Airbase Reviews: 4.8/5 — Highly Rated
Airbase is a modern finance and expense management platform that automates and streamlines financial processes. It offers a suite of features that include virtual cards, spend management, and real-time expense tracking. Additionally, Airbase integrates with various other business tools such as payroll, accounting, and invoicing systems, making it a one-stop-shop for all finance needs.
| Capabilities |
API
|
|---|---|
| Segment |
Small Business
Mid Market
Enterprise
|
| Deployment | Cloud / SaaS / Web-Based, Mobile Android, Mobile iPad, Mobile iPhone |
| Training | Documentation |
| Languages | English |
Airbase is now Airbase by Paylocity, and airbase.com/pricing redirects to Paylocity’s pricing page. Paylocity completed the $325 million acquisition on 1 October 2024, and the product has been absorbed into its HCM platform. That single fact matters more than any feature comparison, because virtually every review you will find describes a standalone company that no longer sells to you on its own terms.
- What it is: A spend management platform covering corporate cards, bill pay, expense management, and procurement, now part of Paylocity.
- Best for: Mid-market companies that also want Paylocity’s payroll and HR, so spend and payroll sit on one platform.
- Pricing: No longer published separately. Airbase’s pricing page now serves Paylocity’s, which is quote-only via a demo request form.
- The honest catch: Older reviews, comparisons, and pricing guides describe pre-acquisition Airbase and should not be relied on.
What Happened to Airbase
Paylocity announced its agreement to acquire Airbase on 4 September 2024 and completed the deal on 1 October 2024 for approximately $325 million, funded through its revolving credit facility. Both companies confirmed the completion publicly.
The strategic logic was explicit: Paylocity sells HR and payroll, Airbase sold spend management, and the combination lets a company manage payroll and non-payroll spend on one platform. Paylocity described the goal as a single pane of glass across all company spending, with real-time visibility and a faster financial close.
The practical consequences for a buyer in 2026 are concrete. The airbase.com homepage now identifies the product as “Airbase by Paylocity”. The pricing page redirects to paylocity.com. And Paylocity does not publish prices — its pricing page is a demo request form asking for your employee count, job title, and business zip code.
The product has not been discontinued. But it is no longer a standalone purchase in the way it was, and the evaluation you run should be an evaluation of Paylocity.
What Airbase Does
The underlying capability is well regarded and was the reason for the acquisition price:
- Corporate cards with policy controls applied at the point of purchase.
- Bill pay and AP automation, which was Airbase’s strongest area and a genuine differentiator against card-first competitors.
- Expense management with receipt capture, coding, and reimbursement.
- Procurement and intake, covering purchase requests and approvals before spend happens.
- Approval workflows across all of the above, which is what distinguished it from simpler card products.
- Accounting integration for close automation.
That combination — cards plus AP plus procurement in one approval framework — is what mid-market finance teams valued, and it remains the substance of what Paylocity now sells under the Airbase name.
Airbase Pricing
There is no published Airbase pricing to report. Its pricing URL serves Paylocity’s page, which offers “Request Pricing with a Free Demo” and collects your details rather than displaying rates.
This is a meaningful downgrade in transparency for evaluation purposes. Pre-acquisition, Airbase published tiered plans. Now:
- Every price is quoted. You cannot compare Airbase against Ramp or Brex without a sales conversation, and both of those publish or offer free entry tiers.
- Pricing is likely bundled with Paylocity. The commercial logic of the acquisition is cross-selling into HCM customers, so quotes may be structured around the wider platform rather than spend management alone.
- Your negotiating position is weaker. With no list price and no comparable public figures, you have no anchor.
- Ask directly whether Airbase can be bought standalone, and on what terms, before investing time in a demo. That is the question the website no longer answers.
Who Should Use Airbase Now
- Existing Paylocity customers. The clearest case by a distance. If your payroll and HR already run on Paylocity, adding spend management on the same platform is exactly the integration the acquisition was built to deliver.
- Companies evaluating Paylocity anyway. Bundling spend management into that decision may produce a better commercial outcome than buying separately.
- Mid-market finance teams needing AP depth. Airbase’s bill pay and procurement capability genuinely exceeds what card-first competitors offer.
