Pleo
6.8/10Pleo is a European spend management platform that gives small and mid-sized businesses company cards, receipt capture, reimbursements and supplier invoice payments.
Data last updated November 2026 · Our methodology
Overview
Pleo is a spend management tool from Copenhagen. It issues physical and virtual Mastercard company cards to employees. Staff photograph receipts in the app, and transactions are categorised and exported to the accounting system. Higher plans add out-of-pocket reimbursements, mileage, approval workflows, supplier invoice approval and payment with duplicate detection, budgets, and an AI expense review. It suits European SMBs and mid-market firms that want to replace shared company cards and expense spreadsheets. Its UK entity is authorised by the FCA as an e-money institution. Pricing is per user per month in GBP. Start costs £8 per user on monthly billing and covers one admin. Build costs £14 per user and Optimise £18 per user, both billed yearly, with a three-user minimum. Transaction fees are charged on top: FX fees of 1.49 to 2 percent, local and international payment fees, and a 0.90 percent fee on direct reimbursements. Pleo connects to Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, FreeAgent, Xledger and Twinfield for accounting, and to BambooHR and SAP SuccessFactors for HR user sync. Pleo is not an accounting system. It has no general ledger, no customer invoicing and no payroll. Reviewers also report slow support, accounts that are hard to get approved, and weak coverage in the US.
Our Rating
Who Pleo is best for
Good fit
Low per-user pricing and simple card and receipt workflows are built for SMBs.
Automated categorisation and accounting exports reduce the work of month-end expense processing.
Start has a one-user minimum and offers quick card issuing.
Optimise adds budgets, HRIS sync, NetSuite and advanced approvals, but multi-entity support is not well documented.
Less suited
- Enterprise4/10
It is aimed at SMBs and the mid-market, and credit limits top out at £100,000.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- G2 reviewers praise the card and receipt-capture app as easy for employees to use, and Pleo holds a 4.7 rating across roughly 1,400 G2 reviews.
- Per-user list prices are published, starting at £8 per user per month.
- Native accounting integrations cover Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, FreeAgent, Xledger and Twinfield.
- SAML SSO is included even on the entry Start plan.
- The UK entity is authorised by the FCA, and cards are issued under a Mastercard licence.
Cons
- Build and Optimise are billed yearly and require at least three users.
- Transaction charges such as FX fees of up to 2 percent and per-payment fees add to the subscription cost.
- Live chat support is only included on Optimise, and Trustpilot reviewers complain about slow support.
- Some reviewers report weak coverage and support in the US.
- It is not an accounting system and has no general ledger, customer invoicing or payroll.
Key Features
Not included
- Payroll
- General Ledger
Pleo Pricing
Start
- SAML SSO
- 2% FX fee
- Max 1 admin
- 1 vendor card
- Email support
- Accounts payable
- £5 ATM withdrawal fee
- Accounting integrations
- Physical and virtual cards
- Credit limit up to £5,000 for eligible customers
Build
or £168/user/year
- Receipt OCR
- 1.75% FX fee
- Billed yearly
- 3 sub-accounts
- 15 vendor cards
- Reimbursements and mileage
- Duplicate invoice detection
- 10 free local payments per month
- Approval and invoice approval workflows
- Credit up to £20,000 for eligible customers
Optimise
or £216/user/year
- Budgets
- 1.49% FX fee
- Billed yearly
- Auto-VAT split
- 50 vendor cards
- HRIS integrations
- Live chat support
- Advanced vendor management
- Cashback for eligible customers
- 100 AI expense reviews per month
- Credit up to £100,000 for eligible customers
Frequently Asked Questions
In the UK, Start costs £8 per user per month, Build costs £14 and Optimise £18 per user per month billed yearly, plus transaction fees.
It integrates with Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, FreeAgent, Xledger and Twinfield, among others. On Optimise it also syncs users from HR systems such as BambooHR and SAP SuccessFactors.
Yes, from the Build plan up. Reimbursements and mileage are included, and direct reimbursements carry a 0.90 percent fee.
Yes. Pleo Financial Services UK Ltd is authorised by the FCA under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011, and cards are issued under a Mastercard licence.
Eligible customers can get credit or overdraft limits of up to £5,000 on Start, £20,000 on Build and £100,000 on Optimise.
Start and Build get email support and the help centre. Live chat is only included on Optimise.
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