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Airbase vs PostgreSQL

Airbase logo

Airbase

Software

The first all-in-one spend management platform

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PostgreSQL logo

PostgreSQL

Software

The world's most advanced open source relational database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only PostgreSQL has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Airbase airbase was acquired by Paylocity; its pricing page now redirects to paylocity.com/pricing and the product is marketed as 'Airbase, a Paylocity Company' within Paylocity's HCM platform rather than as a standalone product.; PostgreSQL requires manual scaling across multiple machines for very large deployments
  • They diverge on capability: Airbase covers Corporate cards, PostgreSQL covers ACID Compliance.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbase and PostgreSQL actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbase and PostgreSQL differ
AttributeAirbasePostgreSQL
Starting price$29/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidLinux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Unix
Founded20171996

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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
  • Bill payments
  • Expense management
  • Procurement
  • Approvals
  • NetSuite
  • Sage Intacct
  • QuickBooks

Only in PostgreSQL

  • ACID Compliance
  • JSON/JSONB Support
  • Full-text Search
  • Extensibility
  • Advanced Indexing
  • Partitioning
  • Replication
  • pgAdmin

What people use each for

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

Airbase

  • Spend managementnot PostgreSQL
  • Expense reportingnot PostgreSQL
  • Vendor paymentsnot PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL

  • Transaction processingnot Airbase
  • Data storagenot Airbase
  • Application backendnot Airbase
  • Reportingnot Airbase
  • Data analyticsnot Airbase

Where each one falls short

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

Airbase

  • Airbase was acquired by Paylocity; its pricing page now redirects to paylocity.com/pricing and the product is marketed as 'Airbase, a Paylocity Company' within Paylocity's HCM platform rather than as a standalone product.

PostgreSQL

  • Requires manual scaling across multiple machines for very large deployments
  • Performance tuning requires deep knowledge of database internals
  • No built-in graphical admin interface; command-line tools are primary method

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

PostgreSQL

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the PostgreSQL review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbase if

  • You need corporate cards.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want bill payments.
Airbase review

Choose PostgreSQL if

  • You need acid compliance.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Unix.
  • You also want json/jsonb support.
PostgreSQL review

Questions people ask

Is Airbase or PostgreSQL better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbase starts at $29/month and PostgreSQL at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbase or PostgreSQL?
PostgreSQL has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Airbase and Free for PostgreSQL.
Does Airbase or PostgreSQL run on more platforms?
Airbase runs on Web, Ios, Android. PostgreSQL runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Unix.
Can I use PostgreSQL for free?
Yes. PostgreSQL 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 spend management, expense reporting, vendor payments. Of those, spend management and expense reporting are not what PostgreSQL is typically brought in for.
What can Airbase do that PostgreSQL cannot?
Airbase covers Corporate cards, Bill payments, Expense management, Procurement. PostgreSQL covers ACID Compliance, JSON/JSONB Support, Full-text Search, Extensibility.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

PostgreSQL: Is PostgreSQL completely free?

Yes. PostgreSQL is completely free and open source with no licensing fees or restrictions on use.

Source
PostgreSQL: What platforms does PostgreSQL run on?

PostgreSQL runs on all major operating systems including Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, and commercial Unix variants, and has been proven highly scalable managing terabytes to petabytes of data.

Source
PostgreSQL: What procedural languages are supported?

PostgreSQL supports stored functions and procedures in multiple languages including PL/pgSQL, Perl, Python, Tcl, Java, JavaScript, R, and Rust.

Source
PostgreSQL: What is ACID compliance in PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL has been ACID-compliant since 2001, ensuring data integrity through atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability guarantees for all transactions.

Source
PostgreSQL: Does PostgreSQL support JSON data?

Yes. PostgreSQL supports JSON and JSONB data types for storing and querying JSON documents, along with XML and other document formats.

Source
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