week. You want receipts, mileage, and invoices in one place instead of three subscriptions, and in January you want to hand your accountant a single file rather than a login.
If that describes you, and you want to see how it stacks up against the lighter end of the market too, Keel vs Invoice Simple covers the free-tier comparison. Otherwise, Keel is on the App Store: Keel — Invoice Maker & Receipts. The free tier is not a trial, so you can send real invoices before deciding whether Pro is worth it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Keel a drop-in replacement for Invoice2go?
Not entirely. For invoicing on an iPhone, yes — Keel produces branded PDF invoices with custom numbering and a payment-link QR code. But Keel has no web interface, no cloud sync, no team access, and no built-in payment processing. If you currently use Invoice2go from a laptop or rely on its card payments, moving to Keel means giving those up on purpose, not by accident.
Does Keel make estimates like Invoice2go does?
Not today. Estimates are in development but not shipping, so if your workflow starts with a quote that the client approves before you invoice, Keel does not cover that step yet. Invoice2go does. For a trade where every job begins with a written quote, that gap is the whole decision, and no amount of privacy makes up for it.
How much does each one cost?
Invoice2go is sold as a subscription with multiple tiers; the figures change, so check their current pricing page rather than any third-party number. Keel is free with unlimited invoices, receipts, and mileage, and Keel Pro is a one-time $249.99 Lifetime purchase. The structural difference matters more than the amount: one is a permanent monthly line item, the other is a single payment.
What happens to my Keel data if I lose my phone?
Whatever you exported is what you have. Keel keeps records encrypted on the device with no server copy, so there is no account to log into from a new phone and no vendor who can restore your history. That is the direct cost of the privacy model. If you use Keel, export the year’s file regularly and store it somewhere you trust.
Can I use Keel on Android or on a computer?
No. Keel is an iPhone app only, with no web version and no Android version. Invoice2go covers both mobile and the web. If your household or crew is mixed-platform, or you do office work on a desktop, that alone rules Keel out and there is no workaround worth recommending.
Does Keel connect to my bank like other finance apps?
No, and it will not. Keel has no bank feed and no aggregator connection, so nothing is imported automatically and no third party is holding read access to your accounts. The tradeoff is manual entry: receipts are scanned on-device and expenses are recorded by you rather than appearing on their own.
This article is general information. Feature sets and pricing change — check both vendors’ current pages before deciding.
Where Keel actually fits
Private and on-device, with a real tradeoff.
Against cloud, bank-connected tools: no account and nothing readable leaving the phone — but no automatic bank import, and Keel does not file for you. Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription.
On-device · No account · Data Not Collected