Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Airbase vs Polar

Airbase logo

Airbase

Accounting

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

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Polar logo

Polar

Accounting

Billing and revenue platform for AI and infrastructure companies

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Polar has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Polar percentage-based fees higher than some specialized processors for high-volume transactions
  • They diverge on capability: Airbase covers Corporate cards, Polar covers Usage Billing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbase and Polar actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbase and Polar differ
AttributeAirbasePolar
Starting price$29/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionPercentage of transaction plus per-transaction fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, API
Founded2017Unknown

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 Airbase

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

Only in Polar

  • Usage Billing
  • Subscriptions
  • Seat Management
  • Prepaid Credits
  • Hosted Checkout
  • Cost Insights
  • Merchant of Record

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

Polar

  • Billing for token and API call consumption by LLM applicationsnot Airbase
  • Managing tiered pricing for infrastructure usage-based servicesnot Airbase
  • Handling subscription and usage hybrid modelsnot Airbase
  • Monetizing AI APIs with usage metering and creditsnot 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.

Polar

  • Percentage-based fees higher than some specialized processors for high-volume transactions
  • Merchant of record model may not suit companies preferring direct payment control
  • Free Starter tier limited with 5% fees reducing appeal for production use
  • Setup and integration effort required despite API simplicity

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

Polar

Free
  • StarterFree
    • 5% + $0.50 per transaction
    • Free tier for testing
    • Basic features
  • Pro$20/month
    • 3.8% + $0.40 per transaction
    • Full platform access
    • Cost insights
  • Growth$100/month
    • 3.6% + $0.35 per transaction
    • Priority support
    • Volume benefits
  • Scale$400/month
    • 3.4% + $0.30 per transaction
    • Dedicated support
    • Custom integration

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 Polar if

  • You need usage billing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want subscriptions.
Polar review

Questions people ask

Is Airbase or Polar better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbase starts at $29/month and Polar at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbase or Polar?
Polar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Airbase and Free for Polar.
Does Airbase or Polar run on more platforms?
Airbase runs on Web, Ios, Android. Polar runs on Web, API.
Can I use Polar for free?
Yes. Polar has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Airbase starts at $29/month.
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 Polar is typically brought in for.
What can Airbase do that Polar cannot?
Airbase covers Corporate cards, Virtual cards per vendor, Bill payment, Expense reimbursement. Polar covers Usage Billing, Subscriptions, Seat Management, Prepaid Credits.

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.

Polar: Do you handle international payments and taxes?

Yes, Polar acts as merchant of record in 100+ markets, handling payment processing, tax collection, and compliance automatically.

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.

Polar: Is there a free tier?

Yes, the Starter plan is free and charges 5% + $0.50 per transaction, ideal for testing and early-stage development.

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.

Polar: Do you offer discounts for startups?

Yes, the Startup Program provides the Scale plan free for 12 months for early-stage AI companies.

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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