10 Best Expensify Alternatives

Your business is scaling rapidly. After patching spreadsheets, scouring email chains for information, and manually chasing receipts, it was time for a change. So, you onboarded Expensify expecting financial management bliss. But as your business grows, what seemed like a solution becomes a nightmare. Expensify aims to automate expense reporting, but often creates additional manual work in the process. Issues like losing track of finances and out-of-policy spending now plague your days. These problems wear out your team, making them shuffle towards the exit. You’re stressed from making decisions without the right insights and wondering where the next fire will light up.

Can you relate?

If so, you’re not alone in this tech mismatch:

• 87% of scaleups say siloed data and manual processes are major growth barriers
• According toe McKinsey executives spend almost 40% of their time making decisions on average, and think most of it goes to waste
• Gartner reports that 47% of digital workers struggle to access the information they need to do their jobs well

The good news? You’ve got options.

There are scalable Expensify alternatives that meet the evolving needs of growing businesses. In this blog post, we’ll explore the best Expensify alternatives.

When your expense management solution becomes a problem

When growing a business, you'll learn one thing fast: the wrong technology holds you back.​ In finance, this looks like poor oversight of finances across entities. Many hours sloughing through admin and sluggish financial closes. Not to mention ineffective strategizing. Think educated guesses instead of decisions based on cold, hard facts. This setup is damaging. Especially considering that CFOs say balancing forecasting, financial risks, and present and future company needs are their biggest challenges to business growth.

So, while Expensify is popular among startups, its inability to scale and provide strong controls is restrictive. More specifically, some drawbacks that cause businesses to look for Expensify alternatives are:

• Requires additional manual input to process expenses
• Delayed spend visibility, with card transactions appearing after 1--3 days
• Limited multi-entity support and management
• Focused only on expense management, not an all-in-one spend platform
• Poor customer support

Payhawk: A comprehensive solution for scaling finance teams

For finance teams looking to scale, Payhawk provides a broader solution than Expensify. While Expensify focuses mainly on expense reporting, Payhawk combines corporate cards, spend controls, accounts payable, and procurement tools in one platform. This makes it easier for growing businesses to manage spend, maintain compliance, and gain real-time financial visibility.

Let's cover a few of the characteristics that make Payhawk one of the best Expensify alternatives for all: 

• More than just expense management: Unlike Expensify, Payhawk goes beyond expense reporting. You also get corporate cards, spend controls, accounts payable, and procurement tools in one platform.
• Multi-entity visibility and control: Expensify offers limited multi-entity support, while Payhawk provides dashboards, workflows, and consolidated reporting across subsidiaries and business units. FP&A teams benefit from this real-time visibility to improve forecasting accuracy, while Treasury leaders gain a clearer picture of global cash positions across entities
• ERP and accounting integrations: Payhawk connects directly with systems like NetSuite, Dynamics 365, Exact, and QuickBooks, reducing manual work and reconciliation errors.
• Custom workflows and AI categorization: With Payhawk you can design approval flows that fit your business and use AI to automatically code expenses accurately.
• AI-powered receipt capture: Our mobile app extracts data from receipts instantly, even in poor conditions, minimizing manual entry and reducing errors.
• Procure-to-pay in one platform: Beyond expense management, Payhawk supports vendor management, purchase orders, reconciliations, and payments.
• Designed for everyday use: Both mobile and web apps are built for ease of use, so employees can submit and track expenses wherever they are.
• Scales with your business: Payhawk adapts as your company grows, with AI agents, budget tracking, and anomaly detection providing control at every stage.
• Accessible support: Expensify users often struggle with chatbot-only help. Payhawk provides guided onboarding, training, and direct human support.

Expense management done right: Enrique Tomás's success story

Enrique Tomás's story is an excellent example of the power of elite Expensify alternatives. Not too long ago, Enrique Tomás, a fast-growing jamón brand, was drowning in paperwork. Employees were submitting handwritten forms. Lost receipts meant lost VAT, and their finance team spent over 100 hours manually reconciling expenses in Excel each month.

