# Alternatives to Shoeboxed

> Source: https://tickmarkbooks.com/shoeboxed/alternatives/ (re-verified)
> Updated: 28 October 2026

## At a glance

| Name | Best for | Starts at | A month at 100 transactions | Better than Shoeboxed at | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Shoeboxed](https://tickmarkbooks.com/shoeboxed.md) | Freelancers and bookkeepers with paper receipts to digitize and business miles to log | From $9 a month | Does not apply | — | 26 October 2026 |
| [Zoho Books](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zoho-books.md) | Small businesses and startups that want one ledger plus the wider Zoho app suite | Free, then $20 a month | $20 | Cost for a solo freelancer, Ledger included | 26 October 2026 |
| [FreeAgent](https://tickmarkbooks.com/freeagent.md) | UK sole traders and small limited companies filing their own VAT and Self Assessment | From about $13 a month | About $25 | Cost for a solo freelancer, Promotion and regular price | 26 October 2026 |
| [Puzzle](https://tickmarkbooks.com/puzzle.md) | A US startup on Mercury, Brex, Ramp, Stripe and Gusto that wants to replace QuickBooks | Price not established | $30 | Ledger included, Categorizes transactions | 26 October 2026 |
| [Stampli](https://tickmarkbooks.com/stampli.md) | Finance teams with high invoice volume, many approvers and several entities | On quote | — | Categorizes transactions, QuickBooks Online | 26 October 2026 |
| [Booke AI](https://tickmarkbooks.com/booke-ai.md) | A business or bookkeeping firm already on QuickBooks Online or Xero | Price not established | $156 | Categorizes transactions, QuickBooks Online | 26 October 2026 |
| [Pilot](https://tickmarkbooks.com/pilot.md) | A US startup or small business that wants its books done for it in QuickBooks Online | Price not established | $137 | Categorizes transactions, QuickBooks Online | 26 October 2026 |
| [SimpleAI](https://tickmarkbooks.com/simpleai.md) | Accounting firms and finance teams processing high volumes of invoices and bank statements | From $79 a month | $106 | Cost for a solo freelancer, Categorizes transactions | 27 October 2026 |
| [Expensify](https://tickmarkbooks.com/expensify.md) | Small finance teams that want receipts, cards and reimbursements feeding one ledger | Free, then $5 a seat a month | Does not apply | Cost for a solo freelancer, Categorizes transactions | 26 October 2026 |
| [Dext](https://tickmarkbooks.com/dext.md) | Small businesses and firms feeding receipts and supplier bills into QuickBooks or Xero | From $31.50 a month | Does not apply | Cost for a solo freelancer, Promotion and regular price | 27 October 2026 |

“About” figures are converted at the European Central Bank rate of 30 October 2026.

The ones people open most here come first, then the closest matches.

## Shortlist

### 1. Zoho Books

Cloud accounting ledger with Zia AI, bank feeds, sales tax and 1099 e-filing, from $20 a month.

**Where it improves on Shoeboxed:**
- [Cost for a solo freelancer: yes — A freelancer with bank feeds and receipt capture needs the Standard plan at $20 per organization a month billed monthly, since bank feeds start there.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/)
- [Ledger included: yes — Zoho Books is the accounting ledger itself, so no QuickBooks or Xero subscription sits underneath it; the plan fee covers invoicing, banking, journals and the reports.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/)
- [Getting your books out: yes — Every report, profit and loss and balance sheet included, exports to PDF or spreadsheet; instant exports cap at 5,000 records for PDF and 20,000 for spreadsheets, larger ones run asynchronously.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/)

**Trade-offs against Shoeboxed:**
- [Past your plan’s limits: partial — Each plan caps annual invoices and bills/expenses (5,000 a year on Standard) and the vendor's stated remedy is to email sales for a higher limit rather than a published overage rate.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/)
- [Your accountant can sign in: partial — The Free plan is quoted as one user plus one accountant, so an accountant seat is free there; the paid plans are quoted only as user counts, with extra users at $3 a month.](https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/pricing-comparison.html)

[View Zoho Books](https://tickmarkbooks.com/zoho-books)

### 2. FreeAgent

UK cloud accounting with HMRC filing, bank feeds and AI receipt capture, priced per business type.

