Shoeboxed and Receiptor AI both turn receipts into bookkeeping data, but they solve different problems. Shoeboxed, founded in 2007 in Durham, North Carolina, is built around paper: you mail receipts in its prepaid Magic Envelope and its team scans and verifies them. Receiptor AI is an AI agent that automates the receipt and invoice workflow from your email inbox to QuickBooks or Xero, including receipts already sitting in your email history.
Here's how they compare on features and pricing, as of September 2026.
Feature | Shoeboxed | Receiptor AI |
|---|---|---|
Email capture | Gmail plugin (Pro plan and up) or forwarding to a Shoeboxed address | Direct connection to any provider (Gmail, Outlook, or IMAP), monitored continuously |
Past emails | Not documented | Retroactive extraction across your email history (one-time, priced by email volume) |
Paper receipts | Mobile app, uploads, and Magic Envelope mail-in | Mobile scanner on WhatsApp or iMessage, plus uploads |
Data extraction | OCR plus human verification by data entry specialists | AI extraction including line items, with a verification pass on totals and tax |
Processing speed | Not instant, since scans are human-verified | Automatic as documents arrive |
Integrations | QuickBooks Online, Xero, Wave, Evernote, Zoho Expense, and more | QuickBooks, Xero, Mercury, Google Drive, Dropbox |
Automation | Automatic categorization and categorization rules | Custom automation rules written in plain English, plus rules learned from your corrections |
Extras | Business card scanning, mileage tracking | Business entity matching, duplicate detection, API and MCP access (Growth plan and up) |
Starting price | $9/month (30 digital scans) | $29/month (50 documents, unlimited inboxes) |
What Shoeboxed does well
Shoeboxed holds a strong niche for businesses dealing with a lot of paper:
- Magic Envelope: you fill a prepaid envelope with receipts, invoices, or business cards and mail it in. Shoeboxed scans the documents, then returns or shreds them. Starter includes one envelope at signup, Pro one per quarter, Plus one per month, and Paper Plus two per month. Postage is only prepaid within the US.
- Human-verified data: Shoeboxed combines automated extraction with data entry specialists who check scanned receipts for errors, which helps with faded or damaged paper.
- Business cards and mileage: business cards become exportable contacts, and an automatic mileage tracker is included in every plan.
- Low entry price: the Starter plan is $9/month for light users.
Where Shoeboxed falls short
Shoeboxed's workflow is built around paper and human review, which creates friction for mostly digital businesses:
- Processing isn't instant: because scans are verified by people, results take longer to appear than with fully automated tools, which can slow down month-end close.
- Email capture is Gmail-first: automatic import works through a Gmail plugin on the Pro plan and above. Other inboxes, such as Outlook, rely on forwarding receipts to your Shoeboxed address.
- Split limits and storage: digital and paper scans are counted separately on every plan, and Shoeboxed lists scan storage of 2 years on Starter and 3 years on Pro and Plus. Tax authorities often expect records to be kept longer, so plan to export a copy.
- Capture, not bookkeeping: Shoeboxed focuses on extracting and categorizing documents. It doesn't run end-to-end workflows that post finished transactions into your accounting software for you.
How Receiptor AI automates the workflow
Receiptor AI works as an AI agent that runs the receipt and invoice workflow from collection to your books:
- Email integration: it connects to Gmail and Outlook through Google or Microsoft sign-in, or to any other provider through IMAP.
- Real-time monitoring: it scans your inboxes in the background and picks up receipts and invoices in attachments or in the email body, with no forwarding required.
- Retroactive extraction: it sweeps your email history to recover receipts from months or years ago. It's a one-time fee based on email volume, and you see the quote before you pay.
- Line items and tax: it extracts individual line items, handles multiple currencies, and runs a verification pass on totals, tax, and discounts, flagging anything that needs a look.
- Categorization that adapts: it imports your chart of accounts from QuickBooks or Xero, categorizes each document against it, asks you for context when a document is unclear, and learns from your corrections to suggest rules that apply your way of working.
- Posting to your books: documents post to QuickBooks as an Expense or Bill, or to Xero as a Bill, with the original attached. You can also send them to Google Drive or Dropbox, or attach them to Mercury transactions.
Pricing breakdown
Shoeboxed pricing
- Starter: $9/month ($97/year). 30 digital scans a month, 20 paper scans a year, 1 user. No Gmail sync or QuickBooks and Xero integration.
- Pro: $29/month ($297/year). 200 digital scans and 20 paper scans a month, 3 users.
- Plus: $79/month ($797/year). 750 digital scans and 50 paper scans a month, 10 users.
- Paper Plus: $179/month ($1,997/year). 500 digital scans and 200 paper scans a month, 10 users.
Every plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, excluding Magic Envelope services. See Shoeboxed pricing for current details.
Receiptor AI pricing
- Starter: $29/month. Up to 500 emails scanned, 50 documents extracted, 1 accounting connection.
- Growth: $79/month. Up to 2,500 emails scanned, 250 documents extracted, 2 accounting connections, plus custom automations, storage export, and API and MCP access.
- Scale: $199/month. Up to 10,000 emails scanned, 1,000 documents extracted, 5 accounting connections.
Every plan includes unlimited email accounts and mobile scanners, and there's a 14-day free trial. Retroactive scans of past emails are priced separately, based on email volume. See Receiptor AI pricing for current details.
Which should you choose?
Choose Shoeboxed if:
- Your main pain point is a backlog of paper receipts you'd rather mail away than scan.
- You value human verification and don't mind waiting for results.
- You want business card scanning and mileage tracking in the same app.
- Your volume is low and a $9/month plan covers it.
Choose Receiptor AI if:
- Most of your receipts and invoices arrive by email, across one or several inboxes.
- You need to recover past receipts from your email history.
- You want documents categorized against your chart of accounts and posted to QuickBooks or Xero automatically.
- You want automation rules that adapt to how you work instead of manual review.
Still comparing options? See our list of the best Shoeboxed alternatives in 2026, our receipt management software comparison, and our guide to the best receipt scanners for QuickBooks.
Ready to see what's already in your inbox? Try Receiptor AI free for 14 days and connect your first inbox in minutes.
