Top 8 Ramp alternatives and competitors for credit cards and spend management

Limited features

Ramp might make sense for small businesses that have very simple finance needs and that will only ever transact in the US. However, if you’re thinking about operating or spending globally or want to run financial analyses to gain insights, Ramp might not offer all the features your business requires, like advanced reporting, truly global payments, or the ability to deeply integrate with key software like NetSuite. Consider your company’s unique needs in order to identify any potential gaps with Ramp's capabilities and look at Ramp competitors that might be a better fit.

Scalability concerns

As your business grows, so will your spending volume and headcount. With Ramp’s small business focus, it probably doesn’t have the flexible spend limits and controls you’ll need to enable and manage a vast number of spend use cases – from advertising to travel to shipping – effectively all in one place. If you want to drive efficiency, savings, and consolidation for the long haul, you’ll want to explore Ramp alternatives with customizable spend limits for infinite use cases and scalable reporting across every spend type.

Pricing structure

Ramp’s pricing model may seem straightforward, but the hidden costs can add up quickly. For instance, Ramp’s global reimbursements are funded via US-based bank accounts, which means they may be subject to foreign exchange fees. As you compare your options, be sure to weigh all of the transaction fees, monthly charges, and per-user costs of Ramp versus Ramp competitors. Even Ramp’s “free” plan does not give you the same number of features and benefits that you can get with Ramp competitors such as Brex.

User interface complexity

A poor user experience isn’t just annoying -- it’s a costly timesuck. Users have reported that Ramp’s UX is too clunky, so you may want to look for a more user-friendly platform that has intuitive drag-and-drop tools, real-time spend tracking, and a top-rated mobile app. For example, Brex’s mobile app outranks the Ramp mobile app in the Apple App Store.

By carefully comparing Ramp’s features, scalability, pricing, and user experience to Ramp alternatives, you can find the expense management software that aligns best with your business’ current and future needs.

Brex is an AI-powered spend management platform providing global corporate cards, expense management, banking, bill pay, travel, and more. Built to scale with businesses of all sizes — from startups to enterprises — Brex's user-friendly platform enables companies to optimize their spending, automate tedious processes, and fuel their growth with real-time financial insights.

Key features:

• Scalable spend limits: Brex makes it easy to issue spend limits and embed your expense policy, so you can control spend before it happens. Ramp spend limits don't scale to easily support as many use cases as Brex, which supports spend limits for stipends, purchasing, travel, ads, shipping, team spend, and more. With Ramp, every spend limit launches a brand new card number, leading to card sprawl, limited financial visibility, and a lack of centralized control.

• Global, multi-entity capabilities: Brex enables you to issue cards in local currencies, create localized spend limits, and close the books across entities — all in one place. Brex also facilitates spending in 40+ currencies and counting — more than Ramp or any other Ramp competitor — via physical and virtual credit cards as well as wires and ACH.

• AI-powered expense automation: Brex offers powerful expense management automation with auto-generated receipts for 1,000s of merchants, plus pre-populated memos and categories to cut down on manual work. Never do another expense report.

• Integrated banking/treasury: Brex offers a comprehensive business bank account complete with checking, high yield-earning treasury, and up to $6M in FDIC insurance. Brex's integrated approach allows for seamless bill payments and real-time cash visibility across all your accounts for a holistic view of your company's finances. Ramp does not offer an equivalent.

• In-app travel booking and management: Brex offers a comprehensive travel and expense (T&E) solution built directly into its mobile app. Employees on Brex can easily book travel and modify itineraries — just as they would on a consumer travel app — with auto-enforced policies to ensure compliance. Ramp’s travel solution is not as user-friendly and may lack the guardrails to prevent out-of-policy bookings.

• Accounting automation: Brex automates expense reports, streamlines approvals, and simplifies reconciliations to save hours and eliminate human errors. Brex uses AI to help you close your books fast, giving you time back to focus on big-picture strategy.

• Bill pay/AP automation: Brex's automates invoice capture, coding, and approval workflows, significantly reducing manual work for the AP team. With features like automated purchase orders, seamless vendor onboarding, and customizable approval flows, Brex offers greater control, visibility, and efficiency in expense management.

• Top-rated mobile app: Rated 4.9 on the Apple App Store (higher than Ramp), the Brex mobile app offers full functionality on the go. The Brex mobile app is easy to use, so users rarely run into issues. But, when users have questions, they can reach Brex Support 24/7 via live chat or phone.

