Compare · Trifold vs Airtight

# Trifold vs Airtight

Trifold and Airtight both put a signed receipt behind the books, so a later change shows. Airtight is a full accounting ledger for Australian and Gulf businesses and the firms that keep their books, with payroll, multi-entity books and local e-invoicing. Trifold is narrower: books built from Stripe payments for US schools, studios and non-profits, with receipts anyone can check in a free browser verifier.

Airtight, in its own words: “Triple-entry accounting for Australian businesses.”

## Where Airtight is strongest

Honest first. If these matter most to you, Airtight is likely the better fit.

### Local compliance in Australia and the Gulf

Australian payroll with STP records on Plus and up, GCC e-invoice preparation, and an Arabic interface. Trifold has none of this.

### A whole ledger, for many entities and the firms behind them

From one entity to ten and more, with consolidation, bank connections through open banking, and plans built for firms managing 10 to 2,000 client books. Auditor seats are $0, read-only and unlimited.

### Signed receipts in a product you can buy today

Every posted entry gets an Ed25519-signed receipt in a SHA-256 hash chain, on paid plans with a 30-day refund and two-click cancel. Trifold's receipts ship in the source-available engine today, but the hosted service is still early access.

## Where Trifold differs

Shipped means it works today in the engine. Next means it's on the roadmap and not built yet.

Shipped

### Anyone can check a receipt, with no account

A family, CPA or auditor pastes a receipt into the free verifier at /verify. It runs in their browser and sends nothing to us; the CLI does the same check offline.

Shipped

### Open formats and an engine you can run yourself

Export the books to Parquet, hledger or CSV whenever you like. The receipt and seal formats are open, and the engine is self-hostable, with its source public on GitHub.

Next

### Rifo drafts. You approve. The engine does the math.

Rifo will read your books, explain them and propose the month's close, citing the events behind every answer. It never computes a number and never posts on its own.

## Side by side

The companies and products, fact by fact. Trifold's prices are planned; the hosted service is early access. "Not stated" means Airtight's public pages don't say; it doesn't mean the feature is missing.

| Fact | Trifold | Airtight |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Where | United States; prices in USD | Australia and New Zealand, and the Gulf region; data hosted on AWS in Sydney |
| Built for | Schools, studios, non-profits and other organizations paid through Stripe | Sole traders, SMEs of 1–200 staff, multi-entity groups, and accounting firms |
| Monthly price | Free, then Starter $29, Pro $79, Witnessed $149 a month, planned. Non-profit and co-op: $15 / $39 / $79 | A$49 / A$99 / A$199 / A$499+ (about US$32 / $65 / $130 for the first three) |
| Free plan | Planned. The hosted service is early access; design partners are free during the pilot | None; plans start at A$49 a month |
| Annual billing | Pay 10 months for 12 (about 17% off), planned | Saves 17% |
| Seats | No per-seat fees; CPA and bookkeeper seats free (planned) | No per-seat multiplier; auditor seats $0, read-only and unlimited |
| Refunds and cancelling | Planned: full refund within 30 days, cancel in two clicks | Full refund within 30 days of a first paid subscription; cancel in two clicks |
| The books | Balanced double-entry books built from Stripe events; corrections are new events, never edits | What Airtight calls a "triple-entry ledger": debit, credit and a receipt on every posted entry |
| Receipts | An Ed25519-signed receipt for every Stripe payment and refund | An Ed25519-signed receipt for every posted entry, linked in a SHA-256 hash chain |
| Who can check a receipt | Anyone, in a free browser verifier or the CLI, with no account | Shown as verified in the product; how someone outside it checks is not stated |
| Month end | Sealed months, chained month to month | Not stated |
| AI | Rifo, Next (not shipped): drafts and explains, you approve, the engine does the math | Bella drafts entries, invoices and returns for approval; modes Auto, Guarded and Off (not explained on the page) |
| Export | Parquet, hledger and CSV, on every plan | Data stays exportable while the account is active; formats not stated |
| Self-hosting | The engine is self-hostable | Not stated |
| Stripe | Native: books built from Stripe events, Stripe's webhook signature checked | Stripe payment links in invoicing |
| Payroll and tax | None. A year-end package for your CPA is Later | Australian payroll (STP records) on Plus and up; GCC e-invoice preparation |
| Entities | Up to 3 organizations on Pro; consolidation on Platform (planned) | 1, 3 or 10 entities by plan, 10+ on Enterprise, with consolidation |
| SOC 2 | Target date to be announced | Type II, working toward Q4 2026 |

## Which one fits

### Choose Airtight if…

You're an Australian, New Zealand or Gulf business or accounting firm that needs local payroll, e-invoicing and multi-entity books today, in a product that's on sale now.

### Choose Trifold if…

You're a US school, studio or non-profit paid through Stripe, and you want receipts families can check without an account, open exports, and the option to run the engine yourself.

## Sources

-   Airtight pricing: [https://airtight.one/pricing/](https://airtight.one/pricing/)
-   Airtight homepage: [https://airtight-marketing.pages.dev/](https://airtight-marketing.pages.dev/)

Facts about Airtight checked against its public pages as of 2026-11-06. Prices and features change; check theirs before you decide. Corrections: [hello@gettrifold.com](mailto:hello@gettrifold.com). [All comparisons](https://tfd-ledger.pages.dev/compare).

## Every dollar, three ways. Every month, sealed.

Books **✓**·Receipt **✓**·Stripe **✓**

[Get early access](https://tfd-ledger.pages.dev/early-access) [Verify a sample receipt](https://tfd-ledger.pages.dev/verify)

Design partners: founder onboarding, free during the pilot.
