Accounting · head to head
Adyen vs Zoho Expense
Adyen
Accounting
The payments platform built for growth
- From
- $0.13/per-transaction
- Rated
- -
Zoho Expense
Accounting
Expense reporting and travel management at three dollars per user per month
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Zoho Expense has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Adyen there is a minimum monthly invoice, set by industry and business model and only disclosed through the sales team, so small volumes are not economic; Zoho Expense aI receipt scans are metered per user per month rather than unlimited, so heavy claimants exhaust the allowance and either scan manually or push the organisation to a higher tier.
- They diverge on capability: Adyen covers Payment processing, Zoho Expense covers Receipt OCR.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Adyen and Zoho Expense actually diverge.
| Attribute | Adyen | Zoho Expense |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $0.13/per-transaction | Free |
| Pricing model | usage-based | Per user per month |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, Api, Pos | Web, iOS, Android |
| Founded | 2006 | Unknown |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Adyen
- Payment processing
- Risk management
- Unified commerce
- Issuing
- Platform payments
- SAP
- Salesforce
- Oracle
Only in Zoho Expense
- Receipt OCR
- Corporate card reconciliation
- Per diem and mileage
- Approval workflows
- Travel requests and booking
- Policy engine
- Multi currency and multi entity
- Accounting integration
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Adyen
- Card acquiring with interchange plus pricing for larger merchantsnot Zoho Expense
- Accepting local payment methods across multiple countriesnot Zoho Expense
- Settling in several currencies through linked bank accountsnot Zoho Expense
- Unified online and in-person paymentsnot Zoho Expense
Zoho Expense
- A mid market company replacing spreadsheet expense claims without a five figure annual software budgetnot Adyen
- An existing Zoho One customer extending the suite so expense data lands in Zoho Books without integration worknot Adyen
- A business with staff travelling across several currencies that needs automatic exchange rate handling on claimsnot Adyen
- A services firm rebilling project expenses to clients and needing them coded to projects at the point of claimnot Adyen
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Adyen
- There is a minimum monthly invoice, set by industry and business model and only disclosed through the sales team, so small volumes are not economic
- Published fees are indicative rather than a rate card, with real pricing negotiated
- Interchange++ means the card cost varies per transaction rather than being a single predictable percentage
- Alternative payment methods carry their own rates on top, such as 3.3 percent plus $0.10 for American Express in North America
Zoho Expense
- AI receipt scans are metered per user per month rather than unlimited, so heavy claimants exhaust the allowance and either scan manually or push the organisation to a higher tier.
- Zoho Expense does not issue cards, so policy enforcement is retrospective and out of policy spend is caught after the money has left rather than declined at the terminal.
- Additional users who create expenses are billed at the monthly rate rather than the annual rate, which makes a large population of occasional claimants more expensive than the headline three dollars implies.
- Support quality is the recurring complaint across Zoho products, and at three dollars a seat there is no commercial room for the account management that mid market finance teams expect at renewal or during an audit.
- Deep configuration such as complex approval matrices and custom fields is workable but fiddly, and there is no meaningful professional services organisation to hand implementation to.
Pricing, plan by plan
Adyen
$0.13/per-transaction- Transaction-Based Pricing$undefined/mo
- Fixed $0.13 USD per transaction
- Variable fee determined by payment method
- No setup fees
Zoho Expense
Free- FreeFree
- Up to 3 users
- Receipt capture with limited AI scans
- Basic expense reports
- Standard$3/month
- Billed annually, minimum 3 users
- Corporate card reconciliation
- Approval workflows
- Premium$5/month
- Billed annually
- Travel requests and self booking
- Advanced approvals and policy rules
Which should you pick?
Choose Adyen if
- You need payment processing.
- You work on Web, Api, Pos.
- You also want risk management.
Choose Zoho Expense if
- You need receipt ocr.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want corporate card reconciliation.
Questions people ask
- Is Adyen or Zoho Expense better?
- Neither clearly leads. Adyen starts at $0.13/per-transaction and Zoho Expense at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Adyen or Zoho Expense?
- Zoho Expense has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $0.13/per-transaction for Adyen and Free for Zoho Expense.
- Does Adyen or Zoho Expense run on more platforms?
- Adyen runs on Web, Api, Pos. Zoho Expense runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- Can I use Zoho Expense for free?
- Yes. Zoho Expense has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Adyen starts at $0.13/per-transaction.
- What is Adyen best used for?
- Adyen is most often used for card acquiring with interchange plus pricing for larger merchants, accepting local payment methods across multiple countries, settling in several currencies through linked bank accounts, unified online and in-person payments. Of those, card acquiring with interchange plus pricing for larger merchants and accepting local payment methods across multiple countries are not what Zoho Expense is typically brought in for.
- What can Adyen do that Zoho Expense cannot?
- Adyen covers Payment processing, Risk management, Unified commerce, Issuing. Zoho Expense covers Receipt OCR, Corporate card reconciliation, Per diem and mileage, Approval workflows.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Adyen: How much does Adyen charge per transaction?
Adyen charges a fixed $0.13 USD per transaction plus a variable fee based on the payment method used. Credit cards typically cost $0.13 + 0.60% + interchange, while digital wallets and BNPL options cost between $0.13 + 0.99% to $0.13 + 4.99%+, depending on the specific method and region.
SourceZoho Expense: Is the free plan usable in production?
Only for three users. Beyond that you move to Standard, which has a three user minimum anyway.
Adyen: Does Adyen have monthly subscription or setup fees?
No, Adyen has no setup fees or monthly recurring charges. You pay only for each transaction processed. The transaction fee structure remains the same regardless of transaction volume or business size.
SourceZoho Expense: Does Zoho Expense issue corporate cards?
No. It reconciles card feeds but does not issue cards, so you need a card programme elsewhere if you want spend blocked before it happens.
Adyen: What's Adyen's Interchange++ pricing option?
Adyen offers an Interchange++ transparent pricing model that passes interchange and scheme fees directly to merchants instead of bundling them into a percentage rate. This allows visibility into exact costs for each payment method.
SourceZoho Expense: What is the real cost for a hundred users?
Around three thousand six hundred dollars a year on Standard annual billing, plus higher monthly rates for any additional occasional claimants beyond your licensed count.
Adyen: Can I process payments in multiple currencies with Adyen?
Yes, Adyen supports 100+ payment methods across multiple currencies. You can link multiple bank accounts in different currencies to avoid currency conversion fees on international transactions.
SourceRelated pages
More on Zoho Expense
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