Expense Management
Pleo
EU-Made Report an error0–5 in half steps. 5 means the rubric's top anchor is met on the evidence.
by Pleo Technologies A/S · www.pleo.io
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Pleo at a glance
- Vendor
- Pleo Technologies A/S
- Headquarters
- Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 28 Oct 2026
- Data hosting
- Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 28 Oct 2026
- Free plan
- Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 28 Oct 2026
- Panel verdict
- The AI panel rates Pleo 3.5/5, the mean of 6 judges. Pleo is an expense-management product from Pleo Technologies A/S of Copenhagen; its company cards are issued by Pleo Financial Services A/S under Danish FSA supervision on a Mastercard licence. how scores are made
- As of
- Vendor pages captured 28 Oct 2026; evaluated by the panel 29 Oct 2026. all sources
Read this page as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.
The panel's verdict
Pleo is an expense-management product from Pleo Technologies A/S of Copenhagen; its company cards are issued by Pleo Financial Services A/S under Danish FSA supervision on a Mastercard licence. The strongest category is accounting export at 7-8: one-click, GoBD-compliant sync to DATEV under stated DATEV Corporate Partner status, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and NetSuite named, and a documented export API. Receipt capture, cards and spend control, and sovereignty each cluster at 7, with hosting on AWS Ireland plus Azure and Google Cloud in the EU. Weakest are approval and policy at 6 — the judges found no public information on deputies, escalation, pre-approval of trips or several legal entities in one account — and reimbursement and VAT at 5-6, where the automatic VAT split sits only in the Optimise tier and we found no public information on meal deductions, multi-day calculation or foreign VAT reclaim. Pricing transparency spans 6-7: per-user prices of 14 € and 18 € are published, but the Start tier's price, VAT treatment and minimum term are not among the captured figures. No spread exceeds one point.
Speaks for it
- One-click, GoBD-compliant sync to DATEV Unternehmen online and the DATEV Buchungsdatenservice under stated DATEV Corporate Partner status
- Physical and virtual Mastercards issued by the named entity Pleo Financial Services A/S, with per-card limits, one-click freezing and automated category blocks
- Receipts fetched automatically from Gmail, Outlook or Microsoft 365 inboxes with a 30-day look-back, with duplicates caught before accounting
- Per-user prices published at 14 € and 18 € with annual billing and a minimum of 3 users, beside fee tables for currency, payments, ATM and reimbursements
- A subprocessor list with locations and email notice of changes, with hosting on named EU infrastructure including AWS Ireland
Held against it
- Automatic VAT splitting marked not included in the Start and Build tiers
- We found no public information on ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certification
- The processor chain names US providers — Anthropic for AI-product enablement, HubSpot for CRM, JP Morgan for account-to-account payments
- The Start tier's per-user price, VAT treatment, minimum term and setup cost are not among the captured figures
- In-app reimbursements not included in the Start tier, at 0,90 % on the two upper tiers
Best for
- You hand your books to a DATEV tax adviser and want the paperless, GoBD-compliant one-click sync the bench scored highest
- You want card-first spend control from a named, Danish-supervised issuer, with limits, freezing and real-time notifications
- Your staff claim German statutory mileage and per diems and capture most receipts on a phone
- You want most of your annual cost computable before committing: two tiers are priced per user and the fee schedule is detailed
Avoid if
- You need automatic VAT splitting below the top tier — the pricing table marks it not included in Start and Build
- Your data-protection review cannot accept US processors in the chain — the published list names Anthropic, HubSpot and JP Morgan among them
- You make many local payments or ATM withdrawals on the Start tier — 1,50 € per local payment and 5 € per withdrawal there
The scores
| Criterion | Panel median |
|---|---|
| Receipt capture & expense claims | 3.5 of 5 |
| Company cards & spend control | 3.5 of 5 |
| Approval workflows & expense policy | 3 of 5 |
| Reimbursement, travel allowances & VAT | 3 of 5 |
| Accounting handoff & DATEV | 4 of 5 |
| European sovereignty | 3.5 of 5 |
| Pricing transparency | 3.5 of 5 |
Receipt capture & expense claims
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How this is scored
How an expense gets into the system: a mobile app that photographs receipts, text recognition (OCR) that reads amount, date, merchant and VAT, receipts forwarded by email or pulled from suppliers, claims for out-of-pocket spending in any currency, mileage and trip entries, a substitute receipt (Eigenbeleg) when the original is lost, and duplicate detection.
0 — Not an expense capture tool; receipts and claims cannot be recorded in the product.
