Dext vs Spotlight Reporting (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Dext grades higher than Spotlight Reporting: 2.4 against 2.0 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 and ease of use. Spotlight Reporting grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan and 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
Spotlight Reporting
Management reporting and forecasting for accountants and CFOs
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 Spotlight Reporting if
- Fits if you are an accountant giving clients monthly reports from Xero or QuickBooks
- Works for a finance lead who needs forecasts and dashboards over one or two entities
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need a ledger: it reports on one and does not replace it
- Pricey if you run one small business, at $75 a month for a single organization
- Watch out: the pricing page says the monthly figures but not whether billing is monthly or yearly
- Not for you if you use neither Xero nor QuickBooks, as those are the only ledgers named
- Watch out: prices exclude sales tax, and franchise pricing is on a separate page we did not read
How we grade them
| 2.4GPADextFair | 2.0GPASpotlight ReportingFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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$75 a month for 1 organization, in the dearest tenth of accounting tools (it starts at $75 and the middle is $26). Extra organizations are $65 each, and the 10-organization plans start at $349. |
| 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. | CA 14-day trial with no card needed. There is no free plan. |
| 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. | CReports, forecasting, dashboards, consolidation and ESG reporting. It does that job fully, but it is a smaller job than accounting: it reads a ledger and does not keep one. |
| 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 connect Xero or QuickBooks and build reports before it is useful. |
| 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 app with Xero and QuickBooks connections. No desktop or phone apps are listed. |
| Best for | getting receipts coded before they reach your books | management reports on Xero or QuickBooks |
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 Spotlight Reporting. 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. Spotlight Reporting starts at $75 a month and scores 2.3.
Dext scores higher and starts $49.79 a month lower. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 3 score higher than Dext for less, and 16 score higher than Spotlight Reporting 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.
- Spotlight Reporting also covers reports and dashboards.
At a glance
| Dext | Spotlight Reporting | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $25.21 per month for up to 250 documents, billed annually ($31.50 billed monthly) | $75 per month for 1 organization |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no card required | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Dext Software Limited | Spotlight Reporting |
| Price read from | dext.com | spotlightreporting.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.
Spotlight Reporting
- It reports on data from an accounting ledger; it does not replace one. The pages name Xero and QuickBooks.
- The pricing page states a monthly figure but not whether the plans are billed monthly or yearly.
- Prices are shown excluding sales tax.
- Franchise and network pricing is on a separate page and was not read for this listing.
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.
Spotlight Reporting
- Management reports
- Builds narrative and visual reports from accounting data, with Spotlight AI suggestions and executive summaries layered on the calculated figures.
- Forecasting
- Three-way forecasts, budgets and scenarios for cash flow and planning, with consolidated forecasting across entities.
- Dashboards
- Drag-and-drop KPI dashboards. Advisor Starter allows 1 dashboard per organization; higher advisor plans allow unlimited.
- Consolidation
- Group reporting across entities and currencies is included from Advisor Starter and Business 10.
- ESG reporting and certification
- Spotlight Sustain ESG reports come with Advisor Growth and up, and the advisor plans include free certification for the team.
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.
Spotlight Reporting
Business$75
per month for 1 organization, billing basis not stated
Finance-team plan: reporting, forecasting and dashboards for 1 organization. Extra organizations $65 a month each.
Business 10$349
per month for up to 10 organizations, billing basis not stated
Finance-team plan with multi-entity consolidation and up to 3 training sessions a year. Extra organizations $30 each.
Advisor Starter$349
per month for up to 10 client organizations, billing basis not stated
Accountants' plan: reporting, forecasting, dashboards, consolidation, certification and one training session a year.
Advisor Growth$549
per month for up to 25 client organizations, billing basis not stated
Adds unlimited dashboards, Spotlight Sustain ESG reporting, a Customer Success Manager and unlimited training.
Advisor Scale$995
per month for up to 75 client organizations, billing basis not stated
Adds priority support, strategic reviews and tailored training for the team.
EnterpriseCustom
For accounting firms with more than 75 client organizations; the full platform with a dedicated senior success manager.
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.
Spotlight Reporting
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Dext or Spotlight Reporting?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Dext is cheaper to start with: $25.21 a month, against $75 a month for Spotlight Reporting. Dext starts at $25.21 per month for up to 250 documents, billed annually ($31.50 billed monthly), and Spotlight Reporting starts at $75 per month for 1 organization.
Which has a free plan, Dext or Spotlight Reporting?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Dext nor Spotlight Reporting has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Dext and Spotlight Reporting run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Dext lists iOS and Android apps and a browser extension. 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.