Software · head to head
Spendesk vs Airbase
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Spendesk no publicly available pricing, requires custom quote; Airbase airbase was acquired by Paylocity; its pricing page now redirects to paylocity.com/pricing and the product is marketed as 'Airbase, a Paylocity Company' within Paylocity's HCM platform rather than as a standalone product.
- They diverge on capability: Spendesk covers Company cards, Airbase covers Corporate cards.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Spendesk and Airbase actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 Spendesk
- Company cards
- Invoice payments
- Budget management
- Spend analytics
- Sage
- SOC 2
Only in Airbase
- Corporate cards
- Bill payments
- Procurement
- Approvals
- Sage Intacct
- QuickBooks
- Slack
- SOC 2 Type II
Both cover
- Expense management
- Xero
- NetSuite
- PCI DSS
- Web support
- Ios support
- Android support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Spendesk
- Expense managementnot Airbase
- Spend controlnot Airbase
- Finance automationnot Airbase
Airbase
- Spend managementnot Spendesk
- Expense reportingnot Spendesk
- Vendor paymentsnot Spendesk
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Spendesk
- No publicly available pricing, requires custom quote
- Strong European presence but limited in some non-EU markets
- High implementation costs due to extensive integration requirements
Airbase
- Airbase was acquired by Paylocity; its pricing page now redirects to paylocity.com/pricing and the product is marketed as 'Airbase, a Paylocity Company' within Paylocity's HCM platform rather than as a standalone product.
Pricing, plan by plan
Spendesk
$29/month- EssentialsFree
- Virtual cards
- Expense tracking
- Approvals
Airbase
$29/month- StandardFree
- Corporate cards
- Expense reports
- Bill pay
- Premium$10/month
- Advanced approvals
- NetSuite sync
- Procurement
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- Custom workflows
- API access
- Dedicated support
Which should you pick?
Choose Spendesk if
- You need company cards.
- You work on Web, Mobile iOS, Mobile Android.
- You also want invoice payments.
Choose Airbase if
- You need corporate cards.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want bill payments.
Questions people ask
- Is Spendesk or Airbase better?
- Neither clearly leads. Spendesk starts at $29/month and Airbase at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Spendesk or Airbase?
- Spendesk starts at $29/month and Airbase at $29/month.
- Does Spendesk or Airbase run on more platforms?
- Spendesk runs on Web, Mobile iOS, Mobile Android. Airbase runs on Web, Ios, Android.
- What is Spendesk best used for?
- Spendesk is most often used for expense management, spend control, finance automation. Of those, expense management and spend control are not what Airbase is typically brought in for.
- What can Spendesk do that Airbase cannot?
- Spendesk covers Company cards, Invoice payments, Budget management, Spend analytics. Airbase covers Corporate cards, Bill payments, Procurement, Approvals. Both handle Expense management, Xero, NetSuite, PCI DSS.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Spendesk: What is included in Spendesk's platform?
Spendesk combines corporate cards, a mobile receipts app, approval workflows, automated reconciliation, accounts payable, procurement, and spend controls into one platform.
SourceSpendesk: How does Spendesk handle expense receipts?
Spendesk captures receipts via mobile photo upload with OCR technology, automatically matching receipts to transactions and generating automated expense reports with 98% of expense receipts collected on time.
SourceSpendesk: What integrations does Spendesk offer?
Spendesk integrates with accounting software including Sage, Xero, NetSuite, and SAP, plus HR systems and tools like Slack for comprehensive spend management.
SourceSpendesk: Is Spendesk profitable?
Yes. Spendesk became the first spend management platform to reach profitability in 2025, processing over £10 billion in spend across 35+ countries.
SourceSpendesk: What is Spendesk's valuation?
Spendesk is a unicorn company with a valuation of $1.5 billion, with 2025 revenue of $52 million ARR.
SourceSpendesk: How much time can Spendesk save on bookkeeping?
Organizations using Spendesk save an average of 4 days per month on bookkeeping, equivalent to over 380 hours per year returned to the business.
Source