ernd vs Brex for AI spend

The short answer

Brex wins if you're running a company across borders, or you want points and a travel program. It has local cards in 50+ countries, 24/7 support and a full spend platform.

The ernd card may suit you better if AI vendors are your biggest bill. On its standard rewards program, Brex pays 2x points on recurring software and 1x on most other spend, with more on rideshare, restaurants and Brex travel. The ernd card pays 4% back on AI vendor spend and 1.5% on everything else.

Side by side

Compared	Brex	ernd
Back on AI vendors	2x points on recurring software, or 3x on its daily payments product for software. Brex doesn't say how AI vendors are classed	4% back
Back on everything else	1x points on the rest, more on rideshare, restaurants and Brex travel	1.5% back
Plan cost	Essentials $0 a user, Premium $12 a user a month	No annual fee
Who it's open to	US-incorporated companies, including startups and LLCs	Live for US companies. Request the card at app.ernd.ai

Where Brex wins

• Global reach. Brex issues local-currency cards in 50+ countries, and its cards are accepted in 210+ countries and territories. Source
• Rewards outside AI. Brex pays 7x on rideshare, 4x on Brex travel and 3x on restaurants. Source
• You can turn Brex points into airline miles, travel or cash. Source
• Software included. Brex Essentials has bill pay, reimbursements and travel booking at $0 a user. Source
• Over $350,000 in discounts on tools like AWS, Slack, OpenAI and QuickBooks, according to Brex. Source
• Brex has 24/7 support by phone or chat. Source

Where ernd fits

• 4% back on AI vendors. The ernd card pays 4% back on AI vendor spend, OpenAI and Anthropic included, and 1.5% on everything else, with no annual fee.
• ernd's partners set their own rates and perks: Wafer gives 10% back on inference, Hopper 8% back and a free first month, Agent 37 4% back, Conifer 6% back, and Superserve and AgentPhone 5% back. Trace's Startup pen test plan is $1,500 instead of $4,000, and Firecrawl doubles usage limits. OpenAI and Anthropic aren't ernd partners.
• It sits next to Brex. Move only your AI vendors to the ernd card and leave everything else where it is.

The partners page lists ernd's partners. To see Brex next to Amex, Chase, Slash, Dash.fi and Rho, go to the full comparison. For caps and merchant categories on OpenAI and Anthropic bills, read our guide to the best credit cards for those bills.

An example

Say you spend $20,000 a month on AI vendors. The ernd card pays 4% back, which is $800 a month. On Brex, if those charges count as recurring software, that's 40,000 points a month, or 60,000 on its daily payments product for software. Brex says what points are worth depends on how you redeem them, so we haven't put a dollar figure on the Brex side.

Questions

Do AI vendors count as software on Brex?

It depends on how Brex codes each merchant. On its standard monthly-payment program, Brex lists 2x on recurring software but doesn't say which merchants are in that category, and points only count on USD spend with US-based merchants, so check how your own AI charges are coded.

Can I use ernd and Brex together?

Yes. Keep Brex for the rest of the company and put only your AI vendors on the ernd card.

Does Brex give discounts at OpenAI?

Brex's rewards page lists OpenAI among the tools it has discounts on. The terms of that offer aren't on the page, so ask Brex what it covers. On the ernd card, OpenAI spend earns 4% back.