- Start with the type of tool
- Plans and limits at a glance
A receipt scanning app turns a paper or emailed receipt into a stored image with the date, vendor and amount attached, so the expense is on record when you need it. The tools that do this fall into a few types, and the right type depends on how many people spend money for the business, how many receipts you handle and which accounting software you already use. This page compares seven tools by plan, limits and fit. It's an unranked comparison. For how each tool captures, reads, matches and exports receipts, see how to scan, track and manage receipts.
Billed publishes this page. Facts about other companies' products are taken from their own websites as they read on November 1, 2026, using the US version where one exists. We didn't sign up for or test any of these apps. Prices are what each pricing page showed by default that day, in US dollars, before tax; they change, so check the vendor's page before you buy.
Start with the type of tool
- Expense management apps for teams: employees submit receipts, a manager approves, and the business reimburses. Expensify and Zoho Expense describe this workflow on their pricing pages.
- Bookkeeping document capture: receipts and bills are collected, read and passed to your accounting software. Dext and Shoeboxed work this way; Shoeboxed also scans paper receipts you mail to it.
- Receipt capture inside accounting software: QuickBooks Online and Wave let you photograph a receipt inside the same product you use for your books.
- A receipt tracker for one person or a small team: Foreceipt focuses on scanning, categorizing and reporting receipts.
If you already use one of the accounting products, check its own receipt feature first. Compare a separate app when you need approvals, high volumes or mail-in scanning.
Plans and limits at a glance
Listed prices on November 1, 2026, as each vendor's pricing page displayed them by default. "Not shown" means the default view didn't display it.
| Tool | Free option | Lowest listed paid plan | Billing shown | Users and receipt limits on that plan | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expensify | Yes: receipt scanning for individuals | Collect, $5 per member/month | Per member, monthly figure | Per member | Free plan; trial terms not shown |
| Zoho Expense | Yes: Free plan, up to 3 users | Standard, $4 per user/month billed monthly or $3 billed annually | Monthly or annual | Autoscan: 200 receipt scans per user/month | 14 days, no credit card |
| Dext | No | $25.21 per month, $302.50 billed annually | Annual (monthly price not shown) | 250 documents per month, 5 users | 14 days, no card details |
| Shoeboxed | No | Starter, $97 per year or $9 per month | Monthly on the plan cards by default; the page's yearly option and its FAQ list yearly prices | 50 digital scans per month, 3 users | 30 days; card charged at sign-up, refund within 30 days unless a Magic Envelope was already shipped |
| QuickBooks Online | Yes: Free plan with 2 receipt captures a month | Simple Start, $38 per month ($19 per month for 3 months on the offer shown) | Monthly | 1 user | "Free trial for 30 days" also shown; offer terms apply |
| Wave | Yes: Starter, with receipt scanning as an add-on | Pro, $19 per month or $190 per year on the pricing page; the receipts page says $16 a month | Monthly or annual | Pro includes receipt scanning | Promotion shown: $9.50 per month for the first 3 months |
| Foreceipt | Yes: up to 100 receipts in total | Individual, 5 USD per month on yearly billing or 6.25 USD on monthly | Monthly or yearly | 200 receipts per month | Free plan; no trial mentioned |
Tool by tool
Expensify
Expensify's pricing page says: "It's always free to SmartScan receipts, send and receive money, and chat with coworkers using New Expensify." Its Collect plan, "$5 per member/month", is described as "The small business plan that gives you expense, travel, and chat", and lists reimbursements, corporate card management, approvals and QuickBooks/Xero integrations. The Control plan shows "Custom pricing as low as $9 per active member/month", while the page's FAQ calls Control "a custom price" and says "Discounts are available for annual commitments".
Consider it if several people spend for the business and submit receipts for approval and reimbursement.
Zoho Expense
Zoho Expense lists a Free plan with "Maximum users: 3" and "Receipt capture with AI-powered OCR". Its FAQ caps Autoscan at 20 scans per user each month on Free and Trial, rising to 200 with Standard and 1,000 with Premium. Standard is $4 per user a month billed monthly or $3 billed annually; Premium is $6 or $5. The FAQ also says: "Sign up for a 14-day free trial."
Consider it if you're a small team that wants approvals and card feeds at a per-user price, starting free with up to 3 users.
Dext
Dext says you can "Send receipts, invoices and statements by mobile, email, WhatsApp or desktop", and that it "integrates with major accounting software like QuickBooks Online, Xero, Sage, Zoho and more." The default pricing view showed $25.21 a month in US dollars, excluding tax, billed annually at $302.50, for 250 documents a month and 5 users, with "Up to 20% cheaper with an annual subscription". Its pages offer a "14-day free trial" and say "we don't ask for card details to start it."
Consider it if an accountant or bookkeeper keeps your books and you want receipts and supplier bills sent into your accounting software.
Shoeboxed
By default, the Shoeboxed plan cards list monthly prices (Starter "$9 /mo", Pro "$29 /mo", Plus "$79 /mo"). The page's yearly option has cards at "$97 /yr", "$297 /yr" and "$797 /yr", and the FAQ on the same pricing page gives both: Starter "$97/year ($8.08/mo) or $9/month", Pro "$297/year ($24.75/mo) or $29/month" and Plus "$797/year ($66.42/mo) or $79/month". Starter includes 50 digital scans a month, 20 paper scans a year and 3 users; Pro adds "Gmail receipt sync" and "Accounting integrations (QuickBooks Online/Xero)". Its mail-in service, the "Magic Envelope", lets you post paper receipts for scanning, and its FAQ says data entry specialists "check every scanned receipt for errors". Shoeboxed offers a "30-day risk-free trial": "Your card is charged when you sign up", with a refund if you cancel within 30 days. Its FAQ adds: "We only ask that if we already shipped you a Magic Envelope for mail-in paper scanning, you do not request a refund".
