Comparison
Pleo vs Mercury
A side-by-side look at Pleo and Mercury — pricing, regions, integrations, pros and cons. Use The AI Recommends if you'd rather have an AI pick for you.
Pleo
Smart company cards for European teams.
Pleo is Europe's leading spend management platform, pairing physical and virtual cards with automated expense reports, invoice management and accounting integrations across 30+ EU/UK markets.
Mercury
Banking built for startups.
Mercury is a tech-forward business bank for startups, offering checking, savings, treasury, debit cards and the IO charge card with up to 1.5% cashback.
Side-by-side
| Spec | Pleo | Mercury |
|---|---|---|
| Tagline | Smart company cards for European teams. | Banking built for startups. |
| Headquarters | Copenhagen, Denmark | San Francisco, USA |
| Founded | 2015 | 2017 |
| Regions | EU, UK | US |
| Card type | Prepaid + credit (market dependent) | Debit + IO Credit |
| Pricing | Starter free up to 3 users; Essential €45/mo; Advanced €89/mo; Beyond custom. | Banking free; Mercury IO requires $25k+ avg balance. |
| Rewards | 1% cashback on Advanced+ in select markets. | 1.5% cashback on Mercury IO. |
| Best for | European SMBs, Distributed teams, Companies using Xero/QuickBooks EU | US-incorporated startups, VC-backed companies, Remote founders |
| Integrations | Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, Datev, Economic, Visma | QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite |
Pleo: pros & cons
- Strong European footprint
- Best-in-class UX
- Local accounting integrations
- Per-user pricing adds up
- Limited US presence
Mercury: pros & cons
- Best banking UX for startups
- No monthly fees
- Strong treasury product
- US incorporation required
- Not a traditional bank — partner bank model