3 — Receipts uploaded as photos or files and attached to an expense by hand; text recognition, email capture or claims in other currencies are basic or not described.
5 — A mobile app that captures receipts with text recognition reading amount, date and merchant, receipts forwarded by email, expense claims for out-of-pocket spending submitted from the app, and foreign currencies converted.
8 — Extraction of VAT rates and amounts and line items, receipts collected automatically from email inboxes or named suppliers, duplicate and fraud checks on submission, a substitute receipt for lost originals, mileage with route calculation, and replacement scanning (ersetzendes Scannen) stated as GoBD-compliant so paper originals may be discarded.
10 — Capture without employee effort: e-receipts delivered directly by travel and merchant partners, extraction accuracy or review process published, a certified scanning procedure (for example an audit report to IDW PS 880 or a TÜV certificate) named, and every receipt traceable from capture to booking.
The Travelling Employee
The mobile app photographs a receipt and text recognition picks up the merchant and amount, receipts are fetched automatically from Gmail, Outlook or Microsoft 365 inboxes going back 30 days, and scanning and archiving in the app are stated as GoBD-compliant. Mileage is calculated automatically at the statutory tax-free rate with company-specific adjustments, and duplicate transactions are caught before they reach the books. We found no public information on a substitute receipt for lost originals, route calculation for mileage trips, or VAT amounts being read off the receipt itself, and text recognition is not part of the Start plan. 8 9 4 2 11 5
The Office Manager
The scanner app reads merchant and amount off a photo, pulls receipts from Gmail or Outlook inboxes automatically — even ones from the past thirty days — and chases staff until everything is submitted, which is exactly the receipt-hunt I do every month-end. Scanning and archiving is stated GoBD-compliant and duplicates are caught before they reach the books. The automatic VAT split sits only on the top plan, and I found no public information on line-item extraction, a substitute receipt for lost originals, or mileage with route calculation. 8 9 4 11 5 2
The Controller
OCR captures merchant and amount from scanned receipts, receipts are pulled automatically from Gmail, Outlook and Microsoft 365 inboxes with an email receipt finder covering the past 30 days, duplicates are caught before they reach accounting, mileage runs at the statutory tax-free German rate, and receipt scanning and archiving is stated as GoBD-compliant. We found no public information on a substitute receipt for lost originals, route calculation for mileage, or VAT extraction below the top tier, where an automatic VAT split first appears. 8 9 4 11 2 5
The Finance Lead
Mobile scanning with text recognition for the purchase details, an email receipt finder that fetches receipts up to 30 days back, automatic matching from Gmail, Outlook and Microsoft 365 inboxes, duplicate detection before anything reaches accounting, mileage on the tax-free statutory rate, and scanning and archiving stated as GoBD-compliant — that covers most of what my clerks retype today. Line-item extraction and a substitute receipt for lost originals are not described, and the pricing table shows OCR for receipts and the automatic VAT split as not included in the entry plan. 8 9 4 11 2 5
The Tax Adviser
The app scans receipts with text recognition that reads merchant and amount automatically, pulls receipts from Gmail, Outlook or Microsoft 365 inboxes with a 30-day look-back, and checks duplicates before anything reaches accounting; scanning and archiving are described as GoBD-conform. I found no public information on extracting VAT rates and line items, on a substitute receipt for lost originals, or on route calculation for mileage entries, which keeps this short of the top. 4 5 8 9 11
The Skeptic
The scanner app photographs receipts, reads merchant and amount by text recognition, and GoBD-compliant scanning and archiving is stated; receipts are also fetched automatically from Gmail, Outlook or Microsoft 365 inboxes with a 30-day look-back, and duplicate transactions are caught before they reach the books. Automatic VAT splitting sits only in the top tier, and we found no public information on a substitute receipt for lost originals, route-calculated mileage or a certified scanning procedure. Out-of-pocket claims, mileage at the statutory German rate and per diems are all captured in the app. 8 9 4 11 5 2
Company cards & spend control
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How this is scored
How spending is controlled before it happens: physical and virtual company cards with limits, single-use and subscription cards, limits by amount, merchant category and time, budgets per team or project, real-time notifications and receipt reminders — or, for a product that issues no cards of its own, live feeds from the company's existing cards with automatic receipt matching. The issuing institution and its licence count where cards are issued.
0 — Neither issues cards nor reads card transactions; only out-of-pocket claims exist.
3 — Card transactions imported from a statement file or a single feed and matched by hand, or a card offer with fixed limits; budgets, reminders and controls are basic or not described.
