Airbase vs Spendesk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Spendesk grades higher than Airbase: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Spendesk grades higher on ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Spendesk
Spend management with unlimited cards and users, priced by quote
Paid
Which one is for you
Pick Airbase if
- Fits if you want expenses, cards and payables from one finance vendor
- Works for finance teams that already use Paylocity
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: Airbase is now a Paylocity company and the site points to Paylocity for Finance
- Watch out: no prices are published, only a demo request
- Skip it if you want a free plan or a trial, as neither is listed
Pick Spendesk if
- Fits if you want unlimited cards and users without paying per head
- Works for finance teams in the EEA, the UK or the US that want receipts collected for them
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to see a price before you talk to sales
- Not for you if you want a free plan or a trial to poke around in first
- Tight if supplier invoices matter, since accounts payable is a paid add-on
- Watch out: each card purchase, invoice payment and expense claim carries a variable fee on top
- Watch out: procurement, advanced workflows, HR and ERP links and AI fraud checks are all add-ons
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAAirbaseWeak | 2.2GPASpendeskFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo prices are published and the Paylocity pages need a demo request. It sits in the middle by default. | CNo price is published, so it sits in the middle by our rule. Spendesk quotes a fixed monthly platform fee plus variable fees on card purchases, invoice payments and expense claims, so there's no monthly figure for a ten-person company. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free: no free plan and no trial are on record for this listing. | FNothing free. There's no free plan or published free trial, only a demo and a product tour. |
| Features | BExpense management, corporate cards, AP automation, guided procurement, spend analytics and fraud detection. | BThe whole job: unlimited cards of four kinds, receipt rules and OCR, expense claims, live budgets, multi-entity reporting, an open API and an MCP connector, with accounts payable and procurement sold as add-ons. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Cards, approvals and accounting links are set up by the company. | B4.7 from 637 App Store ratings, high but short of the 1,000 we want for the top band. Receipt reminders run themselves once the rules are set. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only on the listing, with no integrations named. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Xero, QuickBooks, DATEV, Slack and an open API. No desktop app is listed, and HR and ERP integrations are an add-on. |
| Best for | spend management, now Paylocity for Finance | unlimited cards and users for one quoted fee |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Airbase and Spendesk. How we grade
Where they differ
- Airbase also covers workflow automation.
In commonWebExpense trackingBill payCompany cards
At a glance
| Airbase | Spendesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Paylocity | Spendesk |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Airbase
- Airbase is now a Paylocity company, and the site points to Paylocity for Finance.
- No prices are published, and the Paylocity pages need a demo request.
- Product details here come from short pages that load mostly through JavaScript.
- Check whether new customers buy Airbase or Paylocity for Finance.
Spendesk
- No prices are published: Spendesk quotes a fixed monthly platform fee plus variable fees on card purchases, invoice payments and expense claims.
- Procurement, accounts payable, advanced workflows, HR and ERP integrations and AI fraud detection are add-ons to the base package.
- It serves the EEA, the UK and the US; payments and Visa debit cards come from Spendesk Financial Services, Adyen and Sutton Bank respectively.
- There is no free plan or published free trial; Spendesk offers a demo and a product tour instead.
Key features
Airbase
- Expense management
- Listed first among Paylocity's finance products, covering employee expenses and policy compliance.
- Corporate cards
- Company cards sit alongside expenses in the finance product list.
- AP automation
- Paylocity lists AP automation and vendor management as part of finance.
- Guided procurement
- A purchase-intake product that feeds the same spend records.
- Spend analytics and fraud detection
- Capabilities listed under Paylocity for Finance include spend analytics, fraud detection and accounting automation.
Spendesk
- Unlimited cards
- Physical cards for employees, single-use cards for one-off payments, recurring virtual cards for subscriptions and multi-use cards for projects or events.
- Receipt collection
- Custom rules and automatic reminders chase receipts, OCR reads them, and they are matched to the right card payment straight away.
- Expense claims
- Out-of-pocket expenses are submitted, reimbursed and tracked alongside card spending.
- Budgets
- Track spending against budgets in real time, with multi-entity workflows and reporting in the base package.
- Accounts payable add-on
- Manage supplier invoices and pay suppliers worldwide in the right currency, with procurement as a separate add-on.
- Integrations and API
- Connects to Xero, QuickBooks, DATEV and Slack, offers an open API, and links spend data to AI assistants through an MCP connector.
Plans
Airbase
Pricing could not be confirmed. See airbase.com.
Spendesk
Pricing could not be confirmed. See spendesk.com.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Airbase or Spendesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Airbase has no price we could confirm, and Spendesk has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Airbase or Spendesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Airbase nor Spendesk has a free plan.
Which platforms do Airbase and Spendesk run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Spendesk lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.