Comparison

Circula vs ZEP

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

ZEP

Features
Read full description

Die ZEP App ist die komfortable Lösung für die Erfassung von Projektzeiten und Reisekosten von unterwegs. Immer und überall, können Sie geleistete Arbeits- und Reisezeiten sowie Belege für Reisekosten in Ihrem ZEP erfassen und erreichen damit maximale Flexibilität im Tagesgeschäft. Die Verwaltung von Projekten, Mitarbeitern und Kunden sowie standardisierte Auswertungen erfolgen über das Web-Frontend von ZEP. HIGHLIGHTS: - Projektzeiten mit Ihren Voreinstellungen aus ZEP erfassen - Erfassung von Belegen mit Bild- oder PDF-Anhängen - Erfassung von Fehlzeiten wie Urlaub, Krankheit oder Freizeitausgleich - Start-Stopp-Funktion für Ihre favorisierten Projekte - Erkennung von Dienstreisen und Tracking von Orten und Distanz - Erfassung von Mahlzeiten für die Berechnung von Verpflegungmehraufwendungen WEITERE FEATURES: - Übernahme der Projektinformationen und -zuordnungen aus Ihrem ZEP - Anmeldung mit den ZEP Zugangsdaten oder durch einen individuellen QR-Code - Bestehende Zeiten und Belege jederzeit bearbeiten - Kopier- und Löschfunktionen für einzelne Zeitbuchungen oder ganze Tage - Wechselmöglichkeit in den Darkmode - Mehrsprachigkeit durch Deutsch und Englisch HINWEIS: Der Login in die App setzt eine aktive Lizenz von ZEP Compact oder ZEP Professional voraus. Ohne diese ist die App nicht nutzbar.

Screenshots

Circula4 screens
ZEP4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: ZEP at 15.6 against Circula's 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Circula ships an update every 3 weeks, ZEP every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Circula versus ZEP: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCirculaZEP
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (69 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews45.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings69 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size336 MB66 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCircula GmbHZEP GmbH

In-app purchases

None

Circula

No in-app purchases

None

ZEP

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Circula free?
Circula is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ZEP free?
ZEP is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Circula or ZEP have ads?
Neither Circula nor ZEP shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Circula or ZEP?
Circula ships an update every 3 weeks, and ZEP every 2 weeks. Most recently, Circula was updated on September 26, 2026 and ZEP on September 9, 2026.

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