Comparison

Pleo vs ApprovalMax

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pleo

This app streamlines business spending by providing company cards for teams and real-time visibility for finance. It automates expense reporting and reimbursements, saving time and reducing manual processes for businesses of all sizes.

Highlights
  • Company cards (physical/virtual)
  • Instant receipt capture
  • Automated reimbursements
  • Real-time spending visibility
  • Spending limit controls
  • Invoice tracking
Features
Read full description

Your business expenses, streamlined. Welcome to Pleo, Europe's leading business spend platform. Trusted by 40,000+ companies across Europe, we give you everything you need to spend, submit, and get reimbursed, built for how your business works. No extra tools. No expense report headaches. No waiting until payday to get your money back. For you Spend instantly with a physical or virtual Pleo card. Snap a receipt in seconds and ditch manual expense reports forever. Get reimbursed quickly, without waiting for the next payroll cycle. Track your money and see exactly what you've spent and where. For your finance team Real-time visibility across every single transaction. Smart spend limits, approval flows, and budgets all in one place. Accounts payable managed smoothly from purchase to payment. Direct sync with your existing accounting system. Automated reconciliation so month-end closing takes minutes, not days. How it works Make a purchase, snap your receipt, and you're done. Your finance team sees it instantly. No chasing, no spreadsheets, no surprises at month-end. Pleo is available across 16 European markets. Fully regulated and built to scale with your business.

About

ApprovalMax

Streamline your business approvals with this mobile app, allowing you to approve requests, create purchase orders, and communicate with stakeholders on the go. It integrates with cloud accounting platforms like Xero and QuickBooks Online to manage spend and revenue efficiently.

Highlights
  • Approve on the go
  • Create purchase orders
  • Instant notifications
  • Real-time chat
  • Due date reminders
  • Administrator approval forcing
Features
Read full description

Our ApprovalMax mobile app is a native app that provides all key decision control capabilities of the ApprovalMax web version; in particular approving on the go, raising and submitting Purchase Orders, commenting approval/rejection decisions. The ApprovalMax web version extends cloud accounting platforms such as Xero and QuickBooks Online with fully digital processes for efficient spend and revenue management. For Xero, ApprovalMax provides multi-role and multi-tiered approval workflows for Bills, Purchase Orders, Credit Notes, Sales Invoices, and enables Purchase Order creation and approval outside of Xero. It also facilitates x-way matching of Bills and Purchase Orders, and supports budgeting control. For QuickBooks Online, ApprovalMax provides Purchase Order creation and approval outside of the accounting platform. Please note: before you can start using our mobile app, the approval workflow must have been set up in the web app. Key features of the iPhone app: • Approving on the go • Instant notification about new approval requests • Real-time chat with Requesters and other Approvers • Due date reminders • PO creation on the go • Forcing approval decisions (for Administrators) Should you have any questions, feel free to contact us on: support@approvalmax.com

Screenshots

Pleo4 screens
ApprovalMax4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ApprovalMax at 64% against Pleo's 26%. ApprovalMax also leads on monetization model (free vs freemium) and rating (4.9 vs 4.7). Pleo's advantage is ratings volume (179 vs 34). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ApprovalMax holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pleo has 179 ratings behind it against 34, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 26% of Pleo's written reviews are positive against 64% of ApprovalMax's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pleo ships an update weekly, ApprovalMax fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Pleo versus ApprovalMax: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPleoApprovalMax
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (179 ratings)4.9 (34 ratings) — better
Positive reviews26.0% of reviews63.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings179 — better34
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size167 MB101 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPleo Technologies ApSApprovalMax Germany GmbH

Customer experience

Pleo

All ratings179 ratings
Positive92.2%
Neutral2.2%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews123 reviews
Positive26.0%
Neutral8.1%
Negative65.9%

ApprovalMax

All ratings34 ratings
Positive97.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive63.6%
Neutral4.5%
Negative31.8%

Bugs and requests

Pleo

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Missing 'New Expense' button
  • Disappearing receipt upload button
  • Inconsistent behavior with Face ID/Touch ID
  • Expenses not syncing properly across devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Customizable expense categories
  • Integration with accounting software
  • Ability to split expenses between personal and business
  • Real-time balance visibility on the card

ApprovalMax

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Pleo

No in-app purchases

None

ApprovalMax

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pleo free?
Pleo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ApprovalMax free?
ApprovalMax is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pleo or ApprovalMax?
ApprovalMax is rated higher. Pleo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 179 ratings, while ApprovalMax averages 4.9 from 34 ratings.
Do Pleo or ApprovalMax have ads?
Neither Pleo nor ApprovalMax shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pleo or ApprovalMax?
Pleo ships an update weekly, and ApprovalMax fortnightly. Most recently, Pleo was updated on September 24, 2026 and ApprovalMax on September 13, 2026.

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