Consider it if you collect a lot of paper receipts and would rather post them than photograph them.
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks lists a Free plan, "No credit card required"; the pricing page's plan data gives its receipt capture allowance as "2/mo". Paid plans start with Simple Start at $38 a month, shown at $19 a month with "50% off for 3 months"; the page also shows a "Free trial for 30 days", and its offer terms set which applies. Its expense tracking page says it "pulls info like date, vendor, amount, and payment method from your receipts" and matches them "to existing expenses or create new expenses for you." Receipt capture needs the QuickBooks Online mobile app.
Consider it if your books are already in QuickBooks Online.
Wave
Wave's Starter plan is free. Its pricing table lists unlimited receipt capture as an add-on, at "$8/month OR $72/year" alongside a second figure, "$11/month OR $96/year", without a currency label in the table; Wave's structured page data gives the add-on as 8.00 USD. Pro is "$19 USD/month Billed monthly" or "$190 USD/year Billed annually", with a promotion of "$9.50 USD/month" for the first 3 months. Wave's receipts page gives a different Pro price: "Mobile receipt scanning requires an active Wave Pro Plan ($16/mo) or Receipts Plan ($8/mo plus applicable tax)." Check the price at checkout. The same page says you can "Upload from anywhere: mobile, desktop, or forwarded from your email".
Consider it if you already use Wave for invoicing and accounting.
Foreceipt
Foreceipt's pricing page says "Every plan starts free." The Free plan allows "Up to 100 receipts in total" and keeps receipts for 12 months. The Individual plan is 5 USD a month on yearly billing or 6.25 USD on monthly billing, with "200 receipts / month" and 7-year retention; the Business plan is 12 or 15 USD a month, adds "QuickBooks Integration", and charges "US$ 72/Year per extra member" beyond 2. The page notes: "The subscription prices exclude sales tax."
Consider it if you work alone or with one other person and mainly need receipts sorted for tax time.
Not in the table: Abukai
Abukai's website describes it as a way to create expense reports. The pages we opened didn't list its plans, prices or limits, so it isn't compared here.
How to choose
- Count the people who spend. One person: a free tier or a single-user plan may cover you. A team that submits expenses for approval: look at per-user plans (Expensify, Zoho Expense) or Dext's user allowance.
- Estimate your monthly receipts. Compare that number with each plan's limit in the table, and note what happens above it.
- Check the paper. If most receipts arrive on paper and you'd rather not photograph them, compare Shoeboxed's mail-in service.
- Match your accounting software. Confirm the integration on the vendor's own page, and on which plan it's included.
- Read the billing basis. Several prices above are annual figures or first-months promotions; work out the yearly cost before you compare.
- Try it with real receipts during the trial or free tier, including a long receipt, a faded one and an emailed one.
About Billed
Billed is the publisher of this page. Its expense page says: "Reports can be filtered by date range and exported for your accountant, bookkeeper or tax software." For Billed's plans, see Billed pricing.
When this guide isn't for you
If your business runs corporate cards across departments or needs an enterprise system tied to an ERP, the small-business plans above are the wrong comparison; ask those vendors about their enterprise plans directly. For the rules on how long to keep records, see the IRS guidance linked in expense tracking for small business.
Related Articles
- Best Apps to Scan, Track, and Manage Receipts
- Expense Tracking for Small Business: Methods, Tools, and Tax Benefits
- Business Expense Categories: How to Organize Expenses for Tax Time
- Guide to Reimbursement Policies
Frequently Asked Questions
Which receipt scanning apps have a free option?
On November 1, 2026, Expensify, Zoho Expense, QuickBooks Online, Wave and Foreceipt each listed a free option. Their limits differ: Zoho Expense's Free plan allows up to 3 users and 20 scans per user each month, QuickBooks Free includes 2 receipt captures a month, Wave charges for receipt scanning on its free Starter plan, and Foreceipt's Free plan holds up to 100 receipts in total.
Do receipt scanning apps work with QuickBooks or Xero?
Several say so on their own pages: Expensify's Collect plan lists QuickBooks/Xero integrations, Shoeboxed lists QuickBooks Online and Xero on its Pro and Plus plans, Dext lists QuickBooks Online and Xero among others, and Foreceipt lists a QuickBooks integration on its Business plan. Check which plan includes the integration before you choose.
Is a separate receipt app better than my accounting software's camera?
It depends on what you need. If one person photographs a few receipts a month, the receipt capture in your accounting software may be enough. A separate app is worth comparing when several people submit expenses for approval, when you handle many receipts each month, or when you want paper receipts scanned for you.
How much do receipt scanning apps cost?
On November 1, 2026, leaving out per-user plans, the lowest listed paid plans in this comparison ranged from Foreceipt's Individual plan at 5 USD a month on yearly billing to QuickBooks Online Simple Start at $38 a month, shown at $19 a month for the first 3 months on the offer. Per-user plans, like Expensify Collect at $5 per member a month and Zoho Expense Standard at $3 to $4 per user a month, grow with your team.