
Saman Herath
January 9, 2026

Finding the right Dext alternatives has become a priority for thousands of accounting firms worldwide. Since Receipt Bank rebranded to Dext in 2021, the platform has evolved significantly—but not always in ways that serve every user’s needs. Whether you’re frustrated with complex rule configuration, expensive per-user pricing, or limitations with multi-language documents, there are compelling alternatives to Dext worth exploring in 2026.
This comprehensive guide examines the best Receipt Bank competitors available today. We’ve tested each platform extensively, evaluating features, pricing structures, ease of use, and real-world performance to help you make an informed decision.
Before diving into the alternatives, it’s worth understanding why so many accounting professionals are actively searching for Dext prepare alternatives and alternatives to Dext accounting software.
One of the most common complaints about Dext is the time-consuming process of setting up extraction rules. For every new client, accountants must configure rules manually—a process that can take hours per client. When suppliers change their invoice formats, these rules often break and require reconfiguration.
“I spend more time writing rules than actually reviewing data,” one frustrated Dext user shared on an accounting forum. This sentiment echoes across the industry, with many firms reporting that rule maintenance has become a significant hidden cost.
Dext’s pricing model charges per user, which can quickly become expensive for growing firms. A team of 10 bookkeepers accessing the platform represents a substantial monthly cost—often exceeding what firms budgeted for automation tools.
For firms serving international clients or operating in multilingual markets, Dext’s language processing capabilities often fall short. Chinese fapiao, Japanese receipts, and Arabic invoices frequently require manual intervention, negating much of the automation benefit.
Many Dext formerly Receipt Bank competitors emerged specifically because Dext (and Receipt Bank before it) primarily captures invoice totals rather than detailed line items. For firms needing quantities, unit prices, and item descriptions for job costing or detailed expense tracking, this limitation is significant.
A common frustration among Dext users involves handling bulk PDF documents. Clients frequently send 30, 50, or even 100-page PDF files containing multiple invoices and receipts. Dext requires manual splitting of these documents before processing—a tedious task that can consume hours of staff time each week.
“Our clients dump everything into one PDF. Splitting them manually defeats the purpose of automation,” explained one accountant searching for alternatives to Dext. This bulk document handling gap has become a key differentiator for modern Receipt Bank competitors that offer automatic PDF splitting.
Our evaluation process involved hands-on testing of each platform over a 30-day period. We assessed:
We processed over 500 test documents through each platform, including intentionally challenging samples: handwritten receipts, faded thermal paper, 50-page bulk PDFs, and invoices in 12 different languages.

Tofu AI bookkeeping automation dashboard
Best for: Firms wanting zero-configuration AI that learns automatically from historical data
Rating: 4.8/5 (Xero App Store)
Tofu has emerged as the leading alternative to Dext for accounting firms seeking genuine automation without the setup headaches. Unlike traditional OCR tools that require manual rule configuration, Tofu uses advanced AI to learn from your existing Xero or QuickBooks transaction history—eliminating the rule-writing process entirely.
The fundamental difference between Tofu and Dext lies in their approach to automation. Dext requires you to teach the system through manual rule configuration. Tofu observes your historical transactions and learns independently.
“Tofu is so easy you could use it while lying in bed. It was the first time I didn’t have to work a weekend,” reported one early adopter.
For firms frustrated with alternatives to Dext prepare that still require extensive setup, Tofu offers a genuinely different approach. The AI learns how you categorize expenses, which accounts you use for specific suppliers, and your preferred descriptions—all without writing a single rule.
Where Dext often struggles with non-English documents, Tofu excels. The platform was built from the ground up for multilingual processing, making it particularly valuable for firms in Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa regions, or any firm serving international clients.
“I get Indonesian, English, French, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese… Tofu handles them all,” explained one user from a multinational accounting firm.
“You’re saving me 40% versus hiring someone,” calculated one firm owner comparing Tofu’s cost to additional headcount.
Verdict: Tofu represents the next generation of bookkeeping automation. For firms tired of writing rules and fixing OCR errors, it delivers on the promise of genuine AI-powered automation. The zero-setup approach and superior multi-language handling make it the best overall Dext alternative for 2026.
