By Lee, founder of leodesign
Short answer: Moxie (withmoxie.com) is an affordable all-in-one freelancer suite: client and project management, invoicing and payments, proposals and contracts, time tracking, a sales pipeline, scheduling, an AI assistant and, on higher plans, collaborators and team members. Leostu is narrower and cheaper: it turns each order into a bilingual contract and invoice, gets it signed on the client's phone without an account, and shows your own local payment details. If you want one app to run the whole freelance business, Moxie is the better choice. If you mainly need signed terms and paid deposits from clients in Asia, Leostu does that for less.
What each tool is built for
Moxie calls itself flexible pricing "for freelancers at every stage". Even its Starter plan lists client management, project management, invoicing and payment tools, proposals, quotes and contracts, time tracking, a sales pipeline, basic accounting, a custom form builder, meeting schedulers, a universal calendar and inbox, and the Moxie AI assistant. Pro adds a custom domain, a white-label client portal, support ticketing, workflow automations, a Communicator phone line (US, CA, UK), API integrations (Zapier, Make, webhooks, public API), a QuickBooks integration and unlimited project collaborators. Teams adds up to five team members.
Leostu is an order desk for independent designers and small studios. One order produces a contract and an invoice. The client gets a link and an access code, reads, and signs by hand on their phone. You get an email, and Leostu tracks deposit and balance, keeps a "who owes you" list, and gives you pre-written reminders.
Pricing, as listed on 2 Nov 2026
As listed on withmoxie.com on 2 Nov 2026 (USD):
- Starter: $10/month billed annually ($120/year), or $12 month to month
- Pro: $20/month billed annually ($240/year), or $25 month to month
- Teams: $32/month billed annually ($385/year), or $40 month to month
Moxie offers a free trial (its pricing page title mentions 14 days), and its FAQ says it offers location-based and need-based scholarships, which is worth asking about if you are outside the U.S.
Leostu has a free forever plan with up to 3 active orders at a time (orders that are fully paid don't count), a small "Made with Leostu" line, and no API. Pro is $3.75/month, billed yearly at $45 (25% less than monthly), with a 14-day trial and no card required. Pay by card on auto-renew, or one-off by Alipay or WeChat Pay; prices are also shown in HKD, CNY, MYR and SGD. See Leostu pricing.
Side-by-side comparison
| Leostu | Moxie | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry paid plan | $3.75/mo billed yearly ($45) | Starter $10/mo billed annually ($120) |
| Free option | Free forever, 3 active orders at a time | Free trial |
| Online payments | Not processed: client pays you directly | Invoicing and payment tools included |
| Asian payment methods on invoice | Bank, WeChat Pay, Alipay, DuitNow, PayNow, PayPal and more, with QR codes | Check Moxie's site |
| Contracts in English and Chinese | Yes, same order | Not listed on pricing page |
| Client signs without an account | Yes, link + access code | Check Moxie's site |
| Proposals and quotes | No | Yes |
| Time tracking, projects, pipeline | No | Yes |
| Collaborators / team members | No | Unlimited collaborators (Pro), up to 5 team members (Teams) |
| Integrations / API | Pro: MCP and REST API token for AI agents; CSV export | Pro: Zapier, Make, webhooks, public API, QuickBooks |
Where Moxie is genuinely stronger
Moxie gives you far more software per dollar than most suites, and it beats Leostu clearly on breadth:
- Proposals and quotes before the contract, and a sales pipeline to track leads.
- Time tracking and project management, if you bill by the hour or run long projects with many tasks.
- Scheduling, a shared calendar and inbox, plus forms for client intake.
- Collaboration. Pro allows unlimited project collaborators and Teams allows up to five team members. Leostu is single-user.
- Automations and integrations, including QuickBooks and a public API on Pro.
Where Leostu fits better
- Payments the way your clients actually pay. Leostu shows your own bank details and QR codes for WeChat Pay, Alipay, DuitNow, PayNow, PayPal and more on the invoice. Money goes straight to you and never through Leostu.
- English and Chinese contracts for the same order, and the amount in Chinese words on RMB documents.
- Deposit-first by design. Choose 30%, 40%, 50% or 60% deposit, or payment in full. Deposit and balance get separate invoices, with reminders in polite or direct tone, in the document's language, showing days elapsed.
- Zero setup for the client. No account, no app: link, access code, read, sign by hand.
- A clear signing record. Signer name, hand-drawn signature, time, IP and a contract fingerprint, with a flag if the contract changes after signing.
- Lower cost and a real free plan. A year of Leostu Pro ($45) costs less than half a year of Moxie Starter billed annually.
The honest limits: Leostu doesn't process payments, has no proposals, time tracking, CRM pipeline or team features, and its signature is not a CA-certified e-signature. Its legal weight depends on your jurisdiction, and nothing here is legal advice.
Leostu's AI plan (new in November 2026)
Leostu now has an AI plan with Leo, an assistant built for the order desk. You drag in up to four client chat screenshots or quote photos, and Leo drafts the order: client, line items, amount, deposit and due date. If the screenshot has no price, it asks you rather than making one up. Anything that changes your data (a new order, an edit, a payment) appears as a card first, and nothing is saved until you confirm. You can also ask it "who still owes me?" or "what came in this month?".
The AI plan is US$9 a month billed yearly ($108), or $12 month to month, and includes everything in Pro, with 600 messages a month. The Pro trial includes 30 AI messages. AI can misread a screenshot, so check amounts and dates before confirming. See pricing.
Who should pick which
Pick Moxie if you want a single, reasonably priced app to run your freelance business end to end: leads, proposals, projects, hours, invoices and collaborators.
Pick Leostu if you already manage projects your own way (a notebook, Notion, WeChat groups) and the part that hurts is getting terms signed and money in: deposits before you start, balances before you hand over files, from clients who pay by bank transfer or a local QR wallet.
Try it without an account first: draft terms in the design contract generator, or build a deposit invoice in the designer invoice generator. When you want orders, signatures and reminders in one place, start on the free plan.