Airbase Reviews: 4.8/5 — Highly Rated

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.