5 — Either own physical and virtual cards with per-card limits, freezing and real-time notifications, or live feeds from named corporate card schemes or banks with automatic matching of receipts to transactions; spending visible as it happens and employees reminded to submit receipts.
8 — Cards for every employee with limits by amount, merchant category and period, single-use and subscription cards, budgets per team or project that cards draw from, pre-approval of a purchase before the card is charged, feeds from existing bank cards beside the own cards, and the issuing institution and licence named.
10 — Spend control across the company: multi-entity and multi-currency card accounts, budgets and policies enforced at the moment of payment, card spend reconciled to the statement automatically, safeguarding of funds and credit terms stated, and cards and transaction history portable to another provider.
The Travelling Employee
Physical and instantly issued virtual cards come with per-card spending limits, real-time notifications, one-click freezing, automated blocks on ATM withdrawals and specific categories, and auto-freezing when receipts go missing; purpose-bound cards scale to 50 and budgets track spend by team, project or entity. The issuer is named — Pleo Financial Services A/S under Danish financial supervision, licensed by Mastercard — which is exactly what I want to know before my private money is ever touched. We found no public information on pre-approval of a purchase before the card is charged, limits by period, or live feeds from my existing bank cards. 3 5 10 11 6
The Office Manager
Every plan ships physical and virtual Mastercards issued by Pleo Financial Services A/S under Danish financial supervision, with per-card limits, one-click freezing, real-time notifications, automated blocks on ATM withdrawals and specific categories, and cards that freeze themselves when a receipt goes missing. Purpose-bound cards (up to fifteen on the mid plan) would take my software subscriptions, and budgets track team, project or entity. I found no public information on single-use cards, period-based limits, pre-approval before a charge, or live feeds from our existing bank cards. 10 11 3 5 6
The Controller
Virtual cards are issued in seconds to anyone in the company with individual limits, one-click freezing, automated blocks on ATM withdrawals and specific categories, budgets tracked by team, project or entity, and real-time notifications, with the issuing institution named as Pleo Financial Services A/S under a Mastercard licence supervised by the Danish financial authority. We found no public information on pre-approving a purchase before the card is charged, limits by period, or live feeds from our existing bank cards. 3 10 11 5 12
The Finance Lead
Cards are the heart of the product: virtual and physical Mastercards issued in seconds by Pleo Financial Services A/S under Danish financial-supervisory supervision, per-card limits, automated blocks on ATM withdrawals and specific categories, one-click and automatic freezing when receipts are missing, real-time notifications, budgets by team, project or entity, and up to 50 purpose-bound cards on the top tier. We found no public information on pre-approval before a card is charged, or on live feeds from the company's existing bank cards. 10 3 5 11 12
The Tax Adviser
Physical and virtual Mastercards are issued in seconds with per-card limits, automated blocks on ATM withdrawals and specific categories, automatic freezing when receipts are missing, real-time notifications and budgets by team, project or entity, and the issuer Pleo Financial Services A/S is named with its Danish supervisory authority. We found no public information on single-use cards, limits by time period, pre-approval of a purchase before the card is charged, or live feeds from the company's existing bank cards. 3 5 10 11 13
The Skeptic
Physical and virtual Mastercards are issued by Pleo Financial Services A/S under Danish FSA supervision, so the issuer and its licence are named — with per-card limits, one-click freezing, real-time notifications, automated blocks on ATM withdrawals and specific categories, budgets by team, project or entity, and up to 50 purpose-bound cards depending on tier. We found no public information on limits by period, single-use cards, pre-approval of a purchase before the card is charged, or feeds from the company's existing bank cards. 10 11 5 3 13 6
Approval workflows & expense policy
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How this is scored
How the company's rules are applied: approval chains by amount, team, cost centre or project, delegation and deputies, an expense policy with limits per category and per country that the product checks, pre-approval of trips and purchases, roles and permissions, multi-entity set-ups, and an audit trail of who approved and changed what.
0 — No approval step; every expense goes straight to export or payment.
3 — A single approver per employee or one sign-off step; policy rules, deputies and audit history are basic or not described.
5 — Multi-step approval flows configurable by amount, team or cost centre, an expense policy with limits per category that flags violations, approval from the mobile app, and a history of who approved what.
8 — Rule-based routing by amount, project, cost centre and entity with deputies and escalation, policy checks before submission (limits per country, per diem rules, duplicates), pre-approval of trips or purchases, granular roles and permissions, several legal entities in one account, and an exportable audit trail.
