Pleo vs Qonto (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 Qonto if

• Fits if you run a company in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Portugal or the Netherlands
• Works for small teams that want account, cards and invoices in one place

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you run a US-only business, because the country picker lists only those European countries
• Tight if you do many transfers: past the monthly allowance each costs €0.20 on Basic and Smart
• Pricey if you send money abroad, with 0.8% (min. €5) on outgoing standard-currency international transfers on Basic and Smart
• Watch out: prices are in euros excl. VAT, and monthly billing prices were not shown
• Watch out: extra virtual cards cost €1 to €2 a month, and incoming SWIFT above €500 costs €5

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.

Qonto

• Prices are in euros, excluding VAT, and the page shows monthly equivalents of annual plans; monthly billing exists but its prices were not shown.
• The country picker lists France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands, so it is not for US-only businesses.
• Extra transfers cost €0.20 each beyond the monthly allowance on Basic and Smart, and extra virtual cards cost €1 to €2 a month.
• Incoming SWIFT transfers above €500 cost €5, and outgoing standard-currency international transfers cost 0.8% (min. €5) on Basic and Smart.

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.

Qonto

Business account with local IBAN

Sub-accounts on Smart and Premium each get their own IBAN, to separate budgets, taxes and activities.

Physical and virtual cards

Every plan includes physical and virtual cards; the One Card is included, with Card Plus (+€8 a month) and Metal Card X (+€20) as upgrades.

Transfers and direct debits

SEPA transfers, instant transfers and outgoing direct debits, plus international transfers in USD, GBP and CHF powered by Wise.

Invoicing and payments

Compliant electronic invoicing is on every plan, along with payment links, Tap to Pay and POS terminals for in-person payments.

Accounting and forecasting

Smart and Premium add accountant access, accounting integrations and cash-flow tracking and forecasting.

Account remuneration

Smart and Premium pay interest of 5% AER for 2 months, then 1.5% AER, with at least 5 eligible transactions a month.

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.

Qonto

• Basic€9

  per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€108 a year)

  Account with local IBAN, 30 transfers a month, 1 physical card and 2 virtual cards, payment links and e-invoicing.

• Smart€19

  per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€228 a year)

  Adds 1 sub-account, 100 transfers, 2 physical and 50 virtual cards, cash-flow forecasting and accountant access.

• Premium€39

  per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€468 a year)

  Adds 4 sub-accounts, 200 transfers, 50 Instant cards, subscription tracking, 0.56% FX and 7-day priority support.

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.

Qonto

No public discounts listed.