AutoFileEmail vs Hubdoc — which one fits how you work?
Hubdoc is a Xero add-on for accountants. AutoFileEmail is a $14.99 tool for the rest of us.
AutoFileEmail
Email → your Drive
Hubdoc
Receipts → Xero
If you don't already use Xero, you probably want us.
Hubdoc is great if you're a Xero customer — it's bundled, and it pushes data straight into your books. AutoFileEmail is better if you just want a tidy Drive folder, you don't run accounting software, or you bill clients with a CPA who handles the rest.
Side-by-side, line by line.
What each product actually does, what it costs, and where it draws the line.
AutoFileEmail | HHubdoc | |
|---|---|---|
| PRICING | ||
| Starting price For a single user / inbox | Free, forever 1 inbox, 50 receipts / mo. Pro is $9 / mo. | Bundled with Xero Free with Xero plans (from $15 / mo). Standalone since 2021: not available. |
| Need a Xero subscription? Or an accounting tool at all | ✓No Standalone product. Connect to Xero / QuickBooks if you want. | ✕Yes Hubdoc is now part of Xero — you can't subscribe separately. |
| WHERE YOUR FILES LIVE | ||
| PDFs filed into your own cloud Drive / Dropbox / OneDrive / Box | ✓Yes — your folder, your structure Stripe, Adobe, AWS each get their own subfolder under a path you pick. | ~Optional, paid add-on Documents live in Hubdoc's UI by default. Export to Drive is available but not the default flow. |
| If you cancel, what happens to old files? | ✓They stay where they are Files are already in your Drive. We just stop adding new ones. | ~Export them first Bulk export available, but you have to do it before you cancel. |
| WHAT IT DOES TO RECEIPTS | ||
| File the original PDF, untouched | ✓Always We rename, route, and timestamp. We never edit or rasterize the file. | ✓Yes Original is kept; an OCR'd version is also generated. |
| OCR / data extraction Vendor name, total, tax, date | ~Filename only Vendor + amount + date in the filename. Not pushed into a structured database. | ✓Full OCR Extracts line items, totals, tax. Designed to feed Xero's transaction list. |
| Push to accounting software | ~Via your CPA's reconciliation flow We're the filing layer. QuickBooks Live and most CPAs read from a shared Drive folder. | ✓Native to Xero One-click publish to Xero with extracted data attached. |
| SETUP & DAILY USE | ||
| Setup time | ~2 min Two Google sign-ins. Done. | 15–30 min Connect supplier accounts (utilities, banks) so Hubdoc can fetch. |
| Auto-fetches from supplier portals Logs into your utility / bank to pull statements | ✕No, by design We file what's already in your inbox. We don't ask for vendor passwords. | ✓Yes — supplier connections Big differentiator if you have utilities / telecom that only post statements to a portal. |
| Backfill existing inbox | ✓1, 3, or 5 year sweep $29 / $59 / $99 one-time. Files everything historical. | ~From signup forward No native bulk-import of old emails. |
When each one is actually the right call.
We'll be honest — Hubdoc is the better tool for a specific kind of customer. Just probably not the one reading this page.
You want a clean Drive, not another dashboard.
- You're a freelancer, solo founder, or consultant.
- Your accountant works from a shared Drive folder, not Xero.
- You'd rather pay $0–$9 / mo than $15+ / mo for an accounting bundle.
- You want to backfill 3 years of past receipts on day one.
- You don't want a vendor holding your filing system hostage.
You live inside Xero already.
- Your bookkeeper does daily reconciliation in Xero.
- You need OCR'd line items pushed into transactions, not just PDFs filed.
- You receive utility / telecom bills only via supplier portals (no email).
- You're already paying for Xero — Hubdoc is bundled, no extra cost.
What each one really costs.
Both products bury pricing differently. Here's the apples-to-apples for a single freelancer or solo operator.
AutoFileEmail Pro
- Unlimited receipts filed
- Up to 5 inboxes, 1 cloud destination
- Year-end ZIP export
- Custom rules + Personal/Business tagging
Hubdoc (via Xero)
- Bundled — no extra fee on top of Xero
- Full OCR + Xero publish
- Supplier portal auto-fetch
- You also get all of Xero — but you're paying for it.
Already using Hubdoc? Here's the migration.
The switch takes about ten minutes.
Bulk-export from Hubdoc
Hubdoc's "Download all" gives you a ZIP of every PDF organized by supplier. Save it anywhere.
Drop the ZIP into your Drive
Unzip it into /AutoFileEmail/Receipts/. Folders by vendor — same structure we use going forward.
Connect AutoFileEmail to your inbox
Two minute Google sign-in. We pick up filing new receipts as they arrive.
Run a 1-year backfill
Optional but recommended. $29 sweep of the past year ensures nothing fell through Hubdoc's net.
No data left behind, on either side.
Hubdoc's export is decent — every original PDF, organized by supplier. Once it's in your Drive, AutoFileEmail uses the same structure, so it looks like the same system, just running on your own files.
Need a hand? Email us your Hubdoc export and we'll restructure it into our standard layout for free, one time, on signup.
“I switched off Xero last year. Hubdoc went with it. AutoFileEmail does 90% of what I needed Hubdoc for, costs a fifth, and the files are mine.”
Honest questions.
Wait — is Hubdoc free?
Sort of. As of 2020, Hubdoc is bundled with all Xero plans at no extra cost. But you can't subscribe to it on its own — you have to be a Xero customer (starting at $15/month for the Early plan in the US).
Does AutoFileEmail OCR receipts like Hubdoc does?
Not at the line-item level. We extract vendor, date, and total to build the filename, but we don't push structured data into a database. If you need OCR'd line items in your books, Hubdoc + Xero (or QuickBooks Receipt Capture) is the better fit.
Can I use both?
Plenty of customers do. AutoFileEmail keeps a clean human-readable archive in their Drive; Hubdoc handles the books. We're not competitive — we're complementary, in that case.
What about supplier auto-fetch?
This is Hubdoc's biggest advantage. They log into supplier portals (utilities, telecoms) and pull statements that never get emailed. We don't do this and have no plans to — we're an inbox-based product, not a credential-storing one.
If I cancel AutoFileEmail, do I lose my receipts?
No. They're already in your Drive. We just stop adding new ones. Hubdoc behaves similarly if you bulk-export before canceling.
Try the version where your files are yours.
2-min setup · No credit card · We don't read your documents.