What Receipt?Compare
What Receipt? vs SparkReceipt: an honest comparison
How What Receipt? and SparkReceipt compare on price, receipt limits, email import, accounting exports and privacy, including where SparkReceipt is the better pick.
SparkReceipt is a good receipt app. It reads receipts accurately, imports them from email, and syncs with most accounting software. If you're weighing it against What Receipt?, the real differences come down to three things: how many receipts you get for the price, whether you need direct accounting sync today, and whether you want a free plan or a local-only option. Here's the comparison, as of October 2026.
At a glance
| What Receipt? | SparkReceipt | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, 30 receipts a month, no card needed | No (7-day trial) |
| Entry price | $6.99/month or $59/year | $6.90/month or $69/year (Pro) |
| Receipts on the entry plan | Unlimited | 50 documents a month |
| Price for unlimited receipts | $6.99/month or $59/year | $12.90/month or $129/year (Elite) |
| Capture | Camera (several in a row), photos, PDFs, screenshots | Camera, uploads |
| Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, AOL, Fastmail and Zoho Mail auto-import (Pro); a forwarding address for any mailbox, including Outlook | Gmail, Outlook and IMAP sync, forwarding address | |
| Accounting software | Import files for QuickBooks Online (bank upload), Xero (bills) and Zoho Books; CSV and Excel | Direct sync with QuickBooks Online, Xero, Sage, FreeAgent, FreshBooks and Zoho Books |
| Projects and clients | Tag any receipt by client, project or Personal | Categories and tags |
| Recurring charges | Detected automatically, with alerts when one goes missing | Not a focus |
| Mileage | No | Yes |
| Bank statements | Import a CSV, OFX, QFX or PDF statement (PDF on Pro) to see which charges have no receipt; no bank login | Yes |
| Teams and accountants | One person per account; free read-only accountant links on every plan | Extra users at $1/month each, free accountant access |
| Apps | Web app on any phone or computer, Mac app; iPhone and Android coming | iPhone, Android, web |
| Local-only option | Mac Privacy Edition, $29 once, no account or cloud | No |
SparkReceipt's prices are from its pricing page in October 2026. Its in-app prices on iPhone are higher than on the web.
Where What Receipt? is the better fit
You have more than 50 receipts a month, and you don't want to pay double for them
SparkReceipt's Pro plan covers 50 documents a month. A freelancer with a few subscriptions, a card that gets used for lunch and a couple of supplier invoices passes that quickly, and the next step up is Elite at nearly twice the price. What Receipt? Pro is unlimited at $6.99 a month, and $59 a year is $10 less than SparkReceipt's yearly Pro.
You want a free plan that stays free
If you only have a handful of receipts, What Receipt? is free for up to 30 a month: capture, automatic reading, vendor clean-up, categories, projects and CSV export, with no card on file. SparkReceipt has a trial, not a free plan.
Your spending is mixed
Most people's receipts don't sort neatly. There's a business card, a personal card that sometimes buys business things, a client you bill expenses back to. What Receipt? lets you tag every receipt with a project, such as a client, a side business or Personal, and exports totals by project as well as by category. That way one app handles all of it, and your accountant gets only the business part.
You'd rather nothing left your computer
The Mac Privacy Edition is a one-time $29 purchase that reads, files and exports receipts entirely on your Mac. There's no account, no cloud copy and no subscription. Nothing comparable is on offer from SparkReceipt.
You want to know what you're paying for every month
What Receipt? spots recurring charges in your receipts and flags the ones that didn't show up this month, so a renewal sent to an old email address doesn't go missing at tax time.
Where SparkReceipt is the better fit
We'd rather you pick the right tool than the wrong one:
- You need direct accounting sync now. SparkReceipt publishes straight into QuickBooks Online, Xero, Sage and others. What Receipt? exports files those apps import (see the guides for QuickBooks Online and Xero), and Zoho Books has a ready-made import file, but you do the import step.
- Your receipts live in Outlook. SparkReceipt syncs Outlook directly. What Receipt? connects Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, AOL, Fastmail and Zoho Mail on Pro; for Outlook, you set up a forwarding rule to your What Receipt? address.
- You track mileage. SparkReceipt logs trips; What Receipt? doesn't.
- Several people submit receipts. SparkReceipt has cheap extra seats. (Both apps let your accountant in for free: What Receipt? with a read-only accountant link.)
- You want a native app in the App Store or Google Play today. What Receipt? runs in the browser on your phone for now.
Switching from SparkReceipt
- In SparkReceipt, export your receipts and their data (CSV or Excel), and download the original images or PDFs you want to keep.
- Start a free What Receipt? account and drop the original files in. They're read again automatically, so vendors, dates and totals come back without retyping.
- Connect Gmail (Pro) and use Import a past year to pull in emailed receipts, or set up your forwarding address.
- Keep your SparkReceipt export somewhere safe. It's your record of what was already filed.
Questions
Is What Receipt? cheaper than SparkReceipt?
For most people with more than 50 receipts a month, yes. What Receipt? Pro is $6.99 a month or $59 a year with unlimited receipts. Unlimited receipts on SparkReceipt means its Elite plan at $12.90 a month or $129 a year. Under 30 receipts a month, What Receipt? is free.
Does What Receipt? have a free plan?
Yes. Up to 30 receipts a month, with camera, photo and PDF capture, automatic reading, categories, projects and CSV export. No card is needed.
Does What Receipt? sync with QuickBooks or Xero?
It exports ready-made import files for QuickBooks Online (a bank upload) and Xero (bills), a Zoho Books import file, and plain CSV and Excel. It doesn't publish into them directly yet, so you do the import step.
Can What Receipt? read receipts from Outlook?
Not directly yet. Forward Outlook receipts to your personal What Receipt? address, either one by one or with a mail rule. On Pro, Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, AOL, Fastmail and Zoho Mail connect directly and import receipts on their own.
Can I cancel What Receipt? any time?
Yes. Pro is billed monthly or yearly, and you can cancel from the billing page in Settings. You keep Pro until the end of the period you paid for.
Competitor details are from public pricing and product pages in October 2026 and may have changed. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@whatreceipt.app and we'll fix it.
