Payhawk vs Pleo

Payhawk and Pleo both manage corporate cards, expenses, and approvals, but Payhawk bundles a wider set of modules (business travel, procurement, accounts…

Best for Payhawk: Mid-market or larger companies needing travel booking, procurement, and accounts payable alongside cards, and comfortable with quote-based modular pricing.
Best for Pleo: Smaller or growing businesses that want clear published pricing tiers, monthly billing options, and explicit per-user costs as they scale headcount.

At a Glance

 PayhawkPleo
Primary categoryFinanceFinance
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelSubscriptionSubscription
Starting price$599/month (Cards and Expenses or Bill Payments plan)$39/month (Essential plan, billed annually, includes 3 users)
Free planNot documentedNot documented
Free trialYesYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresYesYes
Public APIYesNot documented

Key Differences

Pricing Structure

Payhawk: Payhawk uses modular pricing where companies pay per module (Travel, Cards & Expenses, Bill Pay, Procure to Pay), with only one publicly listed plan (Growth Program, £149/month, requiring a fixed 24-month contract).

Pleo: Pleo publishes four tiered plans from €4/month (Starter) up to €249+/month (Business) with monthly or annual billing options.

Pleo gives small businesses a clear, low-cost published entry point, while Payhawk's pricing mostly requires a sales conversation outside one narrow regional program.

Scope of Spend Management

Payhawk: Payhawk bundles corporate cards, multi-currency business accounts, accounts payable, business travel booking, and procurement into one platform.

Pleo: Pleo's documented scope centers on cards, expense tracking, subscription management, and approval workflows, with multi-entity management added at the Business tier, and doesn't document travel booking or a procurement module.

Companies needing to manage travel booking or full procure-to-pay processes may need Payhawk's broader module set instead of adding separate tools.

AI Capabilities

Payhawk: Payhawk's AI Workflow Orchestration handles receipt chasing, approval routing, and policy enforcement across the whole platform.

Pleo: Pleo documents AI-driven policies at the Essential tier and AI expense assessment at the Business tier.

The depth and tier-gating of AI features affects which plan level a company needs to access AI-driven automation.

Contract Terms

Payhawk: Payhawk's only publicly listed plan (Growth Program) requires a fixed 24-month contract term.

Pleo: Pleo's Starter and Business plans are billed annually while Essential and Advanced are billed monthly, without a multi-year lock-in documented.

Long contract commitments affect flexibility for smaller businesses uncertain about future needs.

Per-User Cost Model

Payhawk: Payhawk's Growth Program includes a fixed 10 user seats within its £149/month price, and its facts don't document a per-user add-on cost for its custom/quoted plans.

Pleo: Pleo's facts explicitly state additional users cost extra on every plan (€5 to €15 per user/month depending on tier).

Teams with headcount growth need to understand the true cost of scaling seats rather than just the base plan price.

Feature-by-Feature

Core Spend Management

FeaturePayhawkPleo
Corporate / virtual cardsAvailableAvailable
Expense management (automated receipt capture)AvailableAvailable
Pre-spend approval workflowsAvailableAvailable
Multi-entity managementNot documentedAvailable

Extended Modules

FeaturePayhawkPleo
Business travel bookingAvailableNot documented
Dedicated procurement moduleAvailableNot documented
Accounts payable / invoice automationAvailableNot documented
Subscription / vendor card managementNot documentedAvailable

Integrations

FeaturePayhawkPleo
ERP integrations (NetSuite, Dynamics 365, Sage)AvailableAvailable
Additional named accounting tools (Twinfield, Exact Online)Not documentedAvailable
Zapier integrationNot documentedAvailable

Pricing & Plans

FeaturePayhawkPleo
Published tiered self-serve pricingNot documentedAvailable
Free trialAvailableAvailable
Per-user add-on cost documentedNot documentedAvailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Payhawk

Cards and Expenses / Bill Payments — From $599/month Monthly or annual
Procure to Pay — From $899/month Monthly or annual
Enterprise — Custom (contact sales) Annual

