Best Dext Alternatives in 2026 for UK Accountants
Dext is good at what it does – extracting data from receipts and invoices. But data extraction is step one of five in the bookkeeping workflow. Here’s what else is out there, and which tools actually finish the job.
Quick answer
The best Dext alternative depends on whether the bottleneck is data capture or the bookkeeping itself. The main Dext competitors in the UK, and the alternatives to Dext worth shortlisting, are AutoEntry (owned by Sage) and Hubdoc for document capture, Booke AI for categorising inside Xero or QuickBooks, and CodeIQ for the whole workflow. CodeIQ (from £5/month) ingests bank statements as CSV, Excel, PDF or a photo, reads invoices, codes every line through an eight-phase AI pipeline, classifies VAT, detects transfers, matches invoices and posts to Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, Pandle or IQ Books. Dext (about £24 a month billed annually, ex VAT) handles data capture.
- Dext handles step one of five in the bookkeeping workflow; coding, VAT, matching, and posting remain manual.
- ICAEW research puts data entry at roughly 20% of compliance bookkeeping time; extraction tools leave the other 80% untouched.
- CodeIQ covers capture through posting across five platforms from £5/month; keep Dext alongside it only if paper receipt capture is the bottleneck.
The problem with “pre-accounting” tools
If you run a bookkeeping practice, you’ve probably noticed something about tools like Dext: they save time on data entry, but the actual bookkeeping still lands on your desk. Receipts get scanned. Invoices get extracted. But someone still has to code every transaction to the right account, classify VAT correctly, spot transfers between accounts, and match invoices to bank payments.
That “someone” is usually you, doing it manually in Xero or QuickBooks. This guide looks at alternatives that tackle different parts of that problem – from tools that do the same thing as Dext, to tools that automate the entire bookkeeping workflow.
What Dext does well
Dext (formerly Receipt Bank) has earned its market share. It’s worth being specific about what it actually does before we talk about alternatives.
The Dext workflow
Clients snap photos of receipts or forward invoices by email. Dext’s OCR engine extracts the supplier name, date, amount, VAT amount, and line items. The extracted data gets published to your accounting platform – Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, or others – as a bill or, when already paid, an expense. Dext also fetches bank statements and supplier invoices directly from some providers.
For practices drowning in shoeboxes of paper receipts, this was transformational when Receipt Bank launched. It removed the manual data entry step entirely. The mobile app works well, the email forwarding is genuinely convenient, and the extraction accuracy for standard UK receipts is high.
What Dext gets right
- Excellent OCR accuracy for receipts and invoices
- Broad platform support (Xero, QBO, Sage, FreeAgent)
- Mobile app that clients actually use
- Email forwarding for invoice capture
- Auto-fetch from banks and suppliers
- Long-established in UK practices (formerly Receipt Bank)
Where it stops
- Doesn’t code bank transactions to the ledger (outside Dext Solo, its MTD for Income Tax product)
- AI Assist custom guidance, which learns your own treatments, is a paid add-on (£7.50 a month)
- Doesn’t detect transfers between accounts
- Doesn’t match invoices to bank payments
- Publishes documents as bills or expenses, not coded bank transactions
- Pricing has increased significantly since 2020
Where Dext stops – and why it matters
The bookkeeping workflow has roughly five steps:
- Data capture – getting receipts, invoices, and bank transactions into the system
- Transaction coding – assigning each transaction to the correct account in the chart of accounts
- VAT classification – applying the correct VAT treatment (standard, reduced, exempt, zero-rated, reverse charge)
- Matching and reconciliation – matching bank payments to invoices, detecting transfers, reconciling balances
- Posting and review – posting coded transactions back to the accounting platform and reviewing the results
Dext handles step 1. It does it well. But that means steps 2 through 5 – the parts that take the most time and expertise – still happen manually. For a practice with 50 clients, that’s still 50 sets of books to code, classify, match, and post every month.
The real cost isn’t data entry
According to ICAEW research, data entry accounts for roughly 20% of time spent on compliance bookkeeping. The other 80% is coding, classification, matching, and review. A tool that only handles data capture leaves four-fifths of the manual work untouched.
