Roundup · Bookkeeping

Dext vs AutoEntry vs Xero: the best AI receipt tool for UK small businesses (2026)

Published 19 October 2026 · Checked 19 October 2026, prices change

How we research: this comparison is based on each vendor’s official pricing pages, help centre and privacy documentation, read on 19 October 2026. We haven’t tested these tools hands-on for this page, and we haven’t been paid to include any tool. Where a vendor doesn’t publish something, we say “not stated”. Checked 19 October 2026, prices change.

Receipt and bookkeeping tools use AI to read your receipts, bills and invoices from a phone photo, a PDF or a forwarded email, and send the supplier, date, amount and VAT into your accounting software, so you’re not typing them in at the end of the quarter. For a UK small business the choice is between the capture built into Xero and the two long-standing specialists, Dext and AutoEntry. Here’s how they compare on price, VAT, free trials, AI training and where your data goes, from each vendor’s own pages.

Our verdict

Xero

If you already use Xero, start with what’s included: Xero’s smart document capture reads receipts, bills and invoices you photograph or forward, and Hubdoc is included too, on every Xero small-business plan at no extra cost (Ignite is £18 a month excluding VAT after the introductory period). Only pay for a specialist if that isn’t enough. See Xero document capture ↗

Not on Xero, or need more? AutoEntry is the cheapest way in, from £15.45 a month excluding VAT for 50 credits with unlimited users, and it connects to Sage, Xero, QuickBooks and other accounting software. Dext suits busier businesses: £290 a year excluding VAT for 250 documents a month and 5 users, with a 14-day free trial.

Dext vs AutoEntry vs Xero at a glance

	Xero (built in)	Dext	AutoEntry
What it is	Accounting software with smart document capture and Hubdoc included	Receipt and invoice capture and bookkeeping automation	Data entry from invoices, receipts and statements, part of Sage
Free option	Free month (“Get one month free”)	14-day free trial, no card details	Free trial with 25 credits, no credit card
Price	Ignite £18, Grow £39, Comprehensive £55, Ultimate £70 a month after the introductory period	£290 a year billed annually (shown as £24.17 a month) for 250 documents a month and 5 users	Bronze £15.45 a month for 50 credits; Silver £27.65 for 100; Gold £51.95 for 200
VAT	Excludes VAT	Excludes VAT	Excludes VAT
How usage is counted	No separate charge for document capture	Documents a month and users; extras such as line items and bank statements are add-ons	Credits: 1 per receipt or invoice, 2 with line items, 3 per bank statement page; unused credits kept up to 90 days
Users	No per-user licence fees	5 users on the plan shown	Unlimited users
Used to train AI?	JAX doesn’t use your data to train the LLMs it uses; Xero analyses data to improve services, including with AI	Third-party generative AI providers can’t train on your data; own model training not stated	Sage says it trains machine-learning models on data including invoices
Where data is stored	May be processed in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the US	Amazon Web Services; region not stated	Sage products may be hosted outside the UK and EEA; region not stated

Prices as shown in pounds for a UK visitor on xero.com/uk/pricing-plans, dext.com/uk/business/pricing and autoentry.com/pricing, checked 19 October 2026. Xero was showing an introductory offer for the first 6 months; the prices above are the ones Xero says apply afterwards. Dext’s page says annual billing is cheaper than monthly; the monthly-billing price is not stated in the view we read. AutoEntry also lists Platinum (500 credits, £119.35) and larger plans. VAT: all three show prices excluding UK VAT, so add 20% (see GOV.UK); if you’re VAT-registered, ask your accountant how to record the VAT on the subscription.

1. Xero: use what’s already included

Xero’s smart document capture lets you photograph a receipt in the Xero Accounting app, forward it to your Xero email address or drag in a file. Xero says it uses AI to read receipts, invoices and rental statements, shows the original next to the data-entry screen for you to check, attaches the original to the record and suggests matches with your bank transactions (Xero smart document capture). Xero says the feature is available on all its small-business plans at no extra charge, and that Hubdoc is included in its UK plans as long as it’s connected to your Xero subscription (Xero pricing). Plans run from Ignite at £18 a month to Ultimate at £70 a month, excluding VAT, after the introductory period.

Xero’s JAX assistant uses third-party large language model providers, and Xero says that data isn’t used to train those models (Xero JAX FAQ). Xero’s privacy notice says personal data may be transferred to and processed in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the United States (Xero privacy notice).

Pick Xero’s built-in capture if…

You already pay for Xero and your volume of receipts is modest.
You want one less subscription and one less login.
You’re happy to check each extracted record before it’s published.

2. Dext: for busier businesses and accountant workflows

Dext (formerly Receipt Bank) captures receipts and invoices and sends them to your accounting software already coded. Its UK business plan was shown at £290 a year billed annually, displayed as £24.17 a month excluding VAT, for 250 documents a month and 5 users, with a slider to increase the allowance (Dext pricing). Extras are priced separately: line-item and supplier-statement extraction from £16.50 a month, bank-statement extraction from £10 a month, and an AI Assist add-on at £7.50 a month until 31 January 2027. There’s a 14-day free trial, and Dext says it doesn’t ask for card details.

