A free Invoice-Generator.com alternative with built-in tax presets

What Invoice-Generator.com does well

Credit where it is due. Invoice-Generator.com is fast, unlimited, and free with no signup, which is the reason it became the category default. The form is stripped back — from, to, line items, rate, quantity, tax, notes — and you can be finished in a couple of minutes. It has enormous domain authority and years of trust behind it, so people who find it feel safe using it.

It also handles the generic case sensibly. You can add a percentage tax line, a discount, shipping, and an amount paid, and it produces a clean, readable PDF that no client is going to reject on appearance. If your invoicing is simple and domestic, that is genuinely enough.

Where it stops: tax wording, not tax maths

The important limitation is not the arithmetic. Any tool can multiply a subtotal by a rate. The gap is that a compliant invoice in most VAT and GST countries has to carry specific *fields and wording*, and a generic tax percentage box does not prompt you for them.

Some examples of what varies by country: a UK VAT invoice is expected to show your VAT registration number, the tax point (supply date) as well as the invoice date, the rate applied to each line, and the VAT amount in sterling. A sole trader below the UK registration threshold should not be showing a VAT number or charging VAT at all — and an invoice that implies otherwise is a real problem. An EU cross-border B2B supply of services under the reverse charge normally shows both parties' VAT numbers, zero VAT, and an explicit note that the reverse charge applies (commonly cited as Article 196 of the VAT Directive). An Australian tax invoice over the ATO's threshold needs your ABN, the words "Tax invoice", and the GST amount or a statement that the total includes GST. A German Kleinunternehmer under §19 UStG charges no VAT but is expected to state why on the invoice.

Rates and thresholds change, and the details differ by supply type. Treat the above as a prompt to check, not as authority.

What Crossbill adds

Crossbill's difference is that those requirements are built in as presets rather than left to you to remember. You pick your situation — UK VAT registered, UK sole trader not registered, EU cross-border reverse charge, Australia GST registered, Australia sole trader not registered, Canada GST/HST, US general, US 1099 contractor, or Germany Kleinunternehmer — and the form changes to ask for the right identifiers and puts the appropriate wording on the document.

The second difference is persistence without an account. Invoice-Generator.com does not remember you between visits unless you sign up for its paid parent product, so returning users retype their business details each time. Crossbill saves to your browser's local storage, so your details and recent invoices are there when you come back. On the free tier you can keep up to three saved invoices.

Everything else stays free and unlimited: unlimited invoices and quotes, every jurisdiction preset, 25+ currencies, unlimited PDF export. The free tier's only other trade-off is a small "Made with Crossbill" line in the footer.

Privacy: nothing leaves your device

Both tools are browser-based, but the architectures differ. Crossbill has no backend at all. There is no server to send your invoice data to, no account system, and no tracking — the PDF is generated in your browser and your client names, rates and amounts stay on your machine. That matters more than people expect once you are invoicing named clients at disclosed rates.

The flip side is worth stating plainly: because storage is local, clearing your browser data or switching devices loses your saved invoices. Crossbill Pro (A$29.99 one-time, not a subscription) adds JSON backup and export so you can move your data yourself, along with logo and brand colour, premium templates, unlimited saved invoices, and multiple company profiles.

Which one should you use

If you need one generic invoice, right now, and tax wording is not a concern — Invoice-Generator.com is perfectly good and you should just use it. It is the faster answer to a simple question.

If you invoice regularly, if you are VAT or GST registered, if you are explicitly *not* registered and need the invoice to say so correctly, or if you are billing across a border, a tool that knows your jurisdiction saves you from the kind of mistake that surfaces months later at filing time. That is the case Crossbill is built for, and it costs nothing to test with your next real invoice.

This page is general information, not tax or legal advice. Requirements change and depend on your specific circumstances — verify with your tax authority or a qualified adviser.