That’s the gap that newer alternatives are trying to fill. Some are similar to Dext (better extraction). Others tackle the whole workflow.
Alternative 1: AutoEntry
What it is
AutoEntry is a receipt and invoice scanning tool, now owned by Sage. Like Dext, it extracts data from documents and publishes to accounting platforms. It’s particularly well-integrated with Sage products, and its integrations page lists twelve platforms including Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent. Plans start at £15.45 a month excluding VAT for 50 credits, from one credit per invoice (checked 13 October 2026).
How it compares to Dext
Functionally, AutoEntry does essentially the same thing. The extraction quality is comparable for UK receipts. The main differentiator is the Sage ownership, which gives it deeper Sage integration. AutoEntry’s free trial includes 25 credits.
Strengths
- Strong Sage ecosystem integration
- Credit-based pricing from £15.45 a month; Sage for Accountants plans include an allowance
- Good extraction accuracy
- Simple, focused interface
Limitations
- Same extraction-only limitation as Dext
- Sage ownership creates ecosystem lock-in risk
- Development direction tied to Sage’s strategy
- Smaller independent ecosystem than Dext
Best for: Practices already using Sage who want an extraction tool from the same vendor.
Alternative 2: Hubdoc
What it is
Hubdoc, owned by Xero, fetches documents from banks, utility providers and other suppliers, extracts the key data and publishes it to Xero or QuickBooks Online. Its standalone price is US$12 a month after a 30-day trial (hubdoc.com, checked 13 October 2026), and Xero’s own plans now include document capture. Think of it as a document-fetching tool with basic extraction.
Strengths
- Low cost, and Xero plans include document capture
- Auto-fetches statements from banks and suppliers
- Tight Xero integration (owned by Xero)
- Good for document storage and audit trails
Limitations
- Extraction accuracy lower than Dext for complex invoices
- Xero and QuickBooks Online only (no Sage or Pandle)
- No transaction coding or VAT classification
- Limited mobile experience compared to Dext
Best for: Xero-only practices who want basic extraction without additional cost.
Alternative 3: Tofu
What it is
Tofu is one of several newer AI extraction tools pitched as a Dext alternative. We could not confirm its current integrations or pricing on 13 October 2026, so check its own site before you shortlist it. Like Dext, it captures the document; the coding, VAT, matching and posting are still left to you.
Strengths
- AI-first extraction rather than template OCR, as marketed
- Worth trialling side by side with Dext on your own documents
Limitations
- Still extraction-only – same fundamental limitation
- Smaller user base, less proven at scale
- Integrations and pricing unconfirmed: test before committing
- Limited UK-specific features compared to established players
Best for: Practices who want better extraction technology and are comfortable with a newer product.
Alternative 4: Booke AI
What it is
Booke AI is the first tool on this list that goes beyond data extraction. You invite it into QuickBooks or connect it to Xero or Zoho Books; it categorises bank-feed transactions, matches payments to invoices, bills and receipts, and sends low-confidence items to your team for review. It is priced at US$129 per business per month, with firm pricing on request (booke.ai, checked 13 October 2026).
Strengths
- Actually codes transactions, not just extraction
- Learns from corrections over time
- Handles bank reconciliation within Xero/QBO
- Matches payments to invoices and bills
Limitations
- Works inside your existing books rather than through your own upload
- Xero, QuickBooks and Zoho Books (no Sage or Pandle)
- No dedicated VAT classification engine
Best for: Practices who want AI categorisation within Xero or QBO and a US-priced, per-business subscription.
Alternative 5: CodeIQ (ReconcileIQ)
Everything Dext does, plus everything Dext doesn’t
CodeIQ covers the entire bookkeeping workflow end to end. It handles data capture (bank statement upload as CSV, Excel, PDF or a photo, PDF-to-CSV conversion, invoice OCR for receipts and bills), and then codes every transaction to the correct account, classifies VAT, detects transfers between accounts, matches transactions to invoices, and posts everything back to your platform. It’s not a Dext alternative in the “does the same thing cheaper” sense: it replaces Dext’s data capture and automates the bookkeeping work that Dext leaves entirely to you.
