Dext vs Zoho Books
We give Dext a 2.4 GPA and Zoho Books a 3.4, out of 4.0. Zoho Books grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features and platforms. They get the same grade on ease of use.
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
Zoho Books
Online accounting from Zoho, with a free plan and six paid tiers
How we grade them
| 2.4GPADextFair | 3.4GPAZoho BooksVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | BStandard is $15 a month billed yearly ($20 monthly) for the whole business with 3 users, right at the cheaper quarter of this category. It already has bank feeds, sales tax, 1099 e-filing and API access. |
| 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. | BFree for businesses under $50K revenue a year: 1 user plus an accountant, 1,000 invoices a year, bank reconciliation, 1099s and 50+ reports. One person could live on it, though automatic bank feeds need Standard. |
| 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. | BInvoices, bills, bank feeds, sales tax, 1099s, projects, multiple currencies, inventory up to warehouses and batch tracking, budgets, custom modules and AI that answers questions about the books. That covers the whole job. |
| Ease of use | A4.77 from 7,553 App Store ratings. Snap the receipt and it's read and coded for you, which is about as easy as bookkeeping gets. | A4.81 from 5,247 App Store ratings, the top band for accounting apps. Receipt autoscans work on every plan, the free one included, which saves typing. |
| 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. | AWeb, Windows, iPhone and Android, with an API from Standard up and links to Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Etsy and the rest of Zoho. That's the full spread. |
| Best for | getting receipts coded before they reach your books | a real free plan with room to grow |
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 Zoho Books. 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. Zoho Books starts at $15 a month and scores 3.7.
Zoho Books scores higher and starts $10.21 a month lower. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 3 score higher than Dext for less, and none scores higher than Zoho Books 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 starts at $25.21 per month for up to 250 documents, billed annually ($31.50 billed monthly). Zoho Books starts at $15 per organization / month, billed annually.
- Zoho Books has a free plan. Dext does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Dext lists a browser extension.
- Only Zoho Books lists a Windows app.
- Zoho Books also covers invoicing and reports.
At a glance
| Dext | Zoho Books | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $25.21 per month for up to 250 documents, billed annually ($31.50 billed monthly) | $15 per organization / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | None | Free plan for businesses with under $50K revenue a year: 1 user plus 1 accountant, invoices, quotes, expenses, bank reconciliation, 1099s and 50+ reports, with email support. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no card required | 14-day free trial of the paid plans |
| Web | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Dext Software Limited | Zoho |
| Price read from | dext.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Dext
- Small businesses that want receipts and bills coded before they reach the books
- Accounting and bookkeeping firms collecting paperwork from many clients
- Teams with employee expense claims and mileage to approve
Zoho Books
- Very small businesses that want a free plan with real double-entry books
- Companies already using other Zoho apps
- Growing product businesses that will need inventory and warehouses later
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.
Zoho Books
- The free plan stays free only while revenue is under $50K a financial year, and paid add-ons other than autoscans cannot be added to it.
- Each plan caps users at 3, 5, 10, 10 or 15; more cost $3 per user a month, or $2.50 billed annually.
- Every plan caps invoices and bills a year: 1,000 on Free, 5,000 on Standard, 10,000 on Professional and 25,000 on Premium.
- These are US prices; Zoho lists separate editions for 18 countries plus a global one, including the UK, Canada, India and Australia.
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.
Zoho Books
- Invoicing and online payments
- Quotes, invoices, recurring invoices, retention payments and automatic reminders, with a customer portal for paying online.
- Banking and reconciliation
- Reconcile accounts on every plan. Automatic bank feeds start on Standard, along with recurring expenses and period locking.
- US tax and 1099s
- Track sales and use tax, manage W-9s and 1099 contractors, and e-file 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC forms from Standard up.
- Projects and inventory
- Professional adds timesheets, project profitability and basic inventory. Elite adds warehouses, serial and batch tracking and shipping labels.
- Automation and customization
- Workflows, approvals and custom roles from Professional; custom modules, buttons and functions from Premium; Blueprints on Elite.
- AI in accounting
- Ask questions about the books in plain English, spot anomalies and automate collections, plus receipt autoscans on every plan.
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.
Zoho Books
Free$0
Revenue under $50K a year. 1 user and 1 accountant, up to 1,000 invoices a year, recurring invoices, payment reminders and 1099 filing.
Standard$15
per organization / month, billed annually
$20 billed monthly. 3 users, bank feeds, sales and use tax, 1099 e-filing, custom reports, API access and 5,000 invoices a year.
Professional$40
per organization / month, billed annually
$50 billed monthly. 5 users, sales and purchase orders, multiple currencies, timesheets, project profitability, retainers and inventory.
Premium$60
per organization / month, billed annually
$70 billed monthly. 10 users, fixed assets, budgets, cash flow forecasting, a vendor portal and custom modules.
Elite$120
per organization / month, billed annually
$150 billed monthly. 10 users, advanced inventory with warehouses and batch tracking, Etsy, eBay and Amazon channels, and up to 2 Shopify stores.
Ultimate$240
per organization / month, billed annually
$275 billed monthly. 15 users and built-in business intelligence with 50+ prebuilt visualizations, KPI tracking and embeddable reports.
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.
Zoho Books
- Annual discount
Save up to 25% with yearly billing
Yearly billing cuts Standard from $20 to $15 a month, Professional from $50 to $40, Premium from $70 to $60, Elite from $150 to $120 and Ultimate from $275 to $240.
