# Orb — Billing & Invoicing

Orb by Orb, Inc. holds a panel rating of 3/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 3/5), as of 2026-11-04. Provenance: provenance unknown; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: Orb, Inc. (https://www.withorb.com)
- Category: [Billing & Invoicing](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): provenance unknown
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/orb
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/orb/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/orb/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-11-04 · evaluated 2026-11-04 · oldest source captured 2026-11-03

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: Orb, Inc.
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026
- Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026
- Free plan: Yes, per the vendor’s own page [S4]

## The panel's verdict

Orb is a billing and invoicing platform judged strongest on tax handling, the subscription engine and revenue and handoff, and weakest on pricing transparency and sovereignty. Tax is delegated to six named engines — Anrok, Avalara, Numeral, Sphere, Stripe Tax, TaxJar — with reverse charge validated against VIES and a timeline record for every tax decision. Pricing transparency sits at the floor because the captured pricing pages are an atlas of other companies' prices (64 examples, including Airtable, Slack and Figma) and no captured page states an Orb plan, fee or tier, so an annual cost cannot be computed. Sovereignty scores low despite an annual SOC 2 Type II audit and encryption at rest and in transit: the hosting region, the contracting entity's jurisdiction and subprocessor locations are unknown, with Amazon Web Services named as host in a virtual private cloud. Collections and dunning and invoicing compliance trail: we found no public information on SEPA direct-debit mandates, configurable dunning steps or structured e-invoices. The flagged splits report none; score differences are ranges, not splits.

**Speaks for it:**
- Tax handling delegated to six named engines — Anrok, Avalara, Numeral, Sphere, Stripe Tax, TaxJar — with reverse charge for B2B customers validated against VIES and every skipped tax logged with its reason.
- Revenue recognition accords with ASC 606, straight-lines fixed fees daily, and monthly accounting-period locks push closed-period changes into the next open period.
- Plan changes run immediately, on a future date or at term end, with day-based proration credited to the customer balance and a full audit trail of every plan assignment.
- Failed payments retry automatically on a 1, 4 and 9 day schedule across Stripe and Adyen, with an immediate retry the moment the customer updates their payment method.
- The security program is documented in detail: an annual SOC 2 Type II audit, encryption at rest and in transit, third-party penetration testing, and deletion on request with evidence of deletion.

**Held against it:**
- No Orb plan, fee or tier appears on any captured pricing page — those pages document other companies' prices — so an annual cost cannot be computed.
- The hosting region, contracting entity's jurisdiction and subprocessor locations are unknown, and the data processing addendum is available on request by email rather than published.
- We found no public information on structured e-invoices such as XRechnung, ZUGFeRD or Peppol, or on GoBD-compliant archiving.
- Retries follow a fixed 1, 4 and 9 day schedule rather than configurable steps, and we found no public information on SEPA direct-debit mandates or card updaters.
- We found no public information on MRR or churn metrics, a DATEV export, or a documented export of subscriptions and payment data to another provider.

**Best for:**
- You sell hybrid models — minimums, prepaid credits and allocations — and need day-based proration, automatic credit notes on mid-period cancellation and a full audit trail on every change.
- Your finance team closes monthly under ASC 606 and needs deferred revenue excluding tax, accounting-period locks and catch-up postings in the next open period.
- You want cross-border tax delegated to a named engine, with VIES-validated reverse charge and a logged reason for every tax decision.
- You already run QuickBooks for accounting and Stripe or Adyen for payments.

**Avoid if:**
- You must compute an annual cost before committing — the captured pricing pages catalog other companies' prices and state no Orb fee, tier or scaling rule.
- Your customers pay by SEPA direct debit — the documented autopay methods are credit cards, ACH, Stripe Link, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Amazon Pay.
- You need verifiable EU data residency — the pages name Amazon Web Services as host and state no hosting region, contracting jurisdiction or subprocessor locations.
- You need configurable dunning ladders, card updaters or service suspension — the documented behavior is a fixed 1, 4 and 9 day retry schedule ending in a payment-failure email.

