Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Karbon vs Medius

Karbon logo

Karbon

Accounting

Practice management for accounting firms

From
$59/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Medius logo

Medius

Accounting

Accounts payable automation and supplier payments for mid-market finance teams, Marlin Equity owned

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Karbon monthly billing option only available for teams of 4 or more users; Medius the sourcing, contract and procurement modules are considerably less developed than the AP core, so buying Medius as a full source-to-pay suite means accepting weak upstream tooling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Karbon and Medius actually diverge.

Attributes where Karbon and Medius differ
AttributeKarbonMedius
Starting price$59/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: 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 Karbon

Nothing recorded that Medius does not also cover.

Only in Medius

  • Invoice capture and coding
  • Matching and exception handling
  • Fraud and anomaly detection
  • Supplier payments
  • Approval workflow
  • ERP integration

What people use each for

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

Karbon

  • Automating client document collection for tax practice intakenot Medius
  • Tracking all client requests in workflows tied to jobsnot Medius
  • Aligning hours worked with billable time per engagementnot Medius
  • Automating period close by connecting practice management to accountingnot Medius
  • Streamlining client document submission and approval workflowsnot Medius

Medius

  • A mid-market finance team where most spend arrives as an invoice with no purchase order to match againstnot Karbon
  • A group with several legal entities on different ERPs that wants one AP process across all of themnot Karbon
  • Reducing invoice fraud exposure with automated detection of supplier bank detail changesnot Karbon
  • Replacing a scanning bureau and a shared AP inbox with automated capture and exception-based reviewnot Karbon

Where each one falls short

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

Karbon

  • Monthly billing option only available for teams of 4 or more users
  • Team plan at $59/month per user minimum cost may be expensive for smaller practices
  • No seat license discounts published; scaling costs linearly with user count

Medius

  • The sourcing, contract and procurement modules are considerably less developed than the AP core, so buying Medius as a full source-to-pay suite means accepting weak upstream tooling.
  • Pricing is quote-only and driven by invoice volume, so a business with many low-value invoices pays disproportionately relative to the spend being controlled.
  • Payments are billed on transaction volume separately from the AP subscription, which is easy to omit from a cost comparison against a licence-only AP tool.
  • Private equity ownership since 2017 has produced an acquisition-driven product line, so payments and adjacent capability come from bought-in technology rather than the original platform.
  • ERP integration depth varies sharply by system, and organisations on less common or heavily customised ERPs face integration work that lengthens the implementation.

Pricing, plan by plan

Karbon

$59/month
  • Team$59/month
    • Per-user pricing
    • Designed for small accounting firms
    • Minimum team size of 4 for monthly billing
  • Business$89/month
    • Per-user pricing
    • Workflow automation
    • Integrations for growing practices
  • Enterprise$null/mo
    • Custom pricing
    • Tailored for large accounting firms
    • Dedicated support

Medius

On request
  • Medius AP Automation$undefined/year
    • Two packaged AP automation tiers
    • Priced by invoice volume and entity count
    • Sourcing, contracts and procurement modules sold separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Karbon if

Nothing in the data separates Karbon from Medius on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Karbon review

Choose Medius if

  • You need invoice capture and coding.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want matching and exception handling.
Medius review

Questions people ask

Is Karbon or Medius better?
Neither clearly leads. Karbon starts at $59/month and Medius at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Karbon or Medius?
Karbon starts at $59/month and Medius at On request.
Does Karbon or Medius run on more platforms?
Karbon runs on Web. Medius runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Karbon best used for?
Karbon is most often used for automating client document collection for tax practice intake, tracking all client requests in workflows tied to jobs, aligning hours worked with billable time per engagement, automating period close by connecting practice management to accounting. Of those, automating client document collection for tax practice intake and tracking all client requests in workflows tied to jobs are not what Medius is typically brought in for.
What can Karbon do that Medius cannot?
Medius covers Invoice capture and coding, Matching and exception handling, Fraud and anomaly detection, Supplier payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Karbon: How much does Karbon cost?

Karbon pricing starts at $59 per user per month (Team plan, billed annually) or $79 per user per month (monthly billing for 4+ users). Business plan is $89/month annual or $99/month monthly. Enterprise pricing is custom.

Source
Medius: Is Medius a procurement suite or an AP tool?

Primarily an AP automation platform with procurement modules attached. If sourcing is your main requirement, look elsewhere.

Karbon: Is there a discount for annual billing on Karbon?

Yes, Karbon offers annual billing at a discount compared to monthly. Team plan is $59/month annually versus $79/month monthly. Business plan is $89/month annually versus $99/month monthly.

Source
Medius: Who owns Medius?

Marlin Equity Partners, which acquired it in 2017 and has funded several bolt-on acquisitions since.

Karbon: What is the minimum user requirement for monthly billing on Karbon?

Karbon requires a minimum team size of 4 users to access monthly billing. Teams smaller than 4 must choose annual billing.

Source
Medius: How is it priced?

By quote, driven by invoice volume and entity count, with payments billed separately on transaction volume.

Medius: Does it replace our ERP?

No. It sits alongside the ERP and posts approved invoices into it.

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