Aspire vs Pleo
We give Aspire a 3.0 GPA and Pleo a 1.8, out of 4.0. Aspire grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Aspire
Free business account with global payments, cards and expense tools
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAAspireVery good | 1.8GPAPleoWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree and substantial. A ten-person company pays $0 a month, with no plan fee for any number of team members and no charge on US ACH, wire or check payments. It earns on conversion, from 0.22% over mid-market, and on SWIFT at $5 or $15. | CA ten-person company pays $120 a month on Build at the yearly rate, 10 users at $12, which is $12 a head and bang on the category's middle. Direct reimbursements add 0.90% each, and Optimise is $16 a user. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright. The one Basic plan has no monthly fee and covers the US account, 13 currency accounts, virtual cards, bills, budgets, claims, invoices and accounting sync for the whole team. | FNothing free. The US pricing page shows no free plan and no free trial, and Build and Optimise need at least 3 users. |
| Features | CAccounts, bills, budgets, invoices and expense claims are all here. But the listing shows virtual cards only, a gap for staff who pay in person, and its charge card must be paid in full every day. | CCards and expenses are done well: a card per person, receipt requests after every purchase, Fetch for emailed receipts, mileage and AI spend checks. Bill pay isn't among its features, and budgets wait for Optimise. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. There's a business account to open, cards to issue and Xero or QuickBooks to connect before it runs itself. | CNo store rating on record. There are cards to hand out, limits to set and accounting to connect, though after that staff only ever snap a receipt. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, syncing card payments, claims and receipts to Xero, QuickBooks and NetSuite. No desktop app or API is listed. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, exporting to Xero, QuickBooks, Dynamics and SAP, with Workday and Okta. No desktop app is listed, and HR integrations need Optimise. |
| Best for | cross-border businesses that want no monthly fee | a company card for every employee |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Aspire and Pleo. How we grade
Price against what you get
Aspire has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Pleo starts at $12 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Aspire starts $12 a month lower. Of the other spend and bill pay tools on the chart, none scores higher than Aspire for less, and 3 score higher than Pleo for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Aspire is free. Pleo starts at $12 per user / month, billed yearly ($14 billed monthly).
- Aspire has a free plan. Pleo does not.
- Aspire also covers invoicing and bill pay.
At a glance
| Aspire | Pleo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| Starts at | Free | $12 per user / month, billed yearly ($14 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Basic: US business account, accounts in 13 currencies, virtual corporate cards, bills, budgets, claims, invoices and Xero or QuickBooks sync, for any number of team members. FX and SWIFT fees apply. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | AFT US LLC (Aspire) | Pleo Technologies A/S |
| Price read from | aspireapp.com | pleo.io |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Aspire
- Founders running a US company from another country
- Businesses that pay suppliers and staff in several currencies
- Small teams that want cards and expense claims with no monthly fee
Pleo
- Small teams that want a card for every employee
- European businesses with staff spending in several countries
- Companies tired of chasing receipts after card purchases
Worth knowing
Aspire
- Aspire earns on use: currency conversion from 0.22% above the mid-market rate, $5 or $15 per outgoing SWIFT transfer, and a yearly fee from 0.15% on Treasury balances.
- Aspire says it is not a bank: US deposits sit at Column N.A., and its charge card, issued by Column under a Mastercard license, must be paid in full daily.
- Accounts in currencies other than US dollars are run by Aspire's Hong Kong company and are not FDIC insured.
- Besides the US, Aspire has sites for Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore and the UK; procurement is offered on request.
Pleo
- Card and invoice payments in another currency carry a 1.75% FX fee on Build and 1.49% on Optimise, and direct reimbursements cost 0.90% each.
- Build and Optimise need at least 3 users; no free plan or free trial is shown on the US pricing page.
- In the US the Pleo card is a prepaid Mastercard issued by Pathward, N.A., with no cash access.
- Pleo works in 16 European countries, including Denmark, the UK, Germany, France and Spain, as well as the US.
Key features
Aspire
- US business account
- Deposits held at Column N.A., with ACH, wire, check and real-time transfers at no fee and no minimum balance.
- Multi-currency accounts
- Hold and pay in 13 currencies including euros, pounds, Canadian dollars and yuan, with conversion from 0.22% above the mid-market rate.
- Corporate cards
- Virtual cards for spending in 150+ currencies, with spend limits, currency and merchant restrictions, and 1.5% cashback on eligible spend.
- Bills and budgets
- Payables come in through automated invoice capture, and budgets set enforceable limits for each team.
- Expense claims
- Employees scan receipts in the Aspire app, missing receipts are requested automatically, and claims are reimbursed from the Aspire account.
- Accounting sync
- Card payments, claims and receipts sync to Xero, QuickBooks and NetSuite, with account and tax fields filled in before syncing.
Pleo
- Company cards for each employee
- Physical and virtual Pleo cards with Google Pay and Apple Pay, with individual, per-purchase and temporary spending limits.
- Receipt capture
- The app asks for a receipt after every card purchase, reads it with OCR, and the Fetch feature pulls online receipts from email automatically.
- Out-of-pocket and mileage
- Employees claim their own spending and mileage in the app, approvals follow company policy, and reimbursements are paid directly.
- AI spend checks
- AI spend guidelines on every plan, and AI expense reviews on Optimise (100 a month) or unlimited on Lead.
- Vendor tracking
- Recurring vendors and subscriptions are tracked, with renewal management and spending insights on Optimise.
- Accounting exports
- Auto-categorized expenses with custom categories and tags export to Xero, QuickBooks and other accounting systems.
Plans
Aspire
Basic$0
No monthly fee. Free US transfers, 13 currency accounts, virtual cards, bills, budgets, claims and invoices; you pay FX and SWIFT fees as you use them.
Pleo
Build$12
per user / month, billed yearly ($14 billed monthly)
For 1 to 49 employees, 3-user minimum. Physical and virtual cards, receipt capture, reimbursements, mileage, approvals and AI spend guidelines.
Optimise$16
per user / month, billed yearly ($18 billed monthly)
3-user minimum. Adds cashback for eligible customers, budgets, 100 AI expense reviews a month, HR integrations, vendor insights and live chat.
Scale$249
per month and up
For 50 to 1,000 employees. Adds multi-entity management, advanced card controls and approvals, assisted onboarding and a success manager.
Lead$499
per month and up
Adds unlimited reimbursement users with no reimbursement fees, unlimited virtual cards and AI reviews, premium integrations and purchase orders.
EnterpriseCustom
For companies of 1,000 or more employees, built and priced after a call with Pleo.
Ways to pay less
Aspire
No public discounts listed.
Pleo
- Annual discount
Save $2 a user each month with yearly billing
Build costs $12 per user a month billed yearly instead of $14 monthly, and Optimise $16 instead of $18.
