Compare the 9 best Navan alternatives and competitors.

Comparison criteria.

Here are the criteria we have used to evaluate Navan alternatives:

• The range and depth of features.
• User-friendliness.
• Pricing.
• Reviews and ratings.

Overview: Navan alternatives and competitors.

1. Airbase.

Automated intake process with customizable approval flows

First off in our lineup of Navan alternatives is Airbase. It excels at providing advanced procure, pay, close solutions for mid-market and enterprise companies.

While Airbase offers travel booking support via an integration with TravelPerk, it goes beyond Navan to offer advanced AP automation, procurement, and multi-subsidiary support. The other differentiators include deeper integrations with NetSuite and other accounting software, flexible corporate card programs, and a dedicated fraud investigation team.

Best features.

• End-to-end P2P capabilities: Advanced procure, pay, close solutions across the modules of Guided Procurement, AP Automation, Expense Management, and Corporate Cards.
• AI-powered expense management: OCR, ML, and AI-powered receipt capture, automated expense reports, custom approval workflows, auto-categorization of expenses, and seamless integration with accounting software.
• Travel booking integration: With the most extensive travel inventory, the TravelPerk Airbase combo gives you the ability to set custom spend limits and travel policies, split card transactions, and automatic sync travel expenses.
• Mature AP automation: Seamless bill creation, 3-way PO matching, auto-categorization of expenses, and seamless integration with GL systems.
• Robust payment capabilities: Streamlines vendor payments and employee reimbursements with direct payments, multi-currency payment support, and the flexibility to link multiple banks to a subsidiary for seamless transactions.
• Deep integrations: Connects with HRIS, communication tools, contract management tools and offers native and custom integrations with major GLs and ERPs.
• 24/7 fraud and risk mitigation: Flags potential fraud with a dedicated fraud investigation team that operates around the clock.

Airbase G2 rating: 4.8/5

Airbase pricing.

Airbase offers three packages: Standard, Premium, and Enterprise. All the packages include key platform features while optional add-ons are available for travel, purchase orders, and approval workflows. Users can also opt for individual modules instead of the whole platform.

Customers and best suited for:

• Company size: Mid-market to large enterprises (with 50 to 10,000 employees).
• Solution needs: Businesses looking for a scalable solution with advanced AP automation, intake, and expense management features.

2. Brex.

Brex AI assistant instantly answers questions on spend

If you’re looking for an affordable Navan alternative with multiple payment options and AP automation capabilities, Brex may be the right choice. Brex uses AI to automate accounts payable, expense management, and payment processes[e][f].

Best features.

• AI-powered expense management: Brex AI automates receipt capture, matches them with transactions, generates memos and expense fields in addition to verifying if receipts are compliant with regulations.
• Custom approval policies: Admins can define budgets for departments and create approval policies for departments, entities, use cases, and other criteria while reimbursing employees within the U.S. and in 70 countries.
• Corporate cards: Admins can issue virtual and physical cards on the Mastercard network in 20 currencies with customized spend limits.
• Travel tools: Access to a global inventory of hotels, flights, and car rentals, tools to manage group bookings, exclusive deals, and live agent support.

Brex G2 rating: 4.7/5.

Brex pricing.

Brex offers three packages — Essentials (free), Premium ($12 per user per month), and Enterprise (custom pricing). The free plan offers basic features, such as global corporate cards, AI assistant, bill pay, and expense management. For advanced features, such as global payments, in-app travel booking, custom policies, and approval flows, you’ll need to upgrade to one of the paid plans.

Customers and best suited for:

• Company size: Startups, medium businesses, and enterprises.
• Solution needs: Companies who want an expense management platform with basic AP automation and procurement features.

3. Coupa

Coupa builds compliant travel itineraries

Coupa is a comprehensive P2P platform that combines products, such as travel, expense, procurement, and accounts payable. Its capabilities extend to supplier risk management, sourcing, contract management, budgeting, and supply chain collaboration.
Coupa’s travel features are comparable with Navan, in terms of smart travel recommendations, live agent support, and seamless integration between expenses and travel.

Top features.

• Travel management tools: Itinerary builder, smart travel suggestions, dynamic messaging, Spend Coach to maximize savings, and automatic re-booking at lower rates when the price drops.
• Automated expense reports: OCR-based receipt capturing, automated receipt and expense line item imports, intelligent audit algorithms, and mileage tracking.
• Approvals and PO matching: Built-in approvals and 2-way and 3-way PO matching.
• Spend insights: AI-powered Spend Guard flags non-compliant invoice spend while trend analysis helps businesses identify ways to minimize cost per invoice.

