Ramp vs Brex (2026): Corporate Card Pricing and Eligibility

Ramp is the default pick for a US company that wants the card and spend controls without a per-seat bill, and Brex is the pick for a funded startup or a company with staff and entities abroad. Both cards are free on their entry plans. Ramp Plus lists at $15 per user per month plus a platform fee set by team size, Brex Premium at $12 per user per month. The sharper difference is eligibility: Ramp asks for $25,000 of cash in a US business bank account, Brex for $50,000 for a startup that has raised funding, and neither takes sole proprietors.

Every figure below was read on the vendors' own pages on October 17, 2026: Ramp pricing, Ramp's application requirements, Ramp's small-business card page, Brex pricing, Brex account requirements and the Brex corporate card page. The scenarios are ours. For each product on its own, read our Ramp review and Brex review; this page is only the head to head.

Toolradar data: on Toolradar, the software directory we run, Brex is listed as an alternative to 45 other tools as of October 2026, and among the 11 expense management tools with a verified per-user price the median entry seat is $12 a month, so Ramp Plus sits above the category median while Brex Premium sits on it. Their product pages are Ramp and Brex.

Plans and prices side by side

Both vendors say the paid tiers exist for process, not for the card. The card, the virtual cards and the basic accounting sync are in the free tier on both sides, so a ten-person company with one entity rarely needs to pay either of them anything.

What the paid tiers cost at 20 and 50 users

At 20 users on monthly billing, Ramp Plus costs $300 a month before its platform fee and Brex Premium $240. At 50 users the gap widens to $750 against $600. Ramp's annual discount of 20% cuts the per-user part to exactly Brex's price, but the platform fee based on team size sits on top of that and Ramp does not print it, so the annual Ramp bill is "$12 per user plus a number you learn from sales". A controller who needs the paid tier should get that platform fee in writing before comparing.

The question that matters more is whether you need the paid tier at all. The features that push companies up are multi-entity consolidation, custom approval chains, ERP integrations and policy automation. On Brex, Essentials already covers two entities; on Ramp, multi-entity is a Plus feature. A holding company with a US operating entity and a second subsidiary pays Brex nothing for that structure and pays Ramp Plus for it, which at 20 users is at least $300 a month, or $3,600 a year before the platform fee.

A company with one entity and a plain approval flow has the opposite result. Ramp Free includes accounts payable and travel and expense, so the whole spend stack runs at $0, and the only cost is the opportunity cost of the cashback rate you are not told up front. Our best corporate cards ranking sets both against the field, and what a corporate card is covers the charge-card mechanics behind both products. Teams that mainly need receipt capture and approvals can compare both against the field in best AI for expense management.

Who gets approved

Ramp sets the lower cash bar and takes any registered US entity; Brex asks for twice that cash or a revenue record, and a fully US-incorporated company. Ramp's application article asks for a corporation, LLC or LP with an EIN, at least $25,000 of cash in any US business bank account linked to the application, and it turns away individuals and sole proprietors. No personal guarantee is required, and Ramp wants most of the company's operations and corporate spending in the US.

Brex's requirements page asks for a US EIN, a valid US incorporation, US operations and a US physical address, and sets $50,000 as the minimum cash balance for a startup that has raised funding. A company that wants the card with monthly or daily payments needs either an equity investment of any amount or more than $500,000 a year in revenue, and a mid-market company needs more than $400,000 a month. Brex's card page says limits are set on the company's financial profile, revenue, amount raised or cash balance rather than a personal FICO score, and that no personal guarantee is required.

What this means in practice: a bootstrapped agency with $30,000 in the bank and no outside investment qualifies for Ramp and not for Brex's startup track, while a seed-stage company with $2 million raised qualifies for both and will usually find Brex's limit more generous because it underwrites against money raised. A sole proprietor qualifies for neither and should look at the small-business cards in our best business bank accounts ranking instead, or at the debit cards that come with a Mercury or Relay account.

