Comparison · Hubdoc
Hubdoc is retiring — looking for a cheap alternative? ScanToExcel is $4.99/mo flat
Hubdoc retires on May 8, 2026 and Xero Files only replaces document storage — not the OCR. ScanToExcel is $4.99/month flat with line-item extraction, unlimited conversions and a native Excel export Hubdoc never offered.
Verified: May 12, 2026
Why look for a Hubdoc alternative?
If you're searching for a Hubdoc alternative, the timing is forced: Xero retires Hubdoc on May 8, 2026, and Xero Files is a storage replacement — not an OCR or line-item extraction replacement. The two natural upgrade paths inside the Xero ecosystem (Dext at $31.50/month and AutoEntry at $13/month for 50 credits) both raise your bill significantly. ScanToExcel is the cheaper exit: $4.99/month flat with full line-item extraction (something Hubdoc itself never offered), unlimited daily conversions, and a pre-mapped Xero CSV import. The trade-off: no direct Xero auto-publish — you import the CSV manually.
Side-by-side comparison
| ScanToExcel | Hubdoc | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & commitment | ||
| Cheapest paid plan | $4.99/mo | $12.00/mo |
| Per-user or flat? | Flat rate | Flat rate |
| Monthly document cap | Unlimited daily conversions | Unlimited usage |
| Annual discount | No | No |
| Contract length | Month-to-month, cancel anytime | Month-to-month |
| Independent product | Yes, standalone | No — owned by Xero (retiring May 2026) |
| Documents supported | ||
| Receipts | ✓ | ✓ |
| Invoices | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bank statements | ✓ | ~ |
| Credit card statements | ✓ | ~ |
| Paystubs | ✓ | ✕ |
| Image of tables (screenshots, photos) | ✓ | ✕ |
| Multi-page PDFs | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scanned PDFs (image-based) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Output & integrations | ||
| Native Excel export (.xlsx) | ✓ | ✕ |
| CSV export | ✓ | ✓ |
| Xero / QuickBooks CSV templates | ✓ | yes (direct API) |
| Direct Xero / QuickBooks / Sage sync | ✕ | ✓ |
| Bulk upload (parallel processing) | yes (up to 50 files) | ✓ |
| Practical & UX | ||
| Can test without account? | yes (10/day free) | ✕ |
| Data residency / GDPR | EU processing, zero retention | Global servers, persistent storage |
| Time to first export | Under 60 seconds, no install | Onboarding + ledger sync required |
What Hubdoc does better than ScanToExcel (until May 8, 2026)
Until Hubdoc retires on May 8, 2026, it has two real advantages over ScanToExcel — but neither survives the retirement date. First, native Xero auto-publish: bills flow directly into Xero with the PDF attached, no CSV import step, and Xero coding rules carry across. Second, Hubdoc is free with every Xero Business Edition subscription, so the marginal cost has been £0 for years; ScanToExcel costs $4.99/month and requires a manual one-click CSV import. Hubdoc also ships a mobile receipt-snap app and per-user email-in addresses ScanToExcel doesn't replicate. After May 8, 2026 these advantages disappear — Xero Files (the replacement) is storage only, not OCR or line-item extraction, so the comparison stops being relevant. If you're reading this before retirement and only process simple receipts inside Xero, staying on Hubdoc until the lights go out is rational. Switching becomes mandatory the day after.
The verdict
Pick Hubdoc if:
you're an accounting firm with 20+ clients already on Xero, needing bundled document storage, supplier-portal fetching, and direct ledger sync - and you only need header-level data, not line items.
Pick ScanToExcel if:
you need clean, immediately usable Excel output with full line-item detail from receipts, invoices, statements, and paystubs - without ecosystem lock-in or the impending Hubdoc-to-Xero-Files migration.
Neither if:
your only Hubdoc use case was free document storage attached to bills — and that workflow now lives entirely inside Xero Files at no extra cost. If you never relied on Hubdoc's OCR or line-item reading, simply continue with Xero Files post-May 2026 and revisit when extraction needs grow.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hubdoc actually being discontinued by Xero?
Yes. Xero (which acquired Hubdoc in 2018) confirmed the retirement of the standalone Hubdoc platform on May 8, 2026. Existing documents are migrated into Xero Files — a basic storage feature without OCR, line-item extraction or supplier-portal fetching.
What replaces Hubdoc inside Xero — and is it equivalent?
Xero Files is the official replacement. It stores attachments and lets you drag PDFs onto bills, but extracts no structured data: no line items, no vendor matching, no auto-fill. Anything that previously read text out of a Hubdoc upload now requires manual keying or a third-party tool like ScanToExcel.
Will my Hubdoc → Xero auto-publish workflow keep working until May 8, 2026?
Yes — until May 8, 2026. After that date, the auto-publish path is shut down and the Hubdoc tile disappears from the Xero menu. Migrating now, rather than the week before, is strongly recommended to avoid losing parsed metadata.
What happens to my historical Hubdoc archive?
Xero will migrate documents into Xero Files, but only as flat attachments — the parsed metadata, supplier rules and matched-bill links are not preserved. Export everything you may need for audit purposes (CSV plus PDFs) before May 8, 2026.
Hubdoc only extracts header data — can ScanToExcel do line items?
Yes, that's the core difference. Hubdoc reads vendor, date and total. ScanToExcel reads every line of every invoice, every transaction in a bank statement, every earnings line in a paystub — directly into structured spreadsheet rows ready for analysis or import.
Does ScanToExcel auto-fetch documents from supplier portals like Hubdoc did?
No. Supplier-portal credentials and scheduled fetches are not part of ScanToExcel's model. For documents that arrive via portal, download them manually (or use a dedicated fetcher like Greenback) and feed the PDFs into ScanToExcel for line-item extraction.
What does the cheapest post-Hubdoc workflow actually cost?
A free Xero subscription continues to include Xero Files for storage. Pair it with ScanToExcel Premium ($4.99/month) for full line-item extraction — total monthly cost roughly $5, versus $12/month for standalone Hubdoc when it existed.
Is there a one-click Hubdoc-to-ScanToExcel import?
No, and you don't need one. ScanToExcel is stateless: there is no chart of accounts to seed, no supplier rules to copy. Bulk-download your Hubdoc archive, drop the PDFs into the ScanToExcel upload zone, and start exporting structured Excel files immediately.
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