Top 10 Alternatives to TripActions (now Navan)

Navan (which was formerly known as TripActions) has made a significant impact on the corporate travel industry. With its modern technology platform, a strong focus on the user experience, and an integrated corporate card and expense management offering, it has emerged as a major player and a popular choice, especially in the tech sector. However, the "Navan way" is not the right fit for every company. Its platform and business model are built around its own corporate card, which can be a limitation for businesses that want more flexibility in their payment strategies or have different T&E priorities.

For companies seeking an alternative to Navan, the good news is that the market is filled with excellent options, each with its own unique strengths. Whether you are looking for a more flexible all-in-one platform, a more traditional service-oriented TMC, or a powerful spend management tool that also handles travel, there is a solution that will be a better fit for your specific needs. This guide will break down the top 10 alternatives to Navan, helping you to make an informed decision.

Why You Might Look for a Navan Alternative

While Navan is a strong platform, companies often seek alternatives for a few key reasons:

You Don't Want to Be Locked into Their Corporate Card: Navan's best features and most seamless workflows are designed to work with its own corporate card. If your company has an existing, long-standing relationship with a banking partner or wants to use a different card program, the Navan platform can be less effective.
You Need More Flexibility in Payments: The focus on a single card product can be a limitation. You may want a platform that offers more diverse centralized payment options, such as using your existing corporate cards, direct billing, or a line of credit.
Pricing and Contract Complexity: As a premium platform, Navan can be on the higher end of the market in terms of cost. Their contracts can also be complex and may require a significant upfront commitment.
Service and Support Concerns: As the company has grown rapidly, some users have reported challenges with the consistency and quality of customer support, particularly when compared to smaller, more service-focused providers.

The Top 10 Alternatives to Navan

This list is categorized to help you find the type of solution that best aligns with your company's priorities.

The All-in-One, Flexible Platforms

These platforms offer a similarly modern, integrated T&E experience to Navan but often with more flexibility in their payment and service models.

1. Routespring

Why it's a top alternative: Routespring offers a truly unified travel and expense platform that is consistently ranked as the #1 Easiest to Use on G2. Its key advantage is its flexibility. Unlike Navan, Routespring is payment-agnostic. It allows you to centralize payments using your existing corporate cards, a direct line of credit, or virtual cards, providing a seamless, automated workflow without forcing you into a specific card product. It combines a best-in-class user experience with powerful, enterprise-grade policy controls.
Key Differentiator: The flexibility of its payment system and its singular focus on creating the most intuitive and efficient end-to-end T&E workflow.

2. TravelPerk

Why it's an alternative: TravelPerk is another modern platform with a strong user interface and is particularly known for its vast travel inventory, which is one of the largest on the market. It also offers a feature called "FlexiPerk," which allows companies to pay a premium to make any trip refundable.
Considerations: TravelPerk's core strength is its booking platform. Its expense management features, while improving, are generally not considered as mature or deeply integrated as those of Routespring or Navan.

The Fintech "Spend Management" Platforms

If your primary goal is to control all company spending (not just T&E) through a corporate card, these platforms are a strong alternative.

3. Ramp

Why it's an alternative: Ramp is a powerful spend management platform that has become a favorite of modern finance teams. Its software provides excellent real-time controls over card spending, and its expense automation for card-based transactions is top-notch.
Considerations: Ramp is a spend management platform first. Its travel booking capabilities are a secondary feature and may not be as robust as a dedicated T&E platform.

4. Brex

Why it's an alternative: Focused on the startup community, Brex offers a sleek corporate card and software experience that is very popular with venture-backed companies.
Considerations: Like Ramp, Brex is a card-centric solution, and its features are highly tailored to the specific needs of the tech startup world.

The Legacy Giants

For very large, global enterprises with incredibly complex needs, the traditional mega-TMCs may still be a consideration.

5. SAP Concur

Why it's an alternative: Concur is the industry's largest player. Its expense management module is extremely powerful and can be customized to handle almost any global compliance or accounting requirement.
Considerations: Concur is the antithesis of Navan in terms of user experience. Its interface is widely seen as clunky and outdated, and the travel and expense modules are not seamlessly integrated. It is a powerful but often frustrating system to use.

6. American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT)

Why it's an alternative: As a direct global competitor, Amex GBT offers a massive global service footprint. With its acquisition of Egencia, it has a strong technology offering for the mid-market.
Considerations: The service model can feel very traditional, and the platform may lack the agility and user-centric design of the modern innovators.

The Service-Focused TMCs

For companies that prioritize a high-touch, personalized service model over a pure technology platform.

7. Corporate Traveler

Why it's an alternative: Part of the Flight Centre Travel Group, Corporate Traveler focuses on pairing small and mid-sized businesses with a dedicated travel consultant who provides proactive, personalized service. They combine this human touch with a solid technology platform.

8. Direct Travel

Why it's an alternative: Direct Travel is another large TMC that has built its brand on providing a more customized and flexible service model than the "mega-TMCs," which often appeals to mid-market companies.

9. FCM Travel

Why it's an alternative: Also part of the Flight Centre group, FCM targets a larger corporate and multinational market. It is known for its flexible approach and its ability to customize solutions for complex client needs.

10. BCD Travel

Why it's an alternative: As one of the "big three" legacy TMCs, BCD Travel offers a vast global network and a comprehensive suite of services, making it a contender for large, global companies looking for a traditional TMC partner.

How to Choose the Right Alternative

Your choice depends on your priorities.

If your top priority is a seamless, user-friendly, and highly efficient all-in-one platform with flexible payment options, Routespring is likely your best choice.
If your goal is to manage all company spending through a single corporate card, a spend management platform like Ramp is a powerful option.
If you are a massive global enterprise with deep SAP integration needs, SAP Concur remains a major contender despite its UX challenges.
If you value a high-touch, human-led service model above all else, a provider like Corporate Traveler could be a great fit.

The corporate travel landscape is rich with options. By understanding your own company's unique needs and the specific strengths of these top alternatives, you can find a travel management partner that is a perfect fit for your culture, your budget, and your strategic goals.