Botkeeper vs Dext (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Botkeeper if

• Fits if you run an accounting firm with 10 or more clients to keep books for
• Works for firms that want categorization and reconciliation done by software

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you're a business keeping your own books, as it's sold to accounting firms
• Pricey if you have only a few clients: $134 a license for 1 to 4, $98 for 5 to 9
• Skip it if you want to try before paying, because there's no free trial
• Watch out: licenses are software only, and extra services and support upgrades cost more

Pick Dext if

• Fits if sorting receipts is the worst part of doing your books
• Works for bookkeeping firms chasing paperwork from 10 or more clients

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you were hoping to drop your accounting software, as Dext only feeds it
• Tight if you file more than 250 documents a month, since extras wait unread until next month or an upgrade
• Pricey if you need line items or statements read, as those are add-ons from $13 to $20.50 a month
• Watch out: firm plans need at least 10 clients, and Data health and insights is $7.50 per client extra
• Watch out: annual plans need 30 days' notice to cancel, and more than 5 business entities needs a quote

Botkeeper

• It is sold to accounting firms, with one license per client entity, not to a business keeping its own books.
• The listed licenses are software only: the firm manages and administers the work, and extra services are bought separately.
• There is no free trial; monthly billing can be cancelled anytime, while an annual plan commits for the full year.
• Support is tiered, and the licenses include standard support with paid upgrades.

Dext

• Dext is not a ledger: it sends coded documents to accounting software such as Xero, QuickBooks or Sage, which is bought separately.
• After the monthly document allowance is used, uploads wait unread until the next billing date or an upgrade; over 5 business entities needs a quote.
• Line item, supplier statement and bank statement extraction past the free credits cost from $20.50, $20.50 and $13 a month, or $0.50, $0.50 and $0.32 a document.
• Firm plans need at least 10 clients, Data health and insights costs $7.50 per client a month extra, and annual plans need 30 days' notice to cancel.

Botkeeper

Transaction categorization

Machine learning categorizes transactions and posts to the ledger only when confidence is high; lower-confidence items go to a review queue.

Automated bank reconciliation

Fetches statements, reconciles accounts and flags exceptions so the preparer reviews only what does not match.

Journal entry automation

Drafts journal entries and runs an end-of-month review with anomaly detection to support a faster close.

Firm dashboard and close tracker

Firm Insights and Close Tracker show automation performance and close status across all clients or for a single client.

Client collaboration tools

An Activity Hub, task and workflow tools, document storage and a password manager keep client requests in one place.

Dext

Capture from phone, email or WhatsApp

Send receipts, invoices and statements from the mobile app, an email-in address, WhatsApp or an upload, or have Dext fetch invoices from suppliers directly.

Data extraction and coding

Reads supplier, date, amount, tax and line items (Dext states over 99% accuracy), suggests categories and applies supplier rules before publishing.

Accounting software sync

Publishes coded documents to 36+ accounting and e-commerce platforms, including Xero, QuickBooks and Sage, and pulls bank feeds from over 11,500 banks.

Employee expenses and mileage

Staff submit expense claims and mileage in the app, managers approve them, and each claim syncs to the books with an audit trail.

AI Assist

A paid add-on that learns the choices you make on suppliers, categories and splits and proposes automations for you to approve.

Vault document storage

Keeps every original document for at least ten years, tagged and searchable. Free up to 100MB, with more storage from $4 a month.

Botkeeper

• 1 - 4 Licenses$134

  per license / month, billed annually ($149 billed monthly)

  Software-only entity licenses for firms with a few clients; one license covers one client.

• 5 - 9 Licenses$98

  per license / month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly)

  Same features as every tier at a lower per-license rate.

• 10 - 24 Licenses$71

  per license / month, billed annually ($79 billed monthly)

  The tier the pricing page marks as most popular.

• 25+ Licenses$53

  per license / month, billed annually ($59 billed monthly)

  Lowest per-license rate, for firms that onboard 25 or more client entities.

Dext

• Business$25.21

  per month for up to 250 documents, billed annually ($31.50 monthly)

  5 users, capture, extraction and accounting sync. A slider adds users and documents: $48.75 a month billed annually at 10 users and 500 documents.

• Essentials$17.70

  per client / month, on an annual subscription billed monthly

  For accounting and bookkeeping firms, 10-client minimum. Capture and processing for business and self-employed clients; the rate per client varies with the count.

• Advanced$19.20

  per client / month, on an annual subscription billed monthly

  For firms, 10-client minimum. Adds advanced automation, practice insights and controls; the rate per client varies with the count.

Botkeeper

• Annual discount

  Save 10% with annual billing

  The pricing page shows annual billing at 10% below the monthly per-license rate and gives volume tiers up to 25+ licenses.

Dext

• Annual discount

  Up to 20% off business plans with yearly billing

  The entry business plan costs $25.21 a month billed annually ($302.50 a year) against $31.50 billed monthly.

• Annual discount

  13% off firm plans on an annual subscription

  The pricing page for accounting and bookkeeping firms labels its annual subscription 13% off the monthly rate.