Coupa G2 rating: 4.2/5.

Coupa pricing.

While pricing information is not available on Coupa’s site, it is known to have a complex pricing structure based on the modules chosen and the number of licenses required. There are additional costs involved in implementation, configuration, and maintenance.

Which large businesses are a good fit for Coupa?

Coupa is the best fit for large businesses and enterprises that are looking for a spend management platform with travel, sourcing, contract management, procurement, and AP automation capabilities. Businesses with indirect spend models and centralized spending can benefit from Coupa.

4. Emburse Certify Expense.

A dashboard with an overview of expenses and transactions

As one of the user-friendly alternatives to Navan, Emburse Certify Expense simplifies the way businesses handle their expenses. Its seamless interface makes it easy for employees to submit expenses, managers to approve them, and finance teams to reconcile payments.

Best features.

Expense management: Emburse Receipt Technology captures receipts and mileage data while ReportExecutive automates expense reports on a set schedule.

• Travel management: Certify Travel surfaces corporate rates for travel booking, allows pre-trip approvals, and responsive support.
• Policy violation detection: InstantAudit feature detects errors, duplicates, and out-of-policy violations prior to approval.
• Clear audit trail: Tags and codes transactions automatically in Emburse Certify Expense before syncing to GL.
• Insightful analytics: Offers 40 standard reports, a custom report builder, and actionable dashboards for analytics.
• Global payment support: Converts 140 currencies in real time based on the expense date.

Emburse Certify Expense G2 Rating:: 4.3/5

Emburse Certify Expense pricing.

Emburse Certify Expense offers two types of plans based on the number of employees. Certify Now, designed for businesses with 1-25 employees, is priced at $12 per user/month, while the Professional plan offers flexible pricing options for small and medium businesses.

Customers and best suited for:

• Company size: Small to medium businesses.
• Solution needs: Businesses looking for an easy-to-use expense management software in addition to travel booking and payment solutions.

5. Happay.

Extracts expense data from multiple sources

Founded in 2012, Happay is one of the notable Navan competitors, providing similar travel and expense management features. Happay offers some features that Navan lacks, such as fleet and digital petty cash management.

Best features.

• Multiple expense capture methods: Xpendite plug-in extracts expense data from over six sources, including cards, emailed invoices, paper bills, SMS, Uber, and uploaded receipts via the mobile app.
• Automated mileage tracking: Custom approval workflows, a dashboard to monitor the approval cycle, approval reminders, and the ability to set blocks for policy violations.
• SmartAudit: Detects and flags duplicate invoices, out-of-policy expenses, and restricted items while verifying invoice details.
• Streamlined travel booking: Supports booking of compliant travel while connecting users with multiple suppliers.
• Spend analytics: Provides detailed insights into spend and allows users to generate custom reports.

Happay G2 Rating:4.5/5.

Happay pricing.

Pricing information is not available on Happay’s website.

Customers and best suited for:

• Company size: Mid-size and large businesses.
• Solution needs: Companies looking for a modern travel and expense management platform with petty cash card and fleet management features.

6. Mesh Payments.

Expenses and reimbursements can be managed under one budget

Looking for Navan competitors that offer free travel and expense management features? Mesh Payments fits the bill by bringing together tools to manage procurement, travel, cards, accounting automation, and global spend.

Best features.

• Travel management: Online and offline booking tools, in-app communication with travel agents, multi-agency support, and built-in policy enforcement.
• Expense management: Categorizes expenses with automatic matching of receipts, approval workflows, virtual cards, and quick reconciliation of transactions.
• SaaS subscription management: Insights on SaaS subscriptions to maximize savings, automated payments, a dashboard to monitor subscriptions, and SaaS spend controls.
• Multi-subsidiary workflows: Enables tracking and management of receipts, expense categorization, and reconciliation across subsidiaries.

Mesh Payments G2 rating: 4.6/5.

Mesh Payments pricing.

Mesh Payments’ packages are available across three categories — Pro, Premium, and Enterprise. The Pro plan is free while the Premium plan is priced at $10 per user per month. The pricing for the Enterprise plan is customized based on the business’s specific needs.

Customers and best suited for:

• Company size: Small, medium, and large businesses.
• Solution needs: Businesses with international entities looking for features such as virtual cards, SaaS subscriptions, travel, and global spend management.

7. Ramp.

Admins can issue physical and virtual cards for different spend categories

Ramp is one of the suitable alternatives to Navan for businesses that are looking for a unified T&E platform with AP automation and procurement tools. Like Navan, Ramp also has a free plan that offers basic expense and travel management features.

