QuickBooks vs Expensify: vendor prices, September 2026

Under a USD comparison assumption for both vendors’ dollar prices, Expensify has the lower paid starting price for one member: US$5 per month for Collect against US$38 per month for QuickBooks Online Simple Start before its introductory discount.^1,2 Both offer free entry points.^1,2 If your existing QuickBooks plan handles your expenses, keeping it avoids an extra Expensify subscription.^1,2 Published prices were checked 28 September 2026.

TL;DR

• Budget QuickBooks at its full plan price. Its advertised discount lasts for the first three months.²
• Expensify Collect lists employee-expense approvals and reimbursements. Control adds multiple approval flows and custom expense rules at a custom price.¹
• QuickBooks combines expense organisation with bookkeeping and financial reports. Choose the plan for the accounting work and user access you need.²
• Using both requires a paid QuickBooks plan for the integration. Keep both subscription costs in the budget.^1,2

For other comparisons, browse our spend-management research.

How do the published prices compare?

Expensify prices its paid expense plans per member, while QuickBooks Online publishes a monthly plan price with an included user limit.^1,2 The smaller advertised number alone cannot establish which costs less for your team.

The vendor prices were checked 28 September 2026.^1,2 Expensify lists a USD option without a captured selection state; QuickBooks’ US-facing page prints ”$” without an explicit currency code. We interpret both as USD for this comparison, not vendor-confirmed denominations. No currency conversion or tax adjustment is applied; tax inclusion is unconfirmed. Our research methodology explains the source checks.

Product and plan	Published monthly price, USD; tax inclusion unconfirmed	Billing unit and included users	Expense or access distinction
Expensify Submit	Free	All members	Receipt scanning, mileage tracking and expense reports.1
Expensify Collect	$5	Per member	Reimbursements, corporate card management, expense and travel approvals, QuickBooks/Xero integrations.1
Expensify Control	Custom pricing, as low as $9 per active member/month	Per active member; custom terms	Multiple approval flows, custom expense rules, ERP integrations and SAML/SSO.1
QuickBooks Online Free	$0	Plan; 1 user, no accountant access	Income and expense tracking; 1 bank connection.2
QuickBooks Online Simple Start	$38; $19 for the first 3 months	Plan; 1 user, access for 2 accountants	Expense categorisation and automated bookkeeping.2
QuickBooks Online Essentials	$85; $42.50 for the first 3 months	Plan; 3 users, access for 2 accountants	Includes Simple Start functions with more user access and enhanced reports.2
QuickBooks Online Plus	$140; $70 for the first 3 months	Plan; 5 users, access for 2 accountants	Adds budgets and project profitability tracking.2
QuickBooks Online Advanced	$340; $170 for the first 3 months	Plan; 25 users, access for 3 accountants	Custom user permissions, workflow automation and batch invoices and expenses.2

Expensify says discounts are available for annual commitments and use of the Expensify Card.¹ Its Control headline is a price floor within custom pricing, not a guaranteed rate for every company.¹ Confirm the applicable commitment and card conditions in the quote before treating that floor as your budget.

Keep the Expensify pricing comparison alongside the quote when reviewing its plan options.

Which expense features does each include?

Expensify’s published plans centre on submitting, approving and reimbursing expenses; QuickBooks Online places expense tracking inside a broader accounting system.^1,2 Expensify has explicit employee-expense controls, while QuickBooks adds bookkeeping, reports and plan-specific accounting functions.^1,2

Task	Expensify’s published offering	QuickBooks Online’s published offering
Capture receipts and mileage	Submit lists receipt scanning and mileage tracking; the individual FAQ advertises unlimited SmartScans.1	The Free feature table specifies 2 receipt captures and 5 mileage-tracking entries per month.2
Organise expenses	Submit’s card lists categories and tags, although the individual FAQ says categorisation needs a paid plan. Confirm the entitlement.1	Simple Start lists expense categorisation and learns how you categorise income and expenses for automated transaction matching and recording.2
Approve and reimburse employee expenses	Collect lists reimbursements and expense approvals; Control adds multiple approval flows and custom rules.1	Advanced lists approval workflows with Bill Pay Elite.2 Confirm the employee-expense approval path separately from supplier-bill approval.
Keep accounts and report financial performance	The expense plans list reports and accounting integrations.1	Free lists profit and loss, balance sheet and account quick reports; paid tiers expand reporting, with Plus adding budgets and project profitability.2
Control access	Control lists SAML/SSO.1	Included users vary by plan; Advanced offers custom user permissions.2

Use the approval requirement to narrow the choice. Expensify lists expense approvals, while QuickBooks Advanced advertises approval workflows with Bill Pay Elite.^1,2 Test the job your company needs rather than treating the word “approvals” as proof that both subscriptions do the same work.