10 — Controls that stand up to an audit: anomaly and fraud detection with its rules explained, separation of duties enforced, country-specific policies maintained centrally, every change to a claim versioned and attributed, and control reports offered to auditors.
The Travelling Employee
Approval workflows route expenses, invoices and reimbursements automatically to the right stakeholders in the right order, a policy builder with real-time violation flags and AI checks catches spending outside the guardrails, and there is a complete audit trail for every transaction, approval and policy decision. But the captured pages do not show what the routing keys on — amount, cost centre, project — nor deputies, escalation, pre-approval of trips, granular roles, or approval from the phone, which matters when I'm signing off from an airport. 2 3 11 13
The Office Manager
There is an expense-policy builder with real-time flagging of violations, approval logic that routes expenses, invoices and reimbursements to the right stakeholders in the right order, AI reviews that flag spend outside the guardrails, and a complete audit trail of every transaction, approval and policy decision. What I could not find documented is routing by amount or cost centre, deputies and escalation, pre-approval of trips or purchases, or country-specific policy limits. 11 3 2 13
The Controller
Approval logic routes expenses, invoices and reimbursements automatically to the right stakeholders in the right order, policy violations are flagged in real time, a policy builder lets me set what teams may spend, and there is a complete audit trail for every transaction, approval and policy decision plus AI reviews against guardrails. For a manufacturer with four legal entities I miss the detail: we found no public information on routing by cost centre or amount, deputies and escalation, pre-approval of trips, or several legal entities in one account. 3 11 13 2 5
The Finance Lead
Approval logic automatically routes expenses, invoices and reimbursements to the right stakeholders in the right order, there is a policy builder with real-time violation flags and AI reviews against guardrails, automated chasing of missing submissions, and a complete audit trail of every transaction, approval and policy decision. We found no public information on deputies, escalation, pre-approval of trips, granular roles and permissions, or several legal entities in one account — the dimensions I would need for our cost-centre routing. 11 13 3 2 5
The Tax Adviser
Approval logic routes expenses, invoices and reimbursements automatically to the right stakeholders in order, the expense policy flags non-compliant spending in real time, and a complete audit trail covers every transaction, approval and policy decision. I found no public information on routing by amount or cost centre with deputies and escalation, pre-approval of trips, or per-country policy limits. 2 3 11 13
The Skeptic
Approval logic routes expenses, invoices and reimbursements to the right stakeholders in the right order, an expense-policy builder with real-time violation flags and AI reviews against guardrails exists, and a complete audit trail of every transaction, approval and policy decision is stated. We found no public information on deputies, escalation, pre-approval of trips or purchases, granular roles, several legal entities in one account, or whether the audit trail can be exported. 11 3 2 13 5
Reimbursement, travel allowances & VAT
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How this is scored
How the employee gets money back and the company gets the tax right: reimbursement of approved claims by bank transfer or a SEPA payment file, mileage allowances and per diems at statutory rates per country (Verpflegungspauschalen, Kilometerpauschale, meal deductions), taxable and tax-free reimbursements separated for payroll, the input VAT captured per receipt for the deduction, and foreign VAT reclaimed.
0 — No reimbursement of employees; the product covers company cards only and out-of-pocket spending is out of its scope.
3 — Out-of-pocket claims recorded and paid back outside the product by hand; travel allowances and VAT handling are basic or not described.
5 — Approved claims reimbursed through the product or a SEPA payment file, mileage and per diems at configurable rates, and the VAT rate and amount captured per receipt for the input-tax deduction.
8 — Statutory per diems and mileage rates per country maintained by the vendor (German travel expense law named), meal deductions and multi-day trips calculated, reimbursement in several currencies within a stated time, VAT split per rate and receipts checked for the invoice requirements of the deduction, and foreign VAT reclaim offered or integrated with a named partner.
10 — Travel expense law and VAT handled end to end: country rules kept current with a stated process, taxable reimbursements passed to payroll, foreign VAT reclaim filed with the recovered amounts reported, and every reimbursement traceable to the claim and the rule that produced it.
