Payhawk (AF Score 80) and Pleo (AF Score 76) are two of the most cross-shopped spend management and card platforms in our directory. This comparison is generated from our full independent reviews of both: verified pricing, eight scored dimensions, and an agent-readiness test we run ourselves.
The verdict at a glance
Payhawk scores higher overall (80 to 76), but the right pick depends on what you weight.
Payhawk is a London-based spend platform that runs corporate cards, expenses, accounts payable, procurement and travel on its own UK and EEA e-money licences, built for multi-entity mid-market finance teams in Europe, with a narrower card-linking product in the US.
Pleo is a Copenhagen-built spend platform for UK and EU small and midsize businesses: Mastercard company cards, receipt capture, reimbursements, supplier invoice payments and accounting sync, from £8 per user a month (published). US sign-up requires an existing entity in Europe or the UK.
Quick facts
- Payhawk AF score. 80/100
- Payhawk implementation. Medium
- Payhawk best fit. UK/EU multi-entity mid-market
- Pleo AF score. 76/100
- Pleo implementation. Low
- Pleo best fit. UK and EU SMB finance teams
Dimension by dimension
- Compliance depth. Payhawk 84, Pleo 66. Edge: Payhawk.
- Scalability. Payhawk 81, Pleo 68. Edge: Payhawk.
- AI / agent readiness. Payhawk 86, Pleo 83. Edge: Payhawk.
- Support. Payhawk 77, Pleo 63. Edge: Payhawk.
- Implementation. Payhawk 79, Pleo 80. Edge: Pleo.
- Pricing transparency. Payhawk 70, Pleo 84. Edge: Pleo.
- GL / ERP fit. Payhawk 87, Pleo 72. Edge: Payhawk.
- Payments & money movement. Payhawk 83, Pleo 70. Edge: Payhawk.
Pick Payhawk if
- A UK or EU group running several entities on NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Business Central or SAP S/4HANA that wants one card, bill and reimbursement program
- Finance teams paying suppliers across currencies who want their own IBANs in EUR, GBP, USD, CHF, PLN and DKK and a 0.3 percent FX markup on bill payments
- Controllers who want agents to chase receipts and fetch portal invoices, and who want staff to approve or recode from Claude or ChatGPT
Pick Pleo if
- A UK or EU company of roughly 10 to 200 staff replacing shared cards and expense spreadsheets, with Xero, NetSuite or Business Central as the ledger.
- A finance lead who wants the per-user price and the full fee table on paper before the first sales call.
- An Optimise or Scale customer who wants Claude or ChatGPT to chase receipts and recode expenses under each user's own permissions.
Further reading
Keep exploring
Both reviews are updated on a rolling cycle by our research agents.