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price, or the judge found no public information on that criterion.

| Criterion | The SaaS Founder | The Finance Lead | The Billing Engineer | The Service-Business Owner | The Tax Adviser | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Plans, pricing models & subscription lifecycle | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Invoices & e-invoicing compliance | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| Cross-border VAT & tax handling | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Payment collection, dunning & portability | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 2.5/5 |
| Revenue reporting & accounting handoff | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 |
| European sovereignty | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 1.5/5 | 1/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 0/5 | n/r | n/r | 0/5 | n/r | 0.5/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **2.5/5** | **3/5** | **3.5/5** | **2.5/5** | **3/5** | **2.5/5** |

### The judges

- **The SaaS Founder** (v1.0): Runs a twelve-person SaaS that sells to companies in nine EU countries and is about to add a usage-based tier. Wants plans, trials and price changes without a developer sprint, reverse charge that is right without thinking about it, failed cards retried before they turn into churn, and a billing bill that does not grow faster than revenue.
- **The Finance Lead** (v1.0): Closes the month for a software company with eight million euros of recurring revenue. Wants MRR that reconciles with the ledger, deferred revenue scheduled rather than estimated in a spreadsheet, a journal or DATEV export the accountants can book without retyping, and dunning that stops before it reaches a key account.
- **The Billing Engineer** (v1.0): Wires billing into the product and gets paged when a webhook goes missing. Wants a documented API for usage events, idempotent webhooks, entitlements the app can read, a sandbox that behaves like production, and a migration path that moves subscriptions and payment tokens out again if the company outgrows the tool.
- **The Service-Business Owner** (v1.0): Runs an IT service company with two hundred maintenance contracts, hosting packages and monthly retainers, all billed to German businesses. Wants contract terms and price increases handled by the system, SEPA direct debit with mandates, e-invoices that public-sector customers accept, a DATEV export for the tax adviser, and customer data kept in Europe.
- **The Tax Adviser** (v1.0): Advises software and subscription businesses and sees what their billing tools get wrong at the year-end audit. Wants sequential numbering and credit notes instead of edited invoices, XRechnung and ZUGFeRD now that the B2B e-invoice is mandatory, VAT IDs checked before reverse charge is applied, and a merchant of record that says in writing which tax it owes.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Has seen "automated recurring revenue" turn into a tool that takes a percentage of every euro billed and keeps the payment tokens when the customer leaves. Reads "e-invoicing ready" that means a PDF, "global tax compliance" with no word on who is liable, merchant-of-record terms that let the vendor change fees at will, and subprocessor lists that stop at the hosting provider — and asks what leaving would cost.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting location | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting options | Not determined | — | — |
| Open source | Not determined | — | — |
| Data processing agreement | Not determined | — | — |
| Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- Background checks: yes [S2]
- Cross border country display: yes [S7]
- Employee training: yes · yes [S2]
- Encryption at rest: yes [S2]
- Encryption in transit: HTTPS/TLS · yes [S2]
- Incident response: yes · yes [S2]
- Penetration testing: independent third-party security research firm · yes · yes [S2]
- SOC 2: yes · annually · yes [S2]
- Vulnerability disclosure: security@withorb.com · yes [S2]

**Data**
- Deletion: yes · yes [S2]
- Retention: S3 · 7 · yes [S2]

**Hosting**
- On site storage: no [S2]
- Provider: Amazon Web Services · virtual private cloud (VPC) [S2]

**Integrations**
- Availability: Orb Invoicing invoices only [S7]
- Credit note service period API: start_date · end_date · yes [S5]
- Payment gateways: Adyen · Stripe [S10]
- Quickbooks API customer mapping: payment_provider_id · payment_provider · yes [S12]
- Quickbooks available: yes · invoicing · accounting [S12]
- Quickbooks customer duplicate names: yes [S12]
- Quickbooks customer mapping setting: yes [S12]
- Quickbooks invoice sync trigger: customer has QuickBooks payment provider ID [S12]
- Quickbooks item mapping methods: 2 [S12]
- Quickbooks item mapping required: yes · invoices with unmapped items will fail to issue [S12]
- Quickbooks prerequisite: yes [S12]
- Quickbooks tax sync: separate line item · yes [S12]
- Tax automation: yes [S10]
- Third party invoicing sync: no [S10]

