Dext, Hubdoc and AutoEntry alternatives: an honest comparison (2026)
Searching for a Dext, Hubdoc or AutoEntry alternative usually means one of two things: the subscription costs more than your document volume justifies, or you need something those tools don't do well, such as a plain spreadsheet of a batch of receipts. This page compares the main options on what each vendor publishes, says who should stay where they are, and is upfront about where our own tool fits and where it doesn't.
Who wrote this: Utilly, which makes a pay-per-batch receipt and invoice extractor. That's a different kind of product from Dext, Hubdoc and AutoEntry: we turn a batch of receipts into a CSV, Excel sheet or bill import file, and we don't publish to your ledger, store documents or match bank feeds. Competitor prices and features below were checked on each vendor's own website on October 21, 2026 and linked at the source. Plans change, so confirm before you buy.
What are you actually replacing?
Dext, Hubdoc and AutoEntry are capture services. They give you an inbox for documents (phone app, email-in address, uploads), read each one, keep the image, and publish a transaction to Xero, QuickBooks Online or another ledger with the document attached. Most people use only part of that. Work out which part matters to you before comparing anything:
- A steady inflow you never want to touch: clients photograph receipts, suppliers email bills, and the documents land in the ledger already coded. You need a capture service, and the question is which one.
- Matching receipts to the bank feed: if you're on Xero or QuickBooks Online, the capture built into your plan may already do this.
- Occasional batches: a year-end shoebox, a new client's backlog, a quarter of contractor invoices. You need the data out once, checked, and in a file. A monthly subscription is more than this needs.
Dext, Hubdoc, AutoEntry and the alternatives compared
US prices excluding tax, checked on each vendor's site on October 21, 2026.
| Option | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Dext (business plans) | Subscription priced by documents per month and users: from $25.21/month billed annually ($302.50 a year) for 250 documents a month and 5 users. Line items, supplier statements and bank statements come with a small free allowance, then as add-ons. 14-day free trial. Accounting firms have separate practice pricing. Source | A regular monthly flow of receipts and bills, with approvals, coding rules and publishing to the ledger. |
| Hubdoc | $12/month on its own, or included with Xero plans when connected to your Xero subscription. Syncs to Xero and QuickBooks Online. Hubdoc pricing, Xero App Store | Xero users who want receipts and bills captured and matched to the bank feed at no extra cost. |
| AutoEntry (by Sage) | Monthly credit plans from $13 for 50 credits. A receipt or invoice is 1 credit, 2 with line items, and a bank or card statement page is 3. Unused credits roll over for 90 days; unlimited users; 25 free trial credits. Source | Bookkeepers with variable volume, Sage users, and anyone who wants per-document pricing with ledger publishing. |
| Capture built into Xero | Xero's US plans list Smart Document Capture on every plan, and Xero says it costs nothing extra. Source | Xero users matching receipts to bank transactions one at a time. |
| Capture built into QuickBooks Online | Part of QuickBooks Online: capture receipts under Transactions → Receipts and match them to bank transactions. | QuickBooks Online users with light receipt volume. |
| Pay-per-batch extractor (e.g. Utilly) | No subscription. Utilly: preview always free; batches of up to 3 receipts free; 4 to 25 receipts use 1 credit from a one-off $9 pack of 5 credits; or Pro at $19/month for unlimited batches. | One-off or occasional batches, catch-up work, and anyone who needs a spreadsheet or bill import file rather than a live sync. |
Who should stick with Dext, Hubdoc or AutoEntry
Switching has a cost: re-training clients, new email-in addresses, new supplier rules. Stay put if any of these describe you:
- You're on Xero and Hubdoc is working. Xero's pricing pages say Hubdoc is included in its plans as long as it's connected to your Xero subscription, so there's nothing to save by replacing it with another capture tool. Xero's own Smart Document Capture is the other free option to try.
- Documents arrive every week, across many clients. Dext and AutoEntry are built for exactly that, with client portals, supplier rules, auto-publishing and the original image attached to every transaction. A batch tool doesn't replace any of that.
- You need line items. AutoEntry extracts them at 2 credits per invoice, and Dext offers line item extraction as an add-on. Utilly reads header totals only.
- You need bank or supplier statement extraction in the same tool. Both Dext and AutoEntry price these in. (For bank statements specifically, Utilly has a separate bank statement converter.)