Which handles expenses for less?

Glamdring Research’s verdict is to use QuickBooks alone when its existing functions cover your expense workflow, and consider Expensify when employee approvals or reimbursements justify another subscription.^1,2 Expensify Collect’s lower paid entry price is strongest as an expense-specific purchase; QuickBooks bundles a wider accounting job into its plan price.^1,2

For an individual gathering receipts, start by testing the free options. Expensify advertises unlimited individual SmartScans, while QuickBooks Free combines basic accounting with the receipt and mileage limits shown above.^1,2 The choice depends on whether you need receipt collection or accounts as well.

For a company buying employee-expense management, compare Collect’s billed membership with the QuickBooks plan that provides the required accounting access. Collect’s published unit is a member; Control’s headline uses an active member.¹ QuickBooks’ included users are a separate constraint: the plan cards run from one user on Simple Start to 25 on Advanced.² Employees incurring expenses and people needing access to the accounts need not be the same group. Count each group separately.

For an existing QuickBooks customer, test the current plan before buying another tool. If it covers the workflow, another subscription adds cost without filling a requirement. If staff approvals and reimbursements are the missing work, Collect explicitly lists those functions.¹ Treat the additional expense service as an addition to your accounting budget.

How do Expensify and QuickBooks work together?

Expensify Collect lists a QuickBooks integration, and QuickBooks Online’s paid plans include third-party integrations; QuickBooks Free excludes them.^1,2 Budget for a paid QuickBooks plan when connecting Collect.

Expensify’s pricing-page interface describes exporting card transactions to a selected QuickBooks Online credit-card or debit-card account.¹ Together with Collect’s receipt, approval and reimbursement functions, this supports a division of work: handle employee expenses in Expensify and account for the exported transactions in QuickBooks.¹

Before relying on the connection, take a real expense through submission, approval and export. Check the receipt, category, destination account and payment record. Compare the exported transaction with the bank-feed entry so the expense is recorded once. These are acceptance checks, not a promise about automatic matching.

The pricing pages establish the integration’s availability, but not its sync schedule or every export option.^1,2,1 Confirm those details during setup. Integration should be judged on a complete recorded expense, including any exception that needs manual work.

What should you confirm before choosing?

Confirm the billing basis, required users and complete expense workflow before choosing Expensify or QuickBooks Online. Their published offers use different units and separate some functions by plan.^1,2 Use these checks to turn the price comparison into a purchase decision:

• Ask which Expensify members will be billed and what makes a Control member active. Confirm commitment, card conditions and tax treatment in writing.
• Count the people who need QuickBooks accounting access. Keep accountant access separate from the included user count.
• Evaluate QuickBooks at the regular subscription price after the promotion. Confirm any separate payment-service charges your workflow needs.
• Test the required approval path and reimbursement record. Ask for the exact feature entitlement, not a broad assurance that the product “handles expenses”.
• If using both, confirm the export destination and check how the connection handles bank-feed duplicates and corrections.

Change the decision when a plan no longer covers the required access or workflow. A lower subscription price is only a saving when the purchased functions finish the job.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use Expensify for free?

Yes. Expensify lists Submit as free for all members with expense reports, and advertises unlimited SmartScans for individuals using New Expensify.¹ Start by testing Submit if you need to prepare expense reports. For company-managed approvals and reimbursements, compare Collect’s paid offering.¹ Confirm which workspace your employer expects you to use before submitting.

Can QuickBooks Free connect to Expensify?

No, according to Intuit’s published pricing page: third-party integrations are not currently available with QuickBooks Free.² Free also excludes mobile-app access, so choose it for its supported basic accounting functions rather than assuming it has the connectivity of a paid plan.²

Do approval workflows require the same kind of plan?

No. Expensify Collect lists expense and travel approvals, with Control adding multiple approval flows and custom expense rules.¹ QuickBooks Advanced advertises approval workflows with Bill Pay Elite.² Confirm whether you need employee-expense approval or supplier-bill approval before comparing those plan entitlements.

Explore more Glamdring Research.