**Legal**
- DPA: security@withorb.com · yes [S2]

**Pricing**
- Aggregate stats: 46 · 11 · 64 · 48 · 52 [S4]
- Airtable: per-seat · 0 · 20 · 45 · custom · yes [S4]
- Attio: 35 · 100 · 2500 [S4]
- Bolt: tokens · 25 [S4]
- Canva: per-seat, hybrid · custom · 144 · 250 [S4]
- Convex: 25 · 2500 [S4]
- Docusign: yes · 11 · 30 · 45 [S4]
- Dropbox: 9.99 · 24 · 15 [S4]
- Expensify: yes · 5 · 9 [S4]
- Figma: Starter · Professional · Organization · Enterprise · Full · Dev · Collab · 90 [S4]
- Framer: yes · 0 · 10 · 30 [S4]
- Freshdesk: annual · 19 · 55 · 89 [S4]
- Gamma: annual · 0 · 9 · 18 · 90 [S4]
- Github: 30-day · 0 · 4 · 21 [S4]
- Gitlab: custom · 0 · 29 [S4]
- Help scout: 75 · 45 · 25 · 0.75 [S4]
- Heygen: credits · 49 · 600 · 29 [S4]
- Intercom: 0.99 · 19 · 85 · 132 [S4]
- Jasper: custom · 59 [S4]
- Jira: yes · 15.56 · 8.48 [S4]
- Linear: 10 · yes [S4]
- Loom: yes · 18 · 24 [S4]
- Miro: yearly · 8 · 20 [S4]
- Mistral: 14.99 · 24.99 · 25.5 [S4]
- Monday: 9 · yes [S4]
- New relic: 100 · 0.4 · 10 [S4]
- Okta: 6 · inquire · 17 · 14 [S4]
- Perplexity: 271 · 15000 · 500 · 34 [S4]
- Ramp: based on team size · 0 · 15 [S4]
- Retool: 10 · 50 · 5 · 15 [S4]
- Salesforce: 550 · 25 [S4]
- Sentry: custom · 26 · 80 [S4]
- Slack: 50% off for three months, Pro at $4.38 per user per month for the first quarter · 8.75 · 18 [S4]
- Snyk: prepaid credits · 1 · 1 [S4]
- Storyblok: 99 · 349 [S4]
- Webflow: per site · 2500 · 15 · 25 [S4]
- Writer: Starter · Enterprise · custom · monthly · annual [S4]
- Zoom: annual upfront · 14.16 · 18.33 [S4]

