Avalara vs Vertex

Avalara (AF Score 77) and Vertex (AF Score 78) are two of the most cross-shopped sales tax and VAT platforms in our directory. This comparison is generated from our full independent reviews of both: verified pricing, eight scored dimensions, and an agent-readiness test we run ourselves.

What each costs

Avalara
Price
$69 to $79/state/mo (published)
How it's priced
Per-state plans under $50M revenue; quote above that
Vertex
Price
~$40.3k/yr median contract (Vendr)
How it's priced
Quote only: annual subscription, priced in revenue tiers

The verdict at a glance

Vertex scores higher overall (78 to 77), but the right pick depends on what you weight.

Avalara is a sales and use tax platform (AvaTax calculation, Managed Returns filing and exemption certificate management) for growing and mid-market companies that collect tax in many U.S. states, with VAT, 1099 and property tax sold as separate products.

Vertex is an enterprise indirect tax engine (O Series, run as Vertex Cloud, on-premise or at the edge) that calculates sales tax and VAT inside SAP, Oracle, Workday and other ERPs, with returns, exemption certificates and e-invoicing sold as modules.

Quick facts

  • Avalara AF score. 77/100
  • Avalara implementation. Medium
  • Avalara best fit. Sellers filing in 5 to 25 states
  • Vertex AF score. 78/100
  • Vertex implementation. High
  • Vertex best fit. Multinationals on SAP or Oracle

Dimension by dimension

  • Compliance depth. Avalara 84, Vertex 84. Edge: Even.
  • Scalability. Avalara 86, Vertex 82. Edge: Avalara.
  • AI / agent readiness. Avalara 87, Vertex 58. Edge: Avalara.
  • Support. Avalara 62, Vertex 71. Edge: Vertex.
  • Implementation. Avalara 72, Vertex 62. Edge: Avalara.
  • Pricing transparency. Avalara 69, Vertex 44. Edge: Avalara.
  • Tax content & coverage. Avalara 89, Vertex 89. Edge: Even.
  • Integrations & data flow. Avalara 91, Vertex 87. Edge: Avalara.

Pick Avalara if

  • U.S. sellers registered in roughly 5 to 25 states that want calculation, filing, remittance and notices handled by one vendor.
  • Companies on NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Business Central, SAP, Oracle or Workday that need an Avalara connector and a SOC 1 report for their auditors.
  • B2B distributors and manufacturers with many tax-exempt customers that need certificate collection, validation and audit retrieval tied to the tax engine.

Pick Vertex if

  • Multinationals on SAP S/4HANA or ECC that want one engine for sales tax, VAT and use tax accruals across order-to-cash and procure-to-pay.
  • Oracle Fusion, Workday Financials or Dynamics 365 Finance shops replacing native ERP tax tables before a cloud migration.
  • Tax teams facing e-invoicing mandates in Europe and Latin America that want determination and e-invoicing from one vendor.

Further reading

Keep exploring

Both reviews are updated on a rolling cycle by our research agents.