Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Avalara vs BlackLine

Avalara logo

Avalara

Accounting

Tax compliance done right

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
BlackLine logo

BlackLine

Accounting

Close automation that sits on top of your ERP, covering reconciliations, journals and close task control

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Avalara pricing varies significantly based on products, integrations, transaction volume, and jurisdictions; BlackLine it sits on top of the ERP rather than replacing anything, so it is an additional annual platform cost against a general ledger you are already paying for, and the return has to come from reduced close effort and audit findings rather than from retiring another system.
  • They diverge on capability: Avalara covers Tax calculation, BlackLine covers Account reconciliation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Avalara and BlackLine actually diverge.

Attributes where Avalara and BlackLine differ
AttributeAvalaraBlackLine
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb
Founded20042001

Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), 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 Avalara

  • Tax calculation
  • Returns filing
  • Exemption management
  • Document management
  • Real-time rates
  • QuickBooks
  • NetSuite
  • Shopify

Only in BlackLine

  • Account reconciliation
  • Risk based certification
  • Journal entry management
  • Close task management
  • Transaction matching
  • Intercompany
  • Variance analysis
  • Evidence attachment

What people use each for

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

Avalara

  • Real-time sales tax calculation at checkoutnot BlackLine
  • Multi-state and multi-jurisdiction tax determinationnot BlackLine
  • VAT, lodging, communications and excise tax calculationnot BlackLine
  • Feeding tax results into an ERP or ecommerce platform through the APInot BlackLine

BlackLine

  • A listed company whose external auditors have raised findings about reconciliation evidence and reviewer sign offnot Avalara
  • A group with dozens of entities where the close depends on someone chasing spreadsheets by email every monthnot Avalara
  • A finance team matching very high volumes of bank or payment processor transactions that no longer fit in a workbooknot Avalara
  • An organisation trying to shorten a close that runs past working day ten and cannot see where the time goesnot Avalara

Where each one falls short

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

Avalara

  • Pricing varies significantly based on products, integrations, transaction volume, and jurisdictions
  • No free tier or trial period published
  • Enterprise sales model requires contacting sales specialists for customized quotes

BlackLine

  • It sits on top of the ERP rather than replacing anything, so it is an additional annual platform cost against a general ledger you are already paying for, and the return has to come from reduced close effort and audit findings rather than from retiring another system.
  • The capability is split across separately licensed modules, so a reconciliation deployment that later needs journal entry, transaction matching and intercompany turns into three more commercial conversations rather than a configuration change.
  • Implementation runs for months and is normally partner led, because the value depends on how the account inventory, risk ratings, matching rules and ERP data feeds are configured, and a rushed configuration produces a system that certifies bad reconciliations on schedule.
  • The ERP data feeds have to be built and then maintained, so a chart of accounts change, an entity addition or an ERP upgrade turns into remediation work in BlackLine as well, and a broken feed stops the close rather than degrading it.
  • Licensing has a per user element and the close involves preparers, reviewers, controllers and auditors, so a finance function with many occasional reviewers pays for seats belonging to people who touch the system for a few days each month.

Pricing, plan by plan

Avalara

$29/month
  • AvaTax$50/month
    • Tax calculation
    • Exemption certificates
    • Returns filing

BlackLine

$29/month
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Custom pricing
    • Account reconciliation
    • Task management

Which should you pick?

Choose Avalara if

  • You need tax calculation.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want returns filing.
Avalara review

Choose BlackLine if

  • You need account reconciliation.
  • You also want risk based certification.
BlackLine review

Questions people ask

Is Avalara or BlackLine better?
Neither clearly leads. Avalara starts at $29/month and BlackLine at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Avalara or BlackLine?
Avalara starts at $29/month and BlackLine at $29/month.
Does Avalara or BlackLine run on more platforms?
Avalara runs on Web, Api. BlackLine runs on Web.
What is Avalara best used for?
Avalara is most often used for real-time sales tax calculation at checkout, multi-state and multi-jurisdiction tax determination, vat, lodging, communications and excise tax calculation, feeding tax results into an erp or ecommerce platform through the api. Of those, real-time sales tax calculation at checkout and multi-state and multi-jurisdiction tax determination are not what BlackLine is typically brought in for.
What can Avalara do that BlackLine cannot?
Avalara covers Tax calculation, Returns filing, Exemption management, Document management. BlackLine covers Account reconciliation, Risk based certification, Journal entry management, Close task management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Avalara: What are the starting prices for Avalara services?

Avalara Tax Calculation and Returns Compliance Package starts at $699. License Guidance is available for as low as $119. Sales Tax Registration costs $403 per location.

Source
BlackLine: Does BlackLine replace our ERP or general ledger?

No. It reads from the ledger and writes approved journals back. You keep the ERP and pay for BlackLine on top of it.

Avalara: How does Avalara's pricing scale?

Avalara uses volume-based pricing that varies based on the number of integrated business applications, volume of monthly sales transactions, number of states or jurisdictions for tax collection, and Streamlined Sales Tax enrollment. Pricing scales with business growth and transaction volume.

Source
BlackLine: At what size does it make sense?

The case is usually driven by control requirements and entity count rather than revenue. Companies under a control regime like Sarbanes Oxley, or groups with many entities and a long close, get the return. A single entity business with a short close will not.

BlackLine: How long does implementation take?

Months rather than weeks for the first module, longer for multi entity rollouts across several modules. The elapsed time is dominated by agreeing the account inventory and building the data feeds, not by installing software.

BlackLine: Will it shorten our close on its own?

No. It makes the close visible and controlled, which is what exposes where the time goes. Shortening it still requires changing the underlying processes, and companies that skip that step get better documentation of the same slow close.

BlackLine: Can our auditors use it directly?

Yes, giving auditors read access to sample reconciliations and approvals is a common deployment pattern and one of the clearer sources of saved effort during the audit.

BlackLine: What happens if our chart of accounts changes?

The account inventory, risk ratings and feed mappings need updating to match. Treat any significant ERP or chart of accounts change as a BlackLine work package in the same project plan.

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