Expensify Alternatives 2026: 6 Free Options
Expensify alternatives: Zoho Expense, Ramp, Brex, BILL Spend & Expense and 2 more. Prices and licenses checked October 25, 2026.
•4 min read•Accounting & Payments
Verdict:Expensify's price now depends on the plan: its free Submit workspace is meant for individual employees whose company has not adopted it and has no approvals, payments, company cards or accounting integrations. Collect is $5 per member per month for workspaces created after April 1, 2025, and Control starts at $18 per included member on an annual subscription, or $36 per active member pay-per-use. If you need approvals for a small team, Zoho Expense is the nearest cheap swap, and its free plan covers three users, though 20 receipt scans per user per month is tight. If you are happy to adopt a card, Ramp, Brex and BILL Spend & Expense all list $0 per user plans, and they replace expense reports with card transactions that arrive already categorised. The trade-off is that you are now choosing a card issuer, with its approval process, credit terms and fee schedules, not just an expense tool, and that is a bigger commitment than swapping one app for another. If you only need to capture your own receipts, Zoho Books or Wave keep that inside your bookkeeping without any approval layer. What you lose versus Expensify is a purpose-built reimbursement flow and the long list of accounting connections it advertises. Count how many people expense monthly, then check each free plan's cap against that number before migrating.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Expense | Free (Free plan: up to 3 users, 20 receipt scans per user per month, 5 GB receipt storage, email support); paid from $3 per user/month, billed annually (Standard) | Web | Teams of up to three people | Docs only |
| Ramp | Free (Free plan at $0 per user per month: unlimited virtual and physical cards; QuickBooks Online and Xero integrations only; chat support); paid from $15 per user/month (Plus, plus a platform fee by team size) | Web | Companies willing to switch to a card-based spend setup | Docs only |
| Brex | Free (Essentials plan at $0 per user per month: up to two entities (one global entity) and one local card program); paid from $12 per user/month (Premium) | Web | Startups that want cards and expenses from one vendor | Docs only |
| BILL Spend & Expense | Free ($0 per user per month: corporate cards, budgets and expense tracking with no subscription or per-user software fee) | Web | Teams already using BILL for payables | Docs only |
| Zoho Books | Free (Free plan while annual revenue stays under $50K: 1 user plus 1 accountant and up to 1,000 invoices a year); paid from $15 per organization/month, billed annually (Standard; $20 billed monthly) | Web, iOS, Android | Owners who track their own expenses inside their books | Docs only |
| Wave | Free (Starter plan at $0 for invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping records; card payments cost 2.9% + $0.60 a transaction); paid from $19 per month, billed monthly (Pro; $190 billed annually) | Web | Freelancers who want receipts and invoices in one free tool | Docs only |
| FreshBooks | Paid from $23 per month (Lite, listed price; 5 billable clients; intro offer shown at 80% off for 4 months) | Web, iOS, Android | Accounting | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You need approvals for up to three people (Zoho Expense is the pick)
- You want free cards with expense capture (Ramp is the pick)
- You want cards plus expenses from a startup-focused vendor (Brex is the pick)
- You already pay bills in BILL (BILL Spend & Expense is the pick)
- You only track your own receipts and invoices (Wave is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Expensify features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Expensify today: Free (Free Submit workspace for individual employees: no approvals, payments, company cards or accounting integrations); paid from $5 per member/month (Collect, pay-per-use) (Expensify pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Expensify alternatives
Expensify's Control plan is $18 per included member per month on an annual subscription, or $36 per active member pay-per-use. The annual size can be increased anytime but only decreased at renewal, and you are billed for every included member each month whether or not they are active. Collect is $5 per unique member for workspaces created from April 1, 2025, while older workspaces are listed at $10 per active member. The free Submit tier excludes approvals, payments, company cards and accounting integrations, and the discount to $9 per member depends on paying with the Expensify Card.
Zoho Expense
Compared with Expensify: Zoho Expense's free plan allows 3 users with 20 receipt scans per user a month. Expensify's Collect is $5 per member, so Zoho is cheaper for tiny teams, but 20 scans a month runs out fast if people expense often.