Pleo

Essential — $39/month Annual (includes 3 users, $11/additional user)
Advanced — $99/month Annual (includes 3 users, $15/additional user)
Business — Custom (bespoke pricing) Annual, custom

Pros & Cons

Payhawk

Pros

  • European-first design with multi-currency cards that avoid FX fees within supported currencies
  • Unlimited employee cardholders and transactions included on every paid plan regardless of seat pricing
  • Combines cards, expenses, invoices, and procurement in one platform for finance teams
  • Backed by significant funding and unicorn valuation, supporting continued product investment
  • Serves customers across 32-plus countries with region-specific compliance support

Cons

  • Starting price of 599 dollars per month is relatively high for very small businesses
  • Full pricing detail requires a custom quote for larger seat counts or add-ons
  • Primarily positioned for mid-market and enterprise customers rather than early-stage startups
  • Currency markup of 1.99 percent applies outside the eight fee-free supported currencies
  • Less US market presence and brand recognition than competitors like Ramp or Brex

Pleo

Pros

  • Reduces manual expense reports and reimbursement delays for employees
  • Real-time visibility into company spending for finance teams
  • Strong accounting and HRIS integrations
  • Cards can be issued and frozen instantly through the app

Cons

  • No free tier; pricing is per-user and can add up for larger teams
  • Full feature set (budgeting, cashback, multi-entity) requires higher-priced plans
  • Primarily focused on European businesses, with a smaller footprint outside Europe
  • Business tier requires contacting sales rather than transparent self-serve pricing

Use Cases

Choose Payhawk: Mid-market or larger companies needing travel booking, procurement, and accounts payable alongside cards, and comfortable with quote-based modular pricing.
Choose Pleo: Smaller or growing businesses that want clear published pricing tiers, monthly billing options, and explicit per-user costs as they scale headcount.
Need both: The facts don't describe a scenario where one company would run both simultaneously — they compete for the same corporate card and expense management budget, so most buyers would choose one.

Payhawk

  • Managing multi-currency spend across Europe — Finance teams at companies with European subsidiaries use Payhawk's multi-currency cards to avoid FX fees and centralize spend visibility.
  • Automating invoice and bill payments — Accounts payable teams use Payhawk's bill payment automation to route, approve, and reconcile vendor invoices without manual data entry.
  • Centralizing procurement for mid-market companies — Mid-market and enterprise companies use Payhawk's Procure to Pay plan to manage purchase requests and vendor procurement alongside cards and expenses.

Pleo

  • Employee-driven purchasing — Companies issue Pleo cards to employees so they can make work-related purchases instantly without waiting for reimbursement.
  • Expense automation for finance teams — Finance teams use Pleo to eliminate manual receipt collection and speed up monthly reconciliation with accounting software.
  • Multi-entity spend control — Larger or multi-subsidiary organizations use Pleo Business to manage budgets, approvals and reporting across multiple legal entities.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is pricing structured for each?

Payhawk uses modular, mostly quote-based pricing with only its Growth Program (£149/month, UK/EEA small businesses) publicly listed; Pleo publishes four tiers from €4/month (Starter) to €249+/month (Business).

Does either include business travel booking?

Payhawk includes a dedicated Business Travel feature for booking and managing corporate travel; Pleo's facts don't document a travel booking module.

Do additional users cost extra?

Pleo's facts state additional users cost €5 to €15 per user/month depending on tier; Payhawk's Growth Program includes 10 user seats in its base price, and its custom/quoted plans don't document a per-user add-on structure.

Does either use AI?

Yes — Payhawk's AI Workflow Orchestration handles receipt chasing, approval routing, and policy enforcement across the platform; Pleo includes AI-driven policies at the Essential tier and AI expense assessment at the Business tier.

Which accounting systems does each integrate with?

Payhawk integrates with NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Sage Intacct, and Workday; Pleo integrates with NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Sage, Twinfield, and Exact Online.

Is there a long-term contract requirement?

Payhawk's Growth Program requires a fixed 24-month contract term; Pleo's facts don't document a multi-year lock-in, though its Starter and Business plans are billed annually.

Read the full Payhawk review · Read the full Pleo review