Straight comparisons against the tools UK small businesses actually shortlist.
Most comparison pages are written to make one product look good. These aren't. Each one sets out what the other tool does well, who it's genuinely the right choice for, and where SparkReceipt differs, with pricing taken from the vendor's own UK page rather than converted from dollars.
Business Owners in 175 Countries Trust SparkReceipt
Pick the tool you're weighing SparkReceipt against.
Dext's business plan starts at 5 users and 250 documents, and only a small monthly allowance of line-item and bank statement extraction before add-ons apply. SparkReceipt includes 1 user, more at a per-user rate, and bank statement extraction on both plans; line items and unlimited documents (fair use) come with Elite. The comparison also sets out Dext's UK pricing in full. Dext's practice tooling for accountancy firms is more developed than ours, and the comparison covers where that matters.
Read this if: you're a sole trader or small company paying for five Dext seats you don't use, or you've noticed the add-ons adding up.
Hubdoc comes with Xero's business-edition plans and costs $12 USD a month on its own. The comparison puts it next to Dext and AutoEntry, says when Xero's own document capture is enough, and shows when matching every bank line to a receipt is worth a separate tool.
Read this if: you are weighing Dext against Hubdoc, or you are on Xero and wondering whether you need anything beyond what it includes.
Expensify is built around employees submitting expenses and finance reimbursing them. SparkReceipt is built for the owner keeping their own records. For a small team the prices are nearly identical, so the comparison is about fit rather than cost. That includes bank statement extraction, which Expensify doesn't offer.
Read this if: you're a freelancer or owner-operator who doesn't have an approval chain to run.
WellyBox finds receipts already sitting in your inbox, and does it well. Its entry plan caps you at 50 documents a month, routes phone capture through WhatsApp, and offers no bank statement extraction, income tracking, or mileage.
Read this if: you started with WellyBox for email receipts and have since run into paper, volume, or bank reconciliation.
Shoeboxed is known for its mail-in Magic Envelope, but the envelope's postage is prepaid only within the US and its plans are billed in US dollars. Starter also stores documents for 3 years, less than HMRC's 5 to 6. The comparison sets out what a UK business actually gets from each plan.
Read this if: you signed up for Shoeboxed's envelope and found it doesn't post from the UK.
AutoEntry by Sage posts bills, receipts and statements into your ledger and charges in credits: from £15.45 a month excluding VAT for 50, with a bank statement page using 3 and unused credits expiring after 90 days. SparkReceipt charges a flat plan and matches every bank line to its receipt. The comparison sets out AutoEntry's UK pricing in full.
Read this if: your AutoEntry credits run out or expire before the month does.
DocuClipper converts bank statements, invoices and receipts into spreadsheets and accounting imports, priced by the page from £16 a month billed annually. SparkReceipt reads your statements too, then matches every bank line to its receipt and flags the ones with nothing behind them. The comparison sets out DocuClipper's UK pricing in pounds and when a converter is the better tool.
Read this if: you convert statements to Excel every month and still have to hunt for the receipts afterwards.
The honest one. QuickBooks Online does invoicing, payroll, and MTD filing that we don't touch. At list price its cheapest UK plan, Sole Trader Plus, is £10 a month, against SparkReceipt Pro from £4.92/month billed annually, though Intuit often runs steep introductory offers (90% off for the first 6 months in October 2026). This compares only the receipt-capture layer, and explains when adding SparkReceipt alongside QuickBooks is worth a second subscription, and when it isn't.
Read this if: you use QuickBooks and the receipt side is the part that keeps slipping.
SparkReceipt is a pre-accounting tool for people who keep their own books (sole traders, freelancers, contractors, and small company directors) plus the accountant who works alongside them.
It scans receipts and invoices with AI that reads the whole document in context rather than matching against merchant templates. It extracts bank and credit card statements from PDF, CSV, or Excel, then matches each transaction to the receipt that proves it, flagging the ones with nothing attached. It pulls receipts out of your past emails too: email history extraction goes back through your inbox as far as you choose. It tracks income as well as expenses. It handles 190 currencies at purchase-date exchange rates. And it syncs to Xero and QuickBooks Online with the receipt image attached.
What it doesn't do: raise invoices, run payroll, or file your return. SparkReceipt sits upstream of your accounting software and your filing software, keeping the underlying records clean and complete.
MTD for Income Tax requires digital records of business income and expenses, and quarterly updates submitted through HMRC-recognised software. SparkReceipt covers the record-keeping half: every receipt captured digitally and linked to the transaction it relates to. It is not HMRC-recognised filing software and does not submit your quarterly updates. Pair it with MTD-compatible filing software, which will have far less to chase at quarter end.
Each extra user: £0.75/month, billed £9 annually. Accountant access is free.
The essentials for keeping your receipts and expenses organised.
Total for 1 user · £59.00 billed annually
+ VAT/GST where applicable
Get Started7-day free trial
50 documents / month
For receipts and invoices
More receipts, more automation. Less to do yourself.
Total for 1 user · £109.00 billed annually
+ VAT/GST where applicable
Get Started7-day free trial
Unlimited documents*
Everything in Pro, plus:
Elite, with hands-on setup from a SparkReceipt founder.
£350 one-time setup + £109.00/year Elite for 1 user
+ VAT/GST where applicable
Get the Founder packAnnual plan only · No free trial
Everything in Elite
Plus a working session with a founder:
Unlimited linked accounts on every plan.
Unlimited document scanning on Elite is subject to fair use. Bank statement extraction uses monthly renewable credits. Historical email imports include a free allowance; larger imports use credits, with the cost shown before you start.
“SparkReceipt is one of the very few software purchased that exceeded my expectations. Great product, great features, great value.”
Robert Connolly
The Internet Design Co. · Scotland
“SparkReceipt takes care of the busy work, allowing me to quickly save receipts and create expense reports.”
Tim Heller
HellerWeather · United States
“The scan accuracy is the most precise out there. Just try it!”
Christina Sust
INMIZE · Spain
