Pleo is a popular European spend-management platform built around smart corporate cards. Bea solves a different problem: not how spend is captured, but the finance lead's review burden and the proof the accountant needs. The whole company submits and approves by chat with no app or login; finance reviews only what's notable and exports an accountant-ready proof pack.
Choose Pleo if corporate cards and real-time spend visibility are the priority. Choose Bea if your cost is the month-end review burden — and you'd rather not give every employee a card, an app, and a per-seat licence to submit a few expenses a year.
At a glance
| Dimension | Bea | Pleo |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Review-reduction + proof layer | Card-led spend management |
| What it optimizes | Finance's attention — review time and back-and-forth | Capture and spend control at the card |
| App required for the whole company? | No — submit & approve by chat, no login | Yes — app and account per user |
| Headline output | Proof Pack — receipts attached to bookings | Real-time spend dashboard + card controls |
| Corporate cards | No — works with your existing setup | Yes — smart cards are the core |
| Handles cash / out-of-pocket / non-card spend | Yes — any expense, any payment method | Primarily card-based, with reimbursement features |
| Pricing | Packs of processed expenses — never per seat | Per-user plans |
When Pleo is the better choice
If most of your spend happens on cards and you want issuance, real-time visibility, and automatic receipt matching in one platform, Pleo is purpose-built for that and well established across Europe.
When Bea is the better choice
Cards solve capture for card spend. They do less for the finance lead's actual month-end job: reading everything to find the few claims that matter, then producing documentation an external accountant can book from. Bea does the reviewing — surfacing only what's notable, each flag explained — and hands over a proof pack with receipts kept attached to their bookings. It works on any expense regardless of how it was paid, and it doesn't require an app, a login, or a per-seat licence for the people who barely use it.
Honest limitations
Bea is in early access and does not issue cards or replace your accounting stack. If card issuance is the goal, Pleo is the better fit. If the review burden and clean proof are the goal, that is what Bea is for — and the two can coexist.
See also: Best expense submission tools · Bea vs Circula · Bea vs Expensify
See how Bea reviews everything, so finance reviews what's left