BILL vs Expensify
BILL and Expensify side by side: what each one is, what it costs to start, and whether you can try it free. Everything below comes from the vendors' own sites and other public sources, not from hands-on testing.
At a glance
| BILL | Expensify | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Finance & Accounting AI | Finance & Accounting AI |
| Starting price | Free; paid plans from $49/mo (checked October 2026) | Free; paid plans from $5/mo (checked October 2026) |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Profile | Read profile | Read profile |
Prices are in US dollars unless shown otherwise. Confirm the current price on the vendor's site before you buy.
Key differences
Both list a free tier, so you can try each before paying.
Expensify has the lower starting price ($5/mo against $49/mo for BILL). The cheapest plan rarely has the same limits or features, so compare plans before choosing on price.
Both are in our Finance & Accounting AI category.
About each tool
BILL
Finance platform for payables, receivables, and spend management. Spend & Expense is $0 per user; AP & AR starts at $49 per user a month (billing basis not stated).
Who it is for
BILL lists plans from small businesses to larger organizations, plus partner plans and an Accountant Console for accounting firms. Higher tiers add custom approval policies, SSO, multi-entity accounting, procurement, and sync with larger ERP systems.
Strengths
- BILL lists AI features for invoice reading and multi-line coding, receipt matching, a W-9 agent, unusual-bill alerts, and an AI governance hub with on/off controls and an audit log of AI actions.
- BILL says you review, edit, or undo AI invoice suggestions before finalizing the bill, and that a team still approves W-9 information.
- Team and above list automatic two-way sync with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Pro/Premier, and Xero; Enterprise adds QuickBooks Enterprise, Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics, Acumatica, and Rillet.
- Spend & Expense is listed at $0 per user per month with physical and virtual cards, budgets, real-time transaction tracking, reimbursements, AI receipt capture, rewards, a mobile app, and an API.
- BILL's April-June 2026 update post says the Transaction Agent is available to all Spend & Expense customers and the Invoice Coding Agent launched in February, with no new plans or price tiers announced.
- Accountant partners are listed with a $0 Spend & Expense Partner plan, an AP & AR Partner plan at $49 a month, and priority live chat and phone support.
Limitations
- Essentials uses manual CSV import and export and lists no AI bill coding, custom roles, or cash flow forecasting. Procurement is an add-on on Essentials and Team, and its price is not listed.
- Spend & Expense credit lines of $1,000 to $5M are not guaranteed and depend on approval. BILL's terms say service fees are non-refundable except at BILL's discretion, fees can change with notice, and subscriptions renew automatically each billing cycle.
Expensify
Expense management with receipt scanning and approvals. A free Submit workspace exists for individuals; Collect starts at $5 per member a month (pay-per-use, no annual billing).
Who it is for
Expensify's help pages describe Collect as suited to small or growing teams and Control as for organizations that need more administrative control, such as multi-step approvals, ERP integrations and SAML/SSO. The free Submit workspace is for individual employees who submit expenses to an approver when their company has not adopted Expensify.
Strengths
- Expensify's May 2025 Collect announcement lists unlimited SmartScans, distance tracking, expense approvals, Expensify Cards with Smart Limits, bill pay and invoicing, and third-party card feeds with reconciliation.
- The same announcement lists QuickBooks Online and Xero sync for Collect, plus next-day ACH and global reimbursement.
- The help pages say Control adds multi-step approval workflows, multiple corporate card connections, NetSuite and Sage Intacct integrations, Workday and BambooHR integrations, custom expense rules and SAML/SSO.
- Any workspace admin can switch a workspace between Collect and Control, and a Control workspace downgraded to Collect can be moved back to Control at any time.
- Control on an annual subscription can be discounted by up to 50% depending on the share of approved USD expenses paid with the Expensify Card, which lowers the USD rate from $18 to as low as $9 per included member a month.
- Prices are listed in USD, GBP, EUR, AUD and NZD as fixed regional prices, not converted daily from USD.
Limitations
- Cost scales with headcount: Collect is $5 per unique member a month and Control is $36 per active member a month on pay-per-use, in USD.
- Annual Control is a 12-month commitment to a subscription size you choose. You are billed for every included member whether or not they are active, you cannot reduce the size until renewal, and active members above the size are billed at $36 each.
- Expensify's pages differ on Collect integrations: the Collect announcement lists Gusto and Zenefits sync, while the plan-comparison help page says Collect lacks HR and payroll integrations. Organizations whose first workspace was created before April 1, 2025 stay on legacy Collect pricing of $5 per included member plus $10 per active member above size (annual), or $10 per active member (pay-per-use).
