Overview

Zoho Expense brings expense reporting, approvals, and spend management together for businesses that need to handle employee purchases and travel costs. It suits teams that want a free starting point or need card and travel workflows as they grow. Its main trade-off is that the free tier is small, while paid plans require at least five users.

Zoho Corporation is a private company headquartered in Chennai, India, with 1996 recorded as an early milestone in its history.

Key features

AI-powered OCR captures receipt information, and Standard supports itemized capture in more than 38 languages. The monthly scan allowances—20 per user on Free, 200 on Standard, and 1,000 on Premium—make the upgrade path concrete: occasional claimants may fit Free, but regular expense activity can quickly call for a paid tier.

Standard adds corporate card management and real-time feeds for Visa and Mastercard, bringing card activity into the expense workflow. Premium is the tier for coordinating travel: it adds employee self-booking, global hotel and flight inventory, guest booking, and a built-in travel desk tool.

Connections include QuickBooks, Sage, Xero, Oracle, SAP, Zoho Books, Zoho CRM, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. Standard ERP and HRMS integrations are an add-on, so organizations that depend on those connections should account for that extra before choosing the plan. Zoho says customer data is encrypted at rest and in transit and logically separated by customer; its stated compliance standards include ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, SOC 2 Type II, and GDPR.

Expense workflows also support mileage reimbursement, per diem, custom approval levels, and both payout methods. Support ranges from email on Free to email and phone on Standard, with around-the-clock priority global support on Custom.

Pricing

Free costs 0.00 USD per free and allows up to three users, 5 GB of receipt storage, and 20 scans per user each month, with email support. It is a useful way for a small business to begin, but the user ceiling and scan cap make it a poor fit once expense volume or team size rises.

Standard is 43.00 USD per month, with pricing of $ 4 per user/month billed monthly or $ 3 per user/month billed annually. It requires at least five users and includes 200 scans per user/month, corporate card tools, and email and call support; ERP and HRMS integrations are an add-on. It is the practical step up for growing teams that need card feeds and more scanning capacity, though the five-seat minimum means it is not a low-cost option for a very small group.

Premium is 65.00 USD per month, priced at $ 6 per user/month billed monthly or $ 5 per user/month billed annually, with a five-user minimum. Its 1,000 monthly scans per user, advanced customization, multi-entity and country expense management, and travel tools make it better suited to larger or more travel-intensive operations than Standard.

Custom has custom pricing by quote and requires at least 100 users. It includes custom ERP and HRMS integrations and around-the-clock priority global support, positioning it for large enterprises operating worldwide. Zoho offers a 14-day free trial without requiring credit card information.

Platforms

Zoho Expense is available on Android, iOS, and the web, with an API also listed as a platform. The mobile apps give employees a phone-based option alongside browser access for managing expenses.

Who it's for

Small businesses with limited expense volume can start on Free, while growing teams that need card management and higher scan limits should consider Standard. Premium fits enterprises that need extensive scanning, travel booking, or multi-entity expense handling. Custom is aimed at large-scale organizations with at least 100 users and a need for tailored integrations and global support.

Pros and cons

Pros: The free plan provides three seats and 5 GB of receipt storage, giving small businesses a no-cost starting point.
Pros: Standard combines card management and real-time Visa and Mastercard feeds with a 200-scan monthly allowance per user.
Pros: Premium adds booking and travel-desk capabilities alongside multi-entity and country expense management.
Cons: The free plan’s 20 scans per user per month and three-user cap can constrain even modestly expanding teams.
Cons: Both Standard and Premium require five users, so smaller teams pay for a larger minimum seat count than they may need.
Cons: Standard ERP and HRMS integrations cost extra, which weakens its appeal for companies that rely on those connections.

Alternatives

Expensify is worth considering for teams seeking a free plan with receipt scanning, mileage tracking, expense reports, categories, and tags; its free Submit plan covers all members.

Odoo Expenses may suit teams that want an unlimited-user free option as part of Odoo’s one-app offering.

Workday Expenses is another paid expense-management option.

Sage Expense Management may suit businesses comparing paid plans with annual billing: Growth is 11.99 USD per month for five users, while Business is 14.99 USD per month for ten users.

Navan Expense offers its Business plan free for the first five monthly expensing users, then $15 per user per month for companies with 300 or fewer employees.

Expensya, SutiExpense, and Rydoo are paid alternatives.

For related comparisons, browse Expense Reimbursement Software, Restaurant Expense Management Software, or Mileage Tracking Software.

Verdict

Zoho Expense is a strong choice for businesses that want receipt capture and approvals with a clear route to corporate cards and travel booking as needs expand. Free works for very small, low-volume teams; Standard and Premium bring meaningful capabilities but impose five-user minimums. Look elsewhere if that seat floor or Free’s tight scan allowance does not fit your team.

	Workday Expenses	Zoho Expense
Free plan	No	Yes
Free trial	No	Yes
Paid from	—	$43/mo
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Android, iOS, Web	Android, api, iOS, Web
Mobile platforms	both	both
Free plan	—	Yes
Paid from	—	3 /user/mo

Workday Expenses vs Zoho Expense

Workday Expenses

Zoho Expense