01What free means on each vendor's page
Free means three different things here. Time-limited: Oblio's page offers a free first year, then 29 EUR a year. Volume-limited: the same page says the account stays free for life if you issue up to 3 documents a month. Limited by the company's age: SmartBill gives 12 free months on invoicing if the company is in its first year since establishment, and FGO says the same for newly founded companies on its eFactura plan. SmartBill also offers a 30-day trial. Saga's price page lists paid annual licences, from SAGA WEB 1 at 500 lei a year with VAT included, and no free version, though its home page links a test of SAGA WEB. We read these pages on 4 October 2026, and prices change.
- Oblio: free first year, then 29 EUR a year; free for life up to 3 documents a month
- SmartBill: 12 months free if the company is in its first year; a 30-day trial; paid plans from 5.84 EUR a month plus VAT
- FGO: 12 months free for newly founded companies on the eFactura plan; then 15 RON a month plus VAT; a 30-day trial of GO Premium
- Saga: paid licences, SAGA WEB 1 at 500 lei a year with VAT included; a test is linked on its home page
02e-Factura: included, an add-on, or not stated
Because B2B and B2C invoices in Romania go through RO e-Factura (the dates are in our earlier article), what matters is less what you get for free and more what the program does about SPV. Oblio's page says the integration with e-Factura and e-Transport is free. SmartBill says e-Factura is included in all plans, with e-Transport as a module from 1.99 EUR a month plus VAT. FGO lists automatic sending to SPV among the features of its eFactura plan. The visible text of Saga's price page does not list e-Factura, so ask Saga directly, and check with your accountant, before you rely on it.
- Oblio: free integration with e-Factura and e-Transport, per its page
- SmartBill: e-Factura included in all plans; e-Transport is a module from 1.99 EUR a month plus VAT
- FGO: automatic sending to SPV listed under the eFactura plan
- Saga: e-Factura is not listed in the visible text of its price page; ask Saga directly
03The state's own tool, and why it is easy to forget
The Ministry of Finance has offered its own e-Factura application. Economedia reported on 5 March 2024 that the ministry released a simplified, free version for small taxpayers, with a preset invoice type code, RON as the only currency and a short list of VAT rates. It is meant for a business that issues a few invoices and wants no subscription. We could not open the ministry's own page while writing this, so check that the tool is still available and what it covers before you plan around it. Private programs usually add stock, templates and links to accounting software. See whether you need any of that.
- Economedia, 5 March 2024: a simplified, free e-Factura application from the Ministry of Finance, for small taxpayers
- RON only, a preset invoice type code and a short VAT list, per the same report
- Check on the ministry's site that it is still offered and what it covers
- Fine for a few invoices a month; look at a private program when you need stock, templates or an accountant link
04What decides it more than the price
The free period ends, and switching programs halfway costs time. Ask four questions before you choose. Which program does your accountant use, and what can it import? How many documents do you issue a month, given that Oblio's lifetime offer stops at 3? Does anyone else need access? And can you export your invoices if you leave? Put the end of the free period in your calendar. After it, the pages list 29 EUR a year at Oblio, from 5.84 EUR a month plus VAT at SmartBill and 15 RON a month plus VAT at FGO. We do not name a winner: public pricing pages tell us too little about your business.
- Ask your accountant which program they use and what it can import
- Count documents a month: 3 is the line for Oblio's free account for life
- Check who else needs access and whether you can export your data
- Put the date the free period ends, and the price after it, in your calendar
05When free is enough, and where PROOF48 is the wrong choice
PROOF48 does not sell or resell invoicing software, so we gain nothing from the choice above. For a business issuing a few invoices a month, one of these tools, or the state's, is the right answer, and a custom build would buy you nothing. We work in the layer around them: invoices that come out of a web shop, a booking system or a job tracker and must reach the invoicing program without retyping, with e-Factura XML generated and sent through the ANAF API. That is a custom job, scoped and priced on request. The AUTOMATE plan, at 2,997 EUR a month, includes two custom automations a month, but it is a growth package, not an invoicing tool.
- We do not sell or resell invoicing software
- A few invoices a month: a free or cheap tool is enough, and a custom build buys nothing
- Invoices coming from several systems, or at volume: a custom integration, priced on request
- AUTOMATE (2,997 EUR a month) is a growth package, not an invoicing tool
Invoicing as one part of a larger system
None of our eight written-up builds is an invoicing tool. ATP Spedition is a transport management system for three logistics lines, courier, moving and freight, and invoicing is one part of it: quoting, VAT calculation, gapless invoicing and payments, with Romanian e-Factura and e-Transport handled as first-class requirements and a country layer so tax and invoicing rules swap per market. What carries over is narrow. It shows we have built invoicing inside a larger system. It is no reason to commission one if a free program covers your invoices.
See the build: ATP SpeditionQuestions, answered
Which of these invoicing programs is actually free?
It depends on what you mean by free. As the vendors' pages read on 4 October 2026: Oblio is free for a year and free for life up to 3 documents a month; SmartBill and FGO are free for 12 months to companies in their first year; Saga lists paid licences. Check each page again before you sign up.
Can I issue e-Factura without buying anything?
Economedia reported in March 2024 that the Ministry of Finance released a simplified, free e-Factura application for small taxpayers. Confirm on the ministry's site that it is still offered and covers your case, or ask your accountant.
What happens when the free year ends?
You move to the vendor's paid price, listed today as 29 EUR a year at Oblio, from 5.84 EUR a month plus VAT at SmartBill and 15 RON a month plus VAT on FGO's eFactura plan. Put the date in your calendar and decide before then whether you want to switch.
Does PROOF48 sell invoicing software, or recommend one?
Neither. We do not sell or resell invoicing software, and we cannot name a winner from public pricing pages, because the right one depends on your accountant, your volume and your other systems. We build custom integrations when invoices come out of several systems.
Where PROOF48 fits
As their pages read on 4 October 2026, Oblio offers a free first year and a free account for life up to 3 documents a month, SmartBill and FGO offer 12 free months to newly founded companies, and Saga lists paid licences. Choose by your accountant's program, your monthly volume and what happens when the free period ends. PROOF48 sells no invoicing software and builds custom integrations only when invoices come out of several systems.
Cosmin Tiu · Founder, PROOF48
Cosmin has worked in online marketing and software development since 2018, and has built with AI every day since January 2023. He still writes code from scratch daily, in Python, React, Rust and C#. PROOF48 ships business websites in 48 hours and invoices afterwards, so every opinion on this blog was paid for in real builds, not in theory.