**Where it improves on Shoeboxed:**
- [Cost for a solo freelancer: yes — A freelancer pays the Sole trader plan: £19 a month (about $25) plus VAT at the regular rate, £9.50 (about $13) for the first six months, with bank feeds and receipt capture included and no per-transaction charge.](https://www.freeagent.com/pricing/)
- [Promotion and regular price: yes — promotion: every paid plan is advertised at 50% off for the first six months (or first year on annual billing), after which the regular published price applies.](https://www.freeagent.com/pricing/)
- [Ledger included: yes — FreeAgent is the accounting ledger itself: it keeps the books, builds the accounting reports and files the returns, so no QuickBooks or Xero subscription sits underneath it.](https://www.freeagent.com/features/accounting-software/)

**Trade-offs against Shoeboxed:**
- [Past your plan’s limits: partial — No transaction cap is published, but Smart Capture is metered: ten receipts and bills a calendar month as standard, and more only via the £5 (about $6.70) unlimited add-on.](https://www.freeagent.com/pricing/)
- [What the AI costs: partial — included in every plan for smart categorization and the first ten captures a month; processing more than ten receipts or bills needs the £5 (about $6.70)-a-month Smart Capture Unlimited add-on.](https://www.freeagent.com/pricing/)
- [People check the books: no — Checking the AI is yours: Smart Capture ends with you approving each captured bill or receipt, and no plan includes a bookkeeper reviewing the books, only UK support accountants answering questions.](https://www.freeagent.com/features/expenses/)

[View FreeAgent](https://tickmarkbooks.com/freeagent)

### 3. Puzzle

AI-native accounting software with optional bookkeeper services for startups and small businesses.

**Where it improves on Shoeboxed:**
- [Ledger included: yes — It is the ledger; no QuickBooks or Xero needed. Puzzle is a double-entry general ledger of its own, sold as a QuickBooks replacement (Core card: 'Your QuickBooks replacement').](https://puzzle.io/legal/faq)
- [Categorizes transactions: yes — Categorizes by itself and learns from you. Every plan auto-categorizes ('Up to 98% auto-categorization' on Starter).](https://help.puzzle.io/en/articles/6986850-rules-and-categories)
- [QuickBooks Online: yes — QuickBooks Online read for migration.](https://help.puzzle.io/en/articles/12598354-connecting-banks-integrations-in-puzzle)

**Trade-offs against Shoeboxed:**
- [Past your plan’s limits: partial — Moved up a plan; only AI credits priced. Seats: Starter 1, Core 5, Complete and Scale unlimited; more users means a higher plan.](https://help.puzzle.io/en/articles/17063329-puzzle-accounting-services-expert-reviewed-full-service-add-ons)
- [Reads receipts and bills: partial — Reads an uploaded receipt; no stated matching. You can attach documents to a transaction or bill.](https://help.puzzle.io/en/articles/15138987-month-end-close-with-ai-close)
- [People check the books: partial — Only with a paid service; software plans: you check. On the software plans (Starter, Core, Complete, Scale) you close the books yourself, and Puzzle support does not do bookkeeping.](https://puzzle.io/pricing)

[View Puzzle](https://tickmarkbooks.com/puzzle)

### 4. Stampli

Procure-to-pay workspace for invoices, vendors, payments and card spend, with AI coding and routing.