Dext hosts its data with Amazon Web Services and copies backups to another region; the hosting region is not stated on its security page (Dext security). Its privacy policy says Dext acts as your processor for personal data in the documents you upload, and that it doesn’t allow the third-party generative AI providers it uses, such as Microsoft Azure OpenAI, to train their models on your data (Dext privacy policy).

Pick Dext if…

You have hundreds of receipts and bills a month or several people submitting them.
Your accountant or bookkeeper already uses Dext for clients.
You want add-ons such as supplier-statement checks or bank-statement extraction.

3. AutoEntry: pay for what you process

AutoEntry, part of Sage, extracts data from invoices, receipts and bank statements and connects to Sage, Xero, QuickBooks and most other accounting software (AutoEntry for small businesses). It charges by credits: Bronze is £15.45 a month excluding VAT for 50 credits, Silver £27.65 for 100 and Gold £51.95 for 200, with every plan including unlimited users and unlimited cloud storage (AutoEntry pricing). A receipt or invoice uses 1 credit, an invoice with line items 2, and a bank-statement page 3. Unused credits are kept for up to 90 days, and you can downgrade or pause your plan. The free trial includes 25 credits and needs no credit card.

Sage’s privacy notice says it uses machine learning in some products and builds and continuously trains models on data including personal data, giving automatic invoice processing as its example, and that some of its products may be hosted outside the UK and EEA, with transfers covered by the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum (Sage privacy notice).

Pick AutoEntry if…

Your volume is low or seasonal and you’d rather pay per document.
You use Sage, QuickBooks or another package rather than Xero.
You want unlimited users without paying per seat.

Privacy and record-keeping note for UK businesses

Receipts and invoices often contain personal data: names, addresses, card digits and sometimes what someone bought. Each of these tools acts as your processor under UK GDPR, so check its data processing terms, give access only to the people who need it and see the ICO guidance on international transfers, as none of the three states UK-only storage. For HMRC, GOV.UK says sole traders can keep records digitally or on paper and must keep them for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline (GOV.UK self-employed records); limited companies must keep records for 6 years from the end of the last financial year they relate to (GOV.UK company records). Ask your accountant before you bin paper receipts. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

FAQ

What’s the best AI receipt scanning tool for a UK small business?

If you already use Xero, start with what’s included: Xero’s smart document capture and Hubdoc come with every Xero small-business plan at no extra cost, from Ignite at £18 a month excluding VAT. If you use another accounting package or have low or uneven volumes, AutoEntry from £15.45 a month excluding VAT is the cheapest way in. Choose Dext if you have more paperwork, several people submitting receipts or an accountant who already uses it.

How much do Dext and AutoEntry cost in the UK?

Dext’s business plan was shown at £290 a year billed annually, which Dext displays as £24.17 a month, excluding VAT, for 250 documents a month and 5 users. AutoEntry starts at £15.45 a month excluding VAT for 50 credits a month (Bronze), then £27.65 for 100 credits, £51.95 for 200 and £119.35 for 500. A receipt or simple invoice uses 1 credit.

Do Dext, AutoEntry and Xero have free trials?

Dext has a 14-day free trial and says it doesn’t ask for card details. AutoEntry’s free trial includes 25 free credits and needs no credit card. Xero’s pricing page offers a free month (“Get one month free”). None of the three lists a free-forever plan on the pricing pages we read.

Are the prices shown with or without VAT?

All three show UK prices in pounds excluding VAT: Dext says “GBP, Excludes VAT”, AutoEntry says “per month / excl. VAT” and Xero says “excl. VAT”. UK VAT at the standard rate of 20% is added on top.

Do these tools use my receipts to train AI?

AutoEntry is part of Sage, whose privacy notice says it builds and continuously trains machine-learning models on data including personal data, giving automatic invoice processing as the example. Xero says JAX doesn’t use your data to train the large language models it uses, and its privacy notice says it analyses data to improve its services, including with AI and machine learning. Dext says it doesn’t let the third-party generative AI providers it uses train their models on your data; whether Dext trains its own models on your documents is not stated.

Where is the data stored?

Dext hosts its data with Amazon Web Services and copies backups to another region; the hosting region is not stated on its security page. Sage says some of its products may be hosted outside the UK and EEA. Xero says data may be transferred to and processed in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the United States. None of the three states a UK-only storage location on the pages we read.

Does a photo of a receipt count as a record for HMRC?

GOV.UK says you can keep records digitally or on paper. Sole traders must keep records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year, and limited companies for 6 years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to. Check with your accountant before you throw paper receipts away.

Have you tested these tools?

No. This comparison is based on each vendor’s official pricing pages and documentation, checked on 19 October 2026. Prices change, so check the vendor’s page before you buy.

Sources

Official pages read on 19 October 2026. Checked 19 October 2026, prices change — always check the vendor’s own page before you buy.