The Travelling Employee
Money comes back independent of payroll: per diems (Verpflegungspauschalen) and other daily allowances are calculated automatically in the app and reimbursed directly, mileage follows the statutory rate with adjustable company thresholds, and in-app reimbursements cost 0,90 % (not included in the Start plan), with foreign-currency payments and conversion built in. The automatic VAT split is limited to the top tier. We found no public information on country-specific rates maintained by the vendor, meal deductions, a stated payout time, or foreign VAT reclaim — and how many days until my hotel money lands is the number I care about. 2 5 15 16
The Office Manager
Staff get money back in-app or through self-managed direct reimbursements without waiting for payroll, and Pleo calculates mileage and German per diems automatically from the statutory tax-free rates, adjustable to company rates, thresholds and fuel prices. The automatic VAT split is reserved for the top plan and in-app reimbursements cost 0,90 % on the two upper tiers, and I found no public information on meal deductions for multi-day trips, per-country rates maintained by the vendor, or foreign VAT reclaim. 2 15 5
The Controller
In-app reimbursements run at a stated fee of 0,90 % on the two upper tiers or via employee self-service, mileage is calculated automatically on the statutory tax-free rate with company rates, thresholds and fuel prices adjustable, per diems (Verpflegungspauschalen and Tagespauschalen) are computed in the app and paid back directly, and foreign-currency payments and DATEV exports are automated. We found no public information on rates maintained per country, meal deductions, multi-day calculation, payout timelines, or foreign VAT reclaim, and the automatic VAT split sits only in the top tier. 2 5 15 16
The Finance Lead
Per diems (Verpflegungspauschalen) and mileage on the tax-free statutory rate are calculated in the app and reimbursed in-app — at 0,90 % on the paid tiers, with currency conversion through to foreign-currency payments, and an automatic VAT split on the top tier. We found no public information on rates maintained per country by the vendor, meal deductions, multi-day trip calculation, checks of receipts against invoice requirements, or foreign VAT reclaim — so whether the statutory German travel-expense law is covered end to end stays open. 2 5 16 15
The Tax Adviser
Approved claims are reimbursed in-app independent of payroll, mileage is calculated on the statutory tax-free Kilometerpauschale with adjustable company rates, and the app works out the Verpflegungspauschale — the German travel-expense machinery I care about. Automatic VAT splitting is included only in the top tier, and I found no public information on meal deductions for multi-day trips, per-country rates, or foreign VAT reclaim. 2 5 15 16
The Skeptic
In-app reimbursements run at a stated 0.90% fee with finance approval or employee self-service, mileage is calculated automatically at the statutory tax-free German rate with configurable company rates, thresholds and fuel prices, and per diems are calculated in the app and refunded directly. Automatic VAT splitting sits only in the top tier, and we found no public information on meal deductions, multi-day calculation, a stated reimbursement time, receipt checks against invoice requirements, or foreign VAT reclaim. 2 5 15 16
Accounting handoff & DATEV
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How this is scored
What reaches the books: export or sync to DATEV (DATEV format, DATEV Unternehmen online, Belegbilderservice) and to named accounting and ERP systems, booking proposals with account, tax key and cost centre, receipts that travel with the booking, card statements reconciled, a GoBD-compliant archive, an API and webhooks, and a complete export of claims, receipts and booking data.
0 — No export of any kind; expenses have to be retyped into the books.
3 — A CSV or PDF export of expense reports; booking data, named integrations and the archive are basic or not described.
5 — Export or sync to at least one named accounting system (DATEV or another) with account and tax code per entry and the receipt attached, several accounting or ERP integrations listed, and a documented API.
8 — A DATEV interface with receipt images (DATEV Unternehmen online or the DATEV Marketplace named), booking proposals that learn account, tax key and cost centre, two-way sync with named ERPs (SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite or similar), card statements reconciled for the month-end, a GoBD-compliant archive stated, and webhooks.
10 — The month-end close runs through the product: multi-entity bookings and accruals, a procedure documentation (Verfahrensdokumentation) or GoBD audit offered, a complete audit trail of every financial event, and a full export of claims, receipts and bookings that a successor system can import.
