Comparison
Both products solve the same problem: ConnectWise Manage's default invoices are generic and lack branding. They take different approaches. Better Invoice is a self-service SaaS tool. NexNow is a consulting engagement.
Better Invoice is our product. This comparison uses publicly available information from NexNow's website, accessed April 2026.
| Feature | Better Invoice | NexNow |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / $29 mo / $99 mo | $1,750+ upfront + $59/mo hosted |
| Time to first invoice | Minutes (self-service) | Days to weeks (consulting) |
| PDF generation speed | Sub-second | 20–40 seconds (Report Writer) |
| Self-service editing | 150+ settings, live preview | Yes — requires Report Writer skills |
| Code editor | Yes (Custom plan) — syntax highlighting, version history | Report Writer textarea (no preview) |
| Technology | API-based, dedicated rendering | Report Writer or API-hosted |
| Ongoing template changes | Unlimited, instant, self-service | Requires NexNow engagement |
| Free tier | Yes — 30 invoices/mo | No |
| Combined invoices | Planned — pending ConnectWise release | Yes ($999 add-on) |
| Custom data sources | Yes (Custom plan) — external APIs | Unknown |
| Live preview | Yes | No |
| Version history | Yes, with one-click restore | No |
Better Invoice starts free and scales with your needs. NexNow requires a significant upfront investment before you see your first custom invoice.
Better Invoice
No upfront cost. No credit card required to start.
NexNow
Pricing from nexnow.net, accessed April 2026.
NexNow's pricing can reach up to $2,749 upfront depending on the options you need, plus optional monthly hosting. With Better Invoice, you can try the product immediately, configure your template, and upgrade to Pro for $29/month when you're ready to go unlimited.
NexNow's Report Writer-based templates inherit ConnectWise Manage's rendering pipeline. Custom templates take 20 to 40 seconds to generate a single PDF on cloud-hosted instances. Report Writer has also had reliability issues historically, though ConnectWise has made improvements.
NexNow's hosted solution bypasses Report Writer, but their own FAQ notes that combined invoices can become "very slow" with hundreds of line items and may "hit the practical limits of Report Writer."
Better Invoice renders fully custom, print-ready PDFs in under one second. Rendering happens on dedicated infrastructure outside of ConnectWise, so performance is consistent regardless of your hosting environment or time of day.
With Better Invoice, you configure your invoice template yourself through a visual interface with 150+ settings. Every change shows up instantly in a live preview. Need to adjust a column, hide a line item type, or change your accent color? Toggle a setting and see the result immediately.
NexNow builds your template for you, and you can edit it yourself afterward — if you know Report Writer. That means writing SQL-style data source queries in a small textarea with no preview, and navigating ConnectWise's contradictory documentation on repeater syntax and subtotal decorators. Most MSPs don't have someone on staff with those skills.
This difference matters most over time. With Better Invoice, any team member can adjust a column, hide a line item type, or change an accent color in seconds. With NexNow, routine changes either require Report Writer expertise or a call back to NexNow.
Better Invoice's Custom plan includes a browser-based code editor with syntax highlighting, live preview, and version history. You can edit the full template code (HTML, CSS, and more) with one-click restore to any previous version.
NexNow templates can be edited in ConnectWise Report Writer, but that means working in a small textarea with no preview, writing SQL queries and navigating Report Writer's undocumented quirks. For most MSPs, meaningful changes still require going back to NexNow.
Combined invoices. NexNow can consolidate all current invoices for a company into a single PDF with a combined total. Better Invoice does not currently offer this, but ConnectWise is building combined invoicing into the platform natively, and we plan to support it shortly after release. If combined invoices are a hard requirement today, NexNow is the option that supports it.
Done-for-you service. If you don't want to configure a template yourself, NexNow's consulting model is designed for that. Better Invoice also offers done-for-you template builds on the Custom plan ($99/mo), but NexNow has been doing it longer.
Track record. NexNow has been building custom ConnectWise templates for years and has deep expertise with Report Writer and the ConnectWise ecosystem.
Choose Better Invoice if you…
Choose NexNow if you…
Try Better Invoice free. Configure your template, preview your invoices, and decide if it's the right fit — no credit card, no sales call.
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