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Buyer's guide Bookkeepers and accounting firms

Choosing AI bookkeeping software: ledger, bills or receipts

First decide whether the AI should keep the ledger itself, as Digits and FreeAgent do, or feed QuickBooks or Xero with bills, receipts and payments.

Tick Mark Books ResearchPublished 20 min readEditorial policy
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On this page
  1. The short answer
  2. The 7 tools compared
  3. What does one month at 100 transactions cost once the ledger is counted?
  4. Does the tool keep the ledger, or feed QuickBooks or Xero?
  5. Which work does the AI do, and what does a person still check?
  6. Does it pay the bills, or only capture them?
  7. Can a firm run several businesses and let the accountant sign in?
  8. How do you start for free, and can you take your books with you?
  9. The tools that stand out
  10. Prices compared
  11. Which one to pick
  12. How we compared
  13. Questions buyers ask
  14. Sources

The short answer

Digits is the general ledger itself, so its plan price already covers it. FreeAgent starts at £10 a month (about $13) and files Self Assessment straight to Britain’s tax authority.

Hubdoc at $12 a month, Melio, which has a free plan, and Expensify capture bills and receipts, but each needs a separate ledger such as QuickBooks or Xero paid on top.

On 31 October 2026 we listed 49 tools: 27 of them under Bookkeepers and accounting firms and 14 with a free plan.

  • Hubdoc has the cheapest paid entry plan, at $12 a month, Glean.ai the dearest, at $295 a month, and the median is $25 a month.
  • Digits and FreeAgent are each the general ledger, so no QuickBooks or Xero subscription sits underneath them, whereas Expensify, fileLedger by fileAI, Glean.ai, Hubdoc and Melio feed a separate ledger you pay for on top of their price.
  • Digits, Expensify, Glean.ai and Melio pay vendor bills as well as reading them, 4 of the 7, while fileLedger by fileAI, FreeAgent and Hubdoc capture bills and stop short of paying them.
  • Digits runs automated checks and routes uncertain items to a Checklist, but a licensed human reviewer comes from a partner firm you hire; Glean.ai adds approval workflows for bills, Hubdoc’s human teams check data capture and not your books, and fileLedger by fileAI and FreeAgent leave the checking to your own staff.
  • Expensify and Melio have a free plan, 2 of the 7.
Logos of Digits, Expensify, fileLedger by fileAI, FreeAgent, Glean.ai, Hubdoc, Melio. 7 tools compared, from $12 a month.

The 7 tools compared

Table 1 Price and the questions that separate them, checked 30 October 2026
ProductFromPays your billsCost for a solo freelancerSeveral businesses
Digits
$65 a month
Yes
Yes
Yes
Expensify
Free, then $5 a seat a month
Yes
Yes
Yes
fileLedger by fileAI
$13 a month
Partly
Partly
Partly
FreeAgent
about $13 a month
Partly
Yes
No
Glean.ai
$295 a month billed annually
Yes
Partly
Yes
Hubdoc
$12 a month
Partly
Partly
Partly
Melio
Free, then $25 a month
Yes
Yes
Yes

What does one month at 100 transactions cost once the ledger is counted?

FreeAgent’s £10 a month (about $13) includes its own ledger. fileLedger by fileAI starts at $13 a month, Hubdoc at $12 a month and Melio at $25 a month, each before the ledger subscription paid separately. Expensify charges $5 a seat a month and Glean.ai $295 a month, billed annually.

Does the tool keep the ledger, or feed QuickBooks or Xero?

Digits and FreeAgent keep the ledger, so no QuickBooks or Xero subscription sits underneath; Digits treats those platforms as sources to move your books from.

Expensify connects to QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct and Oracle, with NetSuite and Sage Intacct on the Control plan. Glean.ai syncs bills with QuickBooks Online and Desktop, Xero and Oracle NetSuite. Hubdoc publishes into Xero and QuickBooks Online and sends payables to Bill.com, fileLedger by fileAI posts into Xero or QuickBooks, and Melio syncs to QuickBooks, Xero or NetSuite.

Which work does the AI do, and what does a person still check?

Digits and FreeAgent reconcile bank accounts inside the product, and the checking still falls to you or a firm you hire.

Digits books bank, card and payroll transactions and keeps an accountant’s corrections, and FreeAgent’s Guess feature learns from your past explanations. Expensify codes card and receipt spending from past activity and merchant rules, and reconciles card feeds against the card statement. fileLedger by fileAI tags account codes and feeds statement lines into Xero’s Reconcile tab, where a person confirms matches. Hubdoc codes documents by Supplier Rules you set and matches published transactions to the bank feed, though nobody reviews your books. Glean.ai codes forwarded bills to your accounts with approval workflows on top, and Melio’s AI codes bills synced to QuickBooks Online and learns from corrections.

Does it pay the bills, or only capture them?

Digits, Expensify, Glean.ai and Melio pay the bills they capture, 4 of the 7, while fileLedger by fileAI, FreeAgent and Hubdoc stop before payment.

Digits reads the invoice, routes it for approval and pays by bank transfer inside the ledger; Melio pays by bank transfer, card, check, wire or international transfer, Glean.ai by bank transfer, check or international payment, and Expensify by bank transfer or card. Hubdoc sends coded bills to Bill.com for payment and FreeAgent leaves payment to partner products. Expensify’s SmartScan, Hubdoc and FreeAgent’s Smart Capture match each receipt to its card or bank transaction, Digits takes receipts by photo, upload or a forwarding address, Melio prompts card spenders to upload theirs, Glean.ai reads emailed bills, and fileLedger by fileAI marks its Expense Report Agent coming soon.

Can a firm run several businesses and let the accountant sign in?

Digits, Expensify, Glean.ai and Melio handle several businesses, 4 of the 7, while FreeAgent needs a separate account and subscription for each business.

Digits covers several businesses and Melio holds several companies in one account. Glean.ai charges a separate fee for each extra entity, Expensify gives each business its own workspace and bills its members, Hubdoc bills $12 a month for each client account, and fileLedger by fileAI sets no workspace limit. Digits, fileLedger by fileAI and Glean.ai include unlimited users for the accountant, a FreeAgent partner practice can move the account onto its Practice Dashboard, Hubdoc and Melio give firms free accounts of their own, and Expensify gives firms in its partner program a free account.

How do you start for free, and can you take your books with you?

Expensify, FreeAgent and Melio are the 3 of the 7 you can start free outright, and Expensify and Melio keep a standing free plan, 2 of the 7; Digits and FreeAgent let you take your books with you.

Expensify’s free Submit plan covers one person’s receipts and mileage, Melio’s Go plan is free with free invoicing and its paid plans are free for 90 days with no card, and FreeAgent runs a 30-day trial with no card. Digits opens with a 30-day free trial, Hubdoc with a 30-day trial and no card, and Glean.ai invites you to try it free; fileLedger by fileAI offers a partial free start. FreeAgent exports the whole account to a spreadsheet and attachments to a zip file, though the export cannot be loaded back in, and Digits exports reports, financial statements and a tax package. Expensify, fileLedger by fileAI and Hubdoc export documents and data while the books stay in your ledger, and Glean.ai’s terms do not promise a complete export.

The tools that stand out

Digits

Best for American businesses that want the AI to keep the ledger: Digits is the general ledger itself, so no QuickBooks or Xero subscription sits underneath, and it runs automated quality checks on the books.

  • Price: From $65 a month
  • Who it’s for: An American startup or small business that wants its own AI-kept ledger.
  • Skip it if: A British sole trader should pick FreeAgent, which files Self Assessment to Britain’s tax authority, because Digits sells to American entities with American bank accounts and says it does not serve Canadian, British or Australian businesses today.

Digits is a general ledger for American businesses. Bank, card and payroll transactions come in automatically from more than 12,000 institutions, and statements are fetched automatically for many banks to keep reconciliation running. Bill Pay reads each invoice, routes it for approval and pays it by bank transfer inside the same ledger.

Digits points solo operators to its Essentials plan, which includes bank feeds, receipts and invoicing with no per-user charge. The AI bookkeeping, reconciliation, quality checks and the Ask Digits assistant are in the plan fee, with no credits or metering published. Signing up carries no setup fee, and a business can start a trial and connect its accounts on its own.

Expensify and fileLedger by fileAI feed a ledger kept elsewhere. Digits is that ledger. It collects vendor tax details and flags vendors who need a contractor tax form, but the form itself is filed in tax software. Reports and financial statements export to Excel, and a tax package exports for your preparer.

What it does well

  • The AI bookkeeping, reconciliation and Ask Digits assistant are in the plan fee.
  • Bill Pay reads, routes and pays invoices by bank transfer inside the ledger, and every public plan includes it.
  • Transactions arrive automatically from more than 12,000 institutions.
  • Digits handles several businesses.

Where it falls short

  • Digits sells only to American entities and names no value-added tax handling.
  • Inventory is outside its scope, with no item-level stock tracking or cost-of-goods-sold engine on any plan.
  • Support is by email and a web form only, with no phone or chat.

Expensify

Best for receipts, company cards and staff reimbursements: Expensify scans receipts, runs company cards and pays staff back, and one person can start on the free Submit plan.

  • Price: Free, then $5 a seat a month
  • Free plan: yes
  • Who it’s for: A small finance team that wants receipts, cards and reimbursements feeding one ledger.
  • Skip it if: A business that wants the ledger itself should pick Digits, because Expensify keeps no general ledger or trial balance.

Expensify handles receipts, company cards, bills and staff reimbursements, then pushes the results to QuickBooks, Xero or NetSuite. Card feeds import automatically from more than 10,000 banks worldwide. Vendor bills forwarded to a workspace address are scanned, routed for approval and paid by bank transfer or card, then posted to your accounting system as payables.

The free Submit plan covers one person’s receipts, mileage and expense reports. A paid workspace adds reimbursements and accounting sync. Expensify says its AI is no separate module and carries no extra charge on any plan. Its Concierge AI categorizes spend from past behavior, chases policy violations and explains each action on request.

Expensify keeps no general ledger, so a month’s cost also includes the QuickBooks, Xero or NetSuite subscription it feeds. Each business gets its own workspace with its own accounting connection, card program and approvals, and reporting rolls up across all of them. Support runs around the clock by chat, email, phone and video.

What it does well

  • One person can run receipts, mileage and expense reports on the free Submit plan.
  • Support answers around the clock by chat, email, phone and video.
  • Card feeds import from more than 10,000 banks worldwide.
  • Each business gets its own workspace, and reporting rolls up across all of them.

Where it falls short

  • Expensify keeps no general ledger, so the accounting system it syncs to is a second subscription.
  • Expensify does not prepare or file income tax returns on any plan.
  • Each workspace’s members are billed separately.

fileLedger by fileAI

Best for small firms already running on Xero: fileLedger by fileAI reads client invoices and bank statements and pushes the transactions into Xero’s Reconcile tab.

  • Price: From $13 a month
  • Who it’s for: A small accounting firm buried in client invoices and statements that already runs on Xero.
  • Skip it if: A business that wants approved bills paid as well as posted should pick Expensify, which pays them by bank transfer or card and posts them to the accounting system as payables.

fileLedger by fileAI sells agent plans that read invoices and bank statements and post them into Xero or QuickBooks. Its AI agents classify files without templates, pull line items into set fields, match related documents and route exceptions. Statement transactions are pushed into Xero’s Reconcile tab on a schedule, and fileAI describes that feed for Xero only.

The cheapest published plan covers one agent with 250 flows.

Bills are captured, checked against rules and routed for approval before posting, but fileAI documents no payment step, where Digits and Expensify pay approved bills. Billing follows processed volume with unlimited workspaces and users, so a firm can keep client entities apart. A person answers by email and live chat, with first replies in 24 hours or 4 hours depending on tier, during weekday business hours.

What it does well

  • Statement transactions go straight into Xero’s Reconcile tab on a schedule.
  • The entry plan includes the AI extraction and validation.
  • Billing follows processed volume, with unlimited workspaces and users for client entities.
  • Extracted data downloads to Excel and other file formats.

Where it falls short

  • The Xero or QuickBooks subscription that holds the books is paid separately.
  • Bills are routed and posted, but fileAI documents no payment step.
  • fileAI does not say what a second entity or Xero organization adds to the bill.

FreeAgent

Best for British sole traders filing their own returns: FreeAgent files Self Assessment straight to Britain’s tax authority for sole traders, from £10 a month (about $13).

  • Price: From about $13 a month
  • Who it’s for: A British sole trader or small limited company that files its own value-added tax and Self Assessment returns.
  • Skip it if: An owner running several American businesses should pick Digits, which handles several businesses. FreeAgent needs a separate account and subscription for each business.

FreeAgent is cloud accounting built around British businesses, British bank feeds and filing with Britain’s tax authority. It files Self Assessment for sole traders, company directors and unincorporated landlords, plus Final Accounts and Corporation Tax returns for limited companies. Open Banking feeds import business transactions automatically from the major British banks.

Prices start at £10 a month (about $13). FreeAgent charges nothing to set up an account, and a small business can sign up, subscribe and cancel online. You can create, buy and sell stock items, but stock is unavailable on unincorporated landlord accounts and cash-basis accounts.

Bills are recorded and tracked as accounts payable, but paying them is left to partner products. American contractor forms are not among what it files. British support accountants answer by phone, email and chat on weekdays. The whole account exports to a spreadsheet and the attachments to a zip folder, for record keeping, since the export cannot be loaded back in.

What it does well

  • FreeAgent files Self Assessment, Final Accounts and Corporation Tax returns with Britain’s tax authority.
  • British support accountants answer by phone, email and chat.
  • It runs in the browser and in native iPhone and Android apps.
  • The whole account exports to a spreadsheet, and the attachments to a zip folder.

Where it falls short

  • One account holds one business, so a second business needs a second subscription.
  • Paying bills happens in partner products, outside FreeAgent.
  • Support has no weekend or after-hours cover.

Prices compared

Figure 1 · Entry price, a monthEntry prices in US dollars run from $12 a month to $295 a month; the median is $25 a month

Price on the maker's page

  1. Hubdoc$12 a month
  2. Melio$25 a month
  3. Glean.ai$295 a month

Source: Each vendor’s pricing page, read between 26 October 2026 and 30 October 2026.

Hubdoc’s $12 a month and Melio’s $25 a month buy capture or bill pay, so a QuickBooks or Xero subscription comes on top. Digits includes the ledger, and Glean.ai’s $295 a month buys up to 35 invoices.

“AI is not a separate module or a paid add-on. It runs throughout the platform and is included in every subscription.”

From Expensify’s own page, read on 26 October 2026

Which one to pick

  • If you need bill and receipt capture on the smallest budget: pick Hubdoc. Hubdoc costs $12 a month, the cheapest paid entry plan, and it reads receipts and bills sent by photo, email, scan or upload, then matches each one to the ledger’s bank feed.
  • If you want the AI to keep the ledger itself: pick Digits. Digits books bank, card and payroll transactions with no QuickBooks or Xero subscription underneath, and it is built for American startups and small businesses.
  • If you need vendor bills approved and paid for several companies from one account: pick Melio. Melio routes bills through multi-level approvals and pays them by bank transfer, card, check, wire or international transfer, several companies can live in one Melio account, and it has a free plan.
  • If you are a sole trader in Britain who files your own tax return: pick FreeAgent. FreeAgent files Self Assessment straight to Britain’s tax authority from the same books, it is made for sole traders and small limited companies, and it fits a solo freelancer’s budget.
  • If a team of staff submits receipts and expense claims: pick Expensify. Expensify is built for small finance teams pooling receipts, cards and reimbursements into one ledger; SmartScan reads a photographed, emailed or texted receipt and matches it to the card transaction.
  • If your finance team handles a high volume of vendor invoices: pick Glean.ai. Glean.ai is built for finance teams managing vendor invoices and spend; it approves invoices and pays them by bank transfer, check or international payment, charges a separate fee for each extra entity, and starts at $295 a month, billed annually.

