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Accounting · head to head

Mesh Payments vs SAP Concur

Mesh Payments logo

Mesh Payments

Accounting

Virtual card and spend management platform aimed at SaaS and travel spend

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SAP Concur logo

SAP Concur

Accounting

Enterprise travel booking, expense claims and supplier invoice processing sold as separate modules

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Mesh Payments has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Mesh Payments cashback only applies above a monthly spend threshold published at around fifty thousand dollars, so smaller programmes pay the per user fee and never see the rebate that justifies it.; SAP Concur implementation is done through SAP or a partner and commonly costs a substantial multiple of the first year subscription, because the value sits entirely in the configured policy, approval hierarchy and ledger mapping rather than in the software as shipped.
  • They diverge on capability: Mesh Payments covers Per vendor virtual cards, SAP Concur covers Expense capture.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mesh Payments and SAP Concur actually diverge.

Attributes where Mesh Payments and SAP Concur differ
AttributeMesh PaymentsSAP Concur
Starting priceFree$29/month
Pricing modelPer user per monthsubscription
Free tierYesNo
FoundedUnknown1993

Identical on both: platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Mesh Payments

  • Per vendor virtual cards
  • Physical and virtual employee cards
  • Subscription and renewal tracking
  • Receipt capture and matching
  • Approval workflows
  • Travel spend controls
  • Accounting sync
  • Cashback programme

Only in SAP Concur

  • Expense capture
  • Corporate card feeds
  • Policy engine
  • Approval routing
  • Travel booking
  • Travel agency integration
  • Duty of care
  • Invoice capture

What people use each for

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

Mesh Payments

  • A software company trying to stop shadow SaaS renewals by giving every vendor its own capped cardnot SAP Concur
  • A finance team that wants receipts matched at the point of spend rather than chased at month endnot SAP Concur
  • A business issuing single use cards for contractor and agency payments with hard limitsnