They solve different halves of the problem, and the difference is writes. Expensify's MCP server is read-only: its own documentation says it gives an assistant access through a Search tool and cannot approve reports, edit expenses, reimburse payments or manage workspace settings. The ExpenseOS agent is where the report gets made. If your company already runs Expensify, use theirs. If nobody is filing your expenses for you, use ExpenseOS.
Free, no company account needed. Already using it? Open your dashboard →
Expensify built the connector read-only on purpose, and for its audience that is the right call. An assistant can query expenses, reports, reimbursements, invoices, merchants, categories, receipts and approval states, summarize them and spot trends, all under the account and workspace permissions you already have. Nothing can be changed by accident, and no admin has to grant an AI write access to the company's books.
If you are a finance lead with an Expensify workspace and you want to ask questions about spend without exporting a CSV, that is a genuinely good product and ExpenseOS is not competing with it.
Read-only means the filing still happens in Expensify. You open the app, you build the report there, you submit it there. The MCP server lets you ask about the result afterwards.
It also means you need an Expensify account, and the access you get through the connector is bounded by your existing workspace permissions. For someone whose employer does not run Expensify, there is no way in at all.
Every Expensify MCP cell comes from its own public documentation, checked on 24 October 2026. Where it does not say something either way, the cell says so.
| ExpenseOS Agent | Expensify MCP | |
|---|---|---|
| Works in ChatGPT | Yes, listed in the app directory | Yes, listed |
| Works in Claude | Yes, connector directory | Yes, official setup guide |
| Files a new expense from a receipt photo in chat | Yes | No, read-only |
| Mileage priced at the IRS rate | Yes, routed server-side at the rate for the drive date | No, read-only |
| Builds a PDF expense report | Yes, with a receipt appendix | No, read-only |
| Sends it to a manager for one-click approval | Yes, a 14-day link, no account needed | No, cannot approve reports |
| Needs an account on a separate expense platform | No | Yes, an Expensify account and workspace |
| Cost to one employee | Free | Not verified from their pricing page |
| What it is really for | Filing and tracking work expense reports | Querying expense data a company already holds in Expensify |
A read-only window onto an Expensify account. Expensify's own documentation says the server provides read-only access through a Search tool and that it cannot approve reports, edit expenses, reimburse payments or manage workspace settings. It is genuinely good at what it is for, asking questions about spend your company already tracks, but the filing still happens inside Expensify, and you need an Expensify account and the workspace permissions that go with it.
Read-only versus read-write sounds like a technical detail until you look at which tools it removes. These are the ones ExpenseOS exposes; the ones that create or send something have no equivalent in a read-only connector.
add_receiptSaves a receipt from a photo, PDF, screenshot or a plain sentence, keeping the original image for the audit trail.log_mileageTurns a described drive into a mileage expense. The distance is routed server-side and priced at the IRS rate for the date you drove.update_expenseCorrects an expense already in the ledger, or attaches a receipt image to one that was missing it.recall_reportPulls a sent report back for editing. The approver's link stops working immediately.make_my_expense_reportBuilds the report and every file version of it. Scope it to a trip, a month or a date range.submit_my_reportEmails your approver the report with a one-click approve button, valid for 14 days. They need no account.email_my_reportSends the files to you, your accountant or an accounts-payable inbox, with no approval link attached.mark_reimbursedCloses a report as paid and stops its days-owed counter.Expensify's MCP server is read-only and needs an Expensify account. Its own documentation says it provides read-only access through a Search tool and cannot approve reports, edit expenses, reimburse payments or manage workspace settings, so you still file the report inside Expensify. The ExpenseOS agent is where the report is created: it captures the expense, builds the files and sends the approval email, and you do not need a corporate expense platform at all.
Yes, and it stays free. Receipts, mileage, reports, PDF and Excel exports, one-click manager approval and reimbursement tracking are all included at no cost, with no credit card. The paid ExpenseOS platform is a separate product for companies; it adds instant reimbursement the moment a report clears policy.
No. You can start on your own, today, with a personal email address. Your approver does not need an account either. They get an email with a one-click approve button and never sign in anywhere.
They get an email with the PDF attached and a one-click Review and Approve button, valid for 14 days. They do not need an ExpenseOS account, an app, or a login. If you sent it to the wrong person or spotted a mistake, you can recall the report and the link stops working immediately.
Four, every time: a PDF with a receipt appendix, an Excel (XLSX) workbook, a CSV, and a QuickBooks-ready CSV in QuickBooks Online's bank-import format. All four are on the report page and on your dashboard.
https://mcp.purafi.ai/mcp. It speaks Model Context Protocol over streamable HTTP and authenticates with OAuth, so any MCP client can use it. In ChatGPT and Claude you do not need the URL at all, because ExpenseOS is listed in both directories.
Then use ExpenseOS to build the report and email the files to yourself instead of routing them for approval. You get the PDF, Excel, CSV and QuickBooks files, and you file them however your employer wants. Plenty of people use it purely to stop keeping receipts in a shoebox.
No, by design. It prepares and tracks reports. It does not reimburse you, enforce a policy or decide whether an expense is allowed. Your company pays you exactly the way it does today. The only thing it sends outside your account is the approval email you ask it to send.
Yes. It is listed in ChatGPT's app directory under Business & Operations as "ExpenseOS". Add it, sign in once, then drop receipt photos into the chat and ask for your report. ChatGPT renders your ledger and the finished report as cards you can act on.
Yes. It is in Claude's connector directory: Settings, Connectors, Browse, then search for "PuraFi Expenses", which is the name the listing still carries. You can also add it by hand as a custom connector using the server URL, since it is a standard Model Context Protocol server.
ExpenseOS is listed in both directories, so you should not need this. If your client has no directory, add this as a custom Model Context Protocol connector and sign in when prompted:
https://mcp.purafi.ai/mcpAdd the app, send it a photo, and see the ledger fill up. The first report usually takes one coffee break.