The best receipt scanner app must have essential features like optical character recognition (OCR) technology for receipt scanning, cloud storage, and document management. It’s also important to determine whether you need a dedicated receipt scanner or one integrated with accounting or expense tracking software. With these features in mind, here is our list of the five best receipt scanner apps:
- Neat: Best overall receipt scanner with unlimited scans and document management
- Wave: Best inexpensive receipt scanner for freelancers
- Shoeboxed: Best for assisted receipt processing
- Zoho Expense: Best for growing teams needing receipt and expense tracking
- FreshBooks: Best receipt scanner for service-based businesses
Fit Small Business’ editorial policy is driven by the mission to provide you with the best answers to your small business questions. Our evaluation process makes us a trustworthy source for insights and tips in selecting the best receipt scanner app for your needs. We don’t just scratch the surface; we immerse ourselves in every solution we review by exploring the features down to the finest nuances.
For our roundup of the best receipt scanner apps, we created a special rubric that evaluates the features of our chosen providers. This gives our audience―small businesses and freelancers―our unbiased opinion about the software’s capabilities and fit for your needs.
Comparison of the Best Receipt Scanner Apps
Provider | Pricing | Number of Document Scans | Accounting Software Integration | Document Management System | File Sharing Within the App |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Unlimited | ✓ | ✓ | ||
 | Unlimited | ✕ | ✕ | ||
 | 50 to 300 per month | ✓ | ✓ | ||
 | 20 to unlimited | ✕ | ✕ | ||
 | Unlimited | ✕ | ✕ | ||
Note: All the receipt scanners above have OCR features and smartphone camera scanning capabilities. Also, all programs support unlimited cloud storage receipt, although Zoho Expense has a free plan that only supports up to 5GB. | |||||
Neat: Best Overall Receipt Scanner With Unlimited Scans & Document Management
Pros
- Has a clean and easy-to-understand user interface (UI)
- Combines high-grade scanning, multiple capture options, and human verification for accuracy
- Offers a reporting system based on different categories like expense, sales tax, and spending details
- Has fixed pricing
- Integrates with QuickBooks Online and Xero
Cons
- Can’t extract line items using OCR
- Has no assisted receipt scanning services
- Has no monthly plan
- Can’t track mileage
Neat costs $200 per year, billed annually—and there’s no option for a monthly contract. The plan is good for unlimited users and scans. You can also try Neat for free for 14 days.
Neat is our top recommendation because it has unlimited scans and seats. We find its document management system and file organization helpful for archiving documents properly. Through its keyword search feature, users can easily locate documents without going through each file folder—in case you need to pull up receipts from past years.
Since Neat offers excellent document management and unlimited receipt scanning, freelancers and self-employed individuals may find Neat’s features too much for their needs. Freelancers may only have a few receipts and documents to scan, so we recommend Zoho Expense Free, where users can get 20 receipt autoscans and 5GB of receipt storage.
Neat aced our evaluation of basic features because it offers everything we’re looking for, including receipt scanning, manual receipt uploading, OCR, and document categorizing and tagging. However, it took a slight hit in pricing, as it requires an upfront payment of $200 for one year. Small businesses or freelancers may find this to be a large initial cashout. For flexible pricing options, we recommend Zoho Expense, which offers four scalable monthly subscription plans.
Wave: Best Inexpensive Receipt Scanner for Freelancers
Pros
- Offers a free bookkeeping plan with the option to add receipt scanning for $8 per month
- Provides receipt scanning for free when you upgrade to the Pro bookkeeping plan
- Has built-in accounting and invoicing features
- Provides live chat and email support with either paid receipt scanning or an upgrade to Pro
Cons
- Only allows a single user in the free plan
- Lacks document management system
- Can’t auto-forward receipts from cloud drives or email inbox
- Has no file sharing and collaboration features with respect to receipts
Wave offers a free bookkeeping plan (Starter) for a single user and a paid option (Pro) at $16 per month for unlimited users. When you sign up for the free tier, receipt scanning is available as an add-on for $8 per month. However, when you upgrade to Pro for just $16 per month, unlimited receipt scanning is included.
Because Wave offers a free version for accounting and invoicing, it’s a great choice for small businesses on a limited budget or home-based businesses, like those selling homemade food and products. The app uses OCR technology to read receipts and make suggestions for proper accounting and categorization.
However, we recommend Wave Pro rather than getting the receipt scanning add-on. The eight-dollar price difference is worth it for unlimited users, bank connections, and additional accounting features.
The downside of Wave is its limited receipt scanning features. It doesn’t have document
management, so you can only find receipts by going through attachments in expense entries one by one. We recommend Neat for a well-rounded receipt scanning and document management system.
