Pleo vs Spendesk
We give Pleo a 1.8 GPA and Spendesk a 2.2, out of 4.0. Spendesk grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Spendesk
Spend management with unlimited cards and users, priced by quote
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAPleoWeak | 2.2GPASpendeskFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CNo price is published, so it sits in the middle by our rule. Spendesk quotes a fixed monthly platform fee plus variable fees on card purchases, invoice payments and expense claims, so there's no monthly figure for a ten-person company. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free. The US pricing page shows no free plan and no free trial, and Build and Optimise need at least 3 users. | FNothing free. There's no free plan or published free trial, only a demo and a product tour. |
| Features | 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. | BThe whole job: unlimited cards of four kinds, receipt rules and OCR, expense claims, live budgets, multi-entity reporting, an open API and an MCP connector, with accounts payable and procurement sold as add-ons. |
| Ease of use | 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. | B4.7 from 637 App Store ratings, high but short of the 1,000 we want for the top band. Receipt reminders run themselves once the rules are set. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Xero, QuickBooks, DATEV, Slack and an open API. No desktop app is listed, and HR and ERP integrations are an add-on. |
| Best for | a company card for every employee | unlimited cards and users for one quoted fee |
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: Pleo and Spendesk. How we grade
Where they differ
- Spendesk also covers bill pay.
At a glance
| Pleo | Spendesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $12 per user / month, billed yearly ($14 billed monthly) | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Pleo Technologies A/S | Spendesk |
| Price read from | pleo.io | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Spendesk
- European companies that want unlimited cards and users for one fee
- Finance teams that want receipt collection enforced automatically
- Businesses paying many software subscriptions by card
Worth knowing
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.
Spendesk
- No prices are published: Spendesk quotes a fixed monthly platform fee plus variable fees on card purchases, invoice payments and expense claims.
- Procurement, accounts payable, advanced workflows, HR and ERP integrations and AI fraud detection are add-ons to the base package.
- It serves the EEA, the UK and the US; payments and Visa debit cards come from Spendesk Financial Services, Adyen and Sutton Bank respectively.
- There is no free plan or published free trial; Spendesk offers a demo and a product tour instead.
Key features
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.
Spendesk
- Unlimited cards
- Physical cards for employees, single-use cards for one-off payments, recurring virtual cards for subscriptions and multi-use cards for projects or events.
- Receipt collection
- Custom rules and automatic reminders chase receipts, OCR reads them, and they are matched to the right card payment straight away.
- Expense claims
- Out-of-pocket expenses are submitted, reimbursed and tracked alongside card spending.
- Budgets
- Track spending against budgets in real time, with multi-entity workflows and reporting in the base package.
- Accounts payable add-on
- Manage supplier invoices and pay suppliers worldwide in the right currency, with procurement as a separate add-on.
- Integrations and API
- Connects to Xero, QuickBooks, DATEV and Slack, offers an open API, and links spend data to AI assistants through an MCP connector.
Plans
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.
Spendesk
Pricing could not be confirmed. See spendesk.com.
Ways to pay less
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.
Spendesk
No public discounts listed.
