Invoice Butler and ti3 answer the same problem in two different ways. Invoice Butler is an AR platform with a managed service on top: a free tier that tracks your receivables and sends follow-up emails, and a custom-priced Enterprise tier where its AR specialists take over the inbox, supplier portals, calls and texts. ti3 is a first-party recovery program for invoices that are already overdue and stuck: five reminders over five weeks in your business name, a self-serve page where the customer can resolve the debt, and a decision at the end. ti3 starts at $49/mo on Self-Serve (you run it) or $499/mo on Managed (we run it). The real question isn’t which is better. It’s whether you want someone else running your whole AR function, or a structured program for the handful of accounts that have stopped moving.
Disclosure: ti3 is our product. We’ve tried to be fair to Invoice Butler, including where it’s the better choice, and every Invoice Butler fact below comes from Invoice Butler’s own homepage and pricing page as of October 2026 unless we say otherwise.
Side-by-side comparison
| ti3 | Invoice Butler | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $49/mo Self-Serve, from $499/mo Managed | Free tier; Enterprise is custom-priced by AR volume and complexity |
| Model | First-party recovery software, with a Managed tier where our team runs the program | AR platform (free) plus an AI-and-human managed service (Enterprise) |
| What it’s built for | Recovering invoices that are already overdue | Running the whole receivables function, from invoice submission to payment |
| Recovery model | Fixed 5-week sequence that ends in a decision | Ongoing follow-up until the invoice is cleared |
| Channels | Email and SMS, plus an optional formal Final Demand Notice | Email on Free; email, phone and text on Enterprise |
| Phone calls | None, by design | Yes, by its own team, on Enterprise |
| Supplier portals (Coupa, Ariba, Tipalti) | Not a feature | Yes, on Enterprise, a real strength |
| AR inbox management | Not a feature | Yes, on Enterprise |
| Where the customer resolves it | A self-serve page for that debt: pay in full, pay part, payment plan, settlement discount or counter-offer | Through your existing invoicing and payment setup |
| Disputes | Customer raises it on the self-serve page; it’s logged and the sequence keeps running unless you agree and pause | Its AR specialists read and answer them on Enterprise |
| Where the money goes | Straight to your merchant account or wallet; ti3 never holds funds | Through your existing payment setup |
| Data in | QuickBooks 1-click, Excel, CSV | QuickBooks, Stripe, Bill.com and others |
| Free option | Free trial (Self-Serve, up to 10 invoices for one full 5-week cycle) | Free tier, ongoing |
| Best for | Owner-operators with a few stuck accounts they want closed | B2B companies with enterprise customers and enough AR volume to hand off |
Sources: Invoice Butler pricing, Invoice Butler homepage, ti3 pricing.
Where Invoice Butler wins
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It can take AR off your plate entirely. On Enterprise, Invoice Butler’s specialists handle the inbox, the disputed line items, the customer who insists they already paid, and finding the person who actually authorizes payment when the AP address goes quiet. If you’d rather hand off receivables than run them, that’s a different product from ti3, and a legitimate one.
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Supplier portals. If your customers are large companies that make you submit invoices through Coupa, Ariba or Tipalti, those portals are where a lot of payments stall before anyone has even refused to pay. Invoice Butler fills in the forms and chases approvals inside them. ti3 doesn’t touch portals at all.
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A free tier for routine follow-up. Invoice Butler’s Free plan connects to your invoicing system, shows aging and DSO, sends timed follow-up emails and retries failed card payments. For a company whose problem is “invoices slip and nobody nudges them”, that’s a reasonable place to start before paying anyone.
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Phone and text by real people. When email stops landing, Invoice Butler’s team calls and texts your payers. ti3 never makes calls. For a company billing enterprise AP departments, a human call to the right person can be what moves an invoice.
Where ti3 wins
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It’s built for the stuck account, not the whole ledger. Invoice Butler’s follow-up runs until an invoice clears. ti3 runs a sequence with a shape and an end: five reminders over five weeks by email and SMS, each firmer than the last, with an optional Final Demand Notice as a sixth step and Case Resolution to record what happens next. When a customer has decided you’re the bill they can push back, an open-ended loop tends to become background noise. A sequence that visibly escalates does not.
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More ways for the customer to say yes. Every ti3 reminder links to a self-serve page where the customer can pay in full, pay part, set up a payment plan within your rules, take a settlement discount you’ve offered, or propose a counter-offer you approve in one click. A customer avoiding one large balance often takes one of those routes when a plain “please pay” gets ignored.
