Still deciding about Pleo? Here are six alternative expense management tools

If you’re looking to streamline spending, Pleo is a solid choice. But, as your business grows and becomes more complex, you may find yourself looking for a more flexible spend solution. What once worked for your small business has changed, and you’ll likely need more complex integrations, more in-depth customer support, and more.
 
But what alternative solutions are there? And what should you be looking for?  

Understanding Pleo in a snapshot: strengths and limitations

Pleo’s strengths

 
Pleo is ideal for small teams needing a quick, all-in-one setup solution:  

• Smart company cards (Mastercard). Issue individual employee cards and set spending limits to control company spending, while empowering users to spend closely.
• Reimbursements. Have staff submit out-of-pocket expenses through the Pleo app and reimburse them directly into their bank account.
• Invoice capture. Capture invoice data automatically using OCR technology (terms, invoice number, date, VAT, vendor, and more), reducing manual tasks and human errors.
• Accounting integrations. Integrate Pleo with accounting and bookkeeping platforms, such as Xero and QuickBooks, as well as HR systems like BambooHR, and business tools like TravelPerk.

Pleo’s common limitations (based on G2 reviews)

As your business grows, you’re going to need greater customisation and flexibility. And while Pleo can be a good fit for smaller businesses, G2 reviews report the following challenges:

• Accessing accounts across time zones. Users report login issues when travelling, with some users stating, “email forwarding never works.”
• Limited functionality on the starter plan. Some users say there are feature limitations, which you would expect on lower-tier or starter plans. But users complain there’s “no ability to temporarily freeze a card or issue multiple virtual cards per user.”
• Some users report having trouble finding a human customer service agent or account management to speak with, labelling the customer service “terrible.”
• Pleo’s pricing structure has also had complaints, with some saying it’s problematic.

Top six Pleo alternatives

Different tools have different strengths. So, while there seems to be a lot of similar options on the market, when you look closely, you’ll realise that’s not exactly true — especially when you consider user experience, integration depth, and how well a tool scales with your business.

Each tool has strengths and weaknesses, but what one company considers absolutely necessary, another may not.

From AP automation and global payments to multi-entity management and deeper ERP integrations, here are some of the top Pleo alternatives for expense management out there.

1. Airwallex | Built for global finance teams

• Top features: multi-currency wallets, international payments (payouts to more than 150 countries), virtual and physical cards.
• Best suited to: distributed teams or fast-growing companies with heavy FX requirements.
• Customer reviews: Praised for FX rates and for issuing virtual cards easily.

2. Spendesk | Empower your teams with prepaid card controls

• Top features: prepaid cards, expense approvals, integrated procurement, and invoice workflows.
• Best suited to: finance teams in growing SMEs wanting structured team spend.
• Customer reviews: A clean, intuitive, user-friendly interface with quick onboarding.

3. Rydoo | Fast and easy reimbursement tracking and receipt management

• Top features: real-time expensing, mobile-first design, integrated travel booking, and multi-currency.
• Best suited to: international and multinational companies prioritising quick reimbursement and receipt management.
• Customer reviews: loved for the simplicity when submitting expenses.

4. Brex | Deep integrations and spend tools for high-growth startups

• Top features: In-app travel booking, dynamic spend limits, deep Slack integration, and 24/7 customer support.
• Best suited to: VC-backed high-growth companies that heavily use Slack or WhatsApp.
• Customer reviews: Intuitive website and app, quick and transparent expense tracking

5. Tipalti | Automating the accounts payable process

• Top features: end-to-end finance automation, unified global expense platform, ChatGPT-powered assistant Tipalti Pi.
• Best suited to: Businesses with employees, vendors and contractors across different countries.
• Customer reviews: customers like the AP and expense automation as it saves time and streamlines approvals.

6. Payhawk | Everything expense-related under one roof, perfect for scaling mid-size and enterprise finance teams

• Top features: advanced automation, instant issuance of virtual and physical cards, dedicated IBANs, multi-entity and multi-currency functionality, and built-in collaboration tools.
• Best suited to: growing or multi-entity businesses looking to centralise and automate finance.
• Customer reviews: User-friendly interface means quick adoption from both finance and non-finance users, and powerful card management features keep spending in check while empowering employees.

Five top reasons finance teams choose Payhawk:

1. Multi-entity and multi-currency visibility and control.
2. Real-time spend tracking, policy enforcement, and budget workflows.
3. Native integrations with NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Xero, Exact, and more.
4. AI-powered invoice capture and reconciliations.
5. Trusted onboarding, dedicated account support, and scalability.

And here’s what it looks like in real life. PinPoint Media boosted visibility and cut hours of admin with Payhawk:

Payhawk offers a solution that ties together multiple departments, gives staff fundamental autonomy, and allows us to understand where we're going as a business... My team says they can't imagine working without Payhawk now!"

— Oliver Bruce, CEO and Founder at PinPoint Media

Watch PinPoint Media's full customer story below.

