Comparison

Circula vs desk.ly

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

desk.ly

This app helps hybrid teams manage their hybrid work environment by allowing users to book desks, meeting rooms, and parking spaces. It offers intuitive views, filters, and AI-powered recommendations to quickly find available spots and see when colleagues are in the office.

Highlights
  • Book desks, meeting rooms, and parking
  • AI-powered booking suggestions
  • Interactive floor plans
  • Filter by equipment and favorite spots
  • See colleague's office presence
  • Manage all bookings in one overview
Features
Read full description

Intuitive Workplace Management for Desk Sharing and Hybrid Teams Plan your working week flexibly and easily. With the desk.ly app, you can book desks, meeting rooms, and parking spaces from anywhere—complete with all the features you know and love from the web application!. Intuitive views, filters, and AI-powered recommendations help you find the right spot quickly: - Use the booking suggestions on your homepage for express booking. - Choose your seat individually on interactive flaoor plans or in a compact list view. - Select a single day or multiple days and adjust the booking time flexibly. - Filter by specific equipment features and your favourite spots. - Find out when your colleagues are in the office and book a desk near them. - Easily manage all your bookings in one intuitive overview. Trust in a data-secure solution made in Germany! desk.ly is a multi-award-winning platform that is constantly evolving.

Screenshots

Circula4 screens
desk.ly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: desk.ly at free against Circula's freemium. On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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, desk.ly every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Circula versus desk.ly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCirculadesk.ly
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (69 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews45.8% of reviews — better42.1% of reviews
Number of ratings69 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size336 MB99 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCircula GmbHdesk.ly GmbH

Customer experience

Circula

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

desk.ly

Written reviews19 reviews
Positive42.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative57.9%

In-app purchases

None

Circula

No in-app purchases

None

desk.ly

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Circula free?
Circula is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is desk.ly free?
desk.ly is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Circula or desk.ly have ads?
Neither Circula nor desk.ly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Circula or desk.ly?
Circula ships an update every 3 weeks, and desk.ly every 5 weeks. Most recently, Circula was updated on October 12, 2026 and desk.ly on October 11, 2026.

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