Expensify vs Ramp (2026): Per-Member Fees or a Free Card Platform?

For a small business that qualifies, Ramp is the cheaper choice: Ramp Free costs $0 per user, while Expensify Collect costs $5 per member a month. Ramp's catch is entry: it wants a registered company with at least $25,000 of cash in a US business bank account and moves your spending onto its card. Expensify is the pick for a team that keeps its existing cards, or does not meet Ramp's bar.

Every figure below was read on the vendors' own pages on October 19, 2026: Expensify pricing, Expensify's billing overview, Ramp pricing and Ramp's application requirements. The bills are our arithmetic. For Ramp on its own, read our Ramp review; this page is only the head to head, written for a 5 to 20 person business and the bookkeeper who closes its books.

Toolradar data: among the 11 expense management tools with a verified per-user price on Toolradar, the software directory we run, Expensify's entry plan ranks first for price and Ramp's $15 Plus plan ranks eighth, against a median of $12 per user a month, as of October 2026. Their records are Expensify and Ramp, and the wider field is Toolradar's expense management ranking of 87 tools.

How Expensify and Ramp make money

The two products are priced from opposite ends. Expensify sells software per member and offers a card that discounts the software. Ramp sells a corporate card and gives the core software away, charging only for the automation layer in Plus.

That difference decides the whole comparison for a small business, because it sets who pays: the software budget on one side, the card relationship on the other. With Expensify, every person who files expenses in a paid workspace adds to the bill, whichever cards they use. With Ramp, a team can run cards, receipts, approvals and bill pay without a software fee, provided the company qualifies for and uses the Ramp card.

Ramp's model also explains its eligibility rules. A charge card needs underwriting, so Ramp asks for an EIN, a registered entity and cash in the bank, and it does not require a personal guarantee. Expensify's pricing page sets no such gate for the software, so a company with a thin balance can subscribe to Collect without changing banks or cards. Our explainer on what a corporate card is covers the charge-card mechanics behind Ramp.

What a 10- and 20-person business pays

We priced each plan at 10 and 20 members, on each vendor's printed per-member rate. Ramp Plus has a platform fee that Ramp does not print, so its row shows only the per-user part.

At 20 people, Expensify Collect costs $1,200 a year and Ramp Free costs nothing. That is the gap a qualifying company saves by moving its spend to Ramp's card. For a company that does not qualify, Collect is the cheapest path in this table, and Toolradar's per-user data makes it the cheapest paid plan in the category.

The upper tiers flip the logic. Expensify Control on an annual plan at the full card discount comes to $9 per member, which beats Ramp Plus on the per-user line. But reaching that discount requires putting most of your approved spend on the Expensify Card, so it is a card commitment too. Ramp Plus cannot be compared fully until Ramp quotes the platform fee, so get that number in writing before you choose either upper tier.

What a bookkeeper gets on each side

Both entry tiers sync to QuickBooks Online and Xero, so a small business on either ledger can stay where it is. Expensify puts that sync in Collect; Ramp puts it in Free. NetSuite and Sage Intacct move you up a tier on both sides: Control at Expensify, Plus at Ramp.

The day-to-day work differs more than the integrations. Expensify is built around the expense report: SmartScan receipt capture, mileage tracking, reports, approvals and ACH reimbursement, with third-party card feeds and reconciliation in the plan comparison. That suits a business where staff pay on personal or existing company cards and get reimbursed, and the bookkeeper reconciles from reports.

Ramp is built around the card transaction. Receipts are collected and matched to card spend automatically, staff complete expenses by SMS or Slack, and bill pay with ACH, check, wire and card sits in the free tier. That suits a business that wants every purchase on a company card from the start, so the bookkeeper codes transactions rather than chasing reports. If your close also runs through QuickBooks, our QuickBooks Online pricing and Xero pricing guides cover the ledger side, and how to do bookkeeping for a small business covers the routine around it.

Cards and rewards

Expensify prints its card cashback; Ramp's pricing page does not. The Expensify Card pays 1% cash back on all US purchases with no minimum and 2% on monthly spend over $250,000, per Expensify's pricing page. For a 10-person business, the 1% rate is the realistic one, since the 2% threshold is far above typical small-company spend.

