Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Airbase vs Stripe

Airbase logo

Airbase

Accounting

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

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Stripe logo

Stripe

E-Commerce

Financial infrastructure for the internet

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Stripe 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.; Stripe requires developer setup and API integration for most use cases
  • They diverge on capability: Airbase covers Corporate cards, Stripe covers Payment processing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbase and Stripe actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbase and Stripe differ
AttributeAirbaseStripe
Starting price$29/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
CategoryAccountingE-Commerce
Founded20172010

Identical on both: 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

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

Only in Stripe

  • Payment processing
  • Subscription billing
  • Invoicing
  • Terminal (in-person payments)
  • Fraud prevention
  • 3D Secure
  • Global payouts
  • Financial reporting

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

Stripe

  • Online paymentsnot Airbase
  • Subscription managementnot Airbase
  • Marketplace paymentsnot Airbase
  • Global expansionnot Airbase
  • Platform monetizationnot 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.

Stripe

  • Requires developer setup and API integration for most use cases
  • Dispute fee of $15 per chargeback is standard industry cost
  • Limited offline payment capabilities

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

Stripe

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Stripe review.

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 Stripe if

  • You need payment processing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want subscription billing.
Stripe review

Questions people ask

Is Airbase or Stripe better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbase starts at $29/month and Stripe at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbase or Stripe?
Stripe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Airbase and Free for Stripe.
Does Airbase or Stripe run on more platforms?
Airbase runs on Web, Ios, Android. Stripe runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Stripe for free?
Yes. Stripe 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 Stripe is typically brought in for.
What can Airbase do that Stripe cannot?
Airbase covers Corporate cards, Virtual cards per vendor, Bill payment, Expense reimbursement. Stripe covers Payment processing, Subscription billing, Invoicing, Terminal (in-person payments).

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.

Stripe: What are Stripe's transaction fees?

Standard US rates are 2.9% plus 30 cents for online card payments, 2.7% plus 5 cents for in-person, 3.4% plus 30 cents for keyed/phone transactions, and 0.8% capped at $5 for ACH payments.

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.

Stripe: How many currencies and countries does it support?

Stripe accepts 135+ currencies and supports payment acceptance in 40+ countries through Stripe Connect, enabling sellers to onboard and receive payouts in minutes.

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.

Stripe: What payment methods are supported?

Stripe supports dozens of payment methods including credit/debit cards, ACH transfers, and local payment options, with additional support through partnerships with Meta and Google.

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.

Stripe: Are there monthly fees or contracts?

No. Stripe charges no monthly fees or contracts, only per-transaction fees and dispute fees, making costs fully transparent and variable.

Source
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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