Avalara AvaTax vs Vertex for e-Commerce
Avalara AvaTax
avalara.comVertex for e-Commerce
developer.vertexinc.comSide by side
| Figure | Avalara AvaTax | Vertex for e-Commerce |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $58.25/mo | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 9 | 0 |
| Spec score · Tax Engine Software | 8.6 (#5) | 7.0 (#24) |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington | King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Intended users | The product page identifies small businesses, midmarket finance and accounting professionals, enterprise tax departments, developers, and partners as audiences. | Vertex describes the product as an end-to-end solution for e-commerce sellers of digital goods and services, particularly businesses with small tax teams. |
| Purpose | AvaTax calculates tax in real time for sales and purchasing workflows across jurisdictions and tax types. | Vertex for e-Commerce is an API-based solution for automating indirect tax determination and compliance in e-commerce checkout, with customer location determination, taxability logic, and reporting. |
| Reporting | The product page describes AI-driven reporting, natural-language search, dashboards, and audit-ready trails. | The service provides reporting capabilities to help businesses remit taxes and meet tax obligations. |
| Security | Avalara says its global AvaTax platform has achieved SOC 2 Type 2 compliance. | API access uses credentials included in the standard O Series Cloud authentication setup, and tax calculations can be made in the user's own environment depending on the access token. |
| Support | Avalara describes support plans with Standard, Priority, and Enterprise options; stated initial response SLAs are 24 hours, 8 hours, and 1 hour respectively, and Enterprise Support is available 24/7. | The maker directs customers to Vertex Community self-help support and lists phone support for Vertex Cloud. |
Plans
Avalara AvaTax
- Core Compliance$79 a month
- Core Compliance + SST Services$69 a month
- CustomPriced on request
- Tax Calculation and Returns Compliance Package$699 a year
- Tax Calculation (AvaTax)Priced on request
- Core Compliance + SST Services Monthly$69 a month
- Core Compliance Monthly$79 a month
- Core Compliance + SST Services Annual$699 a year
- Core Compliance Annual$799 a year
In their own words
Avalara AvaTax
Avalara AvaTax calculates tax in real time for sales and purchasing workflows. It covers sales tax, consumer use tax, VAT, communications tax, occupancy and lodging tax, and excise tax, and supports automated return filing and tax registration. Address validation uses geospatial technology to match transactions to tax regions rather than relying on ZIP codes. AvaTax connects with ecommerce, ERP, accounting, sales, and purchasing systems, and its REST API supports calculation, document modification, and address validation. Product taxability codes, AI-assisted item classification, custom rules, exemption certificate management, and jurisdiction-specific tax research support tax decisions. Reporting includes dashboards, natural-language search, and audit-ready trails. The service is available through web and API, with integrations including Shopify, NetSuite, QuickBooks, SAP, and Salesforce. Core Compliance costs $79 per month; Core Compliance + SST Services costs $69 per month for qualifying sellers. Qualified sellers may receive state-funded services in up to 25 states. Pricing also varies by plan and transaction volume.
Vertex for e-Commerce
Vertex for e-Commerce automates indirect tax determination and compliance during e-commerce checkout through APIs and a web dashboard. It identifies customer location, applies taxability logic, and calculates tax from rules and rates configured in Vertex O Series Cloud; that configuration determines which countries and regions are available. The service handles direct and marketplace transactions, can identify the party responsible for remitting tax, and supports sales and use tax, GST, HST, PST, QST, VAT, IOSS, and OSS. Businesses can use tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive prices, currency conversion, refunds, and discounts. The product includes the Seller Transaction API, digital invoices through Vertex Invoice IQ, tax ID checks through Vertex Validator, and a dashboard for settings, reports, and users. A pre-built checkout form supports Stripe and PayPal, one-time and recurring sales, and launch by link or JavaScript. Vertex describes it as suited to digital-goods sellers, particularly businesses with small tax teams. It supports only digital goods and does not support Brazil. Pricing is on request.