It fits poorly for companies that want spend management alone, where Ramp and Brex are simpler to buy and publish more; for startups, where both of those have free entry tiers; and for anyone unwilling to enter a sales process to learn a price.
Honest Pros and Cons
Strengths
- Genuinely strong AP and procurement. The deepest part of the product and the reason it commanded $325 million.
- Unified approval workflows. Cards, bills, and purchase requests under one policy framework.
- Now integrated with payroll. A real advantage if you run Paylocity, and the whole point of the deal.
- Backed by a larger company. Paylocity brings scale and stability a standalone spend startup could not.
- Mid-market fit. Built for companies with real finance processes rather than a founder with a card.
Limitations
- No published pricing at all. Quote-only through Paylocity’s demo form.
- No longer straightforward to buy standalone. The commercial model now points toward the HCM platform.
- Existing reviews are out of date. Almost everything written about Airbase predates the acquisition.
- Competitors are free at entry. Ramp and Brex both offer $0 tiers; Airbase does not.
- Integration is still settling. Product direction under new ownership takes time to become clear.
Airbase Alternatives and How It Compares
- Ramp is the leading independent alternative, free at entry, with strong AP capability and a savings-oriented positioning.
- Brex is free at entry too, though it was itself acquired by Capital One in April 2026 — worth knowing that both major alternatives now sit inside larger financial institutions.
- Bill.com focuses specifically on accounts payable, which was Airbase’s strongest area, and is often the closest functional match.
- SAP Concur is the enterprise incumbent for expense and travel, heavier and more expensive.
- Zoho Expense is dramatically cheaper for expense reporting alone, with published pricing.
- Rippling offers a comparable payroll-plus-spend combination if the unified platform is what appeals.
For a broader survey, browse our expense management directory.
The Verdict
Airbase was a good product and remains one, but in 2026 the question is not whether Airbase is worth buying — it is whether Paylocity is. The acquisition completed on 1 October 2024, the pricing page now belongs to Paylocity, and the commercial model has shifted from a standalone spend management purchase to a module within an HCM platform. Evaluate it on that basis and you will not be surprised later.
For existing Paylocity customers this is straightforwardly good news. Spend management on the same platform as payroll is a genuine operational advantage, the AP and procurement capability is stronger than most card-first competitors offer, and the integration is precisely what the $325 million was spent to achieve. If Paylocity already runs your payroll, this should be on your shortlist and may well win.
For everyone else, be deliberate. Ramp and Brex are both free at entry and considerably easier to evaluate, and Bill.com covers the AP strength that was Airbase’s best feature. The absence of any published pricing means you cannot compare without a sales process, which is a real cost in itself. Before booking a demo, ask directly whether Airbase can still be purchased standalone and on what terms — that is the question the website no longer answers, and the answer determines whether this is a shortlist candidate or a Paylocity upsell.
One practical caution that applies to research rather than the product: treat any Airbase review, comparison, or pricing guide that does not mention Paylocity as out of date. A great deal of what is published still describes the independent company and its former published plans, and none of that is what you would be buying.
FAQ
Was Airbase acquired?
Yes. Paylocity announced a definitive agreement on 4 September 2024 and completed the acquisition on 1 October 2024 for approximately $325 million, funded through its revolving credit facility. Both companies confirmed completion publicly. The product now trades as “Airbase by Paylocity” and its pricing page redirects to Paylocity’s website.
How much does Airbase cost?
There is no published price. Airbase’s pricing URL now serves Paylocity’s pricing page, which is a demo request form collecting your business email, employee count, and job title rather than displaying rates. Pre-acquisition Airbase published tiered plans, but those figures no longer reflect what is on offer, and any current cost has to be obtained through a sales conversation.
Is Airbase still available as a standalone product?
It has not been discontinued, and the capability still exists under the Airbase name. But the commercial model now runs through Paylocity, whose strategic rationale for the purchase was combining payroll and non-payroll spend on one platform. Whether a standalone purchase remains straightforward is a question worth asking Paylocity directly before beginning an evaluation.
What are the best alternatives to Airbase?
