Shoeboxed vs Xero
We give Shoeboxed a 2.0 GPA and Xero a 2.6, out of 4.0. Shoeboxed grades higher on value for money. Xero grades higher on the free plan and features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Shoeboxed
Receipt scanning by app or mail-in envelope, with mileage tracking
Xero
Cloud accounting for small businesses, with unlimited users
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAShoeboxedFair | 2.6GPAXeroGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BGraded against its own alternatives, since it captures receipts rather than keeping books. Starter is $8.08 a month billed yearly ($9 monthly) for up to 3 users, a third of Dext's $25.21. But that's 50 digital scans and no QuickBooks or Xero sync, which needs Pro at $24.75. | CEarly is $27 a month, between this category's middle at $23 and its dearer quarter at $31.10, and it stops at 20 invoices and 5 bills. No limits means Growing at $59. Users are unlimited on every plan, though, which helps once a team is involved. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free. There's no free plan or trial, and the card is charged at sign-up. The 30-day money-back guarantee isn't a trial, and it ends once a Magic Envelope has been shipped. | COne month free on any plan, but you give up the 80%-off-for-3-months offer to take it. There's no free plan, and the listing doesn't say whether a card is needed for the trial. |
| Features | DNext to its alternatives it does one slice of the job, and does it fully: receipts by app, email, upload or mailed envelope, checked by staff and sorted into tax categories, plus GPS mileage. But it keeps no books, so you'll still want accounting software. | BBank reconciliation, invoices and quotes, Tap to Pay, bill capture, free ACH bill payments, cash flow forecasts, Syft analytics, the JAX assistant and Gusto payroll. Multiple currencies need Established, but the whole job is here. |
| Ease of use | B4.52 from 1,821 App Store ratings. Snap a receipt, or stuff the paper ones in an envelope and post it, and staff check what was read. There's not much to learn. | B4.65 from 1,689 App Store ratings, just under the top band. Auto-reconcile, which takes away the most clicking, is part of Growing and Established and a $5 a month add-on on Early. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with QuickBooks Online, Xero, Gmail, Wave, Evernote and Dropbox, though the QuickBooks, Xero and Gmail links need Pro. There's no desktop app, which keeps it off an A. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, plus an app store with Gusto, Stripe, Syft, Dext, A2X and Mercury. There's no desktop app, which is what keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | posting off paper receipts instead of scanning them | small businesses that work with an accountant |
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: Shoeboxed and Xero. How we grade
Price against what you get
Shoeboxed starts at $8.08 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Xero starts at $27 a month and scores 3.0.
Xero scores higher, and starts $18.92 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 2 score higher than Shoeboxed for less, and 3 score higher than Xero 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
- Shoeboxed starts at $8.08 per month, billed annually at $97 ($9 billed monthly). Xero starts at $27 per month, billed monthly.
- Xero also covers invoicing and payroll.
At a glance
| Shoeboxed | Xero | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free trial |
| Starts at | $8.08 per month, billed annually at $97 ($9 billed monthly) | $27 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | One month free on any plan, taken instead of the 3-month discount |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Shoeboxed, Inc. | Xero Limited |
| Price read from | shoeboxed.com | xero.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Shoeboxed
- Self-employed people who keep paper receipts and would rather mail them than scan them
- Freelancers and drivers who want mileage and receipts in one record for tax time
- Bookkeepers collecting paper receipts from small business clients
Xero
- Small businesses that want every staff member and adviser in the books at no extra cost
- Businesses that work with an accountant who already uses Xero
- Companies that bill or pay in several currencies, on Established
Worth knowing
Shoeboxed
- There is no free plan or free trial: the card is charged at sign-up, with a 30-day money-back guarantee that ends once a Magic Envelope has been shipped.
- Scans past a plan's allowance cost extra, from $0.07 to $0.19 per digital scan and $0.77 to $2 per paper scan, and extra envelopes are $9 each.
- QuickBooks Online, Xero and Gmail sync need Pro or higher, and Starter keeps digital scans for 3 years rather than for as long as the account is active.
- It captures receipts and mileage but does not keep books; cancelling means calling the billing team rather than doing it in the account.
