Firefly III
Firefly III's develop builds continue into October 21, still with no changelog.
Comparison · Finance
Increase vs InvoiceShelf
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Increase and InvoiceShelf — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Increase vs InvoiceShelf: at a glance
What is Increase?
A banking-as-a-service API that now sells compliance and blockchain rails, not just payments
Increase ships a quarterly newsletter rather than a running changelog, so each entry bundles a quarter of API work. The last three quarters have moved past core payment rails into the surrounding infrastructure: managed compliance, entity onboarding sessions, 3D Secure, push provisioning and IP-restricted API keys. SDK coverage has widened to C#, PHP and Ruby, and the documentation was reworked to be readable by LLMs.
What is InvoiceShelf?
InvoiceShelf 3.0 alphas let Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor draft and send invoices.
InvoiceShelf is pushing 3.0 through public alphas at a rate of several a week, each marked not for production. Alpha.5 added an MCP server so AI assistants can read, draft and send documents with the connecting user's permissions. Later alphas add role presets, user administration for the super admin, official modules on managed installs and a Docker image that runs on a read-only filesystem, alongside a steady stream of security fixes.
Increase vs InvoiceShelf: editorial side-by-side
Increase
3.8FINANCE
A banking-as-a-service API that now sells compliance and blockchain rails, not just payments
◆ Current state
Increase ships a quarterly newsletter rather than a running changelog, so each entry bundles a quarter of API work. The last three quarters have moved past core payment rails into the surrounding infrastructure: managed compliance, entity onboarding sessions, 3D Secure, push provisioning and IP-restricted API keys. SDK coverage has widened to C#, PHP and Ruby, and the documentation was reworked to be readable by LLMs.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc runs from moving money to operating a bank program end to end. Early quarters added rails (FedNow, Push-to-Card, check transfers); recent ones add the compliance, onboarding and dispute machinery a customer would otherwise build or buy separately. Q2 2026 adds blockchain transfers alongside managed compliance, and flags cross-border payments and lending APIs as next.
◆ Prediction
Expect the cross-border payments and lending APIs named in the Q2 2026 letter to ship as the next quarter's headline, extending the same pattern of absorbing adjacent financial products into the core API.
InvoiceShelf
6.3FINANCE
InvoiceShelf 3.0 alphas let Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor draft and send invoices.
◆ Current state
InvoiceShelf is pushing 3.0 through public alphas at a rate of several a week, each marked not for production. Alpha.5 added an MCP server so AI assistants can read, draft and send documents with the connecting user's permissions. Later alphas add role presets, user administration for the super admin, official modules on managed installs and a Docker image that runs on a read-only filesystem, alongside a steady stream of security fixes.
◆ Where it's heading
3.0 is turning a single-company invoicing app into something a hosting provider can run for many customers: role presets across companies, provider-controlled module installs, a separate customer-portal host and a locked-down container. The security fixes (guessable document links, SSRF through mail settings, a setup token that acted as super-admin) show the multi-tenant hardening is still catching up with the feature work.
◆ Prediction
Expect more alphas that close security issues and fill out hosted-provider controls before a beta; the entries show no beta date.
Alternatives to Increase and InvoiceShelf
Other Finance products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Increase or InvoiceShelf.
Stigg
Stigg shows card brand and wallet type on payment methods as its billing reach widens.
Shift4
Shift4 posts Gift Card & Loyalty 26.2.1 notes in three languages ahead of an October 21 release.
GOAT.tax
GOAT.tax adds Form 6765 Section G reporting for large R&D credit filers.
Kill Bill
Kill Bill keeps two release lines alive with small invoice-template changes.
Zluri
Zluri is turning SaaS management into identity governance, and Segregation of Duties is the pivot.
See all Increase alternatives → · See all InvoiceShelf alternatives →
Recent activity from Increase and InvoiceShelf
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 27d agoInvoiceShelf3.0 alpha.10: owners install official modules on managed hosts
- 27d agoInvoiceShelf3.0 alpha.9: role presets and admin user management
- 28d agoInvoiceShelf3.0 alpha.8: SSRF fixes and a read-only, host-ready Docker image
- 29d agoInvoiceShelf3.0 alpha.7: PDF font folder and signed-out redirect fixes
- 29d agoInvoiceShelf3.0 alpha.6: fixes that blocked fresh installs and restarts
- 29d agoInvoiceShelf3.0 alpha.5: AI assistants connect over MCP ⚡
- 3mo agoIncreaseManaged compliance and blockchain transfers land in Q2 ⚡
- 6mo agoIncreaseEntity onboarding, 3D Secure and IP-restricted keys
- 9mo agoIncreaseFedNow, Push-to-Card and a Cards Disputes API
- 1y agoIncreaseEvent log filtering and check transfer work
- 1y agoIncreaseFile links, check deposit images, Apple Pay history
- 1y agoIncreaseOAuth applications, lockboxes and exports
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Increase and InvoiceShelf?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. InvoiceShelf is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 3.8), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Increase better than InvoiceShelf?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. InvoiceShelf is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 3.8), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Finance products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Increase?
Top Increase alternatives in Finance are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Increase alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/increase for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to InvoiceShelf?
Top InvoiceShelf alternatives in Finance are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "InvoiceShelf alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/invoiceshelf for the full list with editorial commentary on each.