5 Best Spend Management Software

Ramp is my best business spend management software because its competitive free plan covers many core features needed for effective spend control. The tier includes unlimited virtual and physical cards, automated receipt capture, spend controls, and bill pay features that let you manage vendors, track and pay bills, and schedule payments. Ramp also integrates with leading accounting software like QuickBooks Online and Xero.

Another thing I like about Ramp is that it offers up to 1.5% cash back on most transactions with the Ramp Card. Your cash back continues to accrue as you make eligible purchases and will not expire. Learn more in our Ramp Card review.

Standout Features

• Automatically matches receipts to transactions using AI and learning spending patterns
• Provides real-time spending alerts for large transactions and out-of-policy expenses
• Supports unlimited seats
• Provides automated A/P with automatic invoice capture and 2-way matching of invoices to purchase orders
• Enables instant card locking for out-of-policy expenses

Use Cases

• Startups: Ramp is a free spend management platform that can help startups control spending through spending limits, card controls, and streamlined expense reviews and approvals.
• Businesses with different banks: You can connect multiple bank accounts in Ramp to fund all spending and reload prepaid cards.
• Growing companies: Ramp doesn’t limit the number of users in your spend management platform. As your business grows, you can continue adding more people without worrying about paying for additional seats.

Ramp earned the highest overall score among all the software on my list—tied with Brex Empower. Ramp nearly aced my assessment of spend management and card-specific features, with only minor limitations, including the inability to process ATM withdrawals. It also did well in pricing; I deducted a few points because you need to upgrade to a higher plan to enable additional features, like unlimited customizable workflows.

Meanwhile, it took a hit for ease of use, primarily because it doesn’t allow users to contact support over the phone. Customer support is an important part of my ease of use evaluation because having reliable support channels can help improve onboarding, setup, and software customization.

BILL Spend and Expense is free to use and offers plenty of valuable features like unlimited physical and virtual cards, budgeting, and employee expense reimbursements. It’s part of the larger BILL platform, but it can also be used as a free standalone product. Unlike Ramp, you’re not required to have a $25,000 bank balance, and BILL Spend and Expense users can access a line of credit ranging from $500 to $5 million.

While not required, I recommend integrating BILL Spend and Expense with a paid BILL AP plan. It syncs critical information across the BILL platform, helping you automate your overall A/P processes. For example, when an expense is submitted into BILL and approved, it automatically updates the A/P module in the BILL platform, making it easy to reconcile outstanding expenses with vendor payments.

Standout Features

• Creates spending budgets
• Tracks budget progress as spent, assigned, or available
• Connects reimbursements with budgets to prevent overspending
• Provides automatic expense reports through automatic data extraction from receipts and invoices
• Allows reimbursements
• Issues as many virtual cards as needed
• Comes with a mobile app for managing expenses on the go, which syncs with the BILL platform

Use Cases

• BILL users: Using BILL Spend and Expense is a convenient pick for BILL users because it offers A/P, A/R, and expense tracking on one platform. And besides that, the app is free.
• Tracking expenses and budgets: BILL Spend and Expense allows you to track expenses and compare them with budgets. This feature allows you to maintain expenses within budgeted levels and prevent overspending.
• Businesses wanting business credit: The BILL Divvy Corporate Card allows businesses to use credit cards with $0 annual fees, seamless integration within BILL, and a flexible rewards system.

BILL Spend and Expense received good scores for spend management and card features—but not as high as other providers in the guide, like Brex Empower and Emburse Spend. Particularly, BILL Spend and Expense took a hit in card features since it doesn’t issue physical cards and allow withdrawals. It would also have earned a higher score for spend management if users could issue international cards and process bank transfers for free, similar to Ramp.

However, BILL Spend and Expense received high marks in ease of use because it offers excellent customer support options, including phone support. It nailed my evaluation for pricing because you can access all its score features for free.

Rippling Spend has excellent spend controls built into the card management system. You can create groups of cards based on various employee information, like their job position, department, or even their job location. Then, you can set spending rules for each group of cards. If you have company-wide rules, you can easily turn on or off these rules for each group of cards.