**Product**
- Access control: yes [S2]
- Accounting period locks: Monthly accounting period locks control recognition timing; closed-period changes recorded as catch-up in next open period [S11]
- Accounting periods monthly: monthly [S11]
- Address basis for tax: shipping address · billing address [S7]
- Allocations zero cost basis: Zero cost basis allocations generate no revenue [S11]
- Anrok geographic coverage: US sales tax + global VAT/GST · 100 [S8]
- Anrok reporting call: Reporting for filing happens on invoice issue/finalization, not payment, via POST /v1/seller/transactions/createOrUpdate [S8]
- Anrok setup connection: Connection via Orb dashboard Settings > Taxes using an Anrok API key and API key secret [S8]
- Anrok tax integration: Orb integrates with Anrok for tax calculation; line item minimums/discounts synced as separate negative line items [S8]
- Asc606 recognition: Recognized revenue accords with ASC606 guidelines [S11]
- Automatic tax off behavior: yes [S7]
- Automatic tax scope: yes · yes [S7]
- Autopay methods: credit cards · ACH transfers · Stripe Link · Apple Pay · Google Pay · Amazon Pay [S10]
- Avalara commit timing: yes · yes [S7]
- Billed revenue report: Billings report records by invoice date [S11]
- Billing date change: Billing date can be changed to the start of the new plan when scheduling a plan change [S3]
- Convergence billed revenue: Recognized revenue converges to billed revenue over time [S11]
- Credit cost basis: Credit recognition based on cost basis [S11]
- Credit expiration recognition: Expired credit balance recognized day after expiration by default [S11]
- Credit note balance interaction: yes [S5]
- Credit note cancellation: yes [S5]
- Credit note definition: A credit note decreases the amount due or issues a credit for an already issued invoice [S5]
- Credit note email delivery: yes [S5]
- Credit note email pdfs: 1 · 2 [S5]
- Credit note external sync restriction: Stripe · QuickBooks · no [S5]
- Credit note multiple per invoice: total value of the invoice · yes [S5]
- Credit note revenue recognition: yes · yes [S5]
- Credit note service period constraint: yes [S5]
- Credit note service period modes: original_service_period · issuance_date · custom · custom_per_line_item [S5]
- Credit note tax: yes · yes [S5]
- Credit note tax handling: yes [S7]
- Credit note types: adjustment · refund · yes [S5]
- Credit note void no email: no [S5]
- Customer tax id immutability: yes [S7]
- Deferred revenue definition: Deferred revenue = invoiced (excluding tax) but unrecognized [S11]
- Discount allocation: yes [S7]
- Discount recognition: Percent discounts reduce recognized amount by percent; amount discounts accrued daily up to total [S11]
- Dunning availability: all customers · yes [S9]
- Dunning eligibility without method: no [S9]
- Dunning no payment method: no [S9]
- Dunning payment method update: yes [S9]
- Dunning retry schedule: 1 · 4 · 9 · payment failure email notice [S9]
- Dunning schedule with method: yes · yes [S9]
- Dunning update triggers standalone retry: yes · no [S9]
- Endpoint security: yes · yes [S2]
- Environment isolation: yes · yes [S2]
- Excluded payment methods: per-customer · Stripe · customer details page payment configuration section · API payment_configuration field [S10]
- External invoice tax handling: yes [S7]
- Fiscal year offset: Fiscal year offset configurable for Reports [S11]
- Fixed fee straight line: Fixed fees straight-lined daily regardless of in-advance/in-arrears [S11]
- Hide jurisdiction breakdown setting: Settings > Invoices > Invoice display · yes [S7]
- Invalid address issuance: yes [S7]
- Invoice edit recognition: Invoice edits recognized in service period if period open, else next open period [S11]
- Invoice number format: <random prefix>-<sequentially increasing number> · 1 [S6]
- Invoice prefix configuration: Account Settings, Invoice Number section [S6]
- Invoice prefix options: single account-wide prefix · unique prefix per customer [S6]
- Invoice source field: subscription · one_off [S10]
- Invoice tax presentation: yes · yes [S7]
- Lock setup admin: Reports tab in Settings · Account Admins [S11]
- Manual credit note recognition: Manual credit notes reversed evenly across original service period [S11]
- Mark as paid behavior: mark_as_paid=true finalizes invoices directly to paid without syncing to external providers or consuming customer balance [S3]
- Merchant tax id applies to: yes [S7]
- Merchant tax id limit: 50 [S7]
- Min adjustment recognition: Minimums recognized daily, distributed across line items [S11]
- Model definition: Per-seat pricing: a price per user or seat, usually stepping up through plans that add features [S4]
- Net terms: plan · subscription · invoice · yes · Invoices tab of account settings [S10]
- Network security: yes · yes · yes · yes [S2]
- One time payment methods: all gateway-supported methods for one-time payments [S10]
- Payment attempts: enabled when customer linked to payment provider customer · yes · yes [S10]
- Payment method priority: invoice_settings.default_payment_method · default_source (legacy) · most recently created payment method [S10]
- Payment method sync: yes · yes [S10]
- Payment receipts: invoice transitions to paid state · attachment in payment success email · download from dashboard · available in invoice portal [S10]
- Plan change dual invoice: A plan change may result in two invoices: charges on the old plan and an up-front invoice for the new plan [S3]
- Plan change scheduling: Plan changes supported immediately, on a requested future date, or at end of current term [S3]
- Proration day based: Unused in-advance fees credited via day-based proration to customer balance, used by future invoices [S3]
- Reporting timing: yes [S7]
- Reverse charge eligibility: VIES · yes [S7]
- Reverse charge tax note config: TaxJar · Anrok · Avalara · Numeral · Sphere · Stripe Tax [S7]
- Scheduled change precedence: Scheduled plan changes take precedence over scheduled cancellations [S3]
- Skip tax conditions: automatic tax off · customer tax exempt · no provider connected or integration disabled · invoice synced to external invoicing provider [S7]
- Small invoice rollover: Stripe · yes · yes · no [S10]
- Small invoice threshold: no · yes [S10]
- Source code hosting: GitHub · yes · yes [S2]
- Sphere reporting: yes [S7]
- Straight line alternative: Straight-line credit recognition achieved via in-advance fixed fee + $0 cost basis credits [S11]
- Stripe migration invoice numbering: consistency when migrating from Stripe subscription billing to Orb billing with Stripe payment processing [S6]
- Subscription id preserved: Subscription ID remains the same after plan change; full audit trail of plan assignments maintained [S3]
- Subscription versioning: Orb internally versions the Subscription on change and keeps an audit trail of previous state and plans [S3]
- Supported tax providers: Anrok · Avalara (AvaTax) · Numeral · Sphere · Stripe Tax · TaxJar [S7]
- Tax code configuration: Tax codes configured per Orb Item, mapped to Anrok product IDs via External item ID [S8]
- Tax excluded: yes · yes [S11]
- Tax provider roles: system of record for invoices · source of truth for tax law, rates, and filings [S7]