But growth required scalability. So, Enrique Tomás turned to us for an innovative, digital, and all-inclusive expense management solution. Now, employees just snap on our app, and Enrique Tomás's finance team gets instant visibility.

The impact?

• 100 hours saved monthly on expense management (now down to one or two hours)
• 100% paperless process thanks to our AI camera app and OCR technology
• Real-time visibility and reconciliation with ERP integration 
• Faster decision-making by leveraging live send tracking and custom reporting
• Card controls and limits that keep spending in check

Today, Enrique Tomás balances control with efficiency. Every team owns its budget. No bottlenecks. No manual drudgery. Just smarter spending and more time to grow their jamón empire.

Other Expensify alternatives

Brex

Staying on top of budgets doesn't have to involve chasing receipts or waiting for month-end reports. With Brex, finance teams get fewer surprises and lighter workloads. How? With real-time spend visibility, automatic expense categorization, tracking, and transaction notifications.

Improve compliance and control with Brex's unified solution for corporate spend management. Features include corporate cards, expense automation, adjustable spend limits, and customizable approval workflows. It also integrates with key accounting platforms like NetSuite, Xero, and QuickBooks. This setup reduces manual reconciliation and speeds up close cycles. Brex also supports reimbursement requests and alerts via Slack and email. This feature makes it easier for employees to submit expenses. With this, Brex earns the title of one of the best Expensify alternatives.

Fyle

Fyle takes reclaiming resources to the next level with AI-powered expense management. This technology balances automation and simplicity. Employees can submit expenses using Gmail or Outlook. They can also leverage automatic data capture to streamline submissions.

Fyle's mobile app makes reconciliation faster and more accurate, even for field teams. The app includes receipt capture, mileage tracking, and card expense submission features. Plus, live policy checks and approval workflows that flag violations make expense management easy. The platform also integrates with QuickBooks, NetSuite, and Xero for polished books.

Airbase

Airbase helps finance teams get ahead of spending, not just react to it. Its vehicle is a multifaceted spend management solution. Features include corporate cards, bill payment, accounts payable (AP), P2P, and reimbursement software.

Airbase equips finance teams to become more efficient while improving oversight and compliance. Popular tools include real-time visibility dashboards and automated spend approvals. Finance teams can issue corporate cards and track spending by department or role. Plus, accounting workflows with auto-categorization and integrations keep books sharp.

Navan (formerly TripActions)

If your finance team and employees dread work trips because of painful admin, Navan can help. This solution merges travel booking and expense management into one experience. Employees get to book travel and log expenses in one place. Finance teams can track spending in real time. Navan also enforces custom travel policies and provides AI-powered receipt capture. This technology also integrates with NetSuite and QuickBooks for seamless accounting. 

Navan takes a mobile-first approach, allowing staff to submit compliant expenses wherever and whenever. This tech combination reduces manual work and prevents out-of-policy spending. It also improves the employee experience while maintaining financial oversight.

Zoho Expense

Zoho Expense is a good option if you're on a tight budget but want impactful financial management software. This solution brings automations and scalability to businesses without a hefty price tag. Users can streamline expense workflows globally with an extensive tool suite. It includes automated reporting, receipt capture, mileage tracking, and multi-currency support.

Chasing sign-offs stops thanks to customisable approval workflows. With policy violation alerts, finance teams don't have to search for explanations, too. This feature informs users of non-compliant expenses and can block their submission. Dashboards provide spending insights, helping leaders spot expense optimization opportunities. Users can also simplify bookkeeping with Zoho, Xero, and QuickBooks integrations.

Spendesk

Is your team struggling with scattered tools and keeping books clean? If so, you're in luck. Spendesk is one of the better Expensify alternatives for unifying financial operations. Spendesk replaces disparate tools with one platform and fewer solutions. Choose from tools that manage cards, invoices, AP, entities, and P2P. The byproduct is greater efficiency, compliance, and control over company spending.