Best features.

• Smart receipt capture: Captures receipts sent via mobile app and SMS while auto-routing them from Lyft, Amazon, and Gmail.
• Corporate cards: Auto-enforced submission requirements and spend limits based on categories, merchants, and other criteria.
• Travel tools: Flexible spend limits based on market rates, access to Priceline’s inventory of flights and hotels, custom approval workflows based on amount, GL code, team, etc.
• AP automation: AI-powered suggestions on accounting rules and expense categorization, error detection, and ERP syncing.

Ramp G2 rating: 4.8/5.

Ramp pricing.

Ramp also has a free plan like some other Navan alternatives listed here with features such as expense management, corporate cards, and accounting software synchronization. The paid plans, Ramp Plus ($15 per month per user) and Ramp Enterprise, offer advanced integrations, custom workflows, PO management, and multi-entity support.

Customers and best suited for:

• Company size: SMBs and enterprises.
• Solution needs: Businesses in need of AP automation, procurement, and integrated T&E features.

8. SAP Concur

Users can connect to Concur’s partner apps to simplify expense reporting

If you’re looking for Navan alternatives that offer an integrated T&E experience in addition to invoice management, budgeting, and PO matching, you should consider SAP Concur.

Concur’s products, such as Concur Travel, Concur Expense, and Concur Invoice integrate with each other to help companies better manage their spend.

Best features.

• Expense management: A mobile app for on-the-go receipt submission, expense reporting, and approvals.
• Fraud detection: Concur Detect by Oversight reviews receipts and expense data to detect suspicious transactions and enforce policy compliance.
• Travel booking tools: A global network of connected travel partners, traveler self-service portal, automated ticketing and seat checks, and virtual card for travel expenses.
• Total spend visibility: Offers complete visibility into total company spending, down to each detailed transaction.
• Payment solutions: Provides Payment Manager for managing bulk payments through third-party app integrations.

SAP Concur G2 rating: 4.0/5

SAP Concur pricing.

Pricing information is not available on the website.

Customers and best suited for:

• Company size: Medium-sized businesses to large enterprises.
• Solution needs: Businesses looking for travel, expense, and budget management tools.

9. Zoho Expense.

In-app chat feature streamlines collaboration on trips

Next up in this list of Navan alternatives is Zoho Expense. You can find similar travel and expense management features on Zoho’s platform, including approvals, and corporate cards. Zoho Expense has some additional useful features, such as a Chrome and Gmail add-on that allows users to capture receipts from emails and web apps.

Best features.

• Receipt imports from multiple sources: Apart from auto-scanning receipts, users can add expenses with Zoho’s Gmail, Outlook, Chrome, and Zoho Mail add-ons.
• Multi-currency and multi-language support: Zoho converts local currencies and reads receipts in 14 languages while creating expense records.
• Custom expense reports: In addition to tailoring forms and fields for expense reporting, admins can customize the user interface based on roles.
• Simplifies business travel arrangements: Plus, ensures policy compliance with a self-booking tool.
• Spend analytics: Offers valuable insights into corporate card expenditures through an intuitive dashboard for enhanced financial oversight.

Zoho Expense G2 rating: 4.5/5

Zoho Expense pricing.

There are four packages available: Free, Standard, Premium, and Custom. The Standard plan costs $4 per user/month when billed annually, while the Premium plan is priced at $7 per user/month.

Customers and best suited for:

• Company size: Self-employed individuals, small businesses, and enterprises.
• Solution needs: Companies and individuals looking for affordable travel and expense management solutions.

Airbase vs Navan.

This section is where we focus on a head-to-head Airbase vs Navan comparison, zooming in on their features in more detail.

What does Airbase do?

Apart from Airbase’s holistic procure, pay, close capabilities, it also offers an integrated travel and expense management platform.

Unlike Navan which is limited to T&E, Airbase offers advanced AP automation, procurement, and corporate card features.
Airbase goes beyond Navan with its customizable virtual cards, physical cards, direct cashback rewards, and real-time reporting capabilities. Unlike Navan that lacks bill payment capabilities, Airbase enables international payment across 200 countries in 145+ currencies.

Airbase solutions.

Guided Procurement.

Forms and workflows dynamically adapt to the responses of purchasers

The Guided Procurement module offers a no-code, drag-and-drop approval workflow builder to tailor approvals for purchases. The platform assists employees through the purchasing process, offering suggestions, and dynamically adapting forms and workflows based on the employee’s responses.