Rippling really separates itself from competitors by creating detailed spend rules based on employee information, which is centrally stored on the Rippling platform. Knowledge is power, and with detailed employee information, your spending controls are limited only by your needs and imagination.

Standout Features

• Automatically categorizes transactions based on custom tagging rules that sync with accounting systems like QuickBooks and NetSuite
• Tracks expenses and budgets in real-time so you won’t have to wait until the month-end close
• Enables you to set up automated spending controls by role, department, or expense type
• Lets you capture and upload receipts directly from your phone through the mobile app

Use Cases

• Businesses with employees who often travel for work: When your employees make purchases while on a trip, they can use both physical and virtual cards to cover expenses like lodging and client meals—and all these automatically sync with Rippling Payroll (read our review of Rippling).
• Businesses with high monthly expenses: Rippling’s competitive cash back rates on its corporate cards allow businesses to earn rewards to offset some high costs.

Rippling Spend earned good to high scores for all the categories in my evaluation and even aced the spend management category. It is the only provider on this list that doesn’t offer credit cards, which hurt my rating of its card features.

I find it generally easy to use, and I like that it has various support options—like chat, email, and in-app messaging. However, having to purchase an add-on to contact support over the phone cost it points in my assessment.

Brex Empower, a good spend management software for those with a Brex Business Account, is a central hub where you can manage debit and credit card transactions and card policies. Brex users can create expense policies and card controls to manage card usage. For example, admin users can allow or block certain merchants in a particular card to limit purchases.

Brex Empower’s biggest disadvantage is its high barrier to entry because of its strict requirements and qualification policies. Small businesses without significant cash balances or equity investments cannot qualify for an account. I recommend BILL Spend and Expense for those needing an alternative, as it’s tailored for small businesses.

Standout Features

• Allows users to create customized policies for spending cards
• Lets admins and managers block certain merchants in Brex cards
• Automatically adds IRS-compliant receipts from major merchants
• Has live budgets for real-time tracking of spending
• Integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, SAP, and other leading accounting software

Use Cases

• Tech startups: Opening a Brex account is easier for tech startups since Brex will accept applicants as long as they meet the requirements in the future or if referred by an existing Brex customer.
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance: Brex has partner banks to insure business funds through the FDIC. Currently, the insured amount is up to $2.25 million.

My assessment revealed that it excels in spend management because it can help users track spending for charges directly tied to their Brex accounts. They can also issue credit cards, which is a big plus for businesses.

Brex Empower also did great in card features and could have earned a perfect rating if it allowed users to withdraw funds using their debit cards. However, there is no rewards system for using Brex Empower cards. If that’s something your business needs, I recommend Ramp because of its cash back rewards.

Emburse Spend is a good spend management platform for businesses because it allows users to connect third-party cards in addition to using Emburse cards. Though there is an additional charge, I believe that allowing third-party cards opens more room for flexibility for businesses with existing corporate cards from other issuers.

For example, Emburse Spend integrates with American Express Corporate Card, which many businesses use for travel and general expenses. You may also connect Chase Ink Business Card, which provides a wide range of cash back and reward programs.

Standout Features

• Has real-time spend tracking for card transactions
• Offers a full-featured API for creating custom workflows
• Has 1% cash back rebates for all Emburse card transactions
• Can automatically replenish Emburse card balances

Use Cases

• Businesses with third-party corporate cards: Emburse Spend doesn’t limit its platform to Emburse cards—it allows third-party cards for an additional monthly fee. If your small business would like to retain existing cards, I recommend Emburse Spend for flexibility.
• Managing expenses in real-time: Admins and approvers can track all spending without waiting for employee expense reports. This feature can help managers monitor spending and act upon problems right away.

Emburse Spend took a hit in pricing because it offers a custom pricing model. While such enables flexibility in terms of cost, I’d prefer if the provider offered an actual or estimated price to aid in decision-making.

Meanwhile, the platform scored very well in spend management features. Its only minor weakness is a lack of control over precise vendors and spending categories. It also has live customer service, but the service is unavailable 24/7.

Just like Ramp and Brex, however, Emburse Spend only accepts registered businesses. If you’re a freelancer or sole proprietor, you’re ineligible for Emburse Spend. I recommend BILL Spend and Expense for sole proprietors.