Saving Money / Savings Tips
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There are many reasons why people may want to scan and save receipts. This may be to keep track of their expenses or to avoid making tax mistakes. Whatever the reason, there’s no need to have folders full of paper receipts creating a clutter. Receipt scanner apps can do this job instead.
8 Best Receipt Scanner Apps
So what is the best app to record receipts? Here are eight options and what they’re best for.
1. Shoeboxed: Ideal for storage
Shoeboxed uses crucial data to efficiently categorize receipts to make them easily searchable and editable for simple tax preparation. If customers exceed the limits, they will be charged 40 cents per digital receipt and 50 cents per paper receipt thereafter.
- Cost: The Shoeboxed starter plan for individuals starts at $18 per month for its annual plan, but it also has a 30-day free trial period.
- Advantages: The Starter plan allows users to scan 600 digital receipts and 300 paper receipts per year with unlimited storage. Customers can send receipts by mail once a month for free or upload documents online. Enhanced plans can handle up to 3,600 paper and digital receipts each.
- Advantages:
- 30 day free trial
- Unlimited storage
- Free shipping once a month
- The inconvenients:
- Additional charges for exceeding limits
2. Expensify: Ideal for synchronizing transactions
Expensify has several different plans for its customers, including a free option. The free version allows users to scan up to 25 documents per month without incurring any charges. Business customers can also use Expensify’s services through a subscription model, which becomes cheaper when adding an Expensify card.
- Cost: From $0 to $9 per month per user with the Expensify card.
- Advantages: Customers can instantly sync data, track and send invoices, receive and send money, and split invoices.
- Advantages:
- Freemium Option
- Instant synchronization of transactions
- The inconvenients:
- Limited capacities without subscription
3. Smart Receipts: Best for Mileage Tracking
Smart Receipts stands out with its mileage tracking, which easily compiles essential data, as well as its automatic scans. The downside, however, is that automatic scans cost 10 cents per use at current rates, even for Smart Receipts Plus customers.
- Costs: Smart Receipts offers two plans: a free plan and a subscription service called Smart Receipts Plus for $9.99.
- Advantages: The free plan is ad-supported and has limited features compared to the paid premium version. The Smart Receipts premium subscription has no ads, as well as exchange rate conversion, automatic file saving, automatic price breakdown by category and payment method, and customizable documentation.
- Advantages:
- Efficient mileage tracking
- Automatic scans
- The inconvenients:
- Ads on the free version
- Additional a la carte services
4. Neat: ideal for small businesses
Neat is one of the best receipt software services available. It allows its customers to capture receipt data using its optical character recognition software, which is also used by other options on this list. Neat prioritizes saving its users time with guided workflows, making it ideal for small businesses.
- Cost: Neat is rather expensive, with subscriptions starting at $24 per month if you pay annually. Paying monthly will cost you $29. However, it also offers a 14-day free trial if new users want to try it out.
- Advantages: Neat offers 24/7 support and is integrated with QuickBooks, TurboTax, and H&R Block, making tax filing a breeze.
- Advantages:
- Useful integrations
- 24/7 support
- 14 day free trial
- The inconvenients:
- Expensive compared to competitors, especially if you pay monthly
5. Evernote scannable: best for simplicity
Evernote Scannable is a 100% free application that allows users to track key financial documents and receipts. It’s a great resource for keeping copies of receipts and immediately discarding any paper residue. Despite this, Evernote Scannable is less sophisticated than the others on this list. It provides a light and simple service, but there aren’t many extras.
- Cost: Free
- Advantages: Evernote provides free organizing and scheduling services as well as document sharing. This can be ideal for managing personal finances for joint accounts or with a spouse.
- Advantages:
- completely free
- No frills product
- The inconvenients:
- No add-ons to automate processes
6. QuickBooks: Best for Managing Taxes
QuickBooks is aimed more at entrepreneurs, freelancers, and sole traders than the average consumer. Because it’s an Intuit service, some people may choose to use QuickBooks if they already use other Intuit products such as TurboTax. However, its price is higher than some other offers.
- Cost: Plans start from $12.50 for the first three months, but after that users will be charged $25 per month. High-level services can cost up to $90 per month. It offers a 30-day free trial for new customers who plan to try it out.
- Advantages: QuickBooks gives its users a holistic view of their income, expenses, bills, mileage tracking, and tax deductions in one place. Its categorization adaptations are ideal for tax season.
- Advantages:
- Complete platform for revenue, expense and tax management
- Categorizes and automates tax deductions
- The inconvenients:
7. Receipt lens: ideal for households
Receipt Lens is a perfect receipt scanning option for users who manage expenses that occur at different times. It allows users to set separate folders for daily shopping, education, home, travel, and whatever else they may need.
- Cost: Receipt Lens offers users a seven-day free trial, but after that customers must purchase an individual subscription starting at $9.99 per month.
- Advantages: Classified expense reports appear in less than a second, and can all be shared with others such as family, roommates, coworkers, or a partner.
- Advantages:
- Shareable reports
- Seven-day free trial
- The inconvenients:
8. Veryfi: the best for precision
Veryfi is a receipt scanner that uses OCR technology, which effectively identifies text and line items. Several similar applications use this process. The difference is that Veryfi’s OCR scanner is the fastest.
- Cost: The free version of Veryfi allows up to 50 document scans per month with unlimited storage but does not include many document types. The Starter subscription price requires you to pay $0.08 per receipt and $0.16 per invoice, with a minimum commitment of $500 per month. It is intended for companies processing up to 25,000 documents per month.
- Advantages: Key details such as account numbers, names and dates can be sorted in just three seconds with a paid subscription.
- Advantages:
- Free Options
- World’s fastest OCR technology
- The inconvenients:
Final grip
The best receipt scanner app is one that does exactly what one needs, quickly and easily. The free options are always worth considering, but in the end, since they all have different features, some of the more expensive options will better serve those with additional needs.
FAQs
Here are some questions people often ask about receipt scanner apps.
- Which receipt scanner app is the best?
- QuickBooks is one of the more sophisticated receipt scanning apps for businesses, and Expensify is a great option for consumers.
- What is the best free app to scan receipts?
- One of the best free apps for scanning receipts is Evernote Scannable. No subscription is required.
Information is accurate as of July 14, 2022.