How to choose the right Pleo alternative for your business

There’s a lot to weigh up when choosing an alternative to Pleo. The goal is simple: Find a solution that adds real value to your financial processes, supports growth, and scales with your business.

Consider:

• Single versus multi-entity support. If you have multiple entities or are considering opening another entity, you need a solution that offers multi-entity features. Features might include the ability to consolidate all entity spending in one dashboard (and support for the UK, EEA, and US), bulk employee management to add and remove employees across entities simultaneously, or the ability to track and manage all entity budgets in one place.

On the other hand, if you have a single entity, your requirements might not be as complex; therefore, there’s no need to pay for additional features you won’t use.

• Need for real-time visibility and approvals. The need for real-time visibility and approvals is clear and vital. For organisations with multiple departments and employees spending company money, being able to see who spends what in real-time keeps everything accountable and compliant.
• Exceptional ERP, and HR integrations. Without seamless tech stack integration, you risk further fragmenting your expense data. With multiple systems to log into, data becomes siloed and inaccurate and manual tasks increase. Finding a provider that effortlessly integrates with market-leading ERP, accounting and HR systems means you can enjoy a single source of truth, streamlined onboarding, faster reimbursements, better strategic insight and more.
• Support and onboarding resources. You could have the best expense management features at your fingertips, but if you can’t access responsive support teams or helpful and intuitive guides, then it’s all for nothing. You need a quick resolution of issues to keep operations running smoothly across entities. You need a dynamic onboarding process that delivers live team training sessions, and a resources section packed full of easy-to-follow guides.

Feature checklist: What to look for in an expense management tool

With so many features available, it can be hard to know which really add value. Here’s how to cut through the noise and focus on the ones that matter most in an expense management tool.

Issue multiple cards per user (as required)

Not every expense management solution has this option. But it’s really useful, for example, if one employee is working on two different projects, you can keep spending separate, making it easier to track budgets and goals.

Instantly freeze and unfreeze cards

Freezing/unfreezing cards gives you better control over card security, immediately protecting company funds if employees lose their corporate cards. Or if you notice suspicious spending patterns or need to pause while you investigate another expensing issue, you can freeze and stop employees' spending immediately.

Expense and card controls

From creating custom spend policies to automating the approval process, you need granular control over all spend to reduce risk, enhance compliance, and enforce spend policies.

Budget tracking

You need the ability to track all budgets in one dashboard. Filtering data by department, category or employee gives you deeper insight into how budgets are utilised. Other useful features can include the ability to import budgets from other FP&A tools, being able to create budgets from scratch or use pre-built templates, and alerts showing the impact of spend on budgets.

Mobile receipt capture and mileage tracking

Let’s say an employee pops out to buy lunch on a business trip. Instead of collecting the receipt, keeping it safe, and remembering to hand it to finance after the trip is over, they can snap a picture of the business travel expense there and then, and let OCR tech extract all important information. The same goes for mileage tracking: simply input start and end locations, and your expense tool can calculate the distance travelled for prompt reimbursement.

Invoice and AP workflows

Finding a solution that uses OCR technology to extract invoice data (in multiple languages) can speed up the invoice management process while improving accuracy and reducing manual data entry. Approval steps can ensure the right people sign off invoices before you make payment. Other features like three-way matching automatically check invoices match receipt notes and purchase orders.

Purchase order features

You need employees to be able to easily raise purchase order requests through your expense system. Having the same process for all your entities streamlines and standardises purchase order management, making it easier to track and audit.

ERP and HR system integrations

Using tech reduces the manual workload for all team members. But if your tech stack doesn’t integrate seamlessly, you’re creating more work for yourself, manually updating expense data, reconciling accounts, etc. Find a solution that integrates natively with your other systems or offers advanced developer APIs to build custom integrations.

Multi-entity and multi-currency support

Regardless of how complex your organisational structure is, with the right expense management tool you can effortlessly manage expenses across multiple entities and process them in multiple currencies.

Security

Protecting your money is non-negotiable. Check for ISO, SOC, and other key certifications to ensure the platform has a strong, reliable security profile.

Excellent customer support

You need a knowledgeable support team on hand to resolve issues promptly, so your organisation feels minimal impact. Payhawk’s September 2024 customer satisfaction rate reached 100%.

Note: Payhawk has all the above features and more.

Finding an alternative doesn’t have to be tedious

With so many options on the market, choosing the right expense management solution can feel overwhelming. The smartest way to cut through the noise is to book demos and ask each provider the same questions — so you can compare alternatives side by side and see which truly fits your needs.

AI is also reshaping this space. At Payhawk, we’re already using AI to strip away repetitive admin, giving finance teams more time to focus on strategy. Choosing the right platform now means avoiding tools that rely on manual work and moving to one that’s already using AI to make finance faster and smarter.

Start with your non-negotiables, focus on your priorities, and see how the right platform can transform your workflows.

Book a personalised product demo and experience how Payhawk delivers control, visibility, and efficiency in one place.

This article is based on publicly available information as of July 2025.