• Integrated banking: With Brex’s banking solution, you can save, spend, and grow your cash with industry-leading yield and up to $6 million in additional FDIC insurance. You can also use your Brex business account to fund bill pay for faster international payments.

• Award-winning NetSuite integration: NetSuite named Brex its 2023 Partner of the Year for its deep integration with the leading ERP. The direct integration drives even more accounting automation, allowing you to reliably route transactions to NetSuite as you power your continuous close.

What they're saying about Brex vs. Ramp

“We chose Brex over Ramp because we wanted a tool that helped foster a company culture of accountability and ownership. Brex's spend limit functionality lets our employees see how much they have to spend and how much they've already spent, and having that information at their fingertips is critical to their ability to make an informed decision every time they go to use their card.” -- Justin Wade, Director of Finance, Xeal

Why people choose Brex over Ramp

So, how is Ramp different from Brex? Companies often choose Brex over Ramp for scalable card management, granular spend controls, powerful expense automation, and better global spend visibility. Brex also stands out for its user-friendly in-app travel solution with embedded policies to ensure compliance.

The scalability of Brex is especially key — companies like Ramp might be an okay fit for a small company that doesn’t plan on growing, but Brex is built to support businesses through every stage of growth. Scale AI, for example, signed up for Brex as an early startup that needed a high-limit corporate card. Now, as a fast-moving decacorn with over 600 employees, Scale AI relies on Brex as its global spend solution.

Brex also offers stronger global capabilities than Ramp with a truly global card that is accepted in 210 countries/territories and that can be issued 20+ currencies. And, with local billing from Brex, global entities can pay their card statements from local bank accounts in local currency to avoid the reporting headaches of intercompany transactions and costly foreign exchange fees.

Another major plus: Brex enables you to control spend before it happens with auto-enforced controls. From there, you can track and adjust budgets and spend limits to keep everyone on budget in real time. And, with scalable virtual cards, you can empower everyone to spend responsibly without the card sprawl of Ramp.

Brex also offers a much more robust corporate travel platform. Employees can use the Brex mobile app to book flights, rental cars, and hotel rooms with preset guardrails to ensure that every transaction is in policy. Itinerary changes can also be made directly through the app with 24/7 live support for hassle-free travel from anywhere.

Brex vs. Ramp: See how Brex stacks up.

Pricing:

Brex has a range of plans for companies at various stages of growth, starting with the Essentials plan at $0 user/month. You can get started with global corporate cards only, or add advanced features such as in-app travel management and customizable expense policies. Across all plans, Brex offers per-seat pricing with no annual fees. Ramp’s model also charges per user, but they also charge fees based on a percentage of your transaction volume.

Airbase offers corporate cards, expense management, and accounts payable capabilities in one platform. Founded in 2017 and based in San Francisco, it provides basic spend control features and integrates with common accounting software.

Key features:

• Physical and virtual corporate cards with customizable controls

• Automated, multi-level approval workflows

• Quality accounts payable automation

• Real-time general ledger sync and reporting

• Easily retrievable audit trails

Why people prefer Airbase over Ramp

Airbase offers better accounts payable automation than Ramp with stronger accounting software integrations. With Airbase, users can opt to skip unnecessary approvals for bills that match up to their purchase order (PO) number. Ramp does not offer that same level of automation.

Some customers also prefer Airbase’s customer support to companies like Ramp. Ramp’s customer support requires customers to submit a support request in a portal, which means that customers can be left waiting for hours or even days before hearing back. While Airbase also works off of a ticket system, there is an actual email address that customers can use for support questions.

Pricing:

Airbase’s pricing is customer-dependent and based on annual transaction volume. Currently, Airbase offers three pricing tiers: Standard (up to 200 employees), Premium (up to 500 employees), and Enterprise (up to 10,000 employees).

Given the limit of its upper pricing plan, Airbase may not be equipped to support companies with more than 10,000 employees. Brex stands as a much stronger Ramp alternative as it supports companies like DoorDash with well over 10,000 users.Companies must provide their detailed information just to request a quote. No pricing information is provided up front.

Spendesk is a corporate spend solution with virtual and physical cards and invoice management tools for small businesses. Based in Paris, Spendesk offers expense tracking capabilities and supports approval workflows. Similar to Ramp, Spendesk does not offer a built-in travel booking solution.

