Why CFOs Are Reconsidering Avalara
Avalara has been a go-to name in sales and use tax automation for years, and for many businesses it was the first real step away from spreadsheets and manual calculations. As tax footprints, technology stacks, and Avalara’s own strategy have evolved, more teams are now asking whether it’s still the best fit—or if another platform would better match their complexity, support needs, and budget. This guide walks through the leading Avalara alternatives and competitors, where each one shines, and how to think about your options if you’re currently on Avalara or considering it alongside newer, scalable tax engines like CereTax.
What Finance Leaders Need From Sales Tax Automation
CFOs are asking sharper questions, such as:
- Does it truly support high-growth companies?
- Can it handle telecom billing or usage-based taxability?
- Are integrations reliable, or do they buckle under modern cloud infrastructure?
Finance leaders need sales tax infrastructure that is precise, flexible, and built to scale. That is why Avalara alternatives are attracting attention—and why evaluating competitors has become a board-level decision.
Below, we break down the key players, what they deliver, and where they fall short.
Top Avalara Alternatives — the Shortlist
1. Tax Connect
Positioning: Simple, plug-and-play sales tax software.
Tax Connect appeals to small and mid-sized companies that need basic automation for ecommerce or ERP systems. The selling point is ease of use: integrations are straightforward, and onboarding is relatively painless.
Strengths:
- Quick to deploy for common platforms
- Works well for businesses that only sell in a handful of states
- Provides automation for simple use cases like online retail
Limitations:
- Lacks advanced features for complex industries
- Struggles with overlapping jurisdictions and industry-specific exemptions
- Limited scalability for companies moving into multiple states or product lines
CFO takeaway: Tax Connect works for simplicity, not complexity. As soon as growth adds multi-state sales or exemptions, you will outgrow it.
2. Tax Valet
Positioning: Service-heavy model that combines software with outsourced tax management.
Tax Valet markets itself as a full-service option—less “software you run” and more “compliance as a service.” Their team manages filings, registrations, and updates, which can be a relief for smaller companies with no in-house tax function.
Strengths:
- White-glove service for small teams
- Handles the administrative side of compliance
- Reduces day-to-day burden for companies without dedicated staff
Limitations:
- Service dependency creates risk if you scale or need more control
- Visibility into the process is limited—decisions live with the vendor, not your finance team
- Less suitable for high-volume or specialized industries like telecom or manufacturing
CFO takeaway: If you want to outsource sales tax entirely, Tax Valet works. But if you are building a finance organization for growth, it puts too much control outside your team.
3. Fonoa
Positioning: Global indirect tax solution with strong VAT and GST capabilities.
Fonoa’s edge is global compliance. For companies expanding into Europe, Asia, or LATAM, it automates VAT and GST filings and connects with cross-border payment flows.
Strengths:
- Strong for digital-first and global businesses
- Built for platforms selling across multiple countries
- Simplifies VAT/GST filings and compliance
Limitations:
- Weaker U.S. sales tax capabilities
- Focus is global, not domestic—jurisdictional detail in the U.S. is lacking
- Limited fit for industries that need deep exemption handling or rooftop accuracy
CFO takeaway: For global VAT/GST, Fonoa is useful. For U.S. sales tax, it is not robust enough.
4. SureTax
Positioning: Telecom-focused tax software.
SureTax is often the first name CFOs hear in telecom sales tax. Its heritage is in calculating telecom-related surcharges, fees, and tax obligations. But the technology has not kept up with modern needs.
Strengths:
- Industry familiarity in telecom
- Can handle basic rating and billing scenarios
- Recognized brand in telecom circles
Limitations:
- Legacy infrastructure that struggles with speed and scale
- Inaccuracies in overlapping jurisdictions, where rooftop accuracy is required
- Weak at handling modern telecom bundles (voice, data, streaming, IoT)
- Audit risk remains high due to reliance on outdated processes
CFO takeaway: SureTax may look familiar, but telecom CFOs need more. CereTax brings rooftop-level GIS precision, usage-based billing accuracy, and scalable infrastructure that telecom providers can actually rely on.
5. Sovos
Positioning: Enterprise-focused provider with deep ERP integrations.
Sovos is one of the older names in the space, known for servicing enterprises with SAP, Oracle, and other traditional ERPs. It is credible and established, but in 2025, cracks are showing—most notably, Sovos is sunsetting its QuickBooks Online (QBO) integration.
Strengths:
- Recognized for enterprise integrations
- Global compliance coverage beyond just sales tax
- Appeals to companies already running on legacy ERPs
Limitations:
- Pulling back from mid-market and cloud platforms (e.g., QBO exit)
- Complex, often expensive to implement and maintain
- Slow to innovate with modern SaaS billing and cloud-native platforms
CFO takeaway: Sovos fits enterprises tied to legacy ERP. For mid-market companies or those modernizing to cloud systems, it creates roadblocks, not solutions.
6. Numeral
Positioning: Sales tax automation for ecommerce and small SaaS companies.