Xero
- The advertised prices are 80% off for the first 3 months; plans then renew at $27, $59 or $97 a month.
- Early stops at 20 invoices and 5 bills, and its graphs and cash flow forecast are the basic ones.
- US payroll costs $36 a month plus $6 per employee or contractor, and is not offered to Xero's US mobile-only subscribers.
- These are US prices; Xero sells in other countries, including New Zealand, Australia and the UK, on separate regional sites.
Key features
Shoeboxed
- Magic Envelope mail-in scanning
- Mail paper receipts and documents in a postage-paid envelope; staff in Durham scan and categorize them, then shred them or send them back, as you choose.
- Several ways to send receipts
- Snap receipts in the iOS and Android app, forward them to an account email address, drag them in from a computer, or import e-receipts with Gmail sync on Pro and up.
- Human-checked data extraction
- OCR pulls the vendor, total, date, sales tax and payment type, and Shoeboxed staff check the result before it lands in the account.
- Tax categories and expense reports
- Receipts are sorted into 15 standard tax categories or your own, and reports with the receipt images attached can be exported, shared or printed.
- Automatic mileage tracking
- The mobile app logs business trips by GPS in the background and sends a daily summary to confirm. It is included on every plan.
- Accounting software sync
- Pro and higher connect to QuickBooks Online and Xero; every plan exports CSV, and receipts can also go to Wave, Evernote and Dropbox.
Xero
- Bank reconciliation
- Match bank transactions to invoices and bills. Auto-reconcile is part of Growing and Established, and a $5 a month add-on on Early.
- Invoices, quotes and online payments
- Send invoices and quotes with a payment service attached, and take card payments in person with Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android.
- Bills and Smart Document Capture
- Bills and receipts are pulled into Xero from documents, and standard ACH bill payments in US dollars are included on every plan.
- Cash flow forecasts and analytics
- Forecasts run 30, 60 or 180 days ahead depending on the plan, and Syft analytics, dashboards and health scorecards are built in.
- JAX assistant
- Xero's AI assistant answers questions about the business's numbers and handles routine bookkeeping tasks.
- Xero Payroll, powered by Gusto
- Full-service payroll that calculates, files and pays federal and state taxes across all 50 states, without leaving Xero.
Plans
Shoeboxed
Starter$8.08
per month for up to 3 users, billed annually ($9 billed monthly)
50 digital scans a month, 20 paper scans a year, 1 Magic Envelope a year and 3 years of scan storage. Billed as $97 a year.
Pro$24.75
per month for up to 5 users, billed annually ($29 billed monthly)
250 digital and 50 paper scans a month, an envelope each quarter, Gmail receipt sync, QuickBooks Online and Xero, and phone support.
Plus$66.42
per month for up to 10 users, billed annually ($79 billed monthly)
1,000 digital and 150 paper scans a month, a Magic Envelope every month and priority support. Billed as $797 a year.
Paper Plus$166.42
per month for up to 10 users, billed annually ($179 billed monthly)
For heavy paper volume: 5,000 digital and 300 paper scans a month and 2 Magic Envelopes a month. Billed as $1,997 a year.
Xero
Early$27
per month, billed monthly
Advertised at $5.40 a month for the first 3 months. Quotes, 20 invoices, 5 bills, bank reconciliation, sales tax and a 30-day cash flow forecast.
Growing$59
per month, billed monthly
Advertised at $11.80 a month for the first 3 months. No invoice or bill limits, auto-reconcile, dashboards, budgets and a 60-day forecast.
Established$97
per month, billed monthly
Advertised at $19.40 a month for the first 3 months. Adds multiple currencies, project time and costs, expense claims and a 180-day forecast.
Ways to pay less
Shoeboxed
- Annual discount
Save 11% to 19% with yearly billing
Starter is $97 a year against $9 a month, Pro $297 against $29 and Plus $797 against $79; the pricing page gives the saving as 11%, 17% and 19%.
Xero
- Other savings
80% off the first 3 months
New US customers buying their first organization pay 20% of the base plan price for 3 months, then the regular monthly price. Add-ons are not discounted.
- Other savings
Two months of Xero Payroll free
Xero's payroll page offers two months free to try Xero Payroll, which then costs $36 a month plus $6 per employee or contractor.
