Fifteen years ago, Expensify entered the market with a simple promise: “expense reports that don’t suck.” In doing so, it introduced a string of firsts—becoming the original mobile expense app, introducing integrated receipt scanning, and offering a $5 per-user price tag.
But, as Expensify grew and expanded its offerings to serve large multinational corporations, its pricing model also evolved and became more complex.
While flexible pricing options such as active-user billing, card-based discounts, and annual commitments often work well for many larger enterprises, they can be confusing and off-putting for smaller businesses.
Now, Expensify is returning to its founding philosophy, announcing a major update to its Collect plan that brings back its $5 per member per month pricing model, with no strings attached.
Back to Basics for SMBs
Expensify is intentionally going back to its roots with its $5/month/member flat rate self-serve plan. The Collect plan delivers full functionality without requiring negotiations or fine-print footnotes. Aimed squarely at simplifying financial management for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), this pricing is available to all customers who sign up after April 1, 2025. There’s no annual commitment required, even for users not using its Expensify Card.
Dubbed by the vendor as “2010 pricing with 2025 functionality,” the new Collect plan includes:
- Unlimited SmartScans
- Expensify Cards with Smart Limits
- Expense approvals and distance tracking
- Bill pay, invoicing, and next-day ACH reimbursement
- QuickBooks Online, Xero, Gusto, and Zenefits integration
- Expensify Travel and Expensify Chat
- Third-party card feeds and reconciliation
This change reflects Expensify’s return to prioritizing the still-underserved SMB market segment. Small businesses and teams can once again get started quickly with self-serve, predictable pricing. The vendor expects the new plan to boost adoption among smaller companies and help grow its customer base in this market.
Perspective: Keeping It Simple for a Competitive Edge
Reviving a simple, flat-rate plan is strategic move designed to reignite growth in a crowded and fragmented SMB financial tech landscape. By eliminating pricing tiers, card dependencies, and long-term commitments, Expensify is reducing friction and repositioning itself as the go-to financial platform for small businesses that want robust functionality without added complexity.
This shift comes at a time when many SMB-focused competitors are still anchored to more restrictive or opaque pricing models. For instance, some vendors offer free or low-cost expense management tools, but leave out essential features, like ACH bill pay or integrations. Others require that customers use the vendors’ corporate cards to qualify for free or low-cost plans.
Expensify’s updated $5/month/member Collect offering undercuts many rivals in price and simplicity, and signals a renewed commitment to the SMB market. By going back to basics, Expensify is betting that transparency, affordability, and ease of use will win over the next generation of SMB customers.
© SMB Group 2025