Expensify vs Xero
Expensify and Xero are both accounting & finance tools. Expensify is aimed at small businesses and enterprise, while Xero is aimed at small businesses. Expensify costs less, from $5/mo versus $27/mo for Xero. Only Expensify has a free plan.
Receipt scanning, expense reports and corporate cards for SMBs
Cloud accounting popular outside the US
| Pricing | Freemium · $5 | Paid · $27 |
| Starting price | $5/mo | $27/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | — | 30 days |
| Built for | Small businesses, Enterprise, Freelancers | Small businesses |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web, ios, android |
| Country | US · 2008 | NZ · 2006 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Expensify if
Small and mid-size companies that reimburse employee spending and want proven receipt scanning with low per-member pricing.
- Collect at $5 per member is cheap and needs no annual commitment
- Control pay-per-use bills only members active that month
- SmartScan and the mobile app are fast and well proven
Look elsewhere if: US companies wanting free card-led spend management or very simple bookkeeping (Ramp, Brex or QuickBooks fit better).
Choose Xero if
Small businesses outside the US and teams with many users who need books access.
- Unlimited users on all plans
- Excellent reconciliation experience
- Strong in UK, ANZ and international markets
Look elsewhere if: Very small freelancers (Wave, FreshBooks) or Turkish e-invoice compliance (Paraşüt).
Expensify vs Xero pricing
Expensify
- Submit$0Free for individuals submitting expenses to an approver
- Collect$5/member/moPay-per-use only; approvals, reimbursements, QuickBooks and Xero
- Control (Annual)$18/member/moAs low as $9 with the Expensify Card; 12-month commitment
- Control (Pay-per-use)$36/member/moNo commitment; billed per active member each month
Xero
- Early$27/mo20 invoices, 5 bills; 90% off first 6 months until Nov 2 2026
- Growing$59/moUnlimited invoices and bills
- Established$97/moMulti-currency, projects, analytics
Expensify · Key features
- SmartScan receipt capture that reads merchant, date and amount from photos
- Expensify Card with automatic transaction matching and real-time limits
- Multi-level approval workflows and rule-based policy enforcement
- Next-day and global reimbursements to employee bank accounts
- Mileage, distance and per diem tracking in the mobile app
- Built-in travel booking tied to expense policies
Cons
- Control pricing mixes annual sizes, pay-per-use and card discounts
- Annual subscription size can only be reduced at renewal
- Recent app redesign moved familiar features around
Xero · Key features
- Bank reconciliation with smart matching
- Invoices, quotes and online payments
- Bills, expenses and Hubdoc document capture
- Multi-currency accounting (Established)
- Projects, inventory and fixed assets
- Analytics, short-term cash flow and reporting
Cons
- Early plan limits are tight
- US payroll requires integrations
- Multi-currency only on the top plan
Expensify vs Xero: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Expensify or Xero?
Expensify starts at $5/mo and Xero at $27/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Expensify and Xero have a free plan?
Expensify has a free plan. Xero has no free plan, a 30-day free trial.