Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Basware vs Medius

Basware logo

Basware

Accounting

Invoice automation and e-invoicing compliance across a large number of national mandates

From
On request
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: Basware the e-invoicing compliance breadth that justifies the price is worthless to a company operating in a single country, where cheaper AP automation tools will do the same work.; 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.
  • They diverge on capability: Basware covers Invoice capture, Medius covers Invoice capture and coding.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Basware and Medius actually diverge.

Attributes where Basware and Medius differ
AttributeBaswareMedius

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Basware

  • Invoice capture
  • Matching
  • E-invoicing compliance
  • Supplier network
  • Payment execution
  • Spend analytics

Only in Medius

  • Invoice capture and coding
  • Matching and exception handling
  • Fraud and anomaly detection
  • Supplier payments

Both cover

  • Approval workflow
  • ERP integration

What people use each for

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

Basware

  • A multinational needing compliant electronic invoicing across Italy, Poland, France and Mexico without building each mandate itselfnot Medius
  • A shared service centre processing hundreds of thousands of invoices a year that needs touchless processing rates measured and improvednot Medius
  • A group standardising accounts payable across subsidiaries running different ERP systemsnot Medius
  • A finance function trying to capture early payment discounts that are currently lost to slow approval cyclesnot Medius

Medius

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

Where each one falls short

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

Basware

  • The e-invoicing compliance breadth that justifies the price is worthless to a company operating in a single country, where cheaper AP automation tools will do the same work.
  • Implementation is a substantial integration project involving ERP connectors, supplier onboarding and country-by-country compliance configuration, and it is priced and timed accordingly.
  • The user interface is dated next to newer accounts payable products, and approvers outside finance find it unintuitive, which slows the very cycle times the system is bought to improve.
  • Supplier onboarding onto the network is the hidden effort: the touchless processing rate depends on how many suppliers actually send electronic invoices, and that is a change management programme, not a software setting.
  • Growth by acquisition, including Glantus, has left overlapping analytics capability and integration work still in progress, so buyers should check which components share a data model today.

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

Basware

On request
  • Basware$undefined/year
    • Invoice automation, matching and approval
    • E-invoicing compliance across national mandates
    • Supplier network connectivity

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 Basware if

  • You need invoice capture.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want matching.
Basware 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 Basware or Medius better?
Neither clearly leads. Basware starts at On request and Medius at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Basware or Medius?
Basware starts at On request and Medius at On request.
Does Basware or Medius run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Basware best used for?
Basware is most often used for a multinational needing compliant electronic invoicing across italy, poland, france and mexico without building each mandate itself, a shared service centre processing hundreds of thousands of invoices a year that needs touchless processing rates measured and improved, a group standardising accounts payable across subsidiaries running different erp systems, a finance function trying to capture early payment discounts that are currently lost to slow approval cycles. Of those, a multinational needing compliant electronic invoicing across italy, poland, france and mexico without building each mandate itself and a shared service centre processing hundreds of thousands of invoices a year that needs touchless processing rates measured and improved are not what Medius is typically brought in for.
What can Basware do that Medius cannot?
Basware covers Invoice capture, Matching, E-invoicing compliance, Supplier network. Medius covers Invoice capture and coding, Matching and exception handling, Fraud and anomaly detection, Supplier payments. Both handle Approval workflow, ERP integration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Basware: Should we buy Basware if we only operate in one country?

Probably not. Its main advantage is multi-country e-invoicing compliance. In a single jurisdiction, cheaper AP automation gives you the same result.

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.

Basware: Does it handle mandatory e-invoicing regimes?

Yes, and that is the core reason to choose it. It covers a wide set of national mandates as a service rather than an integration project you run yourself.

Medius: Who owns Medius?

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

Basware: What drives the price?

Invoice volume, number of countries and modules. It is quoted, and implementation with ERP connectors and supplier onboarding is separate.

Medius: How is it priced?

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

Basware: What determines the return?

The share of invoices arriving electronically. Touchless rates depend on supplier adoption, so budget for a supplier onboarding programme, not just the software.

Medius: Does it replace our ERP?

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

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