Numeral focuses on online sellers and early-stage SaaS. It is built to be accessible and lightweight—good for companies that need coverage for simple multi-state obligations.
Strengths:
- Easy to use for ecommerce sellers
- Affordable for smaller companies
- Gets the basics right for low-complexity environments
Limitations:
- Limited scope for advanced exemption management
- Not built for large-scale or industry-specific complexity
- CFOs at scale will quickly hit ceilings
CFO takeaway: Numeral works as a starter solution. It is not built for companies moving into enterprise-grade tax environments.
7. Anrok
Positioning: Cloud-native sales tax automation, targeted at SaaS startups.
Anrok is modern, nimble, and positioned as “the SaaS-first Avalara alternative.” It integrates smoothly with Stripe and other SaaS billing systems, which makes it appealing to early-stage SaaS teams.
Strengths:
- SaaS-specific positioning
- Modern UX and easy setup
- Strong fit for early-stage startups selling subscriptions
Limitations:
- Narrow focus—does not serve industries outside SaaS
- Struggles with complex exemptions, high transaction volume, or multi-product models
- Not designed for telecom, manufacturing, or regulated industries
CFO takeaway: Anrok is a good fit for small SaaS teams. But once complexity grows, it does not scale.
Avalara vs. Ceretax Comparison
Every competitor has a niche. But CFOs are not looking for niche—they are looking for infrastructure that protects revenue and scales with complexity. That is why CereTax belongs at the top of the shortlist.
Why CFOs shortlist CereTax:
Ceretax is a modern, scalable sales tax engine built for high-throughput billing, rooftop GIS precision for telecom sales tax, transparent pricing, and developer-friendly sales tax APIs for NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Stripe, and other billing platforms.
- Modern, scalable architecture: Built for high throughput and low-latency API calls, so it handles high-volume billing environments and multi-jurisdiction sales without lag.
- Telecom strength: Rooftop-level GIS precision and usage-based billing designed for telecom compliance.
- Integration coverage: Works seamlessly with Stripe, NetSuite, QBO, Dynamics 365, SAP, Oracle, and more.
- Audit-ready transparency: No black-box logic—clear calculations and defensible reporting.
- Hands-on customer support: Dedicated teams from implementation to post-go-live, with support focused on business outcomes, not just tickets.
- Future-proof tech: Built for cloud-native, fast-moving businesses that cannot afford legacy delays.
Telecom & Regulated Industries — Why Specialization Matters
Not all industries are created equal when it comes to sales tax. Telecom, deregulated energy, and manufacturing carry rules so complex that generic tax engines routinely misapply them. The result is audit exposure, lost exemptions, and margin leakage that finance leaders cannot afford.
Telecom: Bundled services, usage-based billing, and overlapping jurisdictions make telecom one of the most audited industries in the U.S. Rooftop-level GIS accuracy and flexible rating logic are not optional—they are survival tools.
Deregulated Energy: Energy providers face shifting rules for residential vs. industrial usage, exemptions for manufacturing, and constant changes at the state and local level. Without prebuilt mapping and industry logic, errors scale fast.
Manufacturing: From raw material exemptions to multi-jurisdiction drop shipments, manufacturers deal with some of the most tangled exemption rules in tax. Legacy engines bury these in defaults; CereTax automates them with transparency.
The difference: Where Avalara relies on patched-together legacy logic, CereTax delivers industry-specific rule sets out of the box—reducing risk, protecting margins, and giving CFOs confidence that compliance won’t crack under complexity.
Moving Beyond “Good Enough” for Sales Tax Automation
Avalara may still be the most recognized name in sales tax automation, but recognition does not equal fit. Tax Connect, Tax Valet, Fonoa, SureTax, Sovos, Numeral, and Anrok each cover a slice of the market. None deliver the combination of scalability, transparency, and industry expertise that today’s CFOs require.
CereTax changes that equation. With modern architecture, rooftop-level accuracy, prebuilt industry logic, and transparent pricing, it gives finance leaders the infrastructure to manage complexity without slowing growth. Add to that hands-on support and audit-ready traceability, and you have a solution built for CFOs who measure outcomes, not just features.
The decision is clear:
- If you want generic coverage, there are many alternatives.
- If you want infrastructure that scales with your business model, CereTax is the upgrade.
CereTax is where compliance keeps pace with growth.
👉 Let’s connect and get you started.
How to Evaluate an Avalara Alternative: 7-step CFO Checklist
Here are some questions to ask any vendor you are considering:
- Does the solution provide real-time sales tax API and clear API docs?
- Can it handle telecom usage-based taxability and rooftop location sourcing?
- Are there native NetSuite and Dynamics 365 integrations or production-grade connectors?
- Is pricing transparent and audit outputs exportable for tax audits?
- How responsive is customer support—are they implementation partners or ticket-takers?
- Does the platform offer prebuilt industry logic for telecom, energy, or SaaS?
- How quickly can you reach time-to-value from implementation to live transactions?
