Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Cledara vs Pennylane

Cledara logo

Cledara

Accounting

Software subscription management with a virtual card per application, priced from £100 a month

From
£100/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Pennylane logo

Pennylane

Accounting

French tool combining business finances, accounting and a pro account in one platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Cledara control only extends to subscriptions paid on a Cledara card, so anything billed by invoice, bank transfer or a legacy company card is invisible to the system and undermines the inventory it promises.; Pennylane no pricing is displayed on the homepage or linked pricing page; visitors are directed only to a Demarrer maintenant (Start now) signup flow with no published EUR figure
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cledara and Pennylane actually diverge.

Attributes where Cledara and Pennylane differ
AttributeCledaraPennylane
Starting price£100/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer month by number of applicationsquote

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web), 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 Cledara

  • Virtual card per subscription
  • Cancel by card
  • Application inventory
  • Approval workflow
  • Invoice collection
  • Accounting export
  • Spend optimisation module
  • IT management and compliance modules

Only in Pennylane

Nothing recorded that Cledara does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Cledara

  • A finance team that cannot say what software the company pays for because everything is on three people's company cardsnot Pennylane
  • A company that keeps paying for tools nobody uses and cannot get the vendor to process a cancellationnot Pennylane
  • A startup wanting approval on new software purchases before the first charge rather than at the auditnot Pennylane
  • A finance function that spends days each month chasing SaaS invoices for the accountantnot Pennylane

Pennylane

  • Automated invoicing with payment reminders and collectionsnot Cledara
  • Real-time cash flow visibility and financial forecastingnot Cledara
  • Employee expense management with card controls and workflowsnot Cledara
  • Automated supplier invoice payment processingnot Cledara
  • Mandatory e-invoicing compliance (France September 2026)not Cledara

Where each one falls short

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

Cledara

  • Control only extends to subscriptions paid on a Cledara card, so anything billed by invoice, bank transfer or a legacy company card is invisible to the system and undermines the inventory it promises.
  • Tier limits are set by number of applications rather than headcount, and twenty applications on the Basic plan is fewer than most companies of fifty actually run, so buyers often land on a higher tier than the entry price suggests.
  • The modules that turn it from a payment layer into a management platform, spend optimisation, IT management and compliance, are each priced at £150 to £200 a month, comparable to the base plan itself.
  • Usage data is inferred from payment and integration signals rather than deep application telemetry, so its judgement of whether a tool is underused is weaker than a discovery product built on single sign-on and API usage.
  • It is a card issuer as well as a software vendor, which adds financial counterparty considerations and means a change in its banking arrangements would affect how the company pays every one of its suppliers.

Pennylane

  • No pricing is displayed on the homepage or linked pricing page; visitors are directed only to a Demarrer maintenant (Start now) signup flow with no published EUR figure
  • The product bundles accounting, invoicing and a business bank account together, so buyers cannot subscribe to only one function

Pricing, plan by plan

Cledara

£100/month
  • Basic$100/month
    • Up to 20 software applications
    • Virtual card per subscription
    • Application inventory and approvals
  • Premium$undefined/month
    • Up to 75 software applications
    • Typically 51 to 150 staff
    • 1% cashback in the first year, capped at the subscription cost
  • Pro$undefined/month
    • For organisations above roughly 150 staff
    • Scoped individually
    • 1% cashback in the first year, capped at plan cost
  • Add-on modules$200/month
    • Spend Optimization £200 a month or £1,500 a year
    • IT Management £150 a month or £1,500 a year
    • Software Compliance £150 a month or £1,500 a year

Pennylane

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Pennylane review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Cledara if

  • You need virtual card per subscription.
  • You also want cancel by card.
Cledara review

Choose Pennylane if

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

Pennylane review

Questions people ask

Is Cledara or Pennylane better?
Neither clearly leads. Cledara starts at £100/month and Pennylane at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cledara or Pennylane?
Cledara starts at £100/month and Pennylane at On request.
Does Cledara or Pennylane run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Cledara best used for?
Cledara is most often used for a finance team that cannot say what software the company pays for because everything is on three people's company cards, a company that keeps paying for tools nobody uses and cannot get the vendor to process a cancellation, a startup wanting approval on new software purchases before the first charge rather than at the audit, a finance function that spends days each month chasing saas invoices for the accountant. Of those, a finance team that cannot say what software the company pays for because everything is on three people's company cards and a company that keeps paying for tools nobody uses and cannot get the vendor to process a cancellation are not what Pennylane is typically brought in for.
What can Cledara do that Pennylane cannot?
Cledara covers Virtual card per subscription, Cancel by card, Application inventory, Approval workflow.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cledara: What does it cost?

Basic is £100 a month for up to 20 applications, with Premium covering up to 75 and Pro above that. Add-on modules are £150 to £200 a month each, and annual payment saves 16%.

Pennylane: What financial processes does Pennylane help automate?

Pennylane streamlines multiple financial functions including invoice creation, expense management, payment collection, and receipt documentation. The platform centralizes data from facturation, purchasing, treasury, and accounting in one unified system.

Source
Cledara: Does it find software we did not tell it about?

Only what passes through its cards or connected integrations. Subscriptions paid by invoice or another card stay hidden, which is the main limitation of the model.

Pennylane: Can Pennylane help with corporate spending control?

Yes. Pennylane provides corporate cards for employees with built-in spending controls and authorization workflows, allowing businesses to manage team expenses while maintaining visibility and approval requirements.

Source
Cledara: How does cancelling work?

You cancel the virtual card for that subscription, which stops the payment. It does not remove your contractual obligation, so check notice periods.

Pennylane: Does Pennylane provide real-time financial visibility?

Yes. Pennylane's unified dashboard provides live transaction visibility and real-time cash flow monitoring across the entire business, helping teams access financial data instantly.

Source
Cledara: Is the application limit by users or by tools?

By tools. Twenty on Basic, seventy-five on Premium. Count your actual subscriptions before assuming the entry price applies to you.

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