Essentials
Free
per user per month
Best for: Startups and growing companies
- Corporate cards with 1.5% cash back and no annual card fee
- expense management
- travel booking included at no charge
Home / Pricing guides / Corporate Cards and Spend Management / Brex
Pricing guide, Corporate Cards and Spend Management
Brex pricing in 2026: Essentials, Premium and the card qualification bar
What Brex charges for software, what it asks of you before you can use the card, and where Premium seats and Enterprise services add cost.
The short answer
Brex Essentials costs USD 0 and includes cards, expense management and travel booking. Premium is reported at USD 12 per user per month, so 50 paid seats run USD 7,200 a year, with no annual rate published. Enterprise is quote-only. Card qualification reportedly needs over USD 10,000 monthly card spend and USD 75,000 in a US bank account.
- Cheapest paid optionPremium at a reported USD 12 per user per month, but Essentials is free and covers most companies.
- What most teams needEssentials, with Premium seats bought only for finance approvers.
- Biggest hidden costThe card qualification thresholds, reportedly over USD 10,000 monthly spend and USD 75,000 held in a US bank account.
- Best way to saveStay on Essentials, buy Premium per approver, and get the annual rate and services lines quoted separately.
Written by Procurement VMS Editorial Team · Reviewed by Michael, Procurement Advisor Expert · Price data dated · 10 minute read
Brex plans and prices
Brex prices the way Ramp prices: the platform is free, the money comes from card interchange, and the paid tiers exist for finance teams that need more control. Essentials is permanently free and includes travel booking.
What is less visible is the qualification bar. Third-party trackers report that using Brex cards means clearing more than USD 10,000 a month in card spend and holding at least USD 75,000 in a US bank account. That decides whether Brex is an option, more than the USD 12 Premium seat does.
Prices below were recorded on 17 October 2026. The headline figure is the lowest price you can get for that plan. Check the official page before you buy, because vendors change prices without notice.
Premium
Not published
per user per month, billed yearly
Billed monthly: USD12
Best for: Mid sized companies looking to scale
- Everything in Essentials plus the expanded controls
- reporting and workflow depth Brex positions for scaling finance teams
Enterprise
Custom
per user per month
Best for: Global enterprises with custom needs
- Custom scoping for multi country deployments
- implementation services and premium support packages
How billing works
Brex, like Ramp, separates the card from the software. The card has qualification thresholds and not a price. Third-party trackers report that you need to spend more than USD 10,000 a month on corporate cards and hold at least USD 75,000 in a US bank account, which rules out the free plan for many smaller companies regardless of the price list. On the software side, Essentials is free permanently, Premium is reported at USD 12 per user per month with no annual rate published, and Enterprise is scoped by sales around country count, entity count and services. Contracts auto-renew and changes require advance notice, so the renewal date matters more than the headline rate. CostBench reports that Capital One acquired Brex in January 2026, so pin multi-year pricing commitments down in writing.
The tier trap
The trap on Brex is not a feature paywall. It is the card qualification bar. Third-party sources report thresholds of more than USD 10,000 a month in card spend and at least USD 75,000 in a US bank account, so a company that cannot clear those cannot use the free plan at all.
Read this first. Medium confidence. The official brex.com/pricing page could not be fetched, so every Brex price here comes from CostBench, last verified 27 August 2026, which labels its own data as internally inconsistent on dates. Whether Premium has an annual rate, what Premium adds feature by feature, and the exact auto-renewal notice period were not confirmed. The Capital One acquisition in January 2026 is a CostBench report and should be re-confirmed. Re-check the official page before you buy.
Brex cost calculator
Move the slider to see what each plan costs at your size. The figures use the list prices on this page and leave out tax, add-ons and any discount you negotiate.
What 50 paid seats cost on Premium compared with the free Essentials plan
Fifty seats show what Premium adds against a plan that costs nothing.
| Scenario | Cost per year | Against the headline |
|---|---|---|
| Premium at USD 12 per user per month (50 paid seats) | USD7,200 | Headline price |
| Essentials, the free plan (50 users) | Free | -USD 7,200 |
| Premium (50 paid seats) plus 20 external roles that are reported as non billable | USD7,200 | No change |
What each Brex plan includes
Compare the plans side by side. Where a cell says Check page, the vendor's pricing page was not specific enough for us to fill it in.
| Feature | Essentials | Premium | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual card fee | None | None | None |
| Travel booking | Included | Included | Included |
| Published per user price | USD 0 | USD 12 | Custom |
| Implementation services and premium support | Check page | Check page | Quoted |
Features we could not place by plan: Corporate cards with 1.5% cash back, Expense management, Expanded controls and reporting for scaling teams, Multi country deployment scoping. Check the official page for which plan includes each one.
Which Brex plan should you pick?
Essentials
Pick it if you clear the card spend and bank balance thresholds and want cards, expenses and travel booking at no software cost.
Premium
Pick it if a scaling finance team needs the expanded controls and reporting, and USD 12 per user per month replaces real manual work.
Enterprise
Pick it if you deploy across multiple countries or entities and need implementation services and premium support.
Our view
Brex is good value for companies that clear its card thresholds, because Essentials gives you cards, expense management and travel booking for nothing. Premium at a reported USD 12 per user per month pays off only when a finance team uses the added controls and is not just holding seats. Enterprise is a quote with unquantified services attached.
You may be overpaying if
You put every cardholder on a Premium seat when only finance approvers touch the extra controls, or you signed an Enterprise deal with implementation and premium support blended into one annual number you cannot unpick at renewal.