Ramp and Brex are the leading independent alternatives, both free at entry and much easier to evaluate without a sales process — though Brex was itself acquired by Capital One in April 2026. Bill.com is the closest match for Airbase’s accounts payable strength. Zoho Expense is far cheaper for expense reporting alone, and SAP Concur is the enterprise option.
Should I trust older Airbase reviews?
Treat them with caution. Most published reviews, comparisons, and pricing guides describe the independent company as it operated before October 2024, including plan structures and prices that no longer apply. If a review does not mention Paylocity, it predates the acquisition and does not describe what you would actually be buying today.
Compare Airbase with other popular tools in the same category.
The capability to three way match invoices, receipts and receiving docs is way easier with Airbase as Airbase pulls the quantities.
Sometimes the syching process is delayed which can delay close timeline.
Connecting the PO to the invoices and pulling in quantities directly.
I really like the Airbase application. The best part of this user friendly app is the ability and ease of taking pictures of my receipts and sumitting them for reimbursement from my phone. It is simple to navigate around the app, it is quick, and very efficient to track all expenses. The app saves me precious time on my daily routine and with a few clicks your expenses are tracked. Another feature I have just started using more is the Virtual Card. I did not know anything about getting a virtual card, but it has saved me from having to pay upfront for expenses and then having to wait for reimbursement. It is simple to request the card and is a seemless process to pay with this card. Expensing with the app is easy, but the virtual card is even easier!
Sometimes, the 'Receipt Inbox' feature does not read the information within the attachment correctly, but I feel like it has been improving a lot.
Airbase is helping solve the problem of having to pay for large expenses upfront with my own wallet. When I book hotels, pay for certifications, etc, I am able to use the vitual card to pay for these large purchases vs having to pay myself and wait for the reimbursement. This has been a huge time saving benefit, as well as saving myself from having to worry about high reimbursement cost. There isn't a need for me to have to hold onto a corporate card, as it is not often I need one, but has saved my own credit card from having to be used for the large dollar purchases.
I've been using Airbase for quite some time now and let me just say, it's a game-changer! Here's why: 1. Streamlined Expenses as it offers an easy to use interface that allows quick approvals and real-time tracking. 2. Integrations are a breeze to implement. With multiple payment options, from ACH transfers to international wire, Airbase has truly made it simpler to settle invoices and manage my vendors. 3. Kudos to Phenomenal Support. Any questions or issues are resolved in a jiffy, thanks to their responsive and knowledgeable customer service. 4. Reporting Feature helps me dive into history, budgets and analytics. 5. Email notifications for complete visibility into the approval workflow. Love it !
While the capabilities are extensive, smaller businesses might find the pricing a bit on the higher side for their budgets.
Before Airbase, managing expenses was tedious, involving multiple steps like approval workflows, receipt collection, and reimbursements. Now, Airbase streamlines this entire process, enabling quicker approvals and real-time tracking. It has certainly reduced administrative burden, freeing up our finance team to focus on strategic tasks.
Airbase is easy to use and the support team is helpful on answering any questions coming up in reimbursement
It would be great if Airbase could support multiple currency for reimbursement for our Canada hub employees.
Fast reimbursement approval process
Overall, it's incredibly easy and simple to use
Some things can be a bit cumbersome, ie recurring expenses
Airbase is making it easy for employees like myself to manage our company expenses through an advanced AP utility
The seamless ability to submit reciepts and expenses are the best!
There are a few times where my reciept will duplicate multiple times
Purchasing items for the business- using airbase, I immediately get reimbursed.
I love being able to submit receipts to my airbase inbox. The functionality is super convenient to be able to send things as needed without having to track the receipts down later. Also, the interface is super user-friendly and clean.
I would say there are no complaints or dislikes with using Airbase. I have yet to have a negative experience while using Aribase.
Airbase is solving expense reimbursement, and getting my expenses paid quickly with no issues!
I love that I use Airbase daily but it takes up a small fraction of time as I'm able to effectively and efficiently complete my necessary tasks, including approving team expenses, submitting reimbursements, requesting funds, etc. It is incredibly intuitive to use with no training or previous knowledge required to quickly complete tasks - all I could ask for!
