Payroll · head to head
Extend vs Medius Expense
Extend
Payroll
Virtual card issuing and spend controls layered onto existing business credit cards
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Medius Expense
Accounting
Expense management, formerly Expensya, now the expense module of the Medius spend platform
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Extend has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Extend it depends on an existing business credit card relationship, so a company without a qualifying Amex, Visa or Mastercard business card cannot use it as a standalone card issuer.; Medius Expense the Expensya name is being retired, so contracts, logins and support articles change identity mid-relationship and internal documentation has to be rewritten.
- They diverge on capability: Extend covers Virtual card issuing, Medius Expense covers Receipt OCR.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Extend and Medius Expense actually diverge.
| Attribute | Extend | Medius Expense |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | On request |
| Pricing model | Per user per month, free starter tier | quote |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Category | Payroll | Accounting |
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 Extend
- Virtual card issuing
- Per-card spend controls
- Receipt auto-matching
- ERP integrations
- API access
Only in Medius Expense
- Receipt OCR
- Mileage and per diem
- VAT recovery
- Card reconciliation
- AP suite integration
Both cover
- Approval workflows
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Extend
- A small business wanting free vendor-level virtual card controls without opening a new card programmenot Medius Expense
- A company with an existing Amex or bank business card wanting tighter per-vendor spend limitsnot Medius Expense
- A finance team wanting predictable per-user pricing rather than a private quote for spend managementnot Medius Expense
- A larger business wanting API-driven automated card issuance tied to its existing card relationshipnot Medius Expense
Medius Expense
- A French or Spanish employer needing VAT-compliant receipt capture in local formats and languagesnot Extend
- A company already running Medius for supplier invoices that wants employee spend on the same platformnot Extend
- A finance team with heavy mileage claims needing statutory rates applied without spreadsheetsnot Extend
- A group consolidating several country expense tools into one European platformnot Extend
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Extend
- It depends on an existing business credit card relationship, so a company without a qualifying Amex, Visa or Mastercard business card cannot use it as a standalone card issuer.
- The free Starter plan is capped at five users and 100 cards a month, which small but growing teams will outgrow quickly and need to upgrade past.
- The Pro plan enforces a ten-user minimum, so a company with only two or three people who need virtual cards pays for unused seats.
- Rewards, credit terms and dispute resolution still run through the underlying card issuer, so Extend cannot improve or change those terms; it only adds a control layer on top.
- Deeper ERP integrations such as NetSuite and Dynamics 365 are reserved for the custom-quoted Enterprise tier, so companies needing them lose the pricing transparency of the published Starter and Pro plans.
Medius Expense
- The Expensya name is being retired, so contracts, logins and support articles change identity mid-relationship and internal documentation has to be rewritten.
- It is now a module inside an accounts payable suite, so expense-specific roadmap items compete with supplier invoice work for engineering time.
- Pricing is not published and is discounted against bundling with Medius AP, which makes standalone expense quotes less competitive than they look.
- Strength is concentrated in Europe and the Maghreb; North American and Asian tax and mileage handling are thinner than the European coverage.
- It does not issue cards, so real-time spend controls are absent and it relies on card feed reconciliation after the fact.
Pricing, plan by plan
Extend
Free- StarterFree
- Up to 5 users and 10 guests
- Up to 100 virtual cards per month
- One expense category
- Pro$11.99/month
- 10 user minimum
- Up to 500 virtual cards per month
- Custom approval workflows and QuickBooks Online integration
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- Unlimited users and virtual cards
- API access for automated card issuance
- NetSuite and Dynamics 365 integration, dedicated account manager
Medius Expense
On request- Medius Expense$undefined/year
- Per-user subscription, quoted not published
- Tiering by feature set and entity count
- Implementation and OCR configuration fees
Which should you pick?
Choose Extend if
- You need virtual card issuing.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want per-card spend controls.
Choose Medius Expense if
- You need receipt ocr.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want mileage and per diem.
Questions people ask
- Is Extend or Medius Expense better?
- Neither clearly leads. Extend starts at Free and Medius Expense at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Extend or Medius Expense?
- Extend has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Extend and On request for Medius Expense.
- Does Extend or Medius Expense run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Extend for free?
- Yes. Extend has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Medius Expense starts at On request.
- What is Extend best used for?
- Extend is most often used for a small business wanting free vendor-level virtual card controls without opening a new card programme, a company with an existing amex or bank business card wanting tighter per-vendor spend limits, a finance team wanting predictable per-user pricing rather than a private quote for spend management, a larger business wanting api-driven automated card issuance tied to its existing card relationship. Of those, a small business wanting free vendor-level virtual card controls without opening a new card programme and a company with an existing amex or bank business card wanting tighter per-vendor spend limits are not what Medius Expense is typically brought in for.
- What can Extend do that Medius Expense cannot?
- Extend covers Virtual card issuing, Per-card spend controls, Receipt auto-matching, ERP integrations. Medius Expense covers Receipt OCR, Mileage and per diem, VAT recovery, Card reconciliation. Both handle Approval workflows.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Extend: Does Extend replace our business credit card?
No, it issues virtual cards against an existing American Express, Visa or Mastercard business credit line rather than opening a new card programme.
Medius Expense: Is Expensya still available?
Under that name, no. The product continues as Medius Expense, with the branding cutover on 30 September 2026 and no change to features or data.
Extend: Is there really a free plan?
Yes, the Starter plan is free for up to five users, ten guests and 100 virtual cards a month.
Medius Expense: Do I have to buy Medius AP as well?
No, but the commercial terms improve materially if you do, which is worth testing during negotiation.
Extend: What does Pro cost?
11.99 dollars per user per month billed annually, or 12 dollars monthly, with a ten-user minimum.
Medius Expense: Does it issue corporate cards?
No. It reconciles existing card feeds rather than issuing its own cards.
Related pages
More on Medius Expense
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