The Travelling Employee
Pleo is a DATEV Corporate Partner with one-click sync to DATEV Unternehmen online — paperless and GoBD-compliant — and the DATEV Buchungsdatenservice transfers transactions, receipts and incoming invoices automatically; NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are named alongside them. There is a documented Export API with webhooks, receipts are automatically pre-accounted, external bookkeeper access is included in all plans, and accounting interfaces are in every tier. We found no public information on card statement reconciliation for the month-end or booking proposals that learn account, tax key and cost centre. 4 16 17 8 5 2
The Office Manager
For my tax adviser this is the strongest part: one-click sync to DATEV Unternehmen online and the DATEV Buchungsdatenservice moves transactions, receipts, reimbursements and incoming invoices paperless and GoBD-compliant, as a declared DATEV Corporate Partner, with named integrations to Microsoft Dynamics 365, NetSuite and Xero among over twenty systems. A documented export API with webhooks, export job tracking and vendor tagging sits behind it. I found no public information on a procedure documentation or accruals and multi-entity bookings for the close itself. 16 4 17 8 2
The Controller
Pleo is a stated DATEV Corporate Partner, with the DATEV Buchungsdatenservice transferring transactions, receipts and incoming invoices automatically and DATEV Unternehmen online syncing reimbursements, employee expenses and incoming invoices in a one-click, paperless, GoBD-compliant flow; Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and NetSuite are named, and a documented Export API adds webhooks, export job statuses, history logs and locking of entries. We found no public information on two-way ERP sync or card statement reconciliation for the month-end, so the close still needs my team's hands on parts of it. 16 4 17 8 2
The Finance Lead
The DATEV handoff is what I would sign for: a DATEV Corporate Partner with one-click sync to DATEV Unternehmen online and the Buchungsdatenservice that moves transactions, receipts and incoming invoices — paperless and GoBD-compliant — alongside Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and NetSuite, a documented Export API with webhooks, export-job statuses and locking of entries being exported. Receipts are automatically pre-accounted, though the captured pages do not say the proposals learn account, tax key and cost centre, and card statement reconciliation for the month-end close is not described. 16 4 17 8 2 5
The Tax Adviser
A one-click sync to DATEV Unternehmen online transfers transactions, receipts and incoming invoices paperlessly and GoBD-conformly, Pleo is a DATEV Corporate Partner with a Buchungsdatenservice interface, receipts are automatically pre-accounted, and webhooks plus a documented Export API reach Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and NetSuite. We found no public information on card statement reconciliation for the month-end or an offered Verfahrensdokumentation. 4 8 16 17
The Skeptic
DATEV is served two ways — Buchungsdatenservice and Unternehmen online, with transactions, receipts, incoming invoices and reimbursements synced under stated DATEV Corporate Partner status — GoBD-compliant sync is claimed, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and NetSuite are named beside a documented Export API with versioning, export-job statuses and webhooks. Receipts are pre-accounted automatically, but we found no public information on booking proposals that learn account, tax key and cost centre, two-way ERP sync, or month-end reconciliation of card statements. 16 4 17 8 5 10
European sovereignty
panel opinion
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How this is scored
Who the contracting entity and the parent company are, where receipt, card and employee data are hosted, and who the subprocessors are (hosting, card issuer and processor, text recognition, open banking, email delivery). Independently sourced by the sovereignty pipeline; expense data is personal and financial at once and shows where employees travel, so the whole chain counts, not only the database.
0 — Non-EU vendor and contracting entity, hosting unstated, subprocessors unnamed, and no data processing agreement offered.
3 — A privacy policy and a data processing agreement exist, but hosting location is unstated or non-EU and the subprocessors are not listed.
5 — EU hosting available and an EU contracting entity or EU representative, but parts of the chain (text recognition, card processing, email, analytics, support) run through non-EU providers without a stated safeguard.
8 — EU hosting on named infrastructure, EU contracting entity and card issuer, subprocessors listed with their locations, a data processing agreement published, and security certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2) stated.
10 — Sovereign end to end and evidenced: European ownership, entity, issuer, hosting and every subprocessor, data export and deletion documented, and certifications published with their scope rather than implied.