How it works
Upload a bank statement (CSV, Excel, PDF or a photo; a PDF or photo is converted to CSV first, at 2 credits a line) or pull one a client has sent to your upload inbox. CodeIQ runs every transaction through an eight-phase AI pipeline:
- Transfer detection – identifies transfers between your own accounts (equal and opposite amounts within a time window)
- Invoice matching – matches bank payments against outstanding invoices, handling partials and adjustments
- Historical patterns – learns from the client’s own general ledger history, so recurring merchants get coded correctly from day one
- Universal patterns – draws from a crowd-sourced database of merchant-to-account mappings, contributed anonymously by users who opt in
- MCC matching – uses merchant category codes from card transactions as a classification signal
- Semantic analysis – an embedding model understands what a transaction description means, not just what it matches
- User learning – your corrections override future suggestions for the same merchant
- VAT classification – the eighth phase sets the VAT treatment on every line
The VAT phase sets each line as standard, reduced, zero-rated, exempt or no VAT, mapped to the platform’s own codes. Then it posts everything back to Xero, QuickBooks, Sage or Pandle, or straight into IQ Books. Automatic coding is 4 credits a line; coding a line yourself is free.
For a typical client with 200–500 monthly transactions, the entire process takes roughly two minutes. You review and approve the results before posting.
Strengths
- Handles data capture (CSV, Excel, PDF, photos, invoice OCR) and the bookkeeping
- Eight-phase AI pipeline means multiple chances to get it right
- Posts over each platform’s API, or directly into IQ Books
- Five platforms: Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, Pandle and IQ Books
- Dedicated VAT classification engine
- Shared merchant patterns from users who opt in
- Starts at £5/month
Limitations
- Newer to market than Dext
- Requires review and approval before posting (by design)
Best for: Practices who want to automate the bookkeeping itself, not just the data entry. Especially valuable if you handle multiple clients across different platforms.
Dext competitors side by side
| Feature | Dext | AutoEntry | Hubdoc | Booke AI | CodeIQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data capture (receipts, invoices, statements) | Yes (OCR) | Yes (OCR) | Basic | No | Yes (CSV, Excel, PDF, photos + invoice OCR) |
| Transaction coding | Documents only | No | No | Yes (inside Xero/QBO) | Yes (eight-phase AI) |
| VAT classification | From receipt only | From receipt only | No | Basic | Dedicated engine |
| Transfer detection | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Invoice matching | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Posts to platform | Bills or expenses | Draft bills | Draft bills | Yes | Yes |
| Platform support | Xero, QBO, Sage, FreeAgent | 12 incl. Xero, QBO, Sage, FreeAgent | Xero, QBO | Xero, QBO, Zoho Books | Xero, QBO, Sage, Pandle, IQ Books |
| Pattern learning | Supplier rules + AI Assist | Extraction rules | No | Per-client | Per-client + universal network |
| Starting price | ~£24/month (billed annually, ex VAT) | £15.45/month | US$12/month | US$129/month | £5/month |
| Workflow coverage | Step 1 only | Step 1 only | Step 1 only | Steps 2–4 | Steps 1–5 |
Which alternative fits your practice?
The right choice depends on which part of the bookkeeping workflow is costing you the most time:
If your bottleneck is paper receipts and invoice data entry:
Dext is still the market leader for a reason. AutoEntry is a solid alternative, especially if you’re in the Sage ecosystem. Hubdoc suits Xero or QuickBooks practices that want basic extraction at low cost. Newer AI extraction tools such as Tofu are worth a trial on your own documents.
If your bottleneck is coding, classifying, and posting transactions:
That’s the majority of the work, and Dext, AutoEntry, and Hubdoc don’t touch it. Booke AI tackles it from inside Xero or QuickBooks. CodeIQ handles the full pipeline, from ingesting bank statements and invoices, through coding and VAT classification, to posting back to your platform. It replaces Dext for data capture and automates the bookkeeping on top.
