Airbase review

Airbase is being positioned as Paylocity’s spend management product for Finance. Paylocity for Finance combines Airbase’s spend management capabilities with Paylocity’s HCM platform. The homepage says it covers payroll and non-payroll expenses, with real-time visibility and tools intended to improve control over company spending.

That puts Airbase in the spend-management category, with a connection to Paylocity’s HR and payroll platform—not just a standalone expense tool. The practical appeal is having those capabilities together; the published product information does not spell out specific workflows, integrations, or how payroll and non-payroll spending are handled in detail. Teams considering a switch should confirm that the combined setup supports their approval, accounting, and payment requirements before treating the platform description as a fit. Our short version: consider Airbase when Paylocity-linked spend management is the goal, but ask for specifics before committing.

Airbase’s clearest pitch is breadth: the product combines spend management with Paylocity’s HCM platform and says it supports both payroll and non-payroll expenses. For finance teams trying to get a view of company spending alongside payroll-related activity, that unified positioning may be useful. The homepage also calls out real-time visibility and spending control, which are relevant goals for teams trying to keep expenses in view.

The case is strongest when those capabilities matter more than buying a tool for one narrow expense workflow. But the available product description does not provide enough detail to verify how the visibility works, which expense types are covered, or what accounting and payment options are included. Treat those as questions for a sales conversation, not assumed features.

A Reddit discussion about Airbase offers a mixed, older signal: one r/Accounting commenter said the employee experience was solid, while criticizing approvals and reporting. That is one user’s account, not confirmation of how the Paylocity-linked product works today. Ask for a walkthrough of your own approval and reporting scenarios.

The first drawback is price transparency. The pricing information we found lists three employee-size tiers, but no monthly or annual prices: Standard for organizations up to approximately 200 employees, Premium up to 500, and Enterprise up to 10,000. Those are stated limits, not published fees. We also found no listed free plan or published free-trial terms. Get a written quote and confirm how employee counts affect eligibility and cost.

There are also unresolved questions about approvals and reporting. In one r/Accounting thread, a commenter said flexible “person A or person B” approvals required an extra $7,000 for advanced approvals, and complained about reporting and bank reconciliation. Another commenter said exporting a basic GL upload had become difficult. These are user reports, not verified current plan terms; the thread does not establish whether the same limits remain after Paylocity’s acquisition. Before switching, get approval rules, GL exports, reporting, and any add-on charges confirmed in writing.

Airbase’s prices are not published, so there’s no reliable dollar figure to compare. The listed tiers are based on organization size: Standard covers up to approximately 200 employees, Premium up to 500, and Enterprise up to 10,000. The jump between tiers is therefore in stated capacity, not a published price; the pricing information gives no way to compare the cost of moving from one tier to another or calculate a per-seat rate.

Monthly and annual prices are both unpublished. The published pricing record lists no add-ons and marks Airbase as having no free plan; trial availability is not published. Pricing confidence is low, so treat these as rough plan boundaries, not a complete quote. Before switching, ask Paylocity to confirm in writing which spend-management capabilities are included, how employee counts affect your tier, whether overages or implementation fees apply, and how renewals are billed.

The published product information describes Airbase as spend management combined with Paylocity’s HCM platform, including payroll and non-payroll expenses. That makes Paylocity fit and the scope of your existing finance workflows the first things to confirm. The available material does not specify migration steps, supported import formats, data-export options, retention terms, or approval-routing flexibility. Those details should not be assumed: ask for the migration plan and a sample export before signing, and confirm how transaction history, employee records, and approval rules will be handled.

We don’t have Reddit posts or comments in the published sources, so we can’t attribute reasons for leaving to user reports. If you’re considering an exit, get the export process, timing, and any access limits in writing before moving workflows. If your team depends on flexible approvals or detailed reporting and reconciliation, verify those requirements directly; the published product description does not establish that Airbase meets them.