The Travelling Employee
The contracting entity Pleo Technologies A/S and the card issuer Pleo Financial Services A/S are both Danish, with the issuer under Danish financial supervision, application hosting on AWS in Ireland plus Azure and Google Cloud in the EU, and a published subprocessor list with locations, DORA-based location disclosures, email notice of changes, and a published data processing agreement. The list does place US providers in the chain — Anthropic for AI-product enablement and JP Morgan for account-to-account payments, beside Mastercard as the card scheme — and we found no public information on ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certifications, only "FSA & PCI regulated" and a Trust & Security page. 6 7 16 4
The Office Manager
The chain is largely European and named: two Danish entities with Pleo Financial Services supervised by the Danish financial authority, hosting on AWS Ireland plus Azure and Google Cloud in the EU, a published data processing agreement, and a sub-processor list with locations including EU-based payment processing in Frankfurt. Parts of the chain do run through US providers — Anthropic for AI features, HubSpot, Grafana, JP Morgan for account-to-account payments — and the captured pages name no ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certification, so I cannot place it higher. 7 6 4 16
The Controller
The contracting entity is Pleo Technologies A/S in Copenhagen and the card issuer is Pleo Financial Services A/S under Danish FSA supervision, hosting sits on named EU infrastructure (AWS Ireland, Microsoft Azure EU, Google Cloud EU) with payment processing via Enfuce in Frankfurt, and a data processing agreement plus a subprocessor list with locations and email notice of changes is published. Named processors in the chain sit in the US, among them HubSpot for CRM, Anthropic for AI-product enablement and JP Morgan, and we found no public information on ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certifications, so I cannot fully clear the chain for employee travel data. 7 6 12 16 4
The Finance Lead
The chain is largely European and named: Pleo Technologies A/S in Copenhagen is the contracting entity, Pleo Financial Services A/S issues the cards as payment service provider and e-money issuer under Danish supervision, hosting runs on AWS Ireland, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud in the EU, and a subprocessor list with locations, a published data processing agreement and DORA-driven exact processing locations exist. Some subprocessors sit in the US — Anthropic for AI-product enablement, HubSpot, Grafana — and we found no public information on ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certifications or on the ownership structure. 6 7 16 12
The Tax Adviser
The contracting and issuing entities are Danish — Pleo Financial Services A/S issues the cards under a Mastercard licence and the supervision of the Danish financial authority — and hosting runs on named EU infrastructure (AWS Ireland, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud). A data processing agreement and a sub-processor list with locations are published, with email notice of changes, though the chain names US providers such as JP Morgan for payments and Anthropic for AI enablement; I found no public information on ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certifications. 5 6 7 13
The Skeptic
The chain is unusually well documented: Danish contracting and card-issuing entities under Danish FSA supervision, hosting on named EU infrastructure (AWS Ireland, Azure EU, GCP EU), a published subprocessor list with locations and email notification of changes, and a data processing agreement linked in the footer. We found no public information on ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certification, and AI-product enablement, CRM and account-to-account payments run through US providers — Anthropic, HubSpot and JP Morgan among them — with no stated safeguard for those transfers. 7 6 13 5 16 4
Pricing transparency
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How this is scored
Whether a buyer can compute the real annual cost from public pages alone: price per user or per active user, platform or base fee, which modules (travel, reimbursements, DATEV or ERP connectors, extra entities) cost extra, card fees (physical cards, foreign transactions, currency conversion, top-ups), minimum seats and term, and setup.
0 — No public prices at all; every customer is a sales call.
3 — A starting price or a free tier exists, but how cost scales with users, cards or modules is unclear.
5 — Tiers are public with their per-user or base price and main inclusions, but at least one commonly needed piece (extra users, physical cards, foreign-currency fees, ERP connectors) is unpriced or "on request".
8 — Every tier priced publicly with its scaling rule (per user, per active user, per card), card and foreign-transaction fees listed, add-ons priced, minimum term and VAT treatment stated.
10 — Complete price computability: annual cost derivable for a given headcount, card count and module set, with every add-on, setup, support, card and currency fee and the cancellation and data-return terms published.
The Travelling Employee
The pricing page publishes per-user prices — 14 € Pro Nutzer:in/Monat for Build and 18 € for Optimise, annual payment, minimum 3 users — plus tiered credit limits up to 5.000 €, 20.000 € and 100.000 € for eligible customers, and an unusually detailed fee table: card foreign-exchange fees of 2,00 %, 1,75 % and 1,49 %, ATM withdrawals at 5 € per Abhebung on Start, local payments at 1,50 € pro Zahlung, and reimbursements at 0,90 %. We found no public information on the Start tier's per-user price, minimum term, setup fees or VAT treatment, so I cannot compute the full annual cost for my team from the captured pages alone. 5 1
The Office Manager
The pricing page gives per-user prices for the Build and Optimise plans (14 € and 18 € per user per month, annual billing, minimum three users) plus unusually detailed fee tables — card foreign-exchange fees of 2,00 %, 1,75 % and 1,49 % by tier, ATM withdrawal fees, local and international payment fees, and a 0,90 % reimbursement fee. I could work out most of my annual cost before the trial ends, but the captured pages show no price for the Start tier, and VAT treatment, setup and cancellation terms are not stated. 5 1
The Controller
