BooksTime vs Pleo Comparison
Compare BooksTime vs Pleo features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
BooksTime
5.9/10
Outsourced bookkeeping service that gives small businesses and nonprofits a dedicated bookkeeper who works in QuickBooks, Xero, or other accounting software.
Pleo
6.8/10
Pleo is a European spend management platform that gives small and mid-sized businesses company cards, receipt capture, reimbursements and supplier invoice payments.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 5.9/10 | 6.8/10 |
| Scalability | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Compliance | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 4/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Ease of Use | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $320/mo Essentials | £8/user/mo Start |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $320/mo Essentials | £80/mo Start |
| Features | ||
| General Ledger | ||
| Payroll | ||
| Accounts Payable | ||
| Budgeting and Forecasting | ||
| Multi-currency | ||
| Accountant Access | Not listed | |
| Bank Reconciliation | Not listed | |
| Corporate Cards | Not listed | |
| Expense Management | Not listed | |
| Financial Reporting | Not listed | |
| Inventory Accounting | Not listed | |
| Invoicing | Not listed | |
| Multi-entity Consolidation | Not listed | |
| Tax Compliance | Not listed | |
BooksTime vs Pleo cost by team size
| Team size | BooksTime | Pleo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $320/moEssentials | £8/moStart |
| 5 users | $320/moEssentials | £40/moStart |
| 10 users | $320/moEssentials | £80/moStart |
| 25 users | $320/moEssentials | £200/moStart |
| 50 users | $320/moEssentials | £400/moStart |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose BooksTime
- Higher Support score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Customization score (7/10 vs 6/10)
- Includes General Ledger, which Pleo lacks
- Includes Payroll, which Pleo lacks
Why choose Pleo
- Higher Security score (7/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Compliance score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for startups (8/10 vs 6/10)
Pros & Cons
BooksTime
Pros
- Bookkeepers work in the client's existing software, and BooksTime says it supports more than 25 options including QuickBooks and Xero, so clients are not locked in.
- Essentials pricing is public, and it does not cap transactions or connected accounts.
- Monthly contracts can be cancelled at any time with no cancellation fees.
- It offers nonprofit-specific services such as Form 990 preparation and restricted fund tracking.
- All nine Trustpilot reviews give 5 stars and praise its accuracy and on-time work, including for books with several entities.
Cons
- It is not a CPA firm, so tax returns are handed to referred CPAs and quoted separately.
- There is no public security or compliance documentation.
- Essentials pricing rises with monthly expenses, and the Complete plan has no public price.
- It has few independent reviews; Trustpilot shows only 9.
- The pricing page does not say which services come with Essentials and which need Complete.
Pleo
Pros
- G2 reviewers praise the card and receipt-capture app as easy for employees to use, and Pleo holds a 4.7 rating across roughly 1,400 G2 reviews.
- Per-user list prices are published, starting at £8 per user per month.
- Native accounting integrations cover Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, FreeAgent, Xledger and Twinfield.
- SAML SSO is included even on the entry Start plan.
- The UK entity is authorised by the FCA, and cards are issued under a Mastercard licence.
Cons
- Build and Optimise are billed yearly and require at least three users.
- Transaction charges such as FX fees of up to 2 percent and per-payment fees add to the subscription cost.
- Live chat support is only included on Optimise, and Trustpilot reviewers complain about slow support.
- Some reviewers report weak coverage and support in the US.
- It is not an accounting system and has no general ledger, customer invoicing or payroll.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Pleo scores higher on our Finance Software criteria: 6.8/10 against 5.9/10 for BooksTime. The largest gap is in Security: 4/10 for BooksTime and 7/10 for Pleo.
No, neither BooksTime nor Pleo lists a free plan.
Pleo is the better fit for startups: we rate it 8/10 for them, against 6/10 for BooksTime.
BooksTime has General Ledger and Payroll, which Pleo lacks.
