Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Airbase vs Dodo Payments

Airbase logo

Airbase

Accounting

Spend management combining corporate cards, bill payment and expense claims, now part of Paylocity

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Dodo Payments logo

Dodo Payments

Accounting

Unified billing, payments, and distribution for AI and SaaS companies

From
$4/percent + $0.40
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Airbase card issuing and bill payment are built around United States entities and United States bank accounts, so a group with subsidiaries abroad keeps running local card and payment processes alongside and does not get the single ledger of spend that justified the purchase.; Dodo Payments per-transaction fees higher for specialized payment methods
  • They diverge on capability: Airbase covers Corporate cards, Dodo Payments covers Global Payments.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbase and Dodo Payments actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbase and Dodo Payments differ
AttributeAirbaseDodo Payments
Starting price$29/month$4/percent + $0.40
Pricing modelsubscriptionPercentage of transaction plus fixed per-transaction fee
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, API, SDK
Founded20172024

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Airbase

  • Corporate cards
  • Virtual cards per vendor
  • Bill payment
  • Expense reimbursement
  • Unified approval policy
  • Purchase intake and procurement
  • Automated coding
  • Receipt collection

Only in Dodo Payments

  • Global Payments
  • Multi-Currency Support
  • Flexible Billing Models
  • Merchant of Record
  • Developer-Friendly SDKs
  • No-Code Checkout
  • PCI DSS Level 1

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Airbase

  • A company that has outgrown one shared company card and needs per person and per subscription cards with real limitsnot Dodo Payments
  • A finance team where supplier invoices arrive in an inbox and approval is whoever replies, with no record afterwardsnot Dodo Payments
  • A controller trying to close the month without rebuilding card and expense coding from statements every timenot Dodo Payments
  • An organisation that wants spend approved before it is committed rather than discovered when the invoice arrivesnot Dodo Payments

Dodo Payments

  • Billing for AI API usage across multiple international marketsnot Airbase
  • Processing subscriptions with usage-based overagesnot Airbase
  • Accepting local payment methods in emerging marketsnot Airbase
  • Launching global SaaS products without multi-country payment setupnot Airbase

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Airbase

  • Card issuing and bill payment are built around United States entities and United States bank accounts, so a group with subsidiaries abroad keeps running local card and payment processes alongside and does not get the single ledger of spend that justified the purchase.
  • The value depends on nearly all spend flowing through the platform, which makes partial adoption almost worthless and means the rollout is a change management exercise across every budget holder rather than a finance department deployment.
  • Paylocity's acquisition in 2024 reorients the roadmap towards a human capital management suite, so expense reimbursement is likely to be well served while procurement and the more finance specific features compete for attention with payroll and HR priorities.
  • Pricing combines a platform fee with tiering on features and users, and part of the economics rests on interchange rebates from card spend, so a company that puts most of its spend on transfers rather than cards pays the fee without earning the offset.
  • The general ledger sync is a mapping you own, so a chart of accounts change, a new department dimension or a ledger migration means reworking the coding rules, and a bad mapping quietly posts correct approvals to the wrong accounts.

Dodo Payments

  • Per-transaction fees higher for specialized payment methods
  • BNPL and PayPal surcharges add cost complexity
  • ACH/SEPA fees capped at $15/$15 EUR may not scale for large transactions
  • Startup program requires application process

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbase

$29/month
  • StandardFree
    • Corporate cards
    • Expense reports
    • Bill pay
  • Premium$10/month
    • Advanced approvals
    • NetSuite sync
    • Procurement
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Custom workflows
    • API access
    • Dedicated support

Dodo Payments

$4/percent + $0.40
  • StandardFree
    • 4% + $0.40 per domestic US transaction
    • International: +1.5%
    • Subscription billing: +0.5%
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Custom pricing negotiated
    • Unified platform for billing, payments, and distribution
    • Cross-border compliance support
  • Startup ProgramFree
    • Up to 12 months free credits
    • Preferential rates on full platform
    • Access to 40+ payment methods

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbase if

  • You need corporate cards.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want virtual cards per vendor.
Airbase review

Choose Dodo Payments if

  • You need global payments.
  • You work on Web, API, SDK.
  • You also want multi-currency support.
Dodo Payments review

Questions people ask

Is Airbase or Dodo Payments better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbase starts at $29/month and Dodo Payments at $4/percent + $0.40, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbase or Dodo Payments?
Airbase starts at $29/month and Dodo Payments at $4/percent + $0.40.
Does Airbase or Dodo Payments run on more platforms?
Airbase runs on Web, Ios, Android. Dodo Payments runs on Web, API, SDK.
What is Airbase best used for?
Airbase is most often used for a company that has outgrown one shared company card and needs per person and per subscription cards with real limits, a finance team where supplier invoices arrive in an inbox and approval is whoever replies, with no record afterwards, a controller trying to close the month without rebuilding card and expense coding from statements every time, an organisation that wants spend approved before it is committed rather than discovered when the invoice arrives. Of those, a company that has outgrown one shared company card and needs per person and per subscription cards with real limits and a finance team where supplier invoices arrive in an inbox and approval is whoever replies, with no record afterwards are not what Dodo Payments is typically brought in for.
What can Airbase do that Dodo Payments cannot?
Airbase covers Corporate cards, Virtual cards per vendor, Bill payment, Expense reimbursement. Dodo Payments covers Global Payments, Multi-Currency Support, Flexible Billing Models, Merchant of Record.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Airbase: Does it work for companies outside the United States?

Partially. Some international spend and reimbursement is supported, but card issuing and the payment rails are strongest for United States entities. Confirm coverage for each country you operate in before assuming it replaces local processes.

Dodo Payments: What countries does Dodo Payments support?

Dodo Payments operates in 220+ countries with 40+ local payment methods and support for 80+ currencies.

Source
Airbase: Does Airbase replace our accounting system?

No. It manages spend and pushes coded transactions into the ledger. QuickBooks, NetSuite or whatever else you use stays.

Dodo Payments: Does Dodo handle tax compliance?

Yes, Dodo Payments acts as merchant of record and handles sales tax, VAT, and GST compliance automatically across all markets.

Source
Airbase: What changed after the Paylocity acquisition?

Ownership and roadmap direction. The product continues, now positioned alongside Paylocity's payroll and HR products. If procurement is your main reason to buy, ask directly about investment in that module.

Dodo Payments: Is there a startup program?

Yes, early-stage companies can apply for up to 12 months of free credits plus preferential rates on the full platform.

Source
Airbase: How is it priced?

A platform subscription with tiers, plus usage and user dimensions, partly offset by rebates on card spend. Because the rebate depends on card volume, model your own mix of card versus transfer spend before accepting a payback figure.

Airbase: Can we use it for accounts payable only?

You can, but the approval consistency argument weakens considerably. Most of the reported benefit comes from cards, bills and reimbursements sharing one policy and one coding process.

Airbase: Will our auditors accept the approval records?

The per transaction record of approver, receipt and coding is generally what auditors want to see for spend testing. Agree the sampling approach with them early, particularly around any spend that still happens outside the platform.

Share

Related pages

More on Airbase

More on Dodo Payments

Keep looking

Other head to heads