Divvy

Free Expense Management — With a Catch

Divvy flipped the expense management business model. Instead of charging per user, they give away the software and earn revenue from credit card interchange fees when employees use Divvy cards. For the customer, the software is genuinely free. No hidden charges, no per-user fees, no transaction limits.

The trade-off is clear: you must use Divvy Visa cards. Every employee who spends money needs a Divvy card (physical or virtual). If your company already has a relationship with Chase or Amex for corporate cards, switching requires effort.

Budget-First Approach

Where most expense tools focus on after-the-fact reporting, Divvy leads with budgets. Create budgets by department, project, team, or individual. Set monthly or one-time limits. When the budget runs out, the card declines. Simple. This prevents overspending before it happens rather than catching it in an approval queue after the money's gone.

Managers see real-time dashboards showing exactly how much each budget has consumed. No waiting until month-end to discover someone blew through a conference budget. The visibility is immediate and genuinely changes spending behavior.

Virtual Cards for Subscriptions

Spin up a virtual card in seconds. Assign it to a specific vendor or subscription. Set a recurring limit. If that SaaS vendor raises prices, you'll know immediately because the charge exceeds the card limit. Cancel a subscription? Freeze the virtual card and no more charges. This solves the zombie subscription problem that plagues finance teams.

Where Divvy Disappoints

International support is limited. Divvy cards work primarily in the US. Multi-currency expense management isn't their strength. If your team travels internationally or you have offices abroad, this is a real limitation.

The credit check requirement can be a barrier. Divvy evaluates your company's creditworthiness before issuing cards, and startups with limited history sometimes get low initial limits. Customer support has mixed reviews — fast for simple issues, slow for complex billing disputes.