80+
Countries with local payment rails, native to the ledger
Comparison · Light vs Brex
Light vs Brex
Brex is a strong corporate card and spend platform, but it sits on top of your accounting system rather than being one. Its US product requires a US-incorporated entity, and its European operation is new: Brex obtained an EU payment institution licence in August 2025. Light is the agentic accounting platform that IS your system of record: spend, AP/AR, and multi-entity accounting in one platform, for finance teams anywhere.
Book a demo$2B
Revenue Tillo runs on Light across 8 entities
76%
Cut in Tillo's month-end processing time
4
People on the finance team scaling Lovable to $500M revenue
Compare Light vs Brex
| Light | Brex | |
|---|---|---|
| Implementation | Weeks, with a dedicated implementation team and account manager included | Fast for cards and expenses; the ledger remains a separate project |
| Architecture | One AI-native ledger; consolidation posts as transactions happen | Spend platform that syncs into your ERP (QuickBooks, NetSuite, Xero, Intacct) |
| Agents | Agents complete work end to end inside your controls; every action logged and attributable | AI within spend workflows; no ledger agents |
| Configuration | Astra learns from your data and suggests workflow and configuration changes to increase performance; applied in-product, no consultants | Self-serve, within spend scope |
| Subscription management | Contract-based invoicing and deferred revenue automated | Subscription spend visibility; revenue lives in your ERP |
| Spend management | Corporate and virtual cards with Apple Pay and Google Pay, expense capture via Slack, Teams and email, native to the ledger | Native; a core strength |
| Global bill pay | AP and vendor payments executed on local rails in 80+ countries, from the ledger itself | Bill pay centred on US rails |
| Advanced reporting | Real-time multi-entity reporting with instant drill-down; no spreadsheet exports | Spend reporting; financial statements come from the connected GL |
| SaaS metrics | ARR, MRR, NRR, churn and cohort metrics computed from the ledger and contracts, in real time | Lives in your ERP or a separate tool |
| Global coverage | Local payment rails in 80+ countries; multi-entity, multi-currency by default | Long US-only; a European operation has been building since the August 2025 EU licence |
Why finance teams choose Light over Brex
Brex is excellent at what it is: corporate cards, expense management and US bill pay. It is also explicit about what it is not: a system of record. Brex syncs into QuickBooks, NetSuite, Xero or Intacct, which means the ERP question is still open, the ERP bill is still due, and the close still reconciles the seam between spend platform and ledger.
Light answers the whole question at once: the ledger and the spend platform are one product. Cards, expenses, AP, procurement, consolidation and reporting share one audit trail, and agents run the flow from receipt to posted entry.
A layer versus a ledger
Every Brex deployment has a second system underneath it, and the month-end job of agreeing the 2. On Light there is nothing to agree: the card transaction, its receipt, its coding and its posting are one record on one ledger.
Global coverage, and how long you have had it
Brex served US-incorporated companies exclusively for most of its history, and obtained an EU payment institution licence via the Netherlands in August 2025 to serve European businesses directly. Its US product still requires US incorporation, a US EIN and US operations. Light issues cards and executes vendor payments on local rails across 80+ countries today, and consolidates multi-entity, multi-currency groups continuously, which is the part no card licence on its own provides.
Where Brex fits
A US company happy with its ERP that only wants better cards and bill pay has a genuine case for Brex. A company that wants to stop running 2 systems, or that operates outside the US, is the case for Light.
Signs you’ve outgrown Brex
Brex is a layer, not a ledger
Brex is excellent at cards, expenses and US bill pay, and by design it syncs into a system of record it does not replace. You still run and pay for the ERP underneath. Light is the ledger and the spend platform in one.
80+ countries, today
Brex spent its first years serving US-incorporated companies and began building a European operation after obtaining an EU licence in August 2025. Light already issues cards and executes vendor payments on local rails across 80+ countries, and consolidates multi-entity, multi-currency groups as standard.
Your close spans 2 systems
Spend data lives in Brex, the books live in the ERP, and month-end reconciles the seam between them. On Light there is no seam.
“We evaluated several vendors. Light won because it covers our full finance stack, revenue, AR, AP, expenses, and consolidation, without stitching together a patchwork of point solutions.”
TanjaDirector of Finance, Omnea
Top 3 reasons leaders pick Light over Brex
An all-inclusive platform
Leverage native products for AP, AR, Procurement and budgeting that seamlessly leverage AI and integrate to Slack and Teams.
Superior performance
Whether you are processing 100,000 or 50 million transactions, the Light Ledger is based on a hyper-performant database.
Beautiful reporting
Stop the reporting headache of spreadsheets, and get fast, intuitive reports with instant drill-down capabilities.
More reasons to love Light
Enjoy integrated products that both finance and the employees enjoy using.
Expense Management
Automate expense approvals, track spending in real-time, and gain insights with AI-powered analytics.
Vendor Management
Streamline vendor relationships with simplified onboarding, tracking supplier performance, and enforcing procurement policies.
Cards
Issue vendor and employee cards with Apple Pay and Google Pay globally. Upload receipts via Slack, Teams or email.
Frequently asked questions
Is Light an alternative to Brex?
Light replaces Brex plus the ERP underneath it: one platform for the ledger and spend, with agents running the work. If you keep only Brex, you still need and pay for the ERP.
We are not US-incorporated. Can we use Brex?
Brex's US product requires US incorporation, a US EIN and US operations, and Brex obtained an EU payment institution licence in August 2025 to serve European businesses directly, so check current availability with Brex. Either way it remains a spend platform that syncs into a separate accounting system. Light is the accounting system, and runs multi-entity groups on local rails in 80+ countries.
Can Light match Brex on cards and expenses?
Light issues corporate and virtual cards with Apple Pay and Google Pay, captures receipts in Slack, Teams and email, and enforces expense policy at submission, natively on the ledger.
We are a US group with European entities. Does Light fit?
That is a common shape for Light. Multi-entity, multi-currency consolidation is the default rather than an add-on, and vendor payments run on local rails in the countries the entities are actually in.