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Published, flat pricing. ti3 is $49/mo on Self-Serve and from $499/mo on Managed, month to month, and the Managed tier carries a 30-day money-back guarantee. Invoice Butler’s managed service is quoted per company. That’s normal for a service business, but it means you can’t price it without a sales conversation. Our pricing page has what each plan includes.
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No phone calls, ever. For owner-operators whose customers are also their pipeline, a call from someone they’ve never met can cost more than the invoice. ti3 keeps every message in writing, so you decide whether a call ever happens.
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Free recovery analysis before you pay. Send your aging report to /analysis/ and we’ll come back within 48 hours with an estimate of what’s recoverable and which accounts are likely write-offs. It’s a useful triage step even if you end up handing the work to Invoice Butler.
Buyer-specific verdict
If your invoices mostly slip a few days and a nudge fixes them: start with Invoice Butler’s Free tier or any decent reminder tool. Our guide to automated invoice reminders covers how to set one up well. You don’t need a recovery program yet.
If you have a handful of invoices stuck past 30 days and reminders have stopped working: ti3. That’s the exact job the 5-week sequence and the decision at the end are built for.
If your customers are enterprises that pay through supplier portals, or AR is a real cost center with someone on it full time: get an Invoice Butler Enterprise quote. Portal submission and inbox management are labor ti3 doesn’t replace.
If you’re an MSP recovering retainer non-payment: ti3, with MSP-specific guidance in the MSP client collections guide. A retainer client 60 days behind needs escalation more than a portal submission.
Frequently asked questions
Why isn’t ti3 a full managed AR service?
Because most owner-operators don’t have an AR department to replace. They have three or four invoices that have stopped moving. ti3’s Managed tier exists for businesses who want us to run the program: our team sets up the reminders, picks the tone, watches responses and advances accounts to Final Demand and Case Resolution. It doesn’t take over your inbox or submit invoices to customer portals the way Invoice Butler’s Enterprise tier does.
What happens if my customer disputes the invoice?
In ti3 the customer can raise a dispute from their self-serve page, and it’s logged against the account. The sequence keeps running while you answer the dispute in writing. It only pauses if you agree the dispute is valid and pause it yourself, so a vague complaint can’t become an easy way to stall payment. On Invoice Butler’s Enterprise tier, its specialists read and answer disputes for you. Different model, and worth deciding which one you want before you sign.
Does ti3 phone my customers?
No, never. ti3 works by email, SMS and the self-serve page. If one account genuinely needs a call, it’s yours to make. Our guide on chasing invoices without losing the client explains why we built it that way.
Can I use Invoice Butler’s free tier and ti3 together?
Yes. Let a reminder tool handle routine follow-up on new invoices, then move the accounts that didn’t respond into ti3 for a structured sequence. Stop the other tool’s emails on an account once it moves into ti3, so the customer isn’t getting two sets of messages about the same invoice.
What happens after week 5 if the invoice still isn’t paid?
You choose the next step in Case Resolution: send the Final Demand Notice if you haven’t already, hand the account to a lawyer or a collection agency, or write it off. ti3 records the decision, but it doesn’t practise law or collect on your behalf. If you’re weighing the agency route, read when to send an unpaid invoice to collections first, and check what collection agencies charge before you sign anything.
What should I ask Invoice Butler before signing an Enterprise contract?
Ask for the price in writing against your actual monthly AR volume, what the contract term is (its pricing FAQ says you can cancel anytime in the first 90 days, so ask what applies after that), who on their team will be calling your customers and from which business name, and how they escalate when a customer you care about pushes back. Those answers tell you whether the managed model fits how you want your customers treated.
Where to go next
If you have stuck invoices past 30 days right now, run them through ti3’s free analysis. It tells you which accounts are worth a structured sequence and which to write off.
If you’re seriously considering outsourcing AR, get an Invoice Butler Enterprise quote and compare it with ti3 Managed. The honest answer depends on your volume, your average invoice size, and how many hours AR costs you now.
For the broader playbook, read the small business AR recovery complete guide, and if an account is close to the end of the road, when to write off an unpaid invoice.
Sources
- Invoice Butler pricing (Free and Enterprise tiers, features, cancellation FAQ), checked October 2026
- Invoice Butler homepage (channels, inbox management, supplier portals), checked October 2026
- ti3 pricing (plans, free trial, guarantee, Final Demand Notice)
Where we stand: ti3 is our product, so weigh the “where ti3 wins” section with that in mind. We build first-party recovery software. We are not a collection agency, we don’t practise law, and nothing here is legal advice. Invoice Butler’s plans and prices change; check their site before you buy.