I have not run into any functionality limitations - this is the most robust spend management tool I've used while still being incredibly simple. I have used 3-5 competitors and airbase has been adopted into all aspects of our business across all departments including marketing, customer success, people ops, finance, accounting etc. I love that airbase is easy for anyone regardless of department to quickly execute any tasks
Before airbase we had multiple systems to support the same use cases so airbase allowed us to consolidate into one solution and use it across our entire organization. Expensing is simple with fast reimbursements, it's easy to keep track of individual spending, team spending, and project spending. One system of record has been incredibly helpful for a system of record
The combination of virtual and physical cards makes paying for services and other business expenses so easy. Being able to email your receipts directly to Airbase makes reconciliation easy.
Would like to see integrations with 3rd party services (Uber).
Ease of setting up new vendors.
Airbase was really easy to implement, the documentation is straightforward, and the site is really customizable to meet our needs.
I would like to have departments auto-coded to users.
Airbase is making the PO process more streamlined allowing us to get the vendors and services we need faster, as well as makes expense management easier and therefore reimbursements are processed sooner- making employees happy
Tech friendly, user friendly, virtual cards, constant updates
Integration with NS, approval process, subsidiaries, want to be able to built more custom functions, needs more robust reporting
Integration with NetSuite, such as amort schedules
Airbase is very user friendly. I was able to learn the system fairly quickly and easily. I use Airbase daily for AP processing and expense reports review. Airbase has a pretty good record export that has been updated through time.
I think that not having real time support like a "chat" option is one of my main issue. I also hate that there are so many things that needs to go through support rather than being able to handle on our end like unapplying payments.
The OCR is one main benefit that is very useful on day to day.
I love the easy to use and powerful automation features, and the organization of reimbursement data.
It can take a while to learn to organization structure.
It is streamlining the reimbursement process
My team and I have been using Airbase for about seven months now. While there are some general issues, the Airbase team has been working closely with my team and me to help resolve them in a timely manner. I appreciate that AP, reimbursements, and credit cards can all be managed in one system. Support is also responsive, which is the biggest win for me.
There are some integrations that are not a part of Airbase yet. However, my team and I have communicated them to Airbase's team and they've assured us they're in the pipeline.
The expense report interface is slowly evolving and that's really going to make the process more efficient for us soon.
The best part about airbase is that the platform offers integration with the bunch of other apps which helps in managing expense automation and taking approvals from management and other team members.
The most frustrating part about airbase is that it does not support recurring payments which is like the most basic requirement for businesses to pay off regular vendors.
Airbase provides integration with slack as a part of integration with other apps. This helps in taking quick and smooth approvals from the reporting managers which ultimately saves time and efforts. That is why I consider it very efficient.
Easy to establish policies, coding, and approval flow. Cashback is a good way to offset the cost of the system.
Reimbursment is a bit clunky. Hard to filter/see transaction date. Does not refresh correctly.
Remove email approvals, provides detail of payment and more visibility.
The easiest thing to use is uploading receipts.
Nothing! I've had no problems with Airbase
Making expense management easy to use for a large company
Airbase has a very simple and clear interface. The system is easy to learn and navigate.
I do not use airbase enough to have a dislike at this time.
Expense reporting is very simple. Adding in pictures of recepits is helpful.
Airbase is easy and simple to use. It is very straight forward from a leadership perspective. You can see the expenses in as real time as I would expect and can approve them quickly. Uploading expenses is also very user friendly and asks all the important information to send to my supervisor. It is very transparant to see all historical events in one place.
I cannot think of anything I do not like.
Airbase provides a simple software solution to managing expenses by our team as well as our own, and keeps all of these records organized.
Simplicity - the step by step process for entering information is very user friendly and easy to use.
I would like to see the ability for a payout, other than entering my bank account information into the system.
Reimbursements for business travel. This puts money back into my pocket from necessary business travel.
I like that Airbase has helped with alot of our AP processes. It has made the job so much easier and effective.
A downside would be just the manual work of some of the invoices when syncing to our ERP system.
Airbase is helping us solve the AP side of business and it is benefiting us in that we have everything in one place and able to use the Invoice module, payments (virtual, physical cards) as well as T&E.