How we compared

We compared 7 tools on price, free plan and 3 questions a buyer asks, reading each vendor’s pricing page and product pages between 26 October 2026 and 30 October 2026. We did not sign up for or run any of them. The median, the cheapest and the dearest plan are taken over the 5 picks priced in US dollars a month, so their prices compare directly. In all we answered 52 questions about what they do.

The figures are as of 30 October 2026, from 7 listings. See how we check every listing and every price change we track.

Questions buyers ask

Do these tools replace QuickBooks or Xero?

Digits and FreeAgent replace them, because each is the ledger itself. Digits treats QuickBooks Online, Xero, QuickBooks Desktop and NetSuite as sources to move your books from, not systems it runs on. Expensify, fileLedger by fileAI, Glean.ai, Hubdoc and Melio sit on top of a ledger you keep paying for. Expensify connects to QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct and Oracle.

Does a person check the books, or only the AI?

The AI does the first pass and your own staff or accountant does the checking: Digits, fileLedger by fileAI and Melio include no bookkeeper of your own. Digits runs automated quality checks, sends uncertain items to a Checklist and refers you to partner firms for a licensed reviewer. FreeAgent has you approve each captured bill or receipt, fileLedger by fileAI routes failed validation rules to your own team, and Glean.ai’s approval workflows add a person’s sign-off on bills. Hubdoc’s terms say human teams may help extract data, but nobody reviews your books.

Which AI bookkeeping tools have a free plan?

Expensify and Melio have a free plan, 2 of the 7. FreeAgent joins them as one of the 3 of the 7 you can start free outright: its 30-day trial needs no card, and the account stays free for customers of certain British banks. Digits opens with a 30-day free trial, and Hubdoc runs a 30-day trial with no card before you pay.

What does a solo freelancer pay for AI bookkeeping?

A solo freelancer gets the ledger included in the Digits plan, or can start free on Expensify’s Submit plan for receipts and mileage. Hubdoc at $12 a month for unlimited documents and fileLedger by fileAI, whose entry plan covers 250 flows, both leave the Xero or QuickBooks subscription to pay on top. Glean.ai charges a solo buyer the same as a team, from $295 a month billed annually for up to 35 invoices. Digits, Expensify, FreeAgent and Melio fit a solo budget, 4 of the 7.

Can my accountant sign in to my books?

Yes, on Digits, fileLedger by fileAI, FreeAgent, Glean.ai, Hubdoc and Melio. Digits, fileLedger by fileAI and Glean.ai include unlimited users, so inviting your accountant adds nothing to the bill, and FreeAgent prices per business, not per seat. Melio adds an external accountant role on Core and up and gives firms its Unlimited plan free. Expensify gives accounting firms in its partner program a free account with a dashboard over client workspaces, but an outside accountant added to one workspace may be billed as a member.

Can these tools file my tax return?

FreeAgent files Self Assessment straight to Britain’s tax authority for sole traders, company directors and landlords, plus Final Accounts and Corporation Tax returns for limited companies. Digits prepares the books and exports a tax package for a preparer but files no return, and Expensify, Glean.ai and Melio file no income tax return. FreeAgent also works out what tax is owed and when, and sends quarterly updates to Britain’s tax authority with reminders; Digits offers no tax estimates or reminders.

Is my financial data used to train the AI?

fileLedger by fileAI says document content and account data are not used to train AI models without your explicit consent. Digits says customer data never trains external models, but it trains its own in-house accounting models and publishes no opt-out. Glean.ai’s terms let aggregated customer data train machine-learning models with no opt-out stated, and Melio’s privacy policy sets no such limit for your bill and payment data.

Sources

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