Softwr

Accounting & Finance · head to head

BlackLine vs Brex

BlackLine logo

BlackLine

Accounting & Finance

Finance & accounting automation

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Brex logo

Brex

Accounting & Finance

The financial stack for growing businesses

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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; Brex the free Essentials tier is limited to two legal entities
  • They diverge on capability: BlackLine covers Account reconciliation, Brex covers Corporate cards.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BlackLine and Brex actually diverge.

Attributes where BlackLine and Brex differ
AttributeBlackLineBrex
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
PlatformsWebWeb, Ios, Android
Founded20012017

Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), 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 Brex

  • Corporate cards
  • Business accounts
  • Expense management
  • Bill pay
  • Travel
  • QuickBooks
  • Xero
  • SOC 2

Both cover

  • NetSuite
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

BlackLine

  • Financial closenot Brex
  • Reconciliationnot Brex
  • Continuous accountingnot Brex

Brex

  • Corporate cards with spend controls for startupsnot BlackLine
  • Expense management and reimbursementsnot BlackLine
  • Travel booking inside the spend platformnot BlackLine
  • Bill pay and accounting system syncnot BlackLine
  • Multi-entity spend management on the paid tiersnot 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

Brex

  • The free Essentials tier is limited to two legal entities
  • Premium is $12 per user per month, so cost scales with headcount using the card
  • Enterprise and Smart Card pricing is not published
  • Eligibility criteria are not stated anywhere on the pricing page, which matters for a product that extends credit

Pricing, plan by plan

BlackLine

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

Brex

$29/month
  • EssentialsFree
    • Corporate cards
    • Expense management
    • Bill pay
  • Premium$12/month
    • Advanced controls
    • Custom approvals
    • Travel booking

Which should you pick?

Choose BlackLine if

  • You need account reconciliation.
  • You also want journal entries.
BlackLine review

Choose Brex if

  • You need corporate cards.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want business accounts.
Brex review

Questions people ask

Is BlackLine or Brex better?
Neither clearly leads. BlackLine starts at $29/month and Brex at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BlackLine or Brex?
BlackLine starts at $29/month and Brex at $29/month.
Does BlackLine or Brex run on more platforms?
BlackLine runs on Web. Brex runs on Web, Ios, Android.
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 Brex is typically brought in for.
What can BlackLine do that Brex cannot?
BlackLine covers Account reconciliation, Journal entries, Task management, Variance analysis. Brex covers Corporate cards, Business accounts, Expense management, Bill pay. Both handle NetSuite, Web support.
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