Stop Paying for 5 Users When You Only Need One
Lower minimum, simpler pricing, nothing important sold as an add-on.
Dext's business plan is R366.46/month billed annually for 5 users and 250 documents, whether you need five seats or not, with line-item extraction and bank statement extraction sold as separate paid add-ons on top. SparkReceipt includes 1 user, with more at a per-user rate, unlimited documents, line-item categorisation, and bank statement extraction for R 182,50/month billed annually.
Business Owners in 175 Countries Trust SparkReceipt
Dext vs SparkReceipt
What you actually get, side by side.
| Dext (business plan) | SparkReceipt Elite | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | R366.46/month billed annually (R4,397.50/year, excl. VAT) | R 182,50/month billed annually (R 2 190,00/year) |
| Users | 5 | 1 included, more at a per-user rate |
| Documents | 250/month | Unlimited |
| Line-item extraction | Paid add-on, from $20.50/month | Included |
| Bank statement extraction | Paid add-on, from $13.00/month | Included |
| Receipt-to-transaction matching | Not offered | Included |
| Income tracking | Expense-focused | Auto-detects expense vs income |
| Email receipt capture | Available | Gmail, Outlook, Microsoft, any IMAP |
| Currencies | Limited | 190 with purchase-date conversion |
| AI agent | AI Assist, priced separately | SparkAgent included |
| Free trial | Yes | 7 days, full access |
Where the Price Difference Actually Comes From
Dext's headline figure is competitive on its own. The gap opens up because of how the plan is packaged.
The 5-user minimum. Dext's business plan is built around 5 users and 250 documents. If you're a sole trader, a two-person consultancy, or a small firm where only you and your accountant touch the books, you're paying for seats nobody uses. SparkReceipt includes 1 user and lets you add more at a per-user rate, and inviting your accountant is always free, so you only pay for the seats you actually use.
Line-item extraction is an add-on. Pulling the individual lines out of a supplier invoice, rather than just the total, costs extra on Dext, from $20.50/month or $0.50 per document. On SparkReceipt it's part of the plan. If you buy from wholesalers, trade suppliers, or anywhere the VAT treatment differs line by line, this is the difference between a usable record and a single lump sum.
Bank statement extraction is another add-on. Dext charges from $13.00/month, or $0.32 per document, to extract PDF bank statements. SparkReceipt includes it, and then matches each extracted transaction back to the receipt that proves it, which Dext doesn't offer at any price.
Dext's base plan already lands above SparkReceipt Elite, at R366.46/month against R 182,50/month (both excl. VAT). Add the line-item and bank-statement add-ons Dext charges for and the gap widens further.
What SparkReceipt Does Differently
Receipt-to-transaction matching. Upload a bank statement from FNB, Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank or Capitec together with your receipts, and the AI links them automatically. Matched transactions point at their proof of purchase; unmatched ones get flagged so you know what's missing before your accountant asks.
Reads the document, not a template. SparkReceipt's extraction reasons about the whole receipt: language, currency, the country it came from and how tax works there, and the individual line items. It isn't a template lookup keyed to known merchants, so an unfamiliar supplier or a crumpled till slip is handled the same as a clean digital invoice.
Income as well as expenses. SparkReceipt detects whether a document is money in or money out and files it accordingly. Dext is built around purchases.
Email receipt capture. Connect Gmail, Outlook, Microsoft, or any IMAP inbox. Receipts are found, extracted, and categorised without forwarding anything by hand. Email history extraction goes back through the mail you already have, as far back as you choose.
Xero and QuickBooks sync. Direct integrations with both, plus Zapier, Make, and Google Drive automation.
SparkAgent. A built-in AI agent you can hand work to in plain language: search the archive, categorise a batch, pull a summary, update records.
190 currencies. Every receipt processed in its original currency and converted at the purchase-date rate, which matters if you buy from suppliers abroad.
What Dext Does Well
Worth being straight about this. Dext is a mature product with deep roots in accountancy practices, and its practice-side tooling for firms managing many clients is more developed than ours. If you're an accountant running document collection across dozens of clients, Dext's practice plans are built for that workflow specifically.
SparkReceipt is built for the business owner keeping their own records, and for the accountant who wants that owner to arrive with clean, matched data rather than a folder of photos.
Dext pricing is taken from Dext's South Africa pricing page (dext.com, annual billing) as of September 2026: the Business plan is R366.46/month (R4,397.50/year, excluding VAT) for 5 users and 250 documents, with line-item and bank-statement extraction sold as paid add-ons. Dext quotes those add-ons in US dollars on the same page. Prices and packaging change — check dext.com for current figures. SparkReceipt is not affiliated with or endorsed by Dext.
Loved by Small Business Owners
“I used to send my accountant a bag of slips every month hoping they capture everything. With SparkReceipt I now have a realtime view of how much the business owes me.”
Daniel Esterhuizen
Esterhuizen Consulting · South Africa
“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
“The scan accuracy is the most precise out there. Just try it!”
Christina Sust
INMIZE · Spain
Join 38 283 businesses that chose SparkReceipt — 4 620 044 receipts processed and counting.
Start Free TrialFrequently Asked Questions
SparkReceipt is built for freelancers, sole traders, and small companies rather than accountancy practices. It includes 1 user with more at a per-user rate instead of a 5-user minimum, unlimited documents instead of a 250/month cap, and bundles line-item extraction and bank statement extraction that Dext sells as add-ons.
Dext's business plan is R366.46/month billed annually (R4,397.50/year, excluding VAT) for 5 users and 250 documents, with line-item extraction (from $20.50/month) and bank statement extraction (from $13.00/month) as paid add-ons on top. SparkReceipt Elite is R 182,50/month billed annually (R 2 190,00/year) for 1 user, with more at a per-user rate, unlimited documents, and both of those capabilities included.
For most small businesses and freelancers, yes — receipt capture, expense tracking, bank statement extraction, and accountant access are all covered. If you're an accountancy practice collecting documents across many clients, Dext's practice tooling is more developed and may still suit you better.
Yes. Line-item categorisation is part of the Elite plan at no extra cost. Dext charges for it as a paid add-on.
Yes, and it goes a step further. Bank statement extraction is included rather than a paid add-on, and once transactions are extracted the AI matches each one to the corresponding receipt or invoice in your archive. Unmatched transactions are flagged so you can see exactly which receipts are missing.
Yes. SparkReceipt has a direct Xero integration, plus QuickBooks Online, Zapier, Make, and Google Drive. Scanned and categorised expenses sync across with the receipt image attached.
Yes. The Elite plan includes 1 user, with more available at a per-user rate. Inviting your accountant is always free, so it never uses a paid seat.
Yes. SparkReceipt detects whether a document represents money in or money out and categorises it accordingly, so sales invoices and purchase receipts both live in one place. Dext is oriented primarily around expenses.
Yes. SparkReceipt reads receipts in virtually any language and processes 190 currencies, converting each at the exchange rate that applied on the purchase date rather than today's rate.
Yes. SparkReceipt is billed annually with no long-term lock-in beyond the term you've paid for, and starts with a 7-day free trial with full access to every feature.