Best Tools to Automate Invoice Reminders (Compared)
Quick comparison
Features and pricing change; we checked each tool's site in October 2026, but our research tools failed that day, so we couldn't verify plan names, prices or reminder features. The table describes each tool's general category and leaves pricing as "check their site." Confirm details on the official pages before you buy.
| Tool | Best for | How it follows up | Collections | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casey | Owners who bill after the work is done | Text, email and WhatsApp, timed to each customer | Team takes over at 60+ days | Free if paid on time; $5 per chased invoice; 20% of recovered collections |
| QuickBooks Online | Businesses already keeping books in it | Scheduled invoice reminders | Check their site | Check their site |
| FreshBooks | Freelancers and service businesses | Automatic reminders | Check their site | Check their site |
| Xero | Bookkeeping-led teams | Invoice reminders | Check their site | Check their site |
| Zoho Invoice | Budget-minded small businesses | Scheduled reminders | Check their site | Check their site |
| Stripe Invoicing | Businesses that already take payments in Stripe | Email reminders with a pay link | Check their site | Check their site |
| Chaser | Larger finance teams with high invoice volume | Multi-step AR workflows | Check their site | Check their site |
How we compared
A tool that sends emails on a schedule is not the same as a tool that gets you paid. These are the criteria that matter to a small business owner:
- Time saved. How much work remains after you create the invoice? Do you build the invoice, set the schedule and monitor replies, or does the tool carry the follow-up?
- How follow-ups go out. Email only, or text and WhatsApp too? Can the timing adapt to the customer, or is it one fixed schedule for everyone?
- Getting paid faster. Does the reminder include a one-tap pay link for card or ACH? A reminder that makes the customer hunt for a way to pay loses days.
- Cost when customers pay on time. Many customers pay without a nudge. You don't want a monthly fee scaled to invoices that never needed chasing.
- What happens past 60 days. Reminders stop working at some point. Does the tool have a next step, or do you start from scratch with a collections agency?
- Setup. How long until your first reminder goes out? Do you need to configure templates, schedules and rules, or can you start sending right away?
For wording that works regardless of tool, see What Should a Payment Reminder Email Say?.
Casey
Casey is an AI accounts receivable assistant for small businesses that bill after the work is done: contractors and trades, home services, law firms, clinics and studios, agencies and consultants. You text it like you'd text an employee (iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS, Slack or email): "Bill Studio Nova $2,400 for the March shoot." Casey sends the invoice by email and text with a card or ACH pay link, in your business's name and with your logo.
Where it does well:
- A friendly reminder goes out 3 days before the due date, free.
- From 4 to 60 days past due, Casey follows up automatically on the channel and at the time each customer responds to, offers payment plans and partial payments, and learns how each customer pays.
- Pricing is simple: sending invoices, pay links and the pre-due reminder are free, and invoices paid on time (up to 3 days past due) cost nothing. You pay $5 per invoice only if Casey has to chase it, however many follow-ups it takes.
- At 60+ days past due, one tap sends the invoice to Casey's collections team (AI plus people) for calls, formal demand letters, legal notices, payment plans and settlements with your approval. The fee is 20% of what's recovered, and nothing if nothing is recovered.
- It works on top of QuickBooks Online and Clio, importing open invoices and keeping them in sync, and takes payments through Stripe.
- Casey asks you before doing anything sensitive, and you can pause reminders for any customer.
Where it falls short: Casey is built for US small businesses. If you need a full accounting suite, you'll still keep your books somewhere (Casey also offers a Books add-on at $129 a month, but that's a separate decision). Large finance teams with approval chains and ERP integrations will likely want something more enterprise-oriented.
Who it suits: Owners who don't want to log into software to chase money and would rather text a request and let follow-ups run.
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online is accounting software that includes invoicing with automatic reminders you can schedule around the due date. For owners who already keep their books there, that's the lowest-friction way to automate reminders: the invoices and customers are already in the system, and payments reconcile against the ledger.
Where it does well: one system for books and invoices, familiar to most accountants, and reminders that stop once the invoice is paid.
Where it falls short: reminders are typically a single channel and a fixed schedule rather than behavior that adapts to each customer. Whether reminders are available on every plan, and what they cost, wasn't something we could verify, so check Intuit's pricing page. QuickBooks also won't take over once an invoice is deeply overdue.
Who it suits: businesses that live in QuickBooks and need dependable, basic reminders. Casey can sit on top of QuickBooks Online if you want smarter follow-up without leaving it.
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is invoicing and accounting software aimed at freelancers and service businesses. It's known for a clean invoicing experience and automatic late-payment reminders.
Where it does well: quick setup, a friendly interface, and invoicing features designed for people who bill clients for time and projects.
Where it falls short: we couldn't verify which plans include automatic reminders or what customization is allowed, so confirm on their pricing page. As with most invoicing tools, the follow-up logic is a schedule you set, not something that learns each customer's habits, and there's no collections path past the reminders.
Who it suits: freelancers and small service businesses that want invoicing and light bookkeeping in one place.
Xero
Xero is cloud accounting software with invoice reminders you can set up as part of its invoicing features. It's popular with bookkeepers and accountants, which can matter if your accountant has opinions about your software.
Where it does well: solid accounting foundation, broad app marketplace, and reminders tied to invoice status.
Where it falls short: plan names, prices and which plans include reminders weren't verified, so check Xero's site. Reminders are only one part of a much bigger product, which can mean more setup than you need if reminders are your main goal.