In our evaluation, Wave didn’t achieve top scores, primarily because its main advantage is being a free bookkeeping solution. However, despite its limited receipt scanning features, we believe it’s still a solid choice for freelancers who don’t manage a high volume of receipts due to its affordability. While Wave does offer basic receipt scanning, it lacks advanced capabilities like auto-forwarding receipts from email or the ability to create tags and categories.
If you’re looking for more robust accounting software with enhanced receipt scanning, FreshBooks is a good option. For those needing a dedicated receipt scanning tool, Neat stands out with its auto-forwarding capabilities and the ability to add tags and categories.
Shoeboxed: Best for Assisted Receipt Processing
Pros
- Contains mileage tracking and expense reporting
- Has Magic Envelope™ to send receipts to Shoeboxed for scanning
- Has unlimited file storage
- Integrates with QuickBooks Online, Wave, and Xero
Cons
- Has limited receipt processing
- Has an outdated help center
- Doesn’t support credit card reconciliation
All plans are good for unlimited users.
- Startup: $29 for 50 digital documents, 25 paper documents, and one magic envelope
- Professional: $59 for 150 digital documents, 150 paper documents, and unlimited magic envelopes
- Business: $89 for 300 digital documents, 300 paper documents, and unlimited magic envelopes
You can save 20% if you choose annual billing. Annual plans are charged upon sign-up, but if canceled within 30 days, users can get a full money-back guarantee. You can try Shoeboxed for 30 days.
We like Shoeboxed because businesses can save time by mailing Shoeboxed envelopes full of receipts to be scanned. We find it perfect for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees but have a lot of receipts and documents to process. The assisted receipt scanning features, which is something only Shoeboxed has compared with other solutions on our list, would reduce the workload of the business’ in-house bookkeeper.
Shoeboxed scored excellently in our evaluation of basic features because it has almost everything we expect—except for receipt scanning using TWAIN-compliant scanners. It also earned points that other tools on our list didn’t for being the only provider that offers assisted receipt processing.
However, it took a hit in pricing because it’s costly and has a limited number of scans. We recommend Neat if you’re looking for unlimited scanning that doesn’t charge per user.
Zoho Expense: Best for Growing Teams Needing Receipt and Expense Tracking
Pros
- Integrates perfectly with over 40 other Zoho business apps
- Is best for travel expense approval and review
- Offers unlimited receipt scanning and storage in Premium and Custom plans
Cons
- Can be expensive for small teams that process few bills
- Lacks document management features
- Stores receipts only in expense entries; receipts can’t be organized otherwise
Zoho Expense offers monthly and annual plans. The monthly subscriptions are as follows:
- Free plan: Up to three users with 5GB of receipt storage and 20 receipt autoscans for all users
- Standard plan: $5 per user, per month ($3 per year); unlimited users, 20 receipt autoscans per user, and receipt storage; requires at least five users
- Premium plan: $9 per active user, per month ($5 per year); unlimited users, unlimited autoscans, and receipt storage; requires at least five users
- Custom: Custom priced; unlimited users, unlimited autoscans, and receipt storage; requires at least 100 users
You can try the Standard and Premium plan for 14 days.
Zoho Expense is an expense tracker with receipt scanning capabilities that scales well with your growing company. With its pay-per-user pricing model, you can add as many users in Zoho Expense, where they can submit expenses and scan receipts.
Zoho Expense makes it easy to collect and track expenses from employees through corporate cards and reimbursements. Its approval workflows ensure there’s an extra layer of security to prevent unauthorized expenses from being approved.
Each user will have an account where they can scan receipts using the mobile app, attach these receipts to expense reports, and request expense reimbursements. Aside from that, your company can benefit from advanced features, like advanced approval workflows, travel requests, and per diem automations.
Zoho Expense ranks highest in customer support, offering the most comprehensive support channels, and second in pricing among the software on this list. While the lack of 24/7 support prevents a perfect mark, Zoho Expense remains a top choice for receipt scanning and expense management.
Its pricing also scales fairly per user. The total cost doesn’t get too expensive as you add more users to the system, which is why Zoho Expense’s pricing score is second to Wave (our free option).
However, Zoho Expense scored poorly in terms of advanced features due to a lot of missing functionality like document organization, file sharing, and line item extractions. While these features are niche-specific, they could help organize receipts. Shoeboxed is a great alternative because it’s a receipt scanner with document organization and file-sharing features. It can also group receipts by folders, whereas Zoho Expenses stores receipts within expense entries.
FreshBooks: Best Receipt Scanner for Service-based Businesses
Pros
- Lets you email receipts to FreshBooks using a unique email handle
- Offers receipt auto-scanning
- Can auto-categorize expenses after scanning
- Includes excellent time tracking and bookkeeping for service-based businesses
Cons
- Lacks document management system
- Charges for more users
- Can’t organize files into folders
- No assisted receipt scanning services
All plans are good for one user only. You have to pay $11 per month, per additional seat.
- Lite: $19 per month
- Plus: $33 per month
- Premium: $60 per month
- Select: Custom priced
You can try FreshBooks for free for 30 days.
