Comparison

Circula vs Personio

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

Head to head
About

Circula

Streamline employee expense, credit card, and benefit management with this digital and automated solution. It offers seamless integrations with financial and HR systems, ensuring a compliant and efficient end-to-end process. Enhance employee satisfaction and strengthen your employer brand with hassle-free administration.

Highlights
  • Mobile app with OCR Scanner & web-app
  • Automated per diem calculation & currency conversion
  • Up-to-date travel expenses and tax guidelines
  • Automatic receipt control
  • Automatic expense creation & auto-receipt matching
  • Integrations to DATEV, Personio, TravelPerk
  • Configurable workflows & travel policies
Features
Read full description

With Circula, your business expenses manage themselves. Circula is the flexible spend management platform for European finance teams, bringing employee & travel expenses, corporate credit cards, accounts payable, and employee benefits together in one app. From the first receipt to the pre-accounted booking in your downstream system, Circula closes the loop. With Circula you can: • Get per diem rates for trips calculated automatically • Snap a photo of a receipt or invoice, no more manual data entry • Pay directly with physical or virtual company credit cards • Get invoices captured automatically and routed for approval • Approve your team's expenses on the go • Keep an overview of the benefits budget and use it with ease • Catch duplicates and policy violations before they become a problem • Export clean, GoBD-compliant data straight to financial and payroll accounting Compliance isn't an afterthought at Circula, it's part of every process from day one. Circula keeps data clean, tax-compliant, and audit-ready, without any manual effort. Thanks to Circula AI, more than 60% of all expenses are already export-ready at the moment of submission, with no manual work for accounting required. More than 3,000 companies and 250,000 users in over 25 countries worldwide trust Circula, including About You, DATEV, Deutsche Fußball Liga, Noerr, and Securitas. Circula was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Berlin. Download Circula today.

About

Personio

Manage HR tasks like clocking in/out, requesting time off, and accessing important documents from your mobile device. Stay connected and in control of your work, even when away from your desk. Features include branded company interfaces and location-based time tracking.

Highlights
  • Clock in/out and track attendance
  • Request time off
  • Access payslips and contracts
  • View work schedule and time-off balance
  • Location-based time tracking
  • Branded company interface
Read full description

Personio: The Intelligent HR Platform Core HR, Payroll, Apps and 200+ integrations in one place - so HR can run the full employee lifecycle with less friction. Use the Personio mobile app to handle the HR tasks that come up most often; approve requests, request time off, track time, and access documents, all from your phone. Absences - Request time off and view your balance - Check upcoming absences (and team availability where available) Time tracking - Track your working time and review entries - Submit time information according to your company's setup Inbox - See what needs your attention in one place - Approve or decline requests and other assigned tasks Personio Home - Get a quick overview of your open tasks and updates - Jump straight to the actions you use most Documents - Access important HR documents when you need them - Download or share documents from your device (where available) For other workflows and configuration, you may still need the web app. Note: you can only log in if your company uses Personio. If you're not sure, check with your HR team.

Screenshots

Circula4 screens
Personio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Circula at 4.7 against Personio's 4.4. Circula also leads on ratings volume (69 vs 9). Personio's advantage is review sentiment (62% vs 46%) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). 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

Circula holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Circula has 69 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 46% of Circula's written reviews are positive against 62% of Personio's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Circula ships an update every 3 weeks, Personio fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Circula versus Personio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCirculaPersonio
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (69 ratings) — better4.4 (9 ratings)
Positive reviews45.8% of reviews62.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings69 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size336 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCircula GmbHPersonio GmbH

Customer experience

Circula

All ratings69 ratings
Positive92.8%
Neutral1.4%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews48 reviews
Positive45.8%
Neutral20.8%
Negative33.3%

Personio

All ratings9 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews103 reviews
Positive62.1%
Neutral10.7%
Negative27.2%

In-app purchases

None

Circula

No in-app purchases

None

Personio

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Circula free?
Circula is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Personio free?
Personio is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Circula or Personio?
Circula is rated higher. Circula averages 4.7 out of 5 from 69 ratings, while Personio averages 4.4 from 9 ratings.
Do Circula or Personio have ads?
Neither Circula nor Personio shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Circula or Personio?
Circula ships an update every 3 weeks, and Personio fortnightly. Most recently, Circula was updated on September 25, 2026 and Personio on September 23, 2026.

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