Who it suits: businesses that want full accounting with invoicing built in and have an accountant who prefers it.
Zoho Invoice
Zoho Invoice is a dedicated invoicing tool from Zoho that includes payment reminders you can schedule. It's often considered by cost-conscious small businesses and sits within the wider Zoho ecosystem.
Where it does well: invoicing-focused, with reminder scheduling and templates, and a natural fit if you already use other Zoho apps.
Where it falls short: we couldn't verify current pricing or plan limits, so check their site. Like other invoicing tools, it automates the sending, not the judgment about when and how a given customer will respond.
Who it suits: small businesses that want an invoicing tool with reminders and may use other Zoho products.
Stripe Invoicing
Stripe Invoicing lets you create invoices and collect payment through Stripe, with emailed invoices and pay links. If you already take card or ACH payments through Stripe, adding invoices there is straightforward, and the pay link makes it easy for customers to pay quickly.
Where it does well: payment and invoice in one flow, a clean hosted payment page, and no extra system if Stripe is already how you get paid.
Where it falls short: reminder behavior, channels and pricing weren't verified, so check Stripe's pricing page. It's a payments platform first, so you shouldn't expect much beyond email-based reminders, and there's no hands-on collections step.
Who it suits: businesses already using Stripe that want basic invoicing without adding another tool. Casey uses Stripe for card and ACH payments, so the two aren't mutually exclusive.
Chaser
Chaser is built specifically for accounts receivable: it automates credit control and payment chasing, usually layered on top of accounting software. Its focus is teams with large numbers of invoices and structured follow-up processes.
Where it does well: purpose-built AR workflows, multi-step chasing sequences and reporting for teams that manage receivables as a function.
Where it falls short: pricing and plan details weren't verified, so check their site. It's designed with finance teams in mind, which may be more setup and process than a five-person contracting business needs.
Who it suits: growing businesses and finance teams with high invoice volume that want dedicated credit-control tooling. If that's you, it may be a better fit than Casey.
Why we built Casey differently
Most reminder features share a shape: you build the invoice in software, pick a schedule, and the tool sends the same emails to everyone. That works until a customer ignores email, or the invoice is 70 days late and the tool has nothing left to try.
Casey starts from a different place. Owners of trades, studios, clinics and agencies are usually on a job site or with a client, not at a desk. So you text your request and Casey does the rest. Follow-ups go out by text, email and WhatsApp at the time each customer tends to respond, because a reminder read at the right moment gets paid sooner.
The cost structure follows from the same thinking. If a customer pays on time, you shouldn't pay for reminders, so those are free. If Casey has to chase, it's a flat $5 per invoice however many follow-ups it takes. And if an invoice reaches 60+ days past due, a collections team picks it up for 20% of what's recovered, with nothing owed if nothing is recovered. That removes the gap where reminders end and you start searching for a collections agency. For more on that decision point, see When Should I Send an Unpaid Invoice to Collections?.
You can see how this compares across the broader category in Best Accounts Receivable Software for Small Businesses, and pricing details are on the Casey pricing section.
Which should you choose?
- You live in QuickBooks, Xero or FreshBooks and want simple reminders: use the reminders built into your accounting software. It's the least change for the most basic result.
- You already take payments in Stripe: Stripe Invoicing keeps everything in one place for straightforward invoices.
- You have a finance team and high invoice volume: a dedicated AR tool like Chaser is likely the better fit.
- You bill after the work is done, you're rarely at a desk, and you want follow-up handled without logging in: Casey is built for that, with free on-time invoices, $5 per chased invoice and a collections team past 60 days.
- You're outside the US: check each tool's regional support carefully. Casey is built for US small businesses, so a locally focused tool may serve you better.
Whatever you pick, confirm current pricing and which plans include reminders on each tool's official site. The wording of the reminder matters as much as the tool, so pair it with the scripts in How to Ask a Client for Payment Politely and the playbook in How to Collect Overdue Payments From Customers.
To try Casey, you can sign up here or learn more on the Casey home page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest way to automate invoice reminders?
If you already use accounting software like QuickBooks, Xero or FreshBooks, turn on its built-in reminders; it's the least setup. If you'd rather text a request and have follow-ups handled for you, an assistant like Casey does that without a dashboard.
Should invoice reminders go out before the due date?
Yes, a friendly nudge a few days before the due date often prevents a late payment. Casey sends one 3 days before the due date at no charge. Not every tool does pre-due reminders, so check before you rely on it.
Do automated reminders work better by email or text?
It depends on the customer. Some answer email, others only respond to text or WhatsApp. Tools that use more than one channel, and time messages to when a customer responds, tend to get more replies than a single fixed email schedule.
How much do invoice reminder tools cost?
Accounting software usually bundles reminders into a monthly plan, while some tools charge per invoice or per outcome. Prices change, so check each vendor's site. Casey is free when customers pay on time and $5 per invoice it has to chase.
What happens when reminders don't work?
Past roughly 60 days, reminders alone often stall. At that point you can escalate to a collections process with calls and formal demand letters. Casey's collections team takes over with one tap for 20% of what's recovered, and nothing if nothing is recovered.
Can I automate reminders if I use QuickBooks or Clio?
Yes. Casey integrates with QuickBooks Online and Clio, importing open invoices and keeping them in sync, so you can add smarter follow-up without changing your books.