Comparison · Hubdoc
ScanToExcel vs Hubdoc
What changes on May 8, 2026 when Hubdoc retires, what Xero Files actually replaces, and how to set up a sub-$5/month line-item-aware workflow without it.
Verified: May 12, 2026
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 |
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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