Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Airbase vs Fyle

Airbase logo

Airbase

Accounting

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

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fyle logo

Fyle

Accounting

Real-time expense management that works with your cards

From
$11.99/month per active user
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.; Fyle billed per active user, defined as anyone who creates an expense or has a connected card with transactions in the month, so headcount does not predict the bill
  • They diverge on capability: Airbase covers Corporate cards, Fyle covers Real-time card tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbase and Fyle actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbase and Fyle differ
AttributeAirbaseFyle
Starting price$29/month$11.99/month per active user
Founded20172016

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), 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 Fyle

  • Real-time card tracking
  • Automatic receipt matching
  • Expense policies
  • Approval workflows
  • Mileage tracking
  • QuickBooks
  • Xero
  • Sage Intacct

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 Fyle
  • A finance team where supplier invoices arrive in an inbox and approval is whoever replies, with no record afterwardsnot Fyle
  • A controller trying to close the month without rebuilding card and expense coding from statements every timenot Fyle
  • An organisation that wants spend approved before it is committed rather than discovered when the invoice arrivesnot Fyle

Fyle

  • Expense reporting and corporate card reconciliationnot Airbase
  • Enforcing spend policy and approvals before reimbursementnot 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.

Fyle

  • Billed per active user, defined as anyone who creates an expense or has a connected card with transactions in the month, so headcount does not predict the bill
  • The Growth plan carries a 5 user minimum and the Business plan a 10 user minimum, so the entry cost is set by the floor rather than the team
  • API access and the Sage Intacct and NetSuite integrations require a paid tier
  • ACH reimbursements and project expense tracking sit above the entry plan
  • Both published plans are billed annually
  • Enterprise pricing is custom and aimed at organisations with 250 or more employees

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

Fyle

$11.99/month per active user
  • Growth$11.99/month per active user
    • Minimum 5 users
    • Unlimited expense tracking, receipt scanning
    • Card integrations, mileage/per diem tracking
  • Business$14.99/month per active user
    • Minimum 10 users
    • Multi-stage approvals, ACH reimbursements (US only)
    • Project tracking, Sage Intacct/300 CRE integrations
  • Enterprise$null/mo
    • 250+ employees
    • IP whitelisting, SSO options
    • Branded accounts, dedicated account manager

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 Fyle if

  • You need real-time card tracking.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want automatic receipt matching.
Fyle review

Questions people ask

Is Airbase or Fyle better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbase starts at $29/month and Fyle at $11.99/month per active user, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbase or Fyle?
Airbase starts at $29/month and Fyle at $11.99/month per active user.
Does Airbase or Fyle run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 Fyle is typically brought in for.
What can Airbase do that Fyle cannot?
Airbase covers Corporate cards, Virtual cards per vendor, Bill payment, Expense reimbursement. Fyle covers Real-time card tracking, Automatic receipt matching, Expense policies, Approval workflows.

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.

Fyle: How does Fyle define and charge for active users?

An 'active user' is defined as an employee who creates at least one expense or has a credit card connected with active transactions monthly. You only pay for active users, not all onboarded employees.

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.

Fyle: What is Fyle's Growth plan pricing?

The Growth plan costs $11.99 per active user per month (billed annually) with a minimum of 5 users. Includes unlimited expense tracking, receipt scanning, and single-stage approvals.

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.

Fyle: What features does Fyle's Business plan add?

The Business plan costs $14.99 per active user per month (minimum 10 users, annual billing) and adds multi-stage approvals, project tracking, ACH reimbursements (US only), and premium support.

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.

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