Pleo vs Pliant (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Pleo if

• Fits if you want every employee to have their own card with their own limit
• Works for European teams with staff spending in several countries

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to try before paying, as there's no free plan or trial shown
• Pricey if you're 1 or 2 people, since you pay for at least 3 users
• Tight if your team spends in other currencies a lot, with a 1.75% FX fee on Build
• Watch out: direct reimbursements cost 0.90% each, and the US card is prepaid with no cash access
• Too light for paying supplier bills, which aren't among its features

Pick Pliant if

• Fits if your company spends over 10,000 euros a month on cards
• Works for EU and UK firms that want a credit card rather than prepaid

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you are a freelancer, sole trader or spend under 10,000 euros a month, as Pliant says it is not a fit
• Pricey if you can't see a price, as none is published
• Watch out: the cards need a good credit rating and come from Pliant Oy or Transact Payments Limited
• Watch out: Standard's cashback depends on volume, and its insurance package has a custom extra fee

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.

Pliant

• Plans (Light, Standard and Custom) carry no published price; the site says price is calculated per business and points to a demo.
• Pliant says it is not the right fit for freelancers, sole traders or companies spending under 10,000 euros a month on cards.
• Cards are credit cards that need a good credit rating; the site says they are issued by Pliant Oy in the EU and Transact Payments Limited in the UK.
• Cashback on Standard depends on transaction volume, and its insurance package carries a custom extra fee.

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.

Pliant

Credit cards

Visa credit cards, not prepaid or debit, in black Platinum Business or metal Infinite Business versions, plus virtual and single-use cards.

Spend controls

Card limits are set flexibly per card and spend is reported in real time inside the Pliant app and web platform.

Accounting and travel exports

Connectors cover DATEV, Lexware Office, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Oracle NetSuite, with CSV exports for others.

Accounts payable and transfers

Business accounts, FX and cross-border transfers, and accounts payable workflows sit next to the cards.

Pro API and card programs

The Pro API is on the Custom plan, and a separate cards-as-a-service offer lets banks and platforms launch their own programs.

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.

Pliant

Pricing could not be confirmed. See getpliant.com.

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.

Pliant

No public discounts listed.