Accounting & Finance · head to head
BlackLine vs Avalara
The short version
- Each has a real cost: BlackLine listed on UK G-Cloud 13 at £1,150 to £2,160 per user per year for the public sector, with no free trial offered, per BlackLine's Finance Operations Management Solution pricing document; Avalara plans start at $699 per state per year, so multi-state sellers multiply that figure rather than paying one subscription
- They diverge on capability: BlackLine covers Account reconciliation, Avalara covers Tax calculation.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which BlackLine and Avalara actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting & Finance).
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 BlackLine
- Account reconciliation
- Journal entries
- Task management
- Variance analysis
- Financial close
- SAP
- Oracle
- SOC 1/2
Only in Avalara
- Tax calculation
- Returns filing
- Exemption management
- Document management
- Real-time rates
- QuickBooks
- Shopify
- Magento
Both cover
- NetSuite
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
BlackLine
- Financial closenot Avalara
- Reconciliationnot Avalara
- Continuous accountingnot Avalara
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
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
BlackLine
- Listed on UK G-Cloud 13 at £1,150 to £2,160 per user per year for the public sector, with no free trial offered, per BlackLine's Finance Operations Management Solution pricing document
Avalara
- Plans start at $699 per state per year, so multi-state sellers multiply that figure rather than paying one subscription
- Billed by transaction, where one API call is one transaction, so cost tracks invoice volume
- The free option is limited to the Streamlined Sales Tax programme, in up to 25 states and only for qualifying businesses
Pricing, plan by plan
BlackLine
$29/month- EnterpriseFree
- Custom pricing
- Account reconciliation
- Task management
Avalara
$29/month- AvaTax$50/month
- Tax calculation
- Exemption certificates
- Returns filing
Which should you pick?
Choose Avalara if
- You need tax calculation.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want returns filing.
Questions people ask
- Is BlackLine or Avalara better?
- Neither clearly leads. BlackLine starts at $29/month and Avalara at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, BlackLine or Avalara?
- BlackLine starts at $29/month and Avalara at $29/month.
- Does BlackLine or Avalara run on more platforms?
- BlackLine runs on Web. Avalara runs on Web, Api.
- What is BlackLine best used for?
- BlackLine is most often used for financial close, reconciliation, continuous accounting. Of those, financial close and reconciliation are not what Avalara is typically brought in for.
- What can BlackLine do that Avalara cannot?
- BlackLine covers Account reconciliation, Journal entries, Task management, Variance analysis. Avalara covers Tax calculation, Returns filing, Exemption management, Document management. Both handle NetSuite, Web support.