Key features:

• Physical and virtual employee debit cards

• Automated invoice processing

• Expense report automation with receipt scanning

• Approval workflow routing and budget tracking

• Audit trails and fraud prevention

Why people prefer Spendesk over Ramp

Ramp’s receipt matching process is mostly manual, requiring employees to send images via SMS or email. Spendesk’s OCR technology isn’t the most advanced in the space, but it’s a step up from companies like Ramp as it helps to streamline the expense reporting process.

Spendesk is a solid alternative for companies in need of a better invoice management and bill pay system than what Ramp provides. Spendesk also offers stronger in-platform tax compliance support.

Pricing:

Spendesk does not list the costs for its various plans. Instead, Spendesk operates on a “custom pricing” model that may be negotiated based on a company’s size and expense management needs.

Navan is a travel management platform with corporate cards, AP automation, and basic spend controls. Formerly known as TripActions, it was founded in 2015 in Palo Alto. While it focuses on travel booking, its spend management capabilities and card features are relatively basic compared to Ramp and Ramp competitors.

Key features:

• Physical and virtual corporate cards

• Touchless invoice processing

• Reed & Mackay travel support (at additional cost)

• Dedicated Visa cards for employee reimbursements

Why people prefer Navan over Ramp:

Navan is a travel-first platform that can help to streamline the booking process for employees. Ramp, on the other hand, relies on its newly-launched Priceline integration. This integration is relatively basic and lacks the comprehensive travel management features that Navan offers.

Unlike Navan's travel solution, Ramp's offering doesn't provide advanced features like 24/7 travel support or sophisticated policy enforcement tools.

Pricing:

Unlike Ramp and other Ramp competitors, Navan does not disclose its pricing model.

Brex vs. Navan: Brex does travel — and so much more.

BILL is a financial operations platform with expense management tools and virtual cards. Initially founded as a bill pay platform, BILL recently acquired Finmark to launch a fledgling “all-in-one” expense solution.

Key features:

• Virtual and physical credit cards

• Automated invoice entry

• Purchase order matching

• Accounting software integrations

• Accounts payable and receivable features (at additional cost)

Why people prefer BILL over Ramp

BILL’s accounting software integrations are more robust than Ramp’s, which can unlock greater efficiencies while minimizing human error. BILL, a longstanding bill pay solution, may also provide stronger AP automation than companies like Ramp with basic expense tools.

BILL’s international payment capabilities — which cover 130+ countries — may provide a more comprehensive global solution than Ramp’s limited offerings. Still, Brex offers a more powerful global solution than both BILL and Ramp with a truly global card that is accepted in 210 countries/territories.

Pricing:

BILL offers four accounts payable and accounts receivable plans, including its Corporate package ($79/month per user). Pricing for its Enterprise package — which includes enhanced security, premium support, and multi-location accounting capabilities — must be negotiated.

Expensify provides simple expense tracking and reimbursement management. Built to serve sole proprietors, individual consultants, and small businesses, Expensify offers some receipt scanning and report creation capabilities.

Key features:

• Virtual and physical credit cards

• Expense tracking and management

• Online invoicing software

• Accounting and payroll software integrations

Why people prefer Expensify over Ramp.

People choose Expensify over Ramp for its simple expense tracking tailored to individuals and small teams. Expensify also charges less per active user.

Still, similar to Airbase, Expensify is not built to serve larger companies. Brex, however, is a Ramp alternative that can serve any number of employees while providing truly global support.

Pricing:

Expensify offers basic expense tracking for free. However, additional charges apply for other core features such as bill pay and expense approvals, starting at $5/month per user. Their full plan — which can only accommodate companies with up to 1,000 users — starts at $9/month per user.

Brex vs. Expensify: See how Brex compares to Expensify

Concur is a travel, expense, and invoice management solution dating back to 1993. Acquired by SAP in 2014, its interface is known to be clunky and outdated, resulting in a poor employee experience.

Key features:

• Travel booking with manual receipt capture

• Invoice automation

• ERP integrations

• Expense report reviews via web and mobile app

Why people prefer Concur over Ramp

People choose Concur over Ramp for its integrated travel booking and traveler support. Ramp’s new Priceline integration is limited compared to Concur's travel management capabilities. Concur also provides detailed travel spend analytics and reporting, which may help organizations optimize their travel budgets more effectively than Ramp.