- You rely on automatic bill fetching, approvals or expense claims. Those are workflow features, not extraction, and a pay-per-batch tool doesn't have them.
When a pay-per-batch extractor fits better
- Year-end or catch-up work. Forty receipts once a year doesn't need a monthly plan you have to remember to cancel.
- One-off clients. Setting up a client in a capture service for one batch of documents is more work than the batch.
- You want a spreadsheet, not a sync. For workpapers, a tax preparer, a client's own records, or a review before anything touches the books.
- You'd rather import yourself. A Xero or QuickBooks Online bill import file lets you check every row first, then bring the whole batch in as drafts (Xero) or bills (QuickBooks Online Advanced and higher in the US).
- QuickBooks Desktop or another ledger. A CSV or Excel file works anywhere, even where no capture service connects.
What a one-off batch costs on each
An illustration with published US prices (not a quote): 40 receipts, once, header totals only.
- Hubdoc on a Xero plan: nothing extra, if you're already paying for Xero and Hubdoc is connected.
- AutoEntry: 40 credits fits the $13 Bronze plan (50 credits) for a month. You publish to the ledger, then cancel or pause the plan. AutoEntry's FAQ says you can cancel up to 24 hours before renewal.
- Dext: the entry business plan is billed annually ($302.50 a year) and annual plans need 30 days' notice before renewal, so it's a poor fit for a single batch. Use the 14-day free trial if you want to compare quality.
- Utilly: two batches (25 + 15) use 2 credits from a $9 pack of 5, leaving 3 credits for later batches, with nothing to cancel. Or split into batches of 3 and pay nothing, if you have the patience.
The honest takeaway: for a one-off batch, AutoEntry's smallest plan and Utilly cost about the same. AutoEntry gets you ledger publishing with images attached. Utilly gets you a checked spreadsheet or bill import file without starting and cancelling a subscription.
Before you cancel: a switching checklist
- Export your documents and data first. Make sure every image you need is attached to its transaction in the ledger or downloaded. AutoEntry says data stays accessible for 13 months after cancelling; check your own tool's terms.
- Check the renewal terms. Dext's annual plans need 30 days' notice before the renewal date; monthly plans can be cancelled before renewal.
- Tell clients and suppliers about any new email-in address, and turn off auto-forwarding rules that point at the old one.
- Rebuild supplier rules (account codes, tax rates) in whatever comes next, or note them so you can set the account and tax rate on each import.
- Watch for duplicates during the overlap. A receipt published by the old tool and imported again from a CSV becomes two bills. Our guide to duplicate transactions after an import covers how to find them.
What Utilly does and doesn't do
- Does: reads PDF receipts and invoices and photos (JPG, PNG, WEBP, TIFF, BMP, GIF), up to 25 files per batch, one receipt or invoice per file. It extracts vendor, date, due date, number, subtotal, tax, tip, total, currency and card type with last 4 digits, and flags rows to check, such as when subtotal plus tax doesn't equal the total. Every field is editable before download.
- Downloads: CSV, Excel, a QuickBooks Online bills CSV, and a CSV in Xero's bill import template (see importing bills into QuickBooks Online and the Xero bill template explained).
- Doesn't: extract line items, publish directly to your ledger, give you an email-in address or mobile app, fetch bills from suppliers, store documents (files are read in memory and results are deleted after 1 hour), or match bank feeds. iPhone HEIC photos need converting to JPG first.
- Price: preview always free; batches of up to 3 receipts download free with no sign-up; 4 to 25 receipts use 1 credit from a one-off $9 pack of 5 credits; or unlimited on Pro at $19/month.
For a broader look at manual entry, phone scanners and built-in capture, plus a checklist for checking OCR totals, tax and dates, see receipt OCR without a subscription.
Try a batch without a subscription
Upload PDFs or photos, check every field in the preview, then download CSV, Excel, or a QuickBooks Online or Xero bill import. Up to 3 receipts per batch are free; 4 to 25 cost 1 credit.
Going straight into your books? Use receipts to QuickBooks or invoices to Xero.