**Where it improves on Shoeboxed:**
- [Categorizes transactions: yes — Billy applies your coding patterns to the fields of the accounting system you run, and reviewed corrections feed back into later suggestions; a person still confirms before posting.](https://www.stampli.com/billy/)
- [QuickBooks Online: yes — Stampli connects to more than seventy accounting systems, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop and Oracle NetSuite among them, each with its own integration page](https://www.stampli.com/accounting-systems-erps/)
- [QuickBooks Desktop: yes — Stampli connects to more than seventy accounting systems, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop and Oracle NetSuite among them, each with its own integration page](https://www.stampli.com/accounting-systems-erps/)

**Trade-offs against Shoeboxed:**
- [Platforms: partial — web is the main place it runs, with mobile approvals and a mobile capture flow for receipts and mileage; the vendor never names Windows, Mac, iOS or Android.](https://www.stampli.com/expenses/)
- [Mileage: partial — Employees enter mileage in the mobile claim flow alongside purchases and per diem; nothing says miles are tracked automatically by the phone.](https://www.stampli.com/expenses/)
- [For accounting firms: partial — There is a partner program for accounting firms built on referrals and revenue sharing, not a console where a firm runs many clients under its own branding.](https://www.stampli.com/partners/)

[View Stampli](https://tickmarkbooks.com/stampli)

### 5. Booke AI

An AI bookkeeper that works inside QuickBooks Online and Xero to categorize transactions and match documents.

**Where it improves on Shoeboxed:**
- [Categorizes transactions: yes — Daily, and learns from your approvals and fixes. It processes new QuickBooks Online and Xero bank-feed transactions in a daily run, categorizes them from the client's own history, sends low-confidence ones to your team, and uses each approval or correction for later categorizations.](https://booke.ai/quickbooks-online)
- [QuickBooks Online: yes — QuickBooks Online, Xero Zoho Books: Booke's document and collaboration features sync with it, but the AI Bookkeeper pages name only QuickBooks Online and Xero.](https://booke.ai/bookkeeping-ai)
- [Xero: yes — QuickBooks Online, Xero Zoho Books: Booke's document and collaboration features sync with it, but the AI Bookkeeper pages name only QuickBooks Online and Xero.](https://booke.ai/bookkeeping-ai)

**Trade-offs against Shoeboxed:**
- [People check the books: no — No: software only; your team reviews exceptions. No bookkeeper or accountant from Booke reviews the work on any plan.](https://booke.ai/)
- [NetSuite: no — not Desktop or NetSuite.](https://booke.ai/bookkeeping-ai)

[View Booke AI](https://tickmarkbooks.com/booke-ai)

### 6. Pilot

A bookkeeping and tax service for startups that pairs software-driven dashboards with human financial advisors.

**Where it improves on Shoeboxed:**
- [Categorizes transactions: yes — AI categorizes and learns your patterns. The AI Accountant categorizes transactions, reconciles accounts and identifies vendors.](https://pilot.com/platform/ai-accountant)
- [QuickBooks Online: yes — QuickBooks Online only](https://pilot.com/blog/xero-vs-pilot-comparison-for-business-owners)
- [Xero: yes — Can I use Pilot if I want to keep Xero?](https://pilot.com/blog/xero-vs-pilot-comparison-for-business-owners)

**Trade-offs against Shoeboxed:**
- [Past your plan’s limits: partial — Moved up a band from your 3-month average. No per-unit overage price.](https://pilot.com/faq)
- [People check the books: partial — Bookkeeper reviews on Core; Essentials is AI only. Essentials is described as AI doing the work ('AI categorizes transactions, reconciles accounts, and closes books monthly'), with support by in-app message.](https://pilot.com/pricing)
- [Sign up without a sales call: no — Plans bought through sales; only the trial is self-serve. Every bookkeeping, tax, CFO and COO plan card on the pricing page leads to 'Contact Sales' (/talk-to-expert); there is no buy or sign-up button for a paid plan.](https://pilot.com/pricing)

[View Pilot](https://tickmarkbooks.com/pilot)

### 7. SimpleAI

AI agents that extract, classify and reconcile accounting documents, then publish them into Xero or QuickBooks.