Per-user prices are published at 14 € (Build) and 18 € (Optimize) per user per month with annual payment and a minimum of 3 users, alongside foreign-exchange fees of 2,00 %, 1,75 % and 1,49 % by tier, ATM withdrawal fees, local and international payment fees, a reimbursement fee of 0,90 % and credit limits of up to 5.000 €, 20.000 € and 100.000 € for eligible customers. We found no public information on the seat price of the Start tier, fees for physical cards, minimum term or VAT treatment, so my annual cost for 1,200 staff is not fully computable from the captured pages. 5 1 9
The Finance Lead
Two tiers are priced publicly at 14 € and 18 € per user per month with annual billing and a minimum of three users, and the fee schedule is unusually complete: currency-conversion fees of 2,00 %, 1,75 % and 1,49 % by tier, ATM withdrawal fees, local and international payment fees, the reimbursement percentage and credit limits up to 100.000 € for eligible customers. The captured pages do not show the entry tier's per-user price, VAT treatment or setup fees, so I cannot yet compute the full annual cost for 150 people from public pages alone. 5 9 1
The Tax Adviser
The captured pricing page shows per-user prices of 14 € and 18 € per month with annual billing and a three-user minimum, and it publishes card foreign-exchange fees of 2,00 %, 1,75 % and 1,49 % by tier, ATM withdrawal fees, local and international payment fees, a reimbursement fee of 0,90 % and credit limits per tier. The entry tier's price is not among the figures shown, and I found no public information on VAT treatment, minimum term or setup fees. 5
The Skeptic
The pricing page publishes per-user prices of 14 € and 18 € per user per month for the Build and Optimise tiers with annual billing and a minimum of 3 users, plus an unusually honest fee schedule: currency fees of 2.00%, 1.75% or 1.49% by tier on card payments and invoice payments, 0.90% in-app reimbursements, and per-payment charges for local, international and ATM use. The entry tier's price is not among the captured figures, and we found no public information on VAT treatment, minimum term or setup cost. 5 1
European sovereignty — proven facts
0 of 6 dimensions provenBuilt only from facts shown on the vendor's own pages. A dimension we could not prove is left open, not scored as zero.
| Legal entity | Not determined ⚠ unverified | — | uncited Report an error |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting location | Not determined ⚠ unverified | — | uncited Report an error |
| Hosting options | Not determined | — | uncited Report an error |
| Open source | Not determined | — | uncited Report an error |
| Data processing agreement | Not determined ⚠ unverified | — | uncited Report an error |
| Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | — | uncited Report an error |
Questions about Pleo
Is Pleo European?
Yes. whats-best.ai classifies Pleo as EU-Made.
Where does Pleo store data?
Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 28 Oct 2026.
Does Pleo have a free plan?
Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 28 Oct 2026.
What are the best alternatives to Pleo?
As of 3 Nov 2026, the panel rates Moss (4/5), N2F (3.5/5) and Spendesk (3.5/5) highest among the other 18 Expense Management products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is Moss (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: how scores are made. The full list, with European products first: Pleo alternatives.
Where this could be wrong
- Evidence ages. The oldest capture behind this page is from 28 Oct 2026. Vendors change pricing and policies without notice; every fact reflects its source as of the capture date shown in the registry.
- Weak sourcing — Data processing agreement, Legal entity, Hosting location. Not confirmed on the vendor’s own pages as captured.
- AI can misread a source. Extraction and judgement are automated; a citation guarantees traceability, not infallibility. If something here is wrong, say so — no account needed, every report is decided within 5 business days, and accepted corrections are published.
What we left out
A claim that does not survive our checks costs us the claim, not the page. This is what was taken off this one.
- 20 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
- 6 legal facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
- 2 compliance facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
- 2 integrations facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
- 1 pricing fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
- 3 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown. Know more? Tell us
- 6 of the readings below were written against an earlier fact sheet — a fact has been corrected, added or pulled since. Until the panel next runs on this product you are reading the older judgement. Know more? Tell us
Sources (17)
The pages every claim on this page was read from — each one checked, dated, and kept verifiable.
- 1 Vendor homepage www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 2 Features page (travel expenses) www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 3 Features page (company cards) www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 4 Integrations page www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 5 Pricing page www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 6 Legal notice www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 7 Subprocessor list www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 8 Receipt capture & expense claims — found from sitemap www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 9 Receipt capture & expense claims — found from sitemap www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 10 Company cards & spend control — found from sitemap www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 11 Company cards & spend control — found from sitemap www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 12 Approval workflows & expense policy — found from sitemap www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 13 Approval workflows & expense policy — found from sitemap www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 14 Reimbursement, travel allowances & VAT — found from sitemap www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 15 Reimbursement, travel allowances & VAT — found from sitemap www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 16 Accounting handoff & DATEV — found from sitemap www.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →
- 17 Accounting handoff & DATEV — found from sitemap developers.pleo.io Checked 28 Oct 2026 Details →