Brex vs Navan
Quick verdict: Brex is our overall pick for Brex vs Navan.
Brex is a card and credit line for startups; Navan is a travel booking platform with expense management attached, free below 300 employees. Prices checked 2026-10-03.
| Tool | Rating | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brex Best overall Best for teams | 4.3/5 | Free $12/user/mo (Premium) | Brex runs a two-step public price list: Essentials is $0 per user per month and Premium is… |
| Navan Best free | 4.0/5 | Free $15/user/mo after 5 free expensing users | Navan is free for companies of up to 300 employees: Navan Business costs nothing, Navan Ex… |
Bottom line: these two serve different budgets. Navan optimises the trip, Brex optimises everything you swipe. Most companies that have both run one for each, because neither is strong where the other is strong. Brex is $0 Essentials and $12/user Premium. Navan Business is free for companies up to 300 employees with unlimited trips, and Navan Expense goes $0 for five expensing users then $15 per user per month. Navan if travel is your biggest controllable spend and you are under 300 employees. Brex if the card and the credit line are what you are missing.
Pricing and details
Brex · 4.3/5
Free plan available · $12/user/mo (Premium)
Billed per user per month on top of card spend; the page also lists per-transaction card and wire fees ($15-$25 per wire in the comparative table) and the premium/enterprise tiers add credit and control features rather than metered units
No published annual rate on the Brex pricing page
Brex runs a two-step public price list: Essentials is $0 per user per month and Premium is $12 per user per month, with the card, the expense tooling and the credit line all sitting on top of that seat fee.
Score breakdown
Pros
- A genuine $0 Essentials tier rather than a trial, which makes Brex the easiest way to test a card program with real employees
- Premium at $12/user/month is the smallest step between the two published tiers in the cluster
- Revenue-based rewards on card spend are part of the product rather than a negotiation, which matters at real spend volume
- The clearest documentation of card and wire fee categories of the card-led tools, even where the numbers themselves are not published
Cons
- The parts that usually decide the invoice - interchange, cash-advance fees, wire fees - are not published as numbers on the pricing page
- No annual rate is published, so budgeting is monthly
- Expense reporting is good but is not the reason to buy it; the product was built around the card and the credit line
Pricing verified 2026-10-03
Navan · 4.0/5
Free plan available · $15/user/mo after 5 free expensing users
Travel itself is funded out of provider commission rather than charged; the expense side bills per expensing user, defined on the page as anyone who submits a transaction by manual entry or Navan Connect
No published annual rate
Navan is free for companies of up to 300 employees: Navan Business costs nothing, Navan Expense is free for the first five expensing users and then $15 per user per month, and Navan Enterprise is sales-only.
Score breakdown
Pros
- The best free offer in the cluster: the whole platform at $0 for companies up to 300 employees, and the reason is structural - travel commissions pay for the software
- Travel booking is genuinely included at no cost rather than subsidised from a higher subscription, so frequent travellers cost nothing extra
- Free Expense for the first five expensing users, which covers a large share of small teams at zero cost
- Navan Connect automates transaction capture from bank feeds, which is where most expense platforms quietly fail
Cons
- Free is explicitly capped at 300 employees, and above that you are in a demo, not a checkout
- The $15 per expensing user step arrives at six people, so a twenty-person team pays $225 a month for the expense side alone
- No annual rate published and no card-led spend program to speak of - this is travel-and-expense, not spend management
Pricing verified 2026-10-03
Frequently asked questions
Which is better overall, Brex or Navan?
Brex is our overall pick (4.3/5 vs 4.0/5). Brex is a card and credit line for startups; Navan is a travel booking platform with expense management attached, free below 300 employees. Prices checked 2026-10-03.
Do Brex and Navan offer free plans?
Brex and Navan have a free tier. Brex paid plans start at $12/user/mo (Premium); Navan paid plans start at $15/user/mo after 5 free expensing users.
What does Brex cost?
$12/user/mo (Premium) — Billed per user per month on top of card spend; the page also lists per-transaction card and wire fees ($15-$25 per wire in the comparative table) and the premium/enterprise tiers add credit and control features rather than metered units. Prices were last verified on 2026-10-03.