Only if you already know which suppliers to chase. Booksmate fetches from a list you build yourself, and works out nothing about which payments have no document behind them.
| Stage | Booksmate | Clerk.AI |
|---|---|---|
| Before | You list your suppliers yourself. For one not already in their catalogue you give their AI four addresses — the homepage, the login page, the page you land on after signing in, and the page your documents are listed on — and it builds a plugin. Again for every new supplier. | You start it and go away. You never tell it who your suppliers are, because working that out is the job. |
| During | You press Run, and it fetches from the list you built.1 | It reads the month's bank and card lines, works out which payments have no document behind them, and goes and gets those, from your mail, supplier portals, and photos on your phone. It asks you the things only you can answer.2 |
| After | You end with the documents in their app, and export them — as files, or into Xero or QuickBooks. | You end with a folder and a drafted email to your accountant, in the language you write to them in. |
1 Their own first-run tour, step four: "Click the Run button to fetch new documents from your connected email accounts and websites." 2 It does not get every one: some suppliers block automation, and when that happens it names the supplier and asks, rather than leaving a hole you hear about six weeks later.
The checkable parts. Numbers point to the fine print under each table.
| Fact | Booksmate | Clerk.AI | We’d say |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lists your suppliers | You do, one at a time | It works them out with you, mostly from your bank statements | Clerk.AI |
| Suppliers supported | About 350 ready-made, and their AI builds a missing one for you3 | No list — it signs in the way you would4 | Even |
| Reads your bank lines | No | Yes | Clerk.AI |
| Tells you what is missing | No | Yes, by name and amount | Clerk.AI |
| Ends at | Exported files, or your accounting software | A folder and a drafted email |
3 Counted from their own portal picker, September 2026. Their documentation says a missing site takes a few minutes; the form inside the app says the build "can take up to an hour" and that "you may be prompted to login at some point". 4 There is no catalogue to be in or out of. Some suppliers block automation, and then it names the one it could not reach and asks.
| Fact | Booksmate | Clerk.AI | We’d say |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $19, $49 or $99 a month5 | Free, or what you decide | |
| AI subscription | Not needed6 | Your own Claude, about €18 a month | |
| Documents a year | 6007 | No limit | Clerk.AI |
| To try it | An account, then a plan8 | Download it | Clerk.AI |
| Refund policy | None found9 | Nothing to refund |
5 Billed annually. 6 Their own AI is included; you need a Claude subscription only if you use their optional MCP server. 7 On the $19 plan. 8 Signing in is free and the desktop app opens; a fresh install shows a document allowance of 0 with an Upgrade button. Their cheapest plan is $19 a month after a seven-day trial that takes a card. 9 Not in their terms, privacy policy or imprint.
| Fact | Booksmate | Clerk.AI | We’d say |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Your computer — macOS, Windows or Linux10 | Your own computer, Mac or Windows | Booksmate |
| Your documents on their servers | Yes11 | No | Clerk.AI |
10 Their download page is not linked from their home page, their pricing page or their sitemap; it reached us in the email after we signed up. 11 Their service at mcp.booksmate.com searches them and groups your spend.
Every cell above is quoted from Booksmate's own material and dated. The last column is not: it is what we would say if you asked us which of the two does that row better. Where it is blank, the two are not doing the same thing and there is nothing to prefer.
Download it, point it at a month you have already sent off, and see what it says is missing.