Hubdoc document management interface
Best for: Small firms already committed to the Xero ecosystem
Rating: 3.5/5 (Xero App Store)
Hubdoc is Xero’s built-in document management solution, included free with Xero subscriptions. As a Receipt Bank competitor, it offers basic document capture and storage functionality that works seamlessly within Xero’s interface.
Hubdoc’s limitations are well-documented. The platform averages just 3.5 stars on the Xero App Store, with users frequently citing accuracy issues and lack of development since Xero acquired it.
Verdict: Hubdoc works for very basic needs within the Xero ecosystem, but firms seeking a robust alternative to Dext Receipt Bank will likely find it insufficient for anything beyond simple document storage and basic data capture.
AutoEntry receipt scanning interface
Best for: Firms prioritizing QuickBooks Online integration
Rating: 4.4/5 (Capterra — 226 reviews)
AutoEntry (now part of Sage) offers solid document capture capabilities with strong QuickBooks integration. It’s positioned as a reliable, if somewhat traditional, alternative to Dext for firms wanting proven technology.
Verdict: AutoEntry is a solid choice for QuickBooks-focused firms wanting an established solution. However, it doesn’t solve the rule configuration problem that drives many users to seek Dext alternatives in the first place.
Datamolino document extraction dashboard
Best for: European firms needing strong VAT handling
Rating: 4.9/5 (Capterra — 42 reviews)
Datamolino focuses heavily on European markets, with strong VAT extraction capabilities and support for EU invoice formats. As an alternative to Dext accounting software, it serves firms needing compliance-focused document processing.
Verdict: Datamolino works well for European firms with straightforward VAT requirements but lacks the global language support and advanced AI capabilities of leading Receipt Bank competitors.
Spendesk expense management platform
Best for: Companies wanting combined spend management and receipt capture
Rating: 4.7/5 (G2 — 500+ reviews)
Spendesk takes a different approach as a Dext alternative, focusing on comprehensive spend management rather than pure document processing. It’s best suited for companies wanting to control expenses from purchase to payment.
Verdict: Spendesk is excellent for internal expense management but isn’t a direct alternative to Dext for accounting firms processing client documents. Best suited for companies managing their own expenses.
For context, Receipt Bank was the original platform that became Dext in 2021. Users searching for alternatives to Dext Receipt Bank are often longtime users who remember the platform’s earlier simplicity.
Key changes since the Receipt Bank era:
Many long-term Receipt Bank users report that the platform has become more complicated since the rebrand, driving them to explore simpler alternatives like Tofu.
BILL accounts payable automation
Best for: Firms wanting full AP automation beyond document capture
Rating: 4.4/5 (G2 — 1,000+ reviews)
BILL focuses on accounts payable automation, including document capture as part of a broader payment workflow. As a Dext formerly Receipt Bank competitor, it serves firms wanting end-to-end AP processing.
Verdict: BILL is a powerful AP automation platform but represents significant overkill for firms simply seeking better document capture. The per-user pricing makes it expensive for larger teams.
Lightyear procurement and invoice automation
Best for: Businesses wanting procurement and invoice processing combined
Rating: 4.9/5 (Capterra — 169 reviews)
Lightyear combines procurement functionality with invoice processing, targeting businesses that want to control the entire purchase-to-pay cycle.
Verdict: Lightyear suits businesses wanting procurement integration but is too complex for accounting firms simply seeking a better alternative to Dext prepare for document capture.
Receipt Bank rebranded to Dext in November 2021. The core functionality remained similar, but the company expanded its product lineup and adjusted pricing structures. Users searching for Receipt Bank competitors are now looking for Dext alternatives—the same underlying need for document capture automation.
Tofu requires the least setup time among all Dext alternatives. While traditional OCR tools like Dext and AutoEntry require hours of rule configuration per client, Tofu connects to your accounting software and learns from your historical transactions automatically. Most users complete setup in under 15 minutes.
Yes, most alternatives allow data import or can start fresh while your historical data remains in your accounting software. Tofu specifically learns from your Xero or QuickBooks history, so you don’t need to migrate anything—it automatically understands your coding patterns.