Sources, all read October 21, 2026: Dext business pricing, https://dext.com/us/business/pricing ; Hubdoc pricing, https://www.hubdoc.com/pricing ; Xero UK pricing plans ("Hubdoc is included in Xero Simple, Ignite, Grow, Comprehensive and Ultimate plans as long as it's connected to your Xero subscription"), https://www.xero.com/uk/pricing-plans/ ; Xero App Store Hubdoc listing ("included in Xero Starter, Standard and Premium plans (Xero Early, Growing and Established in the US)"), https://apps.xero.com/us/app/hubdoc ; Xero US Smart Document Capture page and pricing plans, https://www.xero.com/us/accounting-software/hubdoc/ , https://www.xero.com/us/pricing-plans/ ; AutoEntry pricing and FAQ, https://www.autoentry.com/pricing . Prices exclude tax. Dext, Hubdoc, AutoEntry, Xero, Sage and QuickBooks are trademarks of their owners; Utilly isn't affiliated with any of them.
FAQ
What is the best alternative to Dext?
It depends on what you use Dext for. For a steady monthly flow published to your ledger, AutoEntry is the closest like-for-like tool, with credit plans from $13 a month for 50 credits (checked October 21, 2026). If you're on Xero, Hubdoc and Xero's Smart Document Capture are included in your plan. For occasional batches where you want a spreadsheet or bill import file, a pay-per-batch extractor such as Utilly avoids a subscription.
Is Hubdoc free with Xero?
Xero's pricing pages say Hubdoc is included in its plans as long as it's connected to your Xero subscription; its App Store listing names Early, Growing and Established in the US. On its own, Hubdoc costs $12 a month. Xero's US plans also list Smart Document Capture at no extra cost.
How much does AutoEntry cost?
AutoEntry sells monthly credit plans, starting at $13 for 50 credits in the US (excluding tax). A receipt or invoice is 1 credit, an invoice with line items 2, and a bank or card statement page 3. Unused credits roll over for 90 days, every plan has unlimited users, and the free trial includes 25 credits.
How much does Dext cost?
Dext's US business plans start at $25.21 a month billed annually ($302.50 a year) for 250 documents a month and 5 users, with small free allowances for line item, supplier statement and bank statement extraction and paid add-ons beyond that. Accounting firms have separate practice pricing. There's a 14-day free trial.
Is there a Dext alternative without a subscription?
Yes. A pay-per-batch extractor reads a batch of PDF or photo receipts into rows you check and download. Utilly is free for batches of up to 3 receipts; 4 to 25 receipts use 1 credit from a one-off $9 pack of 5 credits. It doesn't publish to your ledger or store documents, so you import the CSV or bill file yourself.
Who should keep using Dext, Hubdoc or AutoEntry?
Anyone with documents arriving every week across many clients, anyone who needs line items, supplier rules, approvals or automatic publishing with the image attached, and Xero users for whom the included Hubdoc already works. A batch extractor doesn't replace those workflows.
Can I import receipts into Xero or QuickBooks Online without a capture app?
Yes, as bills from a CSV. Xero uses Purchases, Bills, Import from CSV; QuickBooks Online uses Settings, Import data, Bills (Advanced and higher in the US). Utilly writes both file layouts from your receipts, with unique bill numbers and your account code.
Related guides
- How to import bank transactions into QuickBooks Desktop after bank feeds stopped (2026)
- How to convert a credit card statement PDF to Excel
- QBO vs IIF vs QIF: which file QuickBooks and Quicken actually need
- Catch-up bookkeeping: getting 12 months of bank statements into QuickBooks or Xero and reconciled
- Xero bank statement import errors (and how to fix them)
- How to upload a PDF bank statement to QuickBooks Online (and check nothing was missed)
- QuickBooks Desktop IIF import errors (File not imported, Review now, and how to fix them)
- QuickBooks .QBO (Web Connect) import errors: OL-222, OL-221, “unable to verify the financial institution” and how to fix them
- QuickBooks reconciliation not matching: beginning balance is off, or the difference isn't 0.00
- Duplicate transactions in QuickBooks after an import: find them, remove them, and stop them coming back
- How to import bills into QuickBooks Online from a CSV or Excel file
- Xero bill import CSV template explained: every column, tax setting and error
- How to find a bank reconciliation discrepancy: 7 causes and a 15-minute method
- How to compare a bank statement to the general ledger in Excel (and a faster way)
- Receipt OCR without a subscription: turn receipts into a CSV for QuickBooks or Xero
- Free bank reconciliation template for Excel (with a worked example)
Related tools
- Bank reconciliation checker: compare a bank statement to your books and list missing, duplicate and mismatched transactions.
- Receipt to CSV: turn PDF or photo receipts and invoices into CSV, Excel, or QuickBooks and Xero bill imports.
