Accounting · head to head
Medius Expense vs Spendbase
Medius Expense
Accounting
Expense management, formerly Expensya, now the expense module of the Medius spend platform
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Spendbase
Accounting
SaaS and cloud spend management that charges a share of the savings it finds rather than a licence
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Spendbase has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: 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.; Spendbase charging a share of savings gives the vendor an interest in defining savings generously, and the customer cannot verify a counterfactual price it never saw.
- They diverge on capability: Medius Expense covers Receipt OCR, Spendbase covers Subscription visibility.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Medius Expense and Spendbase actually diverge.
| Attribute | Medius Expense | Spendbase |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | On request | Free |
| Pricing model | quote | Free card tier, plus a share of savings on the managed plan |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web |
Identical on both: 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 Medius Expense
- Receipt OCR
- Mileage and per diem
- VAT recovery
- Card reconciliation
- Approval workflows
- AP suite integration
Only in Spendbase
- Subscription visibility
- Discount marketplace
- Virtual cards
- Cashback
- Renewal management
- Savings-share billing
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Medius Expense
- A French or Spanish employer needing VAT-compliant receipt capture in local formats and languagesnot Spendbase
- A company already running Medius for supplier invoices that wants employee spend on the same platformnot Spendbase
- A finance team with heavy mileage claims needing statutory rates applied without spreadsheetsnot Spendbase
- A group consolidating several country expense tools into one European platformnot Spendbase
Spendbase
- A startup with no procurement function that wants renewal dates and subscription owners in one placenot Medius Expense
- A company with heavy Azure or cloud spend that can use pre-negotiated credit allocationsnot Medius Expense
- Issuing virtual cards per subscription so a forgotten trial cannot renew silentlynot Medius Expense
- A finance lead who wants software cost reduction without hiring anyone to do itnot Medius Expense
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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.
Spendbase
- Charging a share of savings gives the vendor an interest in defining savings generously, and the customer cannot verify a counterfactual price it never saw.
- The savings share is reported at around 25 percent but is not published on the pricing page, so the actual commercial terms only appear in a contract.
- Spendbase is both a banking provider and your software negotiator, so a company using both concentrates operating cash and vendor relationships in one small, young company.
- Banking is delivered through partners rather than held directly, meaning deposit protection and service continuity depend on those partners rather than on Spendbase.
- It is scoped for startups and small companies, so organisations needing approval workflows, purchase orders or ERP integration will find it thin against a real procurement platform.
Pricing, plan by plan
Medius Expense
On request- Medius Expense$undefined/year
- Per-user subscription, quoted not published
- Tiering by feature set and entity count
- Implementation and OCR configuration fees
Spendbase
Free- Digital bankingFree
- No monthly fee per user
- Up to 100 virtual cards
- EUR and GBP account details
- Spend management$undefined/year
- Everything in the free tier
- Reported share of roughly 25 percent of savings achieved
- 200 percent return guarantee against a deposit
Which should you pick?
Choose Medius Expense if
- You need receipt ocr.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want mileage and per diem.
Choose Spendbase if
- You need subscription visibility.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want discount marketplace.
Questions people ask
- Is Medius Expense or Spendbase better?
- Neither clearly leads. Medius Expense starts at On request and Spendbase at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Medius Expense or Spendbase?
- Spendbase has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Medius Expense and Free for Spendbase.
- Does Medius Expense or Spendbase run on more platforms?
- Medius Expense runs on Web, iOS, Android. Spendbase runs on Web.
- Can I use Spendbase for free?
- Yes. Spendbase has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Medius Expense starts at On request.
- What is Medius Expense best used for?
- Medius Expense is most often used for a french or spanish employer needing vat-compliant receipt capture in local formats and languages, a company already running medius for supplier invoices that wants employee spend on the same platform, a finance team with heavy mileage claims needing statutory rates applied without spreadsheets, a group consolidating several country expense tools into one european platform. Of those, a french or spanish employer needing vat-compliant receipt capture in local formats and languages and a company already running medius for supplier invoices that wants employee spend on the same platform are not what Spendbase is typically brought in for.
- What can Medius Expense do that Spendbase cannot?
- Medius Expense covers Receipt OCR, Mileage and per diem, VAT recovery, Card reconciliation. Spendbase covers Subscription visibility, Discount marketplace, Virtual cards, Cashback.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
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.
Spendbase: Is Spendbase free?
The card and banking tier is genuinely free with no per-user fee. The spend management service is paid from a share of the savings it finds, reported at around 25 percent.
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.
Spendbase: How is a saving calculated?
The methodology is not published. Agree the baseline, the measurement period and what counts as a saving in writing before signing.
Medius Expense: Does it issue corporate cards?
No. It reconciles existing card feeds rather than issuing its own cards.
Spendbase: Does Spendbase hold my money?
Banking is provided through regulated partners including Moorwand in the UK and EEA and Sutton Bank in the US, with Mastercard issuing the cards.
Spendbase: Is it suitable for an enterprise?
No. There are no purchase orders, approval hierarchies or ERP integration; it is built for startups.
Related pages
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