Concur also offers a longer track record than Ramp. Still, Concur has been edged by other Ramp competitors when it comes to automated employee T&E, proactive spend controls, and ease of use.

Pricing:

Pricing varies depending on which products you select as well as your monthly expense report volume. Concur is also known to charge additional fees for support calls, itinerary changes, and other features that are automatically included with Ramp alternatives like Brex.

Brex vs. Concur: See how Brex compares to Concur

Pleo was founded in 2015 by ex-Tradeshift employees Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo Perra. It provides basic spend tracking and receipt matching for organizations based outside of the United States.

Key features:

• Physical and virtual employee cards

• Invoice management software

• Spend tracking and policy controls

• Software integrations for accounting and payroll

Why people prefer Pleo over Ramp

Pleo, based in Copenhagen, offers business expense cards across 16 European countries. On the other hand, Ramp cards are issued in USD through Stripe and billed in USD, which can lead to unwanted fees on many global transactions - or worse, unwanted card declines.

Pleo is preferable to Ramp for non-US based businesses, though it does not offer the local billing capabilities of Brex to avoid intercompany transactions and FX fees.

Pricing:

Pleo’s premium packages range from £45-£99 per month, plus up to £15.5 per user per month. Other fees may apply.

Companies like Ramp may be suitable for small businesses with limited operations outside of the US. But Brex stands out as a flexible and powerful Ramp alternative for startups, scaling companies, and enterprises alike. Here’s why:

AI-powered expense automation

A key advantage Brex has over Ramp is its AI-powered expense automation. Unlike Ramp's mostly manual expense process, Brex auto-generates receipts and uses AI to automatically fill in key details. That’s a huge time-saver for employees who have grown weary of collecting receipts and going through the tedious expense reporting process. Plus, with Brex Assistant, employees can get the answers they need in real time and offload tedious expense tasks to streamline their day to day.

With Ramp, employees are prompted to take a picture of their receipt after every transaction and submit it via SMS or email. Whenever your employee misses an alert, one of your accountants will have to chase them down for the receipt.

Travel and expense management

Ramp’s recently-announced Priceline integration addressed a few of its business travel shortcomings, but there are still major gaps. You can’t book rental cars or Amtrak routes via Ramp, and Ramp’s flight inventory does not include key carriers such as Southwest Airlines. Ramp also doesn’t support multi-city booking, a major sticking point for travelers who want to put a Boston offsite and a New York tradeshow on the same itinerary.

Brex travel offers a much more comprehensive solution with dynamic pricing and negotiated hotel rates to keep every trip on budget and in policy. Brex also offers 24/7 travel support and traveler visibility to uphold your duty of care on international trips.

Global and multi-entity capabilities

Global businesses — or businesses with plans to expand globally — should also look to Brex over Ramp. Brex’s spend limits, for example, can be provisioned in more than 100 currencies with embedded expense policies to drive control. And, with one unified multi-entity dashboard, global businesses gain total spend visibility.

While Ramp allows you to set various spend limits in some currencies, every spend limit spins up a brand new card number. That card sprawl creates an accounting nightmare that is time-consuming at best and a compliance disaster at its worst.

Brex also enables you to directly reimburse global employees in their local bank account and currency to avoid costly FX fees. The Ramp card, meanwhile, charges around 3% on foreign conversion fees, which can add up quickly.

Integrated banking solution

Ramp does not offer an integrated banking solution. If you’re on Ramp and funding your bill pay through an external bank, you’ll likely encounter additional roadblocks that could delay international payments by a matter of days or weeks. With Brex, you can use your Brex business account to remove much of that friction and move money worldwide, fast. You can also link your existing bank account with Brex and still enjoy seamless global payments to employees and vendors.

Brex’s banking solution also provides up to $6 million in additional FDIC insurance with no minimums or hidden fees. Even as an early-stage startup, you can use your Brex business account to earn industry-leading yield from your first dollar and maintain total liquidity. And, as your business grows, Brex business accounts scale with you by enabling ACH, checks, and wires to over 115 countries.

Still weighing Brex vs. Ramp?

Get a demo to see how Brex can help you control spend before it happens, automate busywork, and shift spend in real time to drive growth.