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Accounting · head to head

Happay vs Payhawk

Happay logo

Happay

Accounting

Indian travel, expense and corporate card platform, now owned by MakeMyTrip

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Payhawk logo

Payhawk

Payroll

Modular spend management combining corporate cards, accounts payable, procurement and travel

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Happay the platform has changed owner twice since 2021, from founders to CRED to MakeMyTrip, and each transition has meant leadership churn and roadmap reprioritisation.; Payhawk buying the full stack of Travel, Accounts Payable, Cards and Procurement separately costs more than a single suite price, since each module carries its own flat monthly fee.
  • They diverge on capability: Happay covers GST-aware capture, Payhawk covers Accounts payable automation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Happay and Payhawk actually diverge.

Attributes where Happay and Payhawk differ
AttributeHappayPayhawk
Pricing modelquotePer module per month
CategoryAccountingPayroll

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Happay

  • GST-aware capture
  • Self-booking travel
  • Cash advances
  • Approval matrix
  • Analytics

Only in Payhawk

  • Accounts payable automation
  • Procurement module
  • Travel booking
  • ERP integrations
  • Multi-entity consolidation

Both cover

  • Corporate cards

What people use each for

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

Happay

  • An Indian enterprise needing GST input credit fields captured at the point of expense submissionnot Payhawk
  • A company with field sales staff needing rupee prepaid cards with merchant category limitsnot Payhawk
  • A finance team replacing a spreadsheet-and-email cash advance process with a tracked workflownot Payhawk
  • An Indian group wanting travel booking and expense from one supplier with domestic content depthnot Payhawk

Payhawk

  • A multi-entity European business wanting one system for cards, expenses and payables across currenciesnot Happay
  • A finance team that wants to price spend management before a sales call rather than negotiating blindnot Happay
  • A company wanting only accounts payable automation without paying for card issuing it does not neednot Happay
  • A mid-market business standardising ERP-integrated expense reporting ahead of a fundraise or auditnot Happay

Where each one falls short

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

Happay

  • The platform has changed owner twice since 2021, from founders to CRED to MakeMyTrip, and each transition has meant leadership churn and roadmap reprioritisation.
  • It is now owned by an online travel agency, so the incentive is to grow travel bookings, and expense-only customers are not the strategic centre of the product.
  • Card issuance depends on partner bank relationships, so limits, approval times and product features are constrained by a bank the customer does not choose.
  • Coverage is overwhelmingly India-specific, which makes it unsuitable as a group-wide platform for companies with foreign subsidiaries.
  • Integration depth outside common Indian ERP and accounting systems is thin, and connecting a global SAP instance usually needs bespoke work.

Payhawk

  • Buying the full stack of Travel, Accounts Payable, Cards and Procurement separately costs more than a single suite price, since each module carries its own flat monthly fee.
  • The unlimited-seats model is a poor fit for a company issuing cards to only a handful of employees, since the fixed module price does not scale down.
  • Card issuing depends on Payhawk's own banking partners rather than a company's existing bank, so switching away later means reissuing cards and re-training staff on a new tool.
  • Procurement is a separate paid module rather than a built-in feature, so a company evaluating "Payhawk" from marketing material may be looking at capability it has not actually bought.
  • International card acceptance and FX handling vary by market, and companies with material spend outside Europe report gaps compared to global card issuers.

Pricing, plan by plan

Happay

On request
  • Happay$undefined/year
    • Quoted per-user or per-transaction subscription
    • Card programme terms set with the partner bank
    • Travel booking fees separate from expense subscription

Payhawk

On request
  • Travel$299/month
    • Integrated travel booking
    • Unlimited employee seats
  • Accounts Payable$349/month
    • Invoice capture and approval routing
    • Unlimited document processing
  • Cards and Expenses$449/month
    • Unlimited card transactions
    • Multi-entity expense management
  • Procurement$499/month
    • Purchase request and approval workflow
    • Vendor management

Which should you pick?

Choose Happay if

  • You need gst-aware capture.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want self-booking travel.
Happay review

Choose Payhawk if

  • You need accounts payable automation.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want procurement module.
Payhawk review

Questions people ask

Is Happay or Payhawk better?
Neither clearly leads. Happay starts at On request and Payhawk at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Happay or Payhawk?
Happay starts at On request and Payhawk at On request.
Does Happay or Payhawk run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Happay best used for?
Happay is most often used for an indian enterprise needing gst input credit fields captured at the point of expense submission, a company with field sales staff needing rupee prepaid cards with merchant category limits, a finance team replacing a spreadsheet-and-email cash advance process with a tracked workflow, an indian group wanting travel booking and expense from one supplier with domestic content depth. Of those, an indian enterprise needing gst input credit fields captured at the point of expense submission and a company with field sales staff needing rupee prepaid cards with merchant category limits are not what Payhawk is typically brought in for.
What can Happay do that Payhawk cannot?
Happay covers GST-aware capture, Self-booking travel, Cash advances, Approval matrix. Payhawk covers Accounts payable automation, Procurement module, Travel booking, ERP integrations. Both handle Corporate cards.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Happay: Who owns Happay now?

MakeMyTrip. It agreed in November 2024 to acquire the expense management platform, brand and team from CRED, which had bought Happay in 2021.

Payhawk: Is Payhawk pricing really public?

Yes, module pricing (Travel, Accounts Payable, Cards and Expenses, Procurement) is published starting at 299 to 499 dollars a month per module, or bundled as Payhawk Complete.

Happay: Can it be used outside India?

It books international travel for Indian entities, but the expense and card sides are built for Indian tax and banking and do not serve foreign entities well.

Payhawk: Does it charge per seat?

No, each module includes unlimited employee seats; the fixed monthly fee does not increase with headcount.

Happay: Does Happay issue its own cards?

It issues cards through partner banks rather than under its own banking licence, so card terms follow the partner.

Payhawk: Can we buy just one module?

Yes, modules are sold separately, so a company can buy Accounts Payable without Cards or Procurement.

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