How to pay less for Brex
Stay on Essentials until a named feature blocks you
Essentials is permanently free and includes travel booking. Write down the specific Premium capability you need before you buy a seat.
Buy Premium seats for approvers only
Expanded controls and reporting are used by finance, not by everyone holding a card. Keep the rest on Essentials.
Make them publish the annual rate
Only the USD 12 monthly figure is public. Ask directly what an annual commitment costs, in writing, before you compare it to anything.
Strip out non-billable roles
Third-party sources report that external roles such as guests and outside accountants are not billed. Reconcile your invoice against that before renewal.
Unbundle Enterprise services
Get implementation and premium support quoted as separate lines. Blended annual figures are where unexamined cost lives.
Price Ramp against it
Ramp's Free plan is USD 0 with unlimited users and cards and covers much the same ground. A live competing quote is the lever that reliably moves an Enterprise number.
What other buyers report
CostBench reports a median Brex spend of USD 511 a year, based on 16 community-reported purchases, and describes the figure as directional and not contract grade. It also offers an illustrative estimate of USD 5,000 to USD 10,000 a month for a 500-employee, 20-country deployment with implementation services, which it states is its own estimate and not a quote. Source
Renewal email you can copy
Fill in the brackets and send it about 90 days before the renewal date. It works best next to your renewal tracker.
Subject: Brex renewal on [renewal date] Hi [account manager], Our Brex [plan] subscription renews on [renewal date]. Over the last 90 days, [active paid seats] of the [paid paid seats] we pay for used it. We would like to renew with [target paid seats] on a [term] term. Before we sign, please send: 1. The current list price and the price you are offering us, line by line. 2. The cap on any price increase at the next renewal. 3. The notice period if we want to cut paid seats or move to another plan. We are comparing this against [alternative] and plan to decide by [decision date]. If you can offer [target discount] percent off list, or a lower price for a longer term, we are ready to talk this week. Thank you, [name] [company]
Free PDF and Excel
Brex pricing sheet and cost model
A one page summary of every plan, plus an Excel model that adds up your own seat count.
- All plans and prices on one page
- Excel model with your seat count and yearly cost
- Renewal checklist and the email above, ready to edit
- Date of the price data and the source links
Brex alternatives and what they cost
If this vendor does not fit, these are the closest options and what they charge.
| Alternative | Starting price | Pick it when |
|---|---|---|
| Ramp | USD0 per user per month (Free plan) | You want the same free card and expense coverage and Plus is reported at USD 12 per user per month on annual billing Read our Ramp pricing guide |
| BILL | USD49 per user per month (Essentials) | Your bottleneck is AP and AR invoice processing rather than card spend Read our BILL pricing guide |
| Coupa | Custom quote, no published price | You need procurement, sourcing and supplier management rather than a card program Read our Coupa pricing guide |
Keeping Brex spend under control
Spend and headcount both grow, and card limits follow. Keep the renewal date and the notice window on a calendar with an owner.
- Get the quote in writing, line by line. Finance and HR systems are priced by employee, module and service. Ask for each module as its own line so you can remove one later.
- Read the renewal clause first. Look for the uplift cap, the notice period and the rules on reducing headcount. Our contract management guide lists what to check.
- Compare against alternatives with the same scope. A fair comparison needs the same modules and employee count on both sides. Use a vendor comparison matrix.
- Plan for implementation cost. Setup, data migration and training often cost as much as a year of licences. Add them to the total cost of ownership.
Bottom line. Check the card thresholds before anything else, run Essentials, add Premium seats only for approvers, and insist on separate lines for implementation and support on any Enterprise deal.
Brex pricing questions
How much does Brex cost per user?
Brex Essentials is USD 0 per user. Third-party trackers report Premium at USD 12 per user per month, with no annual rate published, and Enterprise quoted by sales. There are no annual card fees on any tier and card spend earns 1.5% cash back.
Is there a free version of Brex?
Yes. Essentials is described as permanently free and includes corporate cards with 1.5% cash back, expense management and travel booking at no charge. You still need to clear Brex's card qualification thresholds to use the card product.
How much is Brex Enterprise?
Brex does not publish Enterprise pricing, and it is scoped by sales around countries, entities and services. CostBench offers an illustrative estimate of USD 5,000 to USD 10,000 a month for a 500-employee, 20-country deployment with implementation services, and states clearly that this is its own estimate.
Can you get a discount on Brex?
Essentials is already free, so the discount conversation only applies to Premium and Enterprise. The levers are seat count, unbundling implementation and premium support into separate lines, a written renewal cap, and a competing Ramp quote.
Is Brex cheaper billed annually?
No public answer exists. Only the USD 12 per user per month monthly figure for Premium is published, and no annual rate appears in third-party sources. Ask Brex to state the annual price in writing before you assume a commitment saves anything.
What is the cheapest alternative to Brex?
Ramp is the closest match. Its Free plan is USD 0 with unlimited users and cards, with Plus reported at USD 12 per user per month on annual billing. For invoice-heavy finance teams, BILL starts at USD 49 per user per month on Essentials.
Sources
How we put this page together
We start from the vendor pricing page and note the date. Where a figure comes from a third party instead, we say so on the page. Procurement VMS is a ratings and comparison site, not a software vendor, and nobody paid for a place in this guide. Spot a number that has changed? Tell us on the contact page and we will check it.
Take the Brex cost model to your renewal meeting
You get a one page PDF and an Excel model with your seat count, the plans above and a renewal checklist.
Choosing software instead of renewing? See the ranked procurement software list.