**Subprocessors**
- List: yes [S2]

**Support**
- Override behavior check: support available for questions about override behavior [S10]

5 more facts on the canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/orb

## Questions

### Is Orb European?

Not determined: the vendor’s pages as captured do not say where Orb is based.

### Where does Orb store data?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026.

### Does Orb have a free plan?

Yes. Orb has a free plan, per [the vendor’s page captured 3 Nov 2026](https://whats-best.ai/evidence/16882).

### What are the best alternatives to Orb?

As of 3 Nov 2026, the panel rates [Chargebee (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/chargebee), [Younium (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/younium) and [Stripe Billing (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/stripe-billing) highest among the other 15 Billing & Invoicing products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [Younium](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/younium) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [Orb alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/orb/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 26 pricing facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 8 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 sovereignty dimension could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and is shown as unknown.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor page: https://www.withorb.com (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S2] Security / trust page — found from the homepage: https://www.withorb.com/security (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S3] Plans, pricing models & subscription lifecycle — found from sitemap: https://docs.withorb.com/product-catalog/subscription-plan-change (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S4] Plans, pricing models & subscription lifecycle — found from sitemap: https://www.withorb.com/pricing-atlas/pricing-models/per-seat (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S5] Invoices & e-invoicing compliance — found from sitemap: https://docs.withorb.com/invoicing/credit-notes (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S6] Invoices & e-invoicing compliance — found from sitemap: https://support.withorb.com/articles/7030479143-how-does-orb-generate-invoice-numbers (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S7] Cross-border VAT & tax handling — found from sitemap: https://docs.withorb.com/integrations-and-exports/tax (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S8] Cross-border VAT & tax handling — found from sitemap: https://docs.withorb.com/integrations-and-exports/tax/anrok (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S9] Payment collection, dunning & portability — found from sitemap: https://docs.withorb.com/financial-operations/essential-dunning (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S10] Payment collection, dunning & portability — found from sitemap: https://docs.withorb.com/invoicing/payments (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S11] Revenue reporting & accounting handoff — found from sitemap: https://docs.withorb.com/revenue-reporting/revenue-recognition (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S12] Revenue reporting & accounting handoff — found from sitemap: https://docs.withorb.com/integrations-and-exports/quickbooks (checked 2026-11-03)

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Cite as: whats-best.ai, "Orb — Billing & Invoicing", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-11-04. https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/orb

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/1373?target=page