**Where it improves on Shoeboxed:**
- [Cost for a solo freelancer: yes — A one-person business can start on NOVA's Starter plan at S$39 a month for 30 document credits, one entity and three users; the SAAM accounting module's own entry plan is US$79 a month plus the Xero or QuickBooks subscription it publishes into.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/solutions/nova)
- [Categorizes transactions: yes — It classifies extracted entries by itself and the vendor says it improves from repeated corrections, custom prompts and your historical transactions rather than from fixed rules.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en)
- [Other currencies: yes — Foreign currencies are handled for documents and invoices, and NOVA's plan comparison shows Multi-Currency included on every tier including the free one, with FX revaluation among its reports.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/contact)

**Trade-offs against Shoeboxed:**
- [People check the books: no — No bookkeeper of the vendor's checks the output: review sits with you inside the platform, and NOVA requires human approval before anything is committed to the records.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/contact)
- [QuickBooks Desktop: no — QuickBooks Desktop and NetSuite are absent from that list, and no page says which QuickBooks or Xero plans are required.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/contact)
- [NetSuite: no — QuickBooks Desktop and NetSuite are absent from that list, and no page says which QuickBooks or Xero plans are required.](https://simpleaiworks.com/en/contact)

[View SimpleAI](https://tickmarkbooks.com/simpleai)

### 8. Expensify

Receipt scanning, company cards, bill pay and reimbursements that feed QuickBooks, Xero or NetSuite.

**Where it improves on Shoeboxed:**
- [Cost for a solo freelancer: yes — One person can run receipts, mileage and expense reports on the free Submit plan, and a paid workspace with reimbursements and accounting sync starts at $5 per member a month.](https://www.expensify.com/pricing)
- [Categorizes transactions: yes — It codes card and receipt transactions automatically from your past activity and from merchant rules, and the vendor says it learns how you categorize and keeps doing it that way.](https://use.expensify.com/ai-expense-management)
- [QuickBooks Online: yes — It connects to QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct and Oracle](https://use.expensify.com/ai-disclosure)

**Trade-offs against Shoeboxed:**
- [Your accountant can sign in: partial — Accounting firms in the partner program get their own free account and a dashboard over client workspaces, but the vendor's pages do not say an outside accountant can be added to a single workspace without being billed as a member.](https://use.expensify.com/accountants-program)

[View Expensify](https://tickmarkbooks.com/expensify)

### 9. Dext

Captures receipts, invoices and statements, codes them and publishes to QuickBooks, Xero or Sage.

**Where it improves on Shoeboxed:**
- [Cost for a solo freelancer: yes — The cheapest public business plan is $31.50 a month billed monthly, covering 250 documents and 5 users, which comfortably holds a freelancer's 30 receipts; the ledger it publishes into is paid separately.](https://dext.com/us/business/pricing)
- [Promotion and regular price: yes — yearly shown monthly: the plan card opens on the Annual tab showing $25.21 per month, which is the annual rate ($302.50 billed annually); the month-to-month rate is $31.50, and the AI Assist add-on is $10.5 per month only until 31 Jan 2027.](https://dext.com/us/business/pricing)
- [Categorizes transactions: yes — Dext codes each document the way you coded the last one from that supplier, remembers corrections as supplier rules, and flags anything it is not confident about instead of guessing.](https://dext.com/us/business/product/capture-receipts-and-invoices)

**Trade-offs against Shoeboxed:**
- [What the AI costs: partial — add-on: extraction and auto-categorization come with every plan, but the AI Assist agent is a priced add-on at $10.5 a month on business plans and $7 per client on practice plans.](https://dext.com/us/business/pricing)
- [People check the books: partial — Nothing publishes without your own review, and Dext says a human reviewer settles cases its AI is unsure of, but no bookkeeper reviews your books as a service on any plan.](https://dext.com/us/business/product/dext-ai-assist-bookkeeping-agent)
- [QuickBooks Desktop: no — QuickBooks Desktop and NetSuite are named nowhere.](https://dext.com/us/business-type/business-owners/faqs)

[View Dext](https://tickmarkbooks.com/dext)