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Accounting · head to head

Qonto vs Zoho Expense

Qonto logo

Qonto

Accounting

French neobank and finance management platform for freelancers, SMEs and businesses

From
€9/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zoho Expense logo

Zoho Expense

Accounting

Expense reporting and travel management at three dollars per user per month

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Zoho Expense has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Qonto pricing in EUR only, not USD; Zoho Expense aI receipt scans are metered per user per month rather than unlimited, so heavy claimants exhaust the allowance and either scan manually or push the organisation to a higher tier.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Qonto and Zoho Expense actually diverge.

Attributes where Qonto and Zoho Expense differ
AttributeQontoZoho Expense
Starting price€9/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer user per month
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

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 Qonto

Nothing recorded that Zoho Expense does not also cover.

Only in Zoho Expense

  • Receipt OCR
  • Corporate card reconciliation
  • Per diem and mileage
  • Approval workflows
  • Travel requests and booking
  • Policy engine
  • Multi currency and multi entity
  • Accounting integration

What people use each for

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

Qonto

  • Business bankingnot Zoho Expense
  • Team paymentsnot Zoho Expense
  • Cash flow managementnot Zoho Expense
  • Multi-currency transfersnot Zoho Expense
  • Freelancer paymentsnot Zoho Expense

Zoho Expense

  • A mid market company replacing spreadsheet expense claims without a five figure annual software budgetnot Qonto
  • An existing Zoho One customer extending the suite so expense data lands in Zoho Books without integration worknot Qonto
  • A business with staff travelling across several currencies that needs automatic exchange rate handling on claimsnot Qonto
  • A services firm rebilling project expenses to clients and needing them coded to projects at the point of claimnot Qonto

Where each one falls short

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

Qonto

  • Pricing in EUR only, not USD
  • Basic tier limited to 30 transfers per month
  • Add-ons for invoice automation and project tracking cost EUR 12-39/month extra
  • Business tier minimum commitment for small team accounts
  • Business plan minimum pricing EUR 49/month vs self-employed EUR 9/month

Zoho Expense

  • AI receipt scans are metered per user per month rather than unlimited, so heavy claimants exhaust the allowance and either scan manually or push the organisation to a higher tier.
  • Zoho Expense does not issue cards, so policy enforcement is retrospective and out of policy spend is caught after the money has left rather than declined at the terminal.
  • Additional users who create expenses are billed at the monthly rate rather than the annual rate, which makes a large population of occasional claimants more expensive than the headline three dollars implies.
  • Support quality is the recurring complaint across Zoho products, and at three dollars a seat there is no commercial room for the account management that mid market finance teams expect at renewal or during an audit.
  • Deep configuration such as complex approval matrices and custom fields is workable but fiddly, and there is no meaningful professional services organisation to hand implementation to.

Pricing, plan by plan

Qonto

€9/month
  • Basic (Self-Employed)$9/month
    • 30 transfers
    • 1 physical + 2 virtual cards
    • Account remuneration 5% for 2 months
  • Smart (Self-Employed)$19/month
    • 100 transfers
    • 2 physical + 50 virtual cards
    • Account remuneration
  • Premium (Self-Employed)$39/month
    • 200 transfers
    • 2 physical + 50 virtual + 50 Instant cards
  • Essential (Business)$49/month
    • 250 transfers
    • 5 physical + 50 virtual cards
    • Multiple sub-accounts

Zoho Expense

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 3 users
    • Receipt capture with limited AI scans
    • Basic expense reports
  • Standard$3/month
    • Billed annually, minimum 3 users
    • Corporate card reconciliation
    • Approval workflows
  • Premium$5/month
    • Billed annually
    • Travel requests and self booking
    • Advanced approvals and policy rules

Which should you pick?

Choose Qonto if

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

Qonto review

Choose Zoho Expense if

  • You need receipt ocr.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want corporate card reconciliation.
Zoho Expense review

Questions people ask

Is Qonto or Zoho Expense better?
Neither clearly leads. Qonto starts at €9/month and Zoho Expense at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Qonto or Zoho Expense?
Zoho Expense has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at €9/month for Qonto and Free for Zoho Expense.
Does Qonto or Zoho Expense run on more platforms?
Qonto runs on Web. Zoho Expense runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Zoho Expense for free?
Yes. Zoho Expense has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Qonto starts at €9/month.
What is Qonto best used for?
Qonto is most often used for business banking, team payments, cash flow management, multi-currency transfers. Of those, business banking and team payments are not what Zoho Expense is typically brought in for.
What can Qonto do that Zoho Expense cannot?
Zoho Expense covers Receipt OCR, Corporate card reconciliation, Per diem and mileage, Approval workflows.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Qonto: How much does Qonto cost?

Qonto's self-employed plans range from EUR 9/month (Basic) to EUR 39/month (Premium). Business plans range from EUR 49/month (Essential) to EUR 199/month (Enterprise).

Source
Zoho Expense: Is the free plan usable in production?

Only for three users. Beyond that you move to Standard, which has a three user minimum anyway.

Qonto: What is included in Qonto's Basic plan?

The Basic plan costs EUR 9/month and includes 30 monthly transfers, 1 physical card and 2 virtual cards, plus account remuneration at 5% for the first 2 months.

Source
Zoho Expense: Does Zoho Expense issue corporate cards?

No. It reconciles card feeds but does not issue cards, so you need a card programme elsewhere if you want spend blocked before it happens.

Qonto: What is the difference between self-employed and business plans?

Self-employed plans (Basic to Premium) are for individuals and cost EUR 9-39/month. Business plans (Essential to Enterprise) offer more transfers and cards for teams, ranging from EUR 49-199/month.

Source
Zoho Expense: What is the real cost for a hundred users?

Around three thousand six hundred dollars a year on Standard annual billing, plus higher monthly rates for any additional occasional claimants beyond your licensed count.

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