Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Cledara vs Tropic

Cledara logo

Cledara

Accounting

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

From
£100/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tropic logo

Tropic

Accounting

Software procurement combining a workflow platform with human negotiators and price benchmarks

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.; Tropic benchmark coverage is concentrated in commonly purchased SaaS, so a company whose spend is dominated by niche, vertical or regionally sold vendors buys intelligence that does not cover its actual contracts.
  • They diverge on capability: Cledara covers Virtual card per subscription, Tropic covers Contract and renewal repository.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cledara and Tropic actually diverge.

Attributes where Cledara and Tropic differ
AttributeCledaraTropic
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 Tropic

  • Contract and renewal repository
  • Price benchmarks
  • Negotiation support
  • Intake and approvals
  • Supplier alerts
  • AI consumption management
  • Redundancy analysis
  • Spend reporting

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 Tropic
  • A company that keeps paying for tools nobody uses and cannot get the vendor to process a cancellationnot Tropic
  • A startup wanting approval on new software purchases before the first charge rather than at the auditnot Tropic
  • A finance function that spends days each month chasing SaaS invoices for the accountantnot Tropic

Tropic

  • A finance team facing a large renewal with a vendor that knows the market price better than they donot Cledara
  • A company whose AI spend is growing faster than anyone can explain and needs consumption measured against commitmentnot Cledara
  • An organisation that keeps paying for two products doing the same job in different departmentsnot Cledara
  • A lean procurement function that needs negotiation capacity without hiring specialist negotiatorsnot 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.

Tropic

  • Benchmark coverage is concentrated in commonly purchased SaaS, so a company whose spend is dominated by niche, vertical or regionally sold vendors buys intelligence that does not cover its actual contracts.
  • Handing negotiation to a third party can damage a direct supplier relationship that a customer relies on for support and roadmap influence, which is a real cost not captured in a savings figure.
  • Claimed savings are measured against a counterfactual price nobody can verify independently, so the return on the subscription is difficult to audit after the fact.
  • Pricing is quoted and typically scales with spend under management, meaning the fee rises with the very software bill the product is meant to reduce.
  • It is focused on software and AI spend rather than general procurement, so it does not help with services, facilities or physical goods, which for many companies is the larger share of third-party spend.

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

Tropic

On request
  • Tropic$undefined/year
    • Contract repository, intake and renewal management
    • Access to price benchmark intelligence
    • Negotiation support from Tropic staff

Which should you pick?

Choose Cledara if

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

Choose Tropic if

  • You need contract and renewal repository.
  • You also want price benchmarks.
Tropic review

Questions people ask

Is Cledara or Tropic better?
Neither clearly leads. Cledara starts at £100/month and Tropic at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cledara or Tropic?
Cledara starts at £100/month and Tropic at On request.
Does Cledara or Tropic 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 Tropic is typically brought in for.
What can Cledara do that Tropic cannot?
Cledara covers Virtual card per subscription, Cancel by card, Application inventory, Approval workflow. Tropic covers Contract and renewal repository, Price benchmarks, Negotiation support, Intake and approvals.

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%.

Tropic: What am I actually buying?

Price intelligence and negotiation capacity, wrapped in a contract and renewal management tool. The benchmark data is the asset; the workflow is table stakes.

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.

Tropic: Does it work for niche software?

Less well. Benchmarks are strongest on widely purchased SaaS. Ask for coverage on your top ten suppliers by spend before signing.

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.

Tropic: Can I verify the savings?

Not independently. Savings are measured against an estimated market price, so treat the figures as directional and negotiate the fee accordingly.

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.

Tropic: Does it cover non-software spend?

No. It is software and AI spend. Services, facilities and goods need a general procurement tool.

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