As freelancers, we like to have all our tools in one place, one dashboard. When it comes to invoicing, proposals, project management, time tracking, etc., it’s hard to find all of these features in one place without paying a high price. Fortunately, there’s the Pancake app, the hands-down best all-in-one solution for your freelance business. Here are 5 reasons why you should consider it:
My personal experience
I wrote an article a couple of months ago called “The Best Invoicing and Accounting Software for Freelance Web Designers.” Don’t click on it….the times, they have-a-changed.
In that article, I concluded that Zoho Books was the best app overall. This was largely due to the ability to budget my business bank accounts within the app. However, I later realized this is completely unnecessary to try to budget bank accounts this way, and that it was instead more beneficial (and more efficient) to just keep track of Income and Expenses….i.e. what comes in and what goes out. On top of this I had some irritating technical and customer support issues with Zoho.
So I made the move over to Freshbooks and liked it. But as soon as I had more than 5 clients, I was asked to upgrade to the $25/month plan. Ugh. Was there any other solution that I wouldn’t have to pay a subscription to use….one that offered the same options for less?
And then I came across Pancake, a “funny-named” alternative that not only offered the same for less, but much, much, more than I had expected.
Here are 5 reasons why I now use the Pancake app and why it will remain my “one-stop shop” in my freelance business.
5 Reasons the Pancake App is the Best Invoicing Software, and more
1. It is a one-time fee for the Pancake app, not a recurring, third-party subscription
As mentioned above, Freshbooks went up to $25/month after my fifth client. That’s $300 a year ($270 if you pay annually).
Pancake is a one time fee only of $149….no subscription.
Let’s do the math….. that is the price of 6 months of Freshbooks….forever.
Pay the one time fee….and you are set for life. No subscriptions.
2. The Pancake app has all the features you need
Now this was the biggest perk for me. I hate having to jump back and forth between programs to get tasks done. I want it all in one place!
Here are the features of Pancake:
- Invoicing, including Paypal and Stripe
- Time tracking
- Expense tracking
- Project management
- Proposals
- Client areas for each client, managed by you.
- Detailed reporting
- Estimates
- Ticketing
- Custom branding
- Free install
3. The Pancake app is self-hosted
This is another unique feature.
When you purchase the Pancake app, you download a zip file that contains a folder that you upload to your own server. This app has it’s own database AND its own stylesheets.
So if you leave the name of the folder ‘Pancake’, then your access to it would be yoursite.com/pancake/admin
That’s great. Why?
Because there is no third-party at all! No subscriptions. No tiers. No logging into other sites to access it.
In addition, this looks great to your clients, that they can access their invoices, project info, proposals, etc., right there on your own company website.
I actually received a compliment on how easy and unique things were on my very first invoice sent with Pancake!
4. The Pancake app can be customized and branded easily
Since the app is installed on your server, you have complete control over its appearance. You can:
- Add your own logo to the front end AND back end
- Style the CSS on the front end AND back end to match your brand
- Decide IF and WHAT the client sees in their “client-area.”
5. The Pancake app is unlimited with no "levels"
There are no packages like “Starter,” “Enterprise,” or “Agency” giving you a little more access for more costly fees.
With Freshbooks at $15 a month you only get 5 clients and no proposals. Only at $25 a month do you get unlimited clients and proposals.
With a service like Xero you get only 5 invoices per month for $10. Only at $30 a month are you released from this restriction.
With the Pancake app, there are NO restrictions and NO tiers.
You get it all with the one time fee.
Conclusion
In the long-run the Pancake app pays for itself in just a few months.
Don’t restrict yourself to monthly subscriptions when you don’t have to in your freelance business. Take total control of your process.
Grab the Pancake app and get it all, self-hosted, and in accordance with your brand, all for a one-time fee!
Let me know if you have any questions about Pancake below and I’ll be happy to answer.
More screenshots at the Pancake App website.
Hi – thanks for this article. I’m looking for an alternative to my ancient BambooInvoice which was also self hosted. I noticed on SEMRush that the pancakeapp site doesn’t get much traffic – this worries me slightly – is it an undiscovered gem or just unpopular?
Hi Rick,
I think it’s both, actually. I think people feel better (and safer) paying a monthly (lower) subscription than to pay a larger fee up front for a product that doesn’t have as big a name as Freshbooks, Quickbooks, etc. Also the UI isn’t as fancy with Pancake as with other more modern solutions. Finally, I think many are turned off by a “self-hosted” solution as it may be too much work or they don’t feel comfortable hosting it themselves. But overall you are correct in that it isn’t as popular but it’s just as powerful. There’s a fairly good following out there though if you Google around. Hope that helps. Thanks for your comment Rick!
Hi there – How did you format invoices that way? I cannot figure out how to customize the PDF format and/or email for the life of me. I’ve tried various front-end CSS with no luck.
Thank invoice format looks so much better overall.
Hi Danny,
You can customize the CSS for the Invoice page as you mentioned with the front-end CSS. But when you click on PDF and it generates the actual PDF, I don’t think that can be customized. I just tried it out and it seems the PDF is set. Also I’m not sure how to customize the look of the email, and a part of me wants to say you can’t (the CSS that is. You can customize the text.)
In the example above, it was the actual invoice page that I customized, not the PDF, which can be done with the front-end CSS. For example, something like:
#content table thead th {
color: #c4732d;
}
for orange headers and
#content table tr.invoice-desc-row, #content table tr.items-desc-row, p.comment-body {
background-color: #f1f1f1!important;
}
for invoice rows to have a gray background, but not the descriptions, etc.
Hope that helps a little.
Hi Travis,
I decided to post a comment here because it seems to be the most current conversation I can find on the Internet regarding the Pancake App.
It looks like Pancake hasn’t updated since August 5 2018 according to the blog on their official website.
I tried reaching out to Pancake Payments today via their contact form and by e-mailing one of their employees directly via an e-mail that was listed on one of their blog posts. I haven’t heard back yet, but not even one day has passed so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Do you still use Pancake? Have you heard anything regarding whether they are still developing and supporting this app? It seems to tick a LOT of the boxes for my business’s needs and at an excellent price. Should I just go for it, or is my reluctance justified?
Thanks!
Hi Orin,
I need to update this post to say, no do not buy it (unless you heard something back from them). I had a bad experience a while ago where Pancake just suddenly broke and the Stripe functionality no longer worked. I put in a ticket and for about two weeks I kept getting the same message that someone was looking into it. Eventually, they just stopped replying to me. Never heard anything back from them. I no longer use it. It’s a shame because it was a great all in one solution and I loved it before this happened. I currently use Plutio for everything and then Wave for finances.
Thanks for your reply Travis. I decided against using Pancake partially due to your response.
I decided to purchase a different self hosted solution named Duet.
https://duetapp.com/
It’s created and supported by an independent developer. He told me that he’s currently developing version 3 (the current version is 2.7.2). It’s the closest thing to Pancake I could find that has current support.
I had some configuration issues and found a bug while setting up Duet. While he was not immediately responsive, after reaching out to him several times via e-mail and chat support on his website he did resolve the issue for me.
At this point, I have Duet installed, fully setup and functional. So far, it seems feature packed, simple, and fits my needs. We’ll see how it holds up as I continue to test it out.
Interesting I’ll give it a look. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Travis,
Do you think it’s a safe choice for business that want a steady solution ? I see that there is not any update in a while..
Best regards,
Hi Alan,
Check my comment to Orin. I recommend against it and need to update this post asap.
Have you tried InvoiceNinja. They have a free installable version.