Ramp offers unlimited physical and virtual cards on every plan, with card issuing controls in the free tier and automatic card locks for missing receipts in Plus. Ramp's FAQ says Plus can be paid with ACH or with the rewards earned on Ramp card spend. Ramp's pricing page does not state a cashback rate, so ask for it in writing if rewards matter to your choice.

Expensify also issues unlimited cards, with Smart Limits and virtual cards listed in its plan comparison. The software discount is the bigger lever: card spend can cut Control's price in half, but Collect gets no card discount on Expensify's billing overview.

Three small-business cases

A five-person agency with $40,000 in the bank and every purchase on one card: Ramp Free fits. The agency qualifies on cash, pays nothing for software, and the bookkeeper gets card transactions with receipts already matched. On Expensify Collect the same team would pay $25 a month, a small sum that buys nothing Ramp Free lacks for this setup.

An eight-person LLC with $15,000 of cash and staff who pay on personal cards: Expensify Collect fits, at $40 a month. The company is under Ramp's cash bar, and its spend runs through reimbursements anyway, which is the workflow Expensify's reports and ACH payouts are built for. Revisit Ramp once the balance clears the minimum.

A 15-person company that closes its books in NetSuite: both sides need the upper tier. Expensify Control on an annual subscription costs $270 a month at standard pricing and as low as $135 with the full card discount. Ramp Plus costs $225 a month on monthly billing before the platform fee, so the cheaper option depends on a quote Ramp only gives on request.

Where each one wins

Ramp wins for a registered US company with $25,000 or more in the bank that is happy to run spend on one corporate card. It costs nothing at the free tier, includes bill pay and accounting sync, and skips the personal guarantee. Our Ramp vs Brex comparison covers the other free card platform it is most often weighed against.

Expensify wins for a business that cannot or will not move to a new card. That covers sole proprietors, companies under Ramp's cash bar, and teams with existing cards they want to keep. Collect is the cheapest paid expense tool on Toolradar's per-user list, and staff who only submit can use Submit for free.

Neither is the obvious answer for a multi-entity business with an ERP. Both put NetSuite and Sage Intacct on the paid tier, and Ramp's platform fee is unpublished, so request quotes from both. For the full field, see our best corporate cards ranking, the best AI for expense management list, and the Brex review and BILL review for two other spend platforms.

How we compared them

Louis Corneloup, founder of Dupple and Toolradar, prepared this comparison for small businesses choosing an expense tool. We read every plan, price, card term and eligibility rule on the four vendor pages linked at the top on October 19, 2026, with prices in US dollars. The monthly bills are our arithmetic from the printed per-member rates, at the member counts shown, and leave out Ramp's unpublished platform fee. The Toolradar ranks and median come from each tool's Toolradar record that month. Publishing rules for this site sit on the Finpresso about page.

This page is general information, not personalized financial advice. Confirm current pricing, card terms and eligibility with Expensify and Ramp before you sign up.

Cite this: Finpresso, "Expensify vs Ramp (2026): Per-Member Fees or a Free Card Platform?", October 2026.

FAQ

Is Ramp cheaper than Expensify?

For a company that qualifies, yes. Ramp Free charges nothing per user, while Expensify Collect bills every member, which comes to $100 a month at 20 members. Ramp's entity and cash rules decide whether you qualify, so check them before you plan around the free tier.

How much does Expensify cost in 2026?

Submit is free for individual employees. Collect costs $5 per unique member a month on pay-per-use. Control costs $36 per active member a month on pay-per-use or $18 per member on an annual subscription, and Expensify Card spend can cut Control's price by up to 50%.

How much does Ramp cost in 2026?

Ramp Free costs $0. Ramp Plus costs $15 per user a month plus a platform fee based on team size, which Ramp does not print, with 20% off on annual billing. Enterprise is custom-priced on annual billing.

Can a sole proprietor use Ramp?

No. Ramp's application rules accept corporations, LLCs and LPs, including nonprofits, and turn away individuals, sole proprietors and unregistered businesses. Expensify sells its software per member with no cash minimum on its pricing page, which makes it the usual fallback.

Do Expensify and Ramp work with QuickBooks?

Both sync with QuickBooks Online and Xero on their entry tiers: Expensify from Collect, Ramp from Free. NetSuite and Sage Intacct need Expensify Control or Ramp Plus.

Does Expensify require its own card?

No. Expensify works with existing cards through card feeds and reimbursement. The Expensify Card is optional; its spend earns cash back and can lower the price of the Control plan.

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