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Accounting · head to head

Airbase vs Payhawk

Airbase logo

Airbase

Accounting

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

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Payhawk logo

Payhawk

Payroll

Modular spend management combining corporate cards, accounts payable, procurement and travel

From
On request
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.; Payhawk buying the full stack of Travel, Accounts Payable, Cards and Procurement separately costs more than a single suite price, since each module carries its own flat monthly fee.
  • They diverge on capability: Airbase covers Virtual cards per vendor, Payhawk covers Accounts payable automation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbase and Payhawk actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbase and Payhawk differ
AttributeAirbasePayhawk
Starting price$29/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer module per month
CategoryAccountingPayroll
Founded2017Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated).

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

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

Only in Payhawk

  • Accounts payable automation
  • Procurement module
  • Travel booking
  • ERP integrations
  • Multi-entity consolidation

Both cover

  • Corporate cards

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

Payhawk

  • A multi-entity European business wanting one system for cards, expenses and payables across currenciesnot Airbase
  • A finance team that wants to price spend management before a sales call rather than negotiating blindnot Airbase
  • A company wanting only accounts payable automation without paying for card issuing it does not neednot Airbase
  • A mid-market business standardising ERP-integrated expense reporting ahead of a fundraise or auditnot 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.

Payhawk

  • Buying the full stack of Travel, Accounts Payable, Cards and Procurement separately costs more than a single suite price, since each module carries its own flat monthly fee.
  • The unlimited-seats model is a poor fit for a company issuing cards to only a handful of employees, since the fixed module price does not scale down.
  • Card issuing depends on Payhawk's own banking partners rather than a company's existing bank, so switching away later means reissuing cards and re-training staff on a new tool.
  • Procurement is a separate paid module rather than a built-in feature, so a company evaluating "Payhawk" from marketing material may be looking at capability it has not actually bought.
  • International card acceptance and FX handling vary by market, and companies with material spend outside Europe report gaps compared to global card issuers.

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

Payhawk

On request
  • Travel$299/month
    • Integrated travel booking
    • Unlimited employee seats
  • Accounts Payable$349/month
    • Invoice capture and approval routing
    • Unlimited document processing
  • Cards and Expenses$449/month
    • Unlimited card transactions
    • Multi-entity expense management
  • Procurement$499/month
    • Purchase request and approval workflow
    • Vendor management

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbase if

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

Choose Payhawk if

  • You need accounts payable automation.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want procurement module.
Payhawk review

Questions people ask

Is Airbase or Payhawk better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbase starts at $29/month and Payhawk at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbase or Payhawk?
Airbase starts at $29/month and Payhawk at On request.
Does Airbase or Payhawk run on more platforms?
Airbase runs on Web, Ios, Android. Payhawk runs on Web, iOS, Android.
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 Payhawk is typically brought in for.
What can Airbase do that Payhawk cannot?
Airbase covers Virtual cards per vendor, Bill payment, Expense reimbursement, Unified approval policy. Payhawk covers Accounts payable automation, Procurement module, Travel booking, ERP integrations. Both handle Corporate cards.

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.

Payhawk: Is Payhawk pricing really public?

Yes, module pricing (Travel, Accounts Payable, Cards and Expenses, Procurement) is published starting at 299 to 499 dollars a month per module, or bundled as Payhawk Complete.

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.

Payhawk: Does it charge per seat?

No, each module includes unlimited employee seats; the fixed monthly fee does not increase with headcount.

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.

Payhawk: Can we buy just one module?

Yes, modules are sold separately, so a company can buy Accounts Payable without Cards or Procurement.

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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