Rewards and foreign spend

Brex publishes its reward multipliers and Ramp does not publish its cashback rate, so only one side of this comparison can be computed. Brex's card page lists 7x points on rideshare, 4x on Brex prepaid travel, 3x on restaurants, 2x on software and 1x on everything else. Ramp's small-business page describes cashback that lands automatically, with no annual fee or interest, and leave the percentage off the page. For a finance team modelling card economics, that absence is itself a data point: ask Ramp for the rate in writing before you compare.

On international spend, Brex charges no foreign transaction fee and applies an FX markup of up to 3% when a conversion is needed, and it issues local-currency cards in 60 countries and 30+ currencies so a subsidiary can avoid the markup altogether. Ramp's pricing page does not price foreign card spend, so check the current terms on Ramp's site before issuing cards to staff abroad. For a company paying vendors in other currencies rather than spending on cards, our Wise review and Airwallex review cover the transfer side.

Where each one wins

Ramp wins on the bill for a single-entity US company. The free tier carries the card, bill pay with free wires and same-day ACH, reimbursements and the QuickBooks and Xero sync, so the entire spend process can run without a subscription. It also wins on the entry threshold, since its bank-balance minimum is half of Brex's startup figure, and on cash yield if you move operating cash into its checking and investment accounts at the footnoted rates.

Brex wins for funded startups and for anything international. Two entities on the free plan, local-currency cards, a published points table and underwriting against capital raised all favour a venture-backed company with staff in more than one country. Its paid plan is also the cheaper one, with no platform fee on top, so a 50-person company that needs approval chains pays less to Brex than to Ramp.

Both lose to a plain bank-issued card in one case: a company that cannot keep the minimum balance or clear the revenue test. Neither vendor publishes an exception path for that, and both reserve the right to decline an applicant who meets the stated requirements.

Verdict by company type

How we computed it

The per-user bills multiply each vendor's listed monthly per-user price by 20 and 50 users on monthly billing. Ramp's platform fee is excluded because the vendor does not publish it, and its 20% annual discount is applied to the per-user price only. Eligibility rules are quoted from each vendor's support pages as read on October 17, 2026, and both vendors note that meeting the stated requirements does not guarantee approval. Our editorial policy covers how reviews are produced.

FAQ

Is Ramp or Brex cheaper in 2026?

Both start at $0 per user. On the paid tiers Brex Premium at $12 per user per month is cheaper than Ramp Plus at $15 plus a platform fee set by team size, so a 20-user company pays Brex $240 a month and Ramp at least $300. Ramp's annual billing cuts its per-user price by 20%, to the same figure as Brex, but the platform fee stays.

What do I need to qualify for Ramp?

A corporation, LLC or LP registered in the US with an EIN, and at least $25,000 of cash in a US business bank account linked to the application, per Ramp's support article. Ramp does not accept sole proprietors or unregistered businesses, and it does not require a personal guarantee.

What do I need to qualify for Brex?

A US EIN, US incorporation, US operations and a US address. A funded startup needs a $50,000 minimum cash balance; a company that wants monthly or daily payments needs an equity investment or more than $500,000 a year in revenue, per Brex's requirements page.

Does Brex or Ramp charge foreign transaction fees?

Brex says it charges no foreign transaction fee and applies an FX markup of up to 3% when a currency conversion is needed, with local-currency cards in 60 countries to avoid it. Ramp's pricing page does not price foreign spend, so check the current terms on Ramp's site.

Which has better rewards, Ramp or Brex?

Brex publishes its multipliers: 7x on rideshare, 4x on Brex travel, 3x on restaurants, 2x on software and 1x elsewhere. Ramp pays cashback automatically but does not print the rate on its pricing page, so ask for it before comparing the two on rewards.

Can a sole proprietor get a Ramp or Brex card?

No. Ramp states it is not accepting individuals or sole proprietors, and Brex requires a US-incorporated entity with an EIN. A sole proprietor needs a bank-issued business card instead.

This page is general information, not personalized financial advice. Confirm current prices, eligibility rules and card terms with Ramp and Brex before you apply.

Cite this: Finpresso, "Ramp vs Brex (2026): Corporate Card Pricing and Eligibility", October 2026.

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