If you want receipt capture for paper-heavy clients:
CodeIQ handles bank statements, PDFs, and invoice OCR natively. For clients who photograph paper receipts via a mobile app, Dext’s mobile capture is still useful alongside CodeIQ. Where bank lines and supplier invoices are the bulk of the work, CodeIQ alone covers the workflow without a separate extraction tool. Receipt capture of this kind is also built directly into ReconcileIQ’s own bookkeeping software, IQ Books, so the extraction, coding and posting happen in one place rather than across a capture tool and a separate ledger.
Ready to automate the bookkeeping itself?
CodeIQ processes a typical client’s monthly transactions in under two minutes. Upload a bank statement, review the AI’s work, approve and post.
Try CodeIQ Free →What does Dext cost? We have broken down Dext pricing in the UK, the business plan, per-client practice pricing and the add-ons, alongside Hubdoc and AutoEntry.
Frequently asked questions
What does Dext actually do?
Dext captures data from receipts, invoices, and bank statements using OCR and AI extraction. Its core plans include smart suggestions, auto-categorisation, supplier rules and auto-publish for documents, and Dext also offers supplier payments. AI Assist, which learns the practice’s own treatments, is an add-on (£7.50 a month on Dext’s business plans until 31 January 2027; £5 per client for custom guidance on practice plans). Outside Dext Solo (its MTD for Income Tax product, which categorises bank-feed lines for tax), Dext does not code bank transactions to the ledger. It publishes documents as bills or expenses rather than posting coded bank transactions.
Is there a free alternative to Dext?
CodeIQ has a permanent free tier (1,000 one-off credits, no card), and its Starter plan is £5 a month for 5,000 credits; it handles bank statement ingestion and invoice OCR through to transaction coding, VAT classification and posting. Hubdoc sells standalone at US$12 a month, and Xero’s own plans include document capture.
What is the difference between Dext and CodeIQ?
Dext focuses on extracting data from receipts and invoices via OCR. CodeIQ does everything Dext does for data capture (bank statements in CSV/PDF/Excel, invoice OCR) plus automates the actual bookkeeping: coding transactions to the correct accounts, classifying VAT, detecting transfers, matching invoices to payments, and posting everything back to your platform. CodeIQ replaces Dext’s data capture and does the bookkeeping that Dext leaves to you.
Can I use Dext and CodeIQ together?
You can. CodeIQ handles bank statement ingestion, PDF conversion, invoice OCR, transaction coding, VAT and posting, so where the work is mostly bank lines it can stand alone. Dext’s receipt-capture mobile app stays useful if your clients photograph a lot of paper receipts.
Why do practices look for Dext alternatives?
Common reasons include rising prices, the realisation that data extraction alone doesn’t save enough time, and the emergence of AI tools that handle the full bookkeeping workflow. The question is usually whether a tool completes the bookkeeping or only feeds data into it.
Is Dext the best AI tool for bookkeeping?
Dext is a strong capture tool: it reads receipts and invoices and publishes them to your ledger. Outside Dext Solo, it does not code bank transactions to the ledger, so whether it is the best AI tool for bookkeeping depends on where your time goes. If capture is the bottleneck, Dext or AutoEntry; if coding and posting are, CodeIQ or Booke AI.
Dext vs other bookkeeping tools: which is best for a small business?
For a small business with a handful of receipts a month, capture tools are often more than it needs: Xero’s plans include document capture, and AutoEntry starts at £15.45 a month. If the time goes on coding the bank, CodeIQ’s free tier and £5 Starter plan cover that, and IQ Books puts capture, coding and the ledger in one free organisation.
What are the best Hubdoc alternatives?
The main Hubdoc alternatives are Dext and AutoEntry for receipt and invoice capture across more platforms (both publish to Sage as well as Xero and QuickBooks), and CodeIQ if you want the bank lines coded and posted rather than only the documents captured. See our Dext pricing guide for what each costs.