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Accounting · head to head

Circula vs Fiken

Circula logo

Circula

Accounting

Expense, travel and employee benefit management for German speaking finance teams

From
€15/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fiken logo

Fiken

Accounting

Norwegian accounting software for sole proprietors and small companies

From
219/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Circula the module pricing stacks: expenses at fifteen euro per licence plus ninety nine euro for cards plus a hundred and forty nine euro for accounts payable means a fifty person company pays well over a thousand euro a month before add ons.; Fiken bank integration available only as add-on (69 NOK/month)
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Circula and Fiken actually diverge.

Attributes where Circula and Fiken differ
AttributeCirculaFiken
Starting price€15/month219/month
Pricing modelPer user per monthsubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Circula

  • German per diem engine
  • Receipt capture and OCR
  • Corporate credit cards
  • Employee benefits
  • Accounts payable
  • Mileage and travel
  • DATEV and ERP export
  • Approval workflows

Only in Fiken

Nothing recorded that Circula does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Circula

  • A German company that must apply statutory per diem rates and meal deductions correctly to avoid payroll tax exposurenot Fiken
  • A finance team wanting card spend, expense claims and benefits in one DATEV exportnot Fiken
  • An employer offering the tax free monthly benefit allowance and needing auditable records of itnot Fiken
  • A mid sized business replacing spreadsheet mileage claims with rule enforced distance calculationsnot Fiken

Fiken

  • Solo accounting and invoicing for small businessesnot Circula
  • Multi-user accounting collaboration at no extra costnot Circula
  • Invoice management with EHF e-invoice supportnot Circula
  • Bank integration for transaction trackingnot Circula

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Circula

  • The module pricing stacks: expenses at fifteen euro per licence plus ninety nine euro for cards plus a hundred and forty nine euro for accounts payable means a fifty person company pays well over a thousand euro a month before add ons.
  • A minimum of ten licences excludes small teams, and the flexible licensing model for occasional claimants makes monthly cost harder to forecast than a flat per seat price.
  • Strength is in German tax rules, so companies with significant operations outside the DACH region gain little from the feature that justifies the price.
  • The accounts payable module includes only a hundred invoices per month, so invoice heavy businesses face metered overage on top of the platform fee.
  • Card issuing carries a per card transaction ceiling and depends on partner issuing, so high value procurement spend can hit limits that a bank issued corporate card would not.

Fiken

  • Bank integration available only as add-on (69 NOK/month)
  • Project accounting requires separate add-on (69 NOK/month)
  • Payroll and employee features cost extra (69 NOK/month)
  • Physical mail invoicing costs 25 NOK per invoice

Pricing, plan by plan

Circula

€15/month
  • Employee and Travel Expenses$15/month
    • Per licence, billed annually
    • Minimum 10 licences
    • OCR receipt capture
  • Credit Cards$99/month
    • Platform fee, unlimited cards
    • Per card spend limits
    • Transaction limit of EUR 750,000 per card
  • Accounts Payable$149/month
    • Platform fee
    • Includes 100 invoices per month
    • Supplier invoice capture and approval
  • Benefits$1/month
    • Per licence
    • Tax free benefit allowances
    • Mobility and meal benefits

Fiken

219/month
  • Base Plan$219/month
    • Complete accounting functionality
    • Unlimited invoice sending via email and EHF
    • Unlimited user accounts

Which should you pick?

Choose Circula if

  • You need german per diem engine.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want receipt capture and ocr.
Circula review

Choose Fiken if

Nothing in the data separates Fiken from Circula on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Fiken review

Questions people ask

Is Circula or Fiken better?
Neither clearly leads. Circula starts at €15/month and Fiken at 219/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Circula or Fiken?
Circula starts at €15/month and Fiken at 219/month.
Does Circula or Fiken run on more platforms?
Circula runs on Web, iOS, Android. Fiken runs on Web.
What is Circula best used for?
Circula is most often used for a german company that must apply statutory per diem rates and meal deductions correctly to avoid payroll tax exposure, a finance team wanting card spend, expense claims and benefits in one datev export, an employer offering the tax free monthly benefit allowance and needing auditable records of it, a mid sized business replacing spreadsheet mileage claims with rule enforced distance calculations. Of those, a german company that must apply statutory per diem rates and meal deductions correctly to avoid payroll tax exposure and a finance team wanting card spend, expense claims and benefits in one datev export are not what Fiken is typically brought in for.
What can Circula do that Fiken cannot?
Circula covers German per diem engine, Receipt capture and OCR, Corporate credit cards, Employee benefits.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Circula: Does Circula calculate German per diems automatically?

Yes, by destination country and trip duration, including meal and accommodation deductions, which is the main reason DACH finance teams buy it.

Fiken: Is there a free trial for Fiken?

Yes, Fiken offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card required. After the trial, the base plan costs 219 NOK per month.

Source
Circula: What does it actually cost for fifty employees?

Roughly seven hundred and fifty euro a month for expense licences alone at the fifteen euro rate, before the ninety nine euro card platform fee and any accounts payable module.

Fiken: Do additional users cost more on Fiken?

No, Fiken includes unlimited user accounts at no extra cost on the base plan.

Source
Circula: Is there a minimum commitment?

Yes. A minimum of ten licences and annual billing on the published rates.

Fiken: What add-ons are available and how much do they cost?

Monthly add-ons include bank integration, project accounting, KID number system, and API access (69-99 NOK each). Time tracking, payroll, and expense reimbursements also cost 69 NOK per month. Annual tax filing costs 1,290 NOK for sole proprietors or 1,590 NOK for limited companies.

Source
Fiken: What are the per-transaction costs?

SMS invoicing costs 3 NOK, e-invoicing via Vipps costs 5 NOK, physical mail invoicing costs 25 NOK, and credit checks cost 15 NOK per transaction.

Source
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