Make managing expenses hassle-free with tools like automated receipt capture and real-time tracking. Automated approval workflows and customizable spend policies make enforcement easy. Plus, available integrations include QuickBooks, NetSuite, and Xero.

Webexpenses

Webexpenses makes simplification the standard in expense management. It offers tools for receipt capture, reimbursements, mileage tracking, and more. Plus, these solutions come in a compact, cloud-based solution. Users can also automate policy checks and simplify approvals with custom workflows.

Webexpenses' mobile app lets users upload receipts on autopilot. Finance teams get real-time spend visibility on dashboards equipped with analytics. Also, they can streamline the financial close process with Sage, Xero, and QuickBooks integrations.

Emburse Professional (previously Certify Expense)

Having compliance and adoption issues because your staff "don't get" Expensify? Emburse Professional may be one of your top Expensify alternatives. This solution helps businesses reclaim time and energy. Finance teams get around-the-clock support in expense management via automated solutions. Productivity-boosting tools span automated approvals, AI-based categorization, invoice management, travel management, and more.

Employees can submit expenses on the go with mobile receipt capture. Finance teams get live spend insights and alerts to keep budgets tight. Certify also integrates with systems like QuickBooks and NetSuite, accelerating financial close. This setup makes Certify an excellent option for mid-size companies. Those seeking a user-friendly, compliance-focused expense management solution, especially.

Ramp

Ramp lives up to its name by helping finance teams save time and money fast. This finance automation solution flags wasteful spending with AI. It also highlights duplicates and policy violations before they hurt your bottom line. To streamline reporting, optimize savings, and cut admin, Ramp offers a tool suite. Features include expense management software, cards, receipt submission, and matching capabilities. Customizable intake forms and automated procurement workflows also make managing vendors easy.

Ramp integrates with top accounting tools like Sage Intacct and NetSuite, streamlining reconciliation. With its low-touch, cost-conscious approach to expense management, it's clear. Ramp is one of the best Expensify alternatives. In particular, this is true for finance teams wanting to automate and save.

Making the switch is easier than you think

"Will changing our expense management solution do more harm than good?" This is a common question when scaling a business. It's easy to worry that switching providers will stall your progress.

But in the wise words of Andre Gidé, "you cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore". So, it's time to leave the harbor. With the right support, changing expense management solutions will be smooth sailing.

For example, our team provides guided onboarding, ensuring seamless data migration and training. Our platform also links card spend to cost centers, budgets, and approval flows from day one. This way, your finance team doesn't miss a beat. Plus, you can access implementation support for a smoother experience, which includes:

• Integration assistance, e.g., with ERP and accounting tool connections
• Data preparation help, e.g., in filling out bulk import templates for VAT codes 
• System configuration, e.g., for setting up expense types and custom approvals

Painless expense management is within reach

As your business evolves, so will its expense management needs. With this, the solution you pick will make or break your progress. So, if you're trying to make ill-fitting solutions work, stop. You don't have to settle. Instead, onboard Payhawk. Our solution scales with your company, whether you're a startup, scaleup, or enterprise. 

Our comprehensive expense management solution puts your finance team in the driver's seat. You'll gain unmatched data visibility from robust global controls and seamless data sharing. You'll also drive efficiency without breaking the bank or increasing headcount. Plus, expect more agility, productivity, and profitability in your business. 

As your company grows, choosing the right expense management solution becomes critical to balancing control with agility. Expensify works well for startups, but scaling often requires more robust controls and integrations. Payhawk is designed to meet those needs with an all-in-one platform that accelerates month-end closes, improves forecasting accuracy, and gives Treasury teams real-time visibility into cash positions.

At the same time, Payhawk isn't limited to enterprises. Whether you're a small business managing tight budgets or a mid-market company preparing to scale, the platform adapts to your size and complexity. You get automation and compliance from day one --- without waiting until you're 'big enough' to benefit.

The best solution ultimately depends on your business size, international presence, and financial workflows. If you'd like to see how Payhawk compares to Expensify in your specific setup, our team can walk you through a tailored demo.