FreshBooks is our top choice for service-based freelancers wanting to DIY their accounting. Its excellent project accounting features make it easy for service providers to track costs, revenue, billable hours, and client invoices in one platform. Because of its easy-to-use interface, freelancers without an accounting background can learn how to use the platform easily.
Aside from its user-friendly environment, it comes with a receipt scanner through a mobile app, which is one of our best mobile accounting apps. Freelancers who often work outside or in coworking spaces can capture receipts of daily expenses easily using their smartphones and then upload them to FreshBooks.
But we recommend picking Zoho Expense for an affordable and dedicated receipt and expense tracker.
FreshBooks scored fairly well in our evaluation. It has better basic receipt scanning features than Wave; for instance, FreshBooks offers auto-forwarding of receipts from email and cloud drives. However, it took a huge hit in advanced features because it doesn’t have file sharing and organization features, which is understandable because it’s primarily accounting software. If these features matter to you, you may want to go for Neat, a dedicated receipt scanner.
How We Evaluated the Best App to Scan Receipts
In evaluating the best receipt scanner apps, we created a rubric that highlights six main areas:
10% of Overall Score
The cost of the receipt scanner app matters greatly for small businesses on a budget. In our pricing evaluation, we considered different pricing levels that vary with the number of users. We also gave points to providers that give free trials, monthly plan options, and annual billing discounts.
35% of Overall Score
Basic receipt scanning features are must-have features. The provider must at least have the majority of these features to be usable as a receipt scanner. In this criterion, we gave more weight to OCR and methods of receipt scanning. The provider that can give multiple receipt scanning methods received more points.
15% of Overall Score
20% of Overall Score
We check user review websites to gauge actual user feedback and incorporate these ratings in our evaluation.
10% of Overall Score
10% of Overall Score
In this criteria, we want providers to have many support channels available for users just in case they need assistance. Support channels like phone, email, and chat are the primary channels we’d like to see. Alternatively, we also considered the knowledge base as a source of self-help information.
Receipt scanners help businesses digitize paper receipts and documents. Here are the essential features to look for in a receipt scanner:
- OCR capabilities and accuracy: Receipt scanners must have OCR capabilities to reduce manual data entry. The OCR function must also be accurate in reading and converting text from paper documents to prevent errors that may proliferate if not checked manually.
- Hardware requirements: The provider must specify what hardware is needed to scan documents. The most common hardware would be a smartphone, but using smartphones may propose limitations, such as camera quality, output image quality, and ease of scanning. It would help if the provider would have additional methods of scanning via built-in scanners in computer printers or standalone scanners.
- Document management: After scanning paper documents, the software must have features that enable you to organize and group similar documents.
- Storage: The app must have enough storage space for your needs. We don’t necessarily recommend getting unlimited storage, but we encourage you to get the plan that will suit your current and future storage needs.
- File sharing and collaboration: Aside from storage and document management, file sharing is a valuable feature to consider. It enables you to share files with other users and lets them collaborate with you.
- Integrations: The receipt scanner must integrate with accounting and productivity software so that receipt scanning can be easily integrated into workflows and processes.
- Ease of use: You must choose a tool that’s easy to use or requires minimal learning. As much as possible, it must also have other ways of adding digital documents, such as manual uploads or uploads from cloud storage providers.
- Your team works remotely: Do you allow remote employees to buy their own supplies and charge them to your business? Using a receipt scanner can help them process expenses even if they work remotely.
- You want to reduce paper use in your business: Traditionally, you’d have to prepare vouchers for reimbursements, which only means using more paper. With a receipt scanner, you can eliminate paper use and process everything from expense recording to reimbursement through the receipt scanner app.
- You aim to declutter your office: The sight of receipts piling on your desk is unpleasant—almost all professionals would hate to go over hundreds of receipts daily. Instead, you can scan these receipts and throw them away afterward.
- You seek a faster and easier way to track receipts: After you scan receipts, you can usually attach them to transactions. This makes the receipt very easy to find if the transaction is ever questioned.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Look for the best receipt scanner that caters to your business’s monthly capacity. As much as possible, go for unlimited scanning. Moreover, the receipt scanner must have features that reduce data entry, such as OCR and auto-entry into fields.
Yes, as most digital scanners use advanced security features, such as SSL and MFA, to keep sensitive information protected.
Yes, especially for businesses processing a lot of physical receipts. However, you can still go for free receipt scanners if you don’t process a lot of receipts daily, such as fewer than five per day.
Bottom Line
Choosing the best app to scan receipts requires a deep analysis of your business process and requirements. Each platform in our guide has promising features and functions. In choosing one, don’t forget to consider relevant factors, such as whether it meets your most crucial needs and your budget, and the overall benefit it can bring to your company as a whole. Then, go back to this list and find the software that best fits the bill.