Vendor management tools include a self-service portal for vendors to track payment status and a centralized platform for Airbase users to manage vendor details, including contracts, SLAs, and W-9.

Airbase integrates with contract lifecycle management (CLM) and GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) systems to streamline processes and optimize compliance.

Accounts Payable Automation.

Get the full context of every invoice on Airbase

Right from invoice capturing to reconciliation, Airbase’s advanced AP automation module eliminates manual processes and automates accounting tasks.

Approval workflows are triggered based on parameters such as the amount, vendor, and GL category. Deep integration with NetSuite enables 3-way matching of invoices against item receipts and POs. Airbase also automatically codes, tags, categorizes, and syncs data into the GL.

Companies can pay vendors in 200+ countries and in 145+ currencies through ACH, check, virtual card, international wires, or vendor credits.

Expense Management.

Airbase’s Expense Management module allows users to manage spend across cards, travel, reimbursements, and purchases. Employees can scan and upload receipts via a mobile app and the platform uses AI, ML, and OCR to extract receipt data and fields, including GL category, date, amount, and merchant/vendor.

Admins can set granular spend policies and approval workflows, while the software flags any out-of-policy requests. Unlike Navan that lacks multi-subsidiary reimbursement support, Airbase allows users to reimburse expenses from an international-based subsidiary in multiple currencies.

Corporate Cards.

Airbase flags suspicious card transactions and instantly notifies users

Compared with Navan, Airbase has a more flexible corporate card program. Admins can issue unlimited virtual cards for one-off or recurring online purchases and physical cards for in-person purchases with custom spend controls. Virtual card transactions are automatically synced to the accounting software. Apart from partner card integrations for AMEX and SVB, Airbase users can earn unlimited cash back on every transaction.

Airbase’s automatic fraud detection systems alert card users of any suspicious transactions, while a dedicated fraud investigation team works round the clock to prevent payment fraud.

What does Navan do?

Navan (formerly TripActions) is a unified travel and expense management platform that simplifies business travel booking, expense tracking, and reimbursement for small businesses and enterprises. Its travel management tools include group travel planning, automated booking approval workflows, and sustainability tracking.

Let’s take a closer look at Navan’s capabilities.

Travel.

A global inventory of flights, hotels, and rental cars

With Navan, users can plan itineraries and book flights, rental cars, and hotels. Admins can create dynamic policies to ensure compliant travel bookings.

The Team Travel feature allows users to book and manage group travel for 50 employees in addition to booking travel for guests. Navan integrates with Meetings and Events services of Reed & Mackay to offer budget management, a dedicated event team, on-site assistance, and group travel experts. In addition to the services of expert travel agents through Meetings and Events, Navan offers Ava, the AI agent to assist employees with bookings.

The rewards employees earn on business travel can be redeemed for personal trips.

Expense.

An overview of transactions, total spend, and spend per user

Navan’s expense management platform allows admins to define spend policies and gain full visibility into spend as it happens. Employees can scan and upload receipts or connect their existing corporate card and Navan allocates line items to corresponding categories while syncing transactions to accounting software.

Businesses can also capture VAT transactions and report them to reclaim a portion of their expenses.

 Corporate card.

Users can connect their existing Mastercard and Visa card with Navan

Users can connect their existing Mastercard and Visa card with Navan

Users can connect their existing Mastercard or Visa card to Navan and retain their banking relationships and rewards. Navan allows admins to set custom spend controls for corporate cards that are enforced at the point of swipe In addition to flagging out-of-policy expenses, Navan categorizes card transactions and reconciles them.

Reimbursement.

A mobile app to submit expenses and track reimbursements

The global reimbursement feature, launched in 2022, enables companies to reimburse employees in 25 currencies across 45 countries within days. Employees just need to connect their personal bank account with the Navan app and submit their expenses to get reimbursed. They can also track the reimbursement process.

In summary.

We hope our detailed write-up on Navan alternatives and the head-to-head Navan vs Airbase comparison has given you the information you were looking for.

While Navan has impressive travel and expense management features, it can’t compare to Airbase when it comes to P2P capabilities.

Airbase offers best-in-class travel booking via its integration with TravelPerk within a robust procure, pay, close solution. This folds travel into a comprehensive procurement process, from purchase requisitions and approvals to vendor management and invoice processing. An integrated spend orchestration approach when combined with granular spend analytics helps businesses achieve greater control and visibility over their spending, ensuring compliance and optimizing cash flow.

Above all, Airbase is known for its stellar customer support and a dedicated fraud prevention team that helps businesses safeguard their financial processes.