Price: Free (Free plan: up to 3 users, 20 receipt scans per user per month, 5 GB receipt storage, email support); paid from $3 per user/month, billed annually (Standard) (Zoho Expense pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Teams of up to three people.
Worth knowing: Standard is $4 per user per month billed monthly; Premium is $6 monthly or $5 annually. Pay-as-you-go with no contract.
Ramp
Compared with Expensify: Ramp's Free plan costs $0 per user with unlimited virtual and physical cards, against Expensify Collect at $5 per member. You move spend onto Ramp cards, and accounting sync is limited to QuickBooks Online and Xero on the free plan.
Price: Free (Free plan at $0 per user per month: unlimited virtual and physical cards; QuickBooks Online and Xero integrations only; chat support); paid from $15 per user/month (Plus, plus a platform fee by team size) (Ramp pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Companies willing to switch to a card-based spend setup.
Worth knowing: Plus has a 30-day free trial. Enterprise is custom and billed annually.
Brex
Compared with Expensify: Brex Essentials is $0 per user with a limit of two entities and one local card program, while Expensify Control starts at $18 per included member per month on an annual subscription. You get cards and expenses together, but you adopt Brex's card product to use it.
Price: Free (Essentials plan at $0 per user per month: up to two entities (one global entity) and one local card program); paid from $12 per user/month (Premium) (Brex pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Startups that want cards and expenses from one vendor.
Worth knowing: Premium adds multiple expense policies, multi-entity and live budgets. Enterprise and Smart Card are custom-priced. Business account and bill pay fees sit on a separate fee schedule.
BILL Spend & Expense
Compared with Expensify: BILL's Spend & Expense plan lists $0 per user with cards, budgets and expense tracking, against Expensify's per-member fees. The catch is that credit lines are described as not guaranteed, so approval is not automatic.
Price: Free ($0 per user per month: corporate cards, budgets and expense tracking with no subscription or per-user software fee) (BILL Spend & Expense pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Teams already using BILL for payables.
Worth knowing: Credit lines of $1,000 to $5M are described as not guaranteed. Per-transaction fees apply to some payment types.
Zoho Books
Compared with Expensify: Zoho Books' free plan includes 50 receipt autoscans a month and up to 1,000 bills or expenses a year for one user plus an accountant. It has no multi-person approval flow like Expensify, but suits an owner tracking their own expenses.
Price: Free (Free plan while annual revenue stays under $50K: 1 user plus 1 accountant and up to 1,000 invoices a year); paid from $15 per organization/month, billed annually (Standard; $20 billed monthly) (Zoho Books pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Owners who track their own expenses inside their books.
Wave
Compared with Expensify: Wave Starter is $0 for bookkeeping records, but unlimited receipt capture needs a receipts add-on at $11 a month on Starter. You lose Expensify's approval workflows and card feeds, and gain a free ledger with invoicing.
Price: Free (Starter plan at $0 for invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping records; card payments cost 2.9% + $0.60 a transaction); paid from $19 per month, billed monthly (Pro; $190 billed annually) (Wave pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Freelancers who want receipts and invoices in one free tool.
Worth knowing: Pricing is shown in USD and CAD; online payment processing is for US customers and needs approval.
Other popular options (paid)
FreshBooks
Compared with Expensify: Lite is listed at $23 a month for 5 billable clients, Plus $43 and Premium $70, with extra team members at $11 each. Expensify Collect is $5 per member, so FreshBooks costs more but bills by plan with a 30-day free trial.
Price: Paid from $23 per month (Lite, listed price; 5 billable clients; intro offer shown at 80% off for 4 months) (FreshBooks pricing, checked 2026-10-25).
Which one to pick
- You need approvals for up to three people: Zoho Expense
- You want free cards with expense capture: Ramp
- You want cards plus expenses from a startup-focused vendor: Brex
- You already pay bills in BILL: BILL Spend & Expense
- You only track your own receipts and invoices: Wave
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Zoho Expense, Ramp, Brex, BILL Spend & Expense, Zoho Books, Wave: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Expensify. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-25: Expensify, Zoho Expense, Ramp, Brex, BILL Spend & Expense, Zoho Books, Wave, FreshBooks. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.