Dext vs Karbon (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Dext grades higher than Karbon: 2.4 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Dext grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. Karbon grades higher on features. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Dext
Receipt and invoice capture that codes documents for your ledger
Which one is for you
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
Pick Karbon if
- Fits if you run an accounting firm and want shared client email and workflow in one place
- Makes sense if your firm already works in Gmail and Google Calendar
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want software for your own books, as it's built for firms
- Skip it if you want to try it yourself first, because there's no self-serve trial
- Pricey if you want automation: reminders and task automation need Business at $89 a user
- Watch out: monthly billing is open only to teams of 4 or more users
How we grade them
| 2.4GPADextFair | 1.6GPAKarbonWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CGraded against its own alternatives, since it captures receipts rather than keeping books: $25.21 a month billed yearly ($31.50 monthly) for 5 users and 250 documents, about what Xero's $27 and FreshBooks' $23 cost. And the ledger is paid for on top. | D$59 a user a month billed yearly for Team and $89 for Business, where the automation is. That's past the $52 where the dearer quarter starts, and Business is above $75. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 14-day free trial with no card needed, long enough to run a couple of weeks of real receipts through it. There's no free plan after that. | FNo free plan, and the pricing page says self-serve free trials aren't offered, so access starts with a demo request. |
| Features | DNext to its alternatives it does one slice of the job. Capture is done fully: phone, email, WhatsApp, supplier fetch, coding, expense claims and mileage. But it keeps no books, and needs Xero, QuickBooks or Sage, bought separately, to be useful at all. | CShared email, workflow templates, a client portal, time, budgets and billing. It runs a firm and doesn't keep a business's books, and automation isn't on Team. |
| Ease of use | A4.77 from 7,553 App Store ratings. You photograph the receipt and it's read and coded for you. | CNo store rating on record. You set up templates and client requests, and access starts with a demo. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone, Android and a browser extension, publishing to 36+ accounting and e-commerce platforms, with bank feeds from over 11,500 banks. There's no desktop app, which keeps it off an A. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Ignition and QuickBooks Online Accountant, plus an API. |
| Best for | getting receipts coded before they reach your books | practice management for accounting firms |
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: Dext and Karbon. How we grade
Price against what you get
Dext starts at $25.21 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Karbon starts at $59 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Dext scores higher and starts $33.79 a month lower. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 3 score higher than Dext for less, and 15 score higher than Karbon for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Dext also covers bookkeeping and expense tracking.
- Karbon also covers tasks, shared inbox, workflow automation, time tracking and invoicing.
At a glance
| Dext | Karbon | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $25.21 per month for up to 250 documents, billed annually ($31.50 billed monthly) | $59 per user / month, billed yearly ($79 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Dext Software Limited | Karbon |
| Price read from | dext.com | karbonhq.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Karbon
- It is a tool for running a firm, not general ledger software for a business's own books.
- The pricing page says self-serve free trials are not offered; access starts with a demo request.
- Monthly billing is open only to teams of 4 or more users.
- Automatic client reminders, task automation and industry integrations are not on the Team plan.
Key features
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.
Karbon
- Shared email triage
- Team members can share, assign and comment on client emails, with comments and @mentions on emails, tasks and notes.
- Workflow templates
- Work is created from templates with statuses and types. Limits rise by plan: 35, 50 or unlimited statuses and 40, 75 or unlimited templates.
- Client requests and portal
- Clients get requests, file uploads and comments through a portal. Automatic client reminders need the Business plan.
- Time, budgets and billing
- Track time against budgets, then bill and collect payment from inside the same workflow.
- Integrations and API
- Connects with Gmail, Google Drive, Ignition and QuickBooks Online Accountant, and has a public API for contacts, work items and timesheets.
Plans
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.
Karbon
Team$59
per user / month, billed yearly ($79 billed monthly)
Integrated email, workflow and to-do lists, time tracking and budgets, billing, payments and engagements. Monthly billing needs 4+ users.
Business$89
per user / month, billed yearly ($99 billed monthly)
Team features plus automatic client reminders, task automation and industry integrations. Monthly billing needs 4+ users.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds an enterprise platform, a dedicated Karbon contact, customization and unlimited usage limits.
Ways to pay less
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.
Karbon
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Dext or Karbon?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Dext starts at $25.21 per month for up to 250 documents, billed annually ($31.50 billed monthly), and Karbon starts at $59 per user / month, billed yearly ($79 billed monthly). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Dext or Karbon?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Dext nor Karbon has a free plan. Dext has a free trial.
Which platforms do Dext and Karbon run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Dext lists a browser extension. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. 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.