Foxpedite vs Lightyear

Last updated: October 23, 2026 · Competitor facts as of October 2026 · By Foxpedite Editorial Team

Disclosure: We make Foxpedite. This page compares only what each company publishes, with links and dates. We don't rate Lightyear. If something here is wrong or out of date, email info@foxpedite.com and we'll review it within 5 business days.

Short answer: Both products publish prices and offer a free trial, but they start in different places. Lightyear describes itself as accounts payable automation with PO and expense management: it reads invoices line by line, routes them for approval and exports them to your accounting system. It charges by documents processed (credits), with unlimited users, from $199/month on its US pricing page (as of October 2026). Foxpedite starts at the purchase request: the budget is reserved when someone drafts a purchase, then it's approved, ordered, received and matched. It charges by plan and users ($390 and $740 per month), not by document count.

Want to test it on your own purchases? Try Foxpedite free for 14 days, every Advanced feature included, no card. Start the trial →

Side by side (public facts, as of October 2026)

"Not listed" means we didn't find it on the public page on that date, not that it doesn't exist. Lightyear shows different prices by region (for example £130 and £179 on its UK page), so check the page for your country.

Pricing: users vs documents

The two price models reward different teams.

• Lightyear charges for document volume. Users are unlimited, so adding requesters and approvers costs nothing, but every exported invoice, every supplier statement and every purchase order uses a credit. If you go over your plan's credits, Lightyear says it tops up or charges the extra "at your plan's per-credit rate" on the next bill. Integration fees are on top and not published.
• Foxpedite charges for the plan and the people who need accounts. The number of invoices, POs and receipts doesn't change the price.

Example scenario: a 25-person company on QuickBooks Online

Example scenario (illustrative). A company has 25 people who buy, approve or pay. Each month it raises 120 purchase orders and receives 180 supplier invoices. It needs approvals, three-way match and QuickBooks Online sync.

• Foxpedite: approvals and QBO sync are on Advanced. 20 users are included, and 5 more at $39 = $195: $740 + $195 = $935/month, whatever the number of POs and invoices.
• Lightyear: three-way match is listed on Standard (250 credits, $319/month). 120 POs + 180 invoices = about 300 credits, so 50 over the plan, charged at the plan's per-credit rate, plus any integration fee. Ask Lightyear for the total in writing, including the QuickBooks Online integration fee and the onboarding package if you want it.

If the same company had 60 users and fewer documents, Lightyear's unlimited users would matter more, and Foxpedite would need its Enterprise plan (custom). Run the numbers for your own volumes.

How each one describes its approach

Lightyear describes itself on its homepage as "Accounts Payable Automation, PO & Expense Management Software", "One platform for AP, PO and Expenses", built for SME finance teams. The features it lists include line-item data extraction, approval routing, three-way matching of PO, goods received note and invoice, automated price checking against supplier price lists, bank details verification, supplier statement reconciliation, expenses and a mobile app (as of October 2026).

Foxpedite is built around three gates:

1. Budget at the draft: the moment someone drafts a purchase, it's reserved against the budget, so you see overspend at the request, not at month-end.
2. Approval routed by amount and department, approvable from email (Advanced).
3. Invoice pays only when PO, receipt and invoice match.

Both products raise POs, route approvals and match invoices. We're not claiming Lightyear lacks budget controls; its pricing page just doesn't list them, so ask.

When Lightyear is the better choice

• Your main problem is invoice entry, not purchase requests. Lightyear's published features center on reading, coding and exporting invoices, plus supplier statement reconciliation.
• You use Xero, MYOB, Sage, NetSuite or another system besides QuickBooks Online. Lightyear's help centre lists many accounting integrations; Foxpedite publishes QuickBooks Online sync.
• Many people, few documents. Lightyear's users and sub-entities are unlimited on every plan.
• You want a longer trial. Lightyear offers 30 days; Foxpedite offers 14.

When Foxpedite may fit better

• You want spending checked before the order, with the budget reserved at the draft, not only when the invoice arrives.
• You want a price that doesn't move with your invoice and PO volume, and no separate integration fee for QuickBooks Online.
• You need RFQs, vendor grading and budgets in the same plan as approvals and matching.
• You're a 10 to 40-person QuickBooks Online company and want one published plan (Advanced, $740/month) with approvals, matching and sync.

Try both properly

1. Start Lightyear's 30-day trial and ask for a written quote that includes credits, overage and the integration fee for your accounting system.
2. Start a Foxpedite trial and run one real purchase end to end: draft → approve from email → receive → match invoice → sync to QBO.
3. Compare total first-year cost at your real monthly volumes, and where in the process each one stops a bad purchase.

Or book a 20-minute demo and we'll walk through it live.

FAQ

What's the main difference between Foxpedite and Lightyear? Where the process starts and how it's priced. Lightyear is AP automation that starts at the invoice and charges by documents processed, with unlimited users. Foxpedite starts at the purchase request, reserves budget at the draft and charges by plan and users (as of October 2026).

Which is cheaper? It depends on your users and your volumes. Lightyear's price grows with invoices, statements and POs, plus a possible integration fee; Foxpedite's grows with users. Price your real month on both.

Do both work with QuickBooks Online? Yes, according to each company's public pages. Lightyear also lists QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, MYOB, Sage, NetSuite and others. Foxpedite syncs with QuickBooks Online on Advanced.

Do both have a free trial? Yes. Lightyear offers 30 days with no credit card; Foxpedite offers 14 days with every Advanced feature and no card.

Sources (accessed October 2026)

• Lightyear homepage: https://www.lightyear.cloud/
• Lightyear pricing (US): https://www.lightyear.cloud/en-us/pricing/
• Lightyear pricing (UK): https://www.lightyear.cloud/en-gb/pricing/
• Lightyear QuickBooks integration: https://www.lightyear.cloud/partners/software-partners/quickbooks-online/
• Lightyear help centre, accounting integrations: https://help-lightyear.theaccessgroup.com/en/collections/12970113-accounting-integrations
• Foxpedite pricing: https://www.foxpedite.com/pricing

Lightyear, QuickBooks, Xero, MYOB, Sage, NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics are trademarks of their respective owners. Foxpedite is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Lightyear or Intuit. Information reflects public sources on the date shown and may have changed.