Tofu offers the most comprehensive multi-language support among alternatives to Dext, processing 200+ languages including Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Indonesian, and more. The platform includes automatic translation, converting foreign-language invoices into English line items.
Hubdoc is included free with Xero subscriptions, making it a no-cost option for Xero users. However, its limitations (no line items, accuracy issues, limited language support) mean most firms eventually seek paid alternatives for better functionality.
Consider these factors:
For small accounting firms with limited time and technical resources, Tofu offers the best balance of simplicity and capability. The zero-setup approach means sole practitioners and small teams can start processing documents immediately without dedicating hours to rule configuration. The entity-based pricing also ensures costs remain predictable as the firm grows.
Receipt Bank accounts were migrated to Dext during the 2021 rebrand. If you had an active Receipt Bank subscription, your account and data were transferred to Dext automatically. The underlying technology evolved, but historical data remained accessible within the new Dext interface.
Dext Prepare focuses on traditional OCR with rule-based automation, requiring users to configure extraction rules for each client and supplier. Alternatives to Dext Prepare like Tofu use AI-learning approaches that automatically understand your coding patterns from historical data. This fundamental difference means Tofu users spend zero time on rule configuration while achieving higher accuracy, especially with complex documents.
Most Dext alternatives offer varying levels of bank statement support. AutoEntry includes bank statement processing as a core feature. Tofu processes PDF bank statements and extracts transaction data directly into Xero or QuickBooks. This capability is particularly valuable during year-end when firms process high volumes of bank documentation.
Tofu is the standout performer for bulk PDF processing among all alternatives to Dext. When clients send 50-page or 100-page PDFs containing multiple invoices and receipts, Tofu automatically detects document boundaries, splits the file, and processes each document individually. This automatic PDF splitting eliminates hours of manual document separation that other platforms require. Most Receipt Bank competitors including Hubdoc, AutoEntry, and Datamolino require manual splitting before upload.
The document capture industry is undergoing significant transformation. Understanding these trends helps contextualize why Dext alternatives have proliferated and what to expect from future developments.
Traditional OCR tools like Dext and the original Receipt Bank relied on rule-based systems. Users taught the software by creating extraction rules for each supplier. This approach worked but required substantial ongoing maintenance.
The industry is shifting toward AI-learning systems that observe user behavior and learn automatically. Tofu pioneered this approach in the bookkeeping space, demonstrating that AI can learn coding patterns from historical transactions without explicit rule creation.
Globalization has made multi-language document processing a necessity rather than a luxury. Firms increasingly serve international clients, handle invoices from overseas suppliers, and operate in multilingual markets. Receipt Bank competitors that invested in multilingual AI now hold significant advantages in these growing markets.
Per-user pricing models penalize growing firms by increasing costs as teams expand. The industry trend favors entity-based or volume-based pricing that aligns costs with actual usage rather than headcount. This shift reflects customer demand for predictable scaling costs.
Transitioning from Dext to an alternative doesn’t have to be painful. Here’s a practical approach:
Most Dext subscriptions run annually. Begin evaluating alternatives to Dext 2-3 months before renewal to allow adequate testing time.
Test your chosen alternative alongside Dext for 2-4 weeks. Process the same documents through both systems to compare accuracy and efficiency.
Begin using your new platform for new client onboarding first. This allows your team to learn the system without disrupting existing workflows.
Move existing clients in batches rather than all at once. This reduces risk and allows you to address any issues before they affect your entire client base.
Track time savings and error reduction to quantify the value of switching. This data helps justify the decision and identifies any areas needing attention.
After extensive testing of all major Dext alternatives and Receipt Bank competitors, Tofu emerges as the clear winner for accounting firms in 2026.
The platform’s zero-configuration AI eliminates the rule-writing burden that plagues traditional OCR tools. Its superior multi-language processing opens doors for firms serving international clients. And the entity-based pricing makes it cost-effective for growing teams.
For firms specifically frustrated with:
The choice is clear.
Ready to experience the future of bookkeeping automation?
Last updated: January 2026. We regularly review and update this comparison to ensure accuracy. Have questions about switching from Dext? Contact our team for personalized migration guidance.