I love that Airbase sends you alerts immediately and you are able to export reports easily. The Flags are always helpful. It reminds me to attach my receipts to avoid back and forth for approvals. It also breakdown costs by vendors, months, departments, etc. Love it!
I have not ran into no real issues so nothing at the moment. I guess sometimes it does not give me the option to deny expenses but after a hard refresh it does.
When my company partnered with Airbase it allowed us to manage our funds a lot better. It gives us visibility into our team expenses and how much we have left in our budget to manage.
Airbase covers all bases. I use it for business travel and am able to submit my expenses easily and quickly. They are sent over to my manager for review and then in very little time, back in my bank account. They also provide an airbase travel credit card with a limit set by the company for expenses up front. The platform is super easy to use and track what I have submitted. Very happy with it.
I have not encountered any big issues with airbase. Some of my expenses do not pull over when dowloaded with all the correct information and I have to fix that manually. It is an easy process though and I think that will be fixed with time.
Getting expenses submitted easily with proof and getting reimbursed in a timely manner. Super easy to use.
The best features about Airbase are the flags; I truly appreciate being reminded to add receipts. The other feature that I find to be very useful is the ability to breakdown costs by vendors, months, departments, you name it!
The downside of Airbase is that I wish I could re-assign an invoice that incorrectly was assigned to me. I have to write a message on it to then have accounting re-assign it. Overall not a huge issue.
One of the more highlighted challenges as a business leader was to really have quick and clear insights for spending, vendor, and invoice management. With Airbase, it's a one-stop-shop!
Easy interface, valuable efficiency tools such as the ability to forward invoices to an email address whch applies tem to the correct charge. Comment section is great too and lets you discuss any issues in a private team setting.
App could use some work. Gets a little glitchy sometimes and the functionality is limited.
Perhaps the most obvious, it reduces changes of fraud losses and potential company theft by setting limits on virtual cards.
Their starter program gives us all the tools to maximize efficiency in our AP & vitrual cards while giving us time to grow with the platform as the business grows.
All the funds need to be prefunded, which is ok. But I would have prferred to get the spend on credit with 30 day terms like some of the other providers offer these days.
It enables us to run all of AP and control spend with just one person on the team. This is a fantastic benefit as it limits the expense we have to incur on the G&A side.
There integrations as they offer integrations with popular accounting and financial systems like QuickBooks etc.
Airbase primarily supports electronic payments, which may not be suitable for organizations that rely heavily on paper checks or have unique payment needs.
Airbase maintains a detailed audit trail of all financial activities, ensuring transparency and compliance. This is useful for us as per the regulatory requirements.
Spend management solutions help small businesses like ours gain better control over our expenses. We can set spending limits, create approval workflows, and enforce spending policies.
Some people may find certain features of spend management too complex or needing a learning curve. However, usage becomes easy with growing experience and familiarity.
Airbase provides real-time visibility into company spending, helping us identify trends, areas of overspending, and opportunities for cost reduction. This transparency is crucial for making informed financial decisions.
TThe capability to seamlessly integrate and transmit expense notifications directly into Slack, our team's preferred communication platform, is a valuable feature. This functionality streamlines the process of notifying and managing expenses, ensuring that important financial updates are easily accessible within our Slack workspace.
Their current system lacks the functionality to establish recurring payments, a feature that proves exceptionally beneficial when it comes to managing vendor payments. The absence of this capability hinders our ability to efficiently schedule and automate payments to our vendors, leading to potential delays and manual interventions in the payment process
The ability to integrate with multiple softwares & thereby automating expense management and getting on the go approvals from the finance team due to my chat integrations.
The best thing about Airbase is how easy it is to use (both from a user perspective and an admin perspective). It does most of the work for you. When compared to other platforms I've used, this one has been the best one hands down.
At times there may be some issues that come up but their support team is quick to resolve them. The team is also impressively quick at adding new functionalities that you suggest.
In the past, our AP management, credit card and out of pocket expense management all took place in three separate systems. Airbase has resolved this by being the one stop for all AP, corporate credit card and out of pocket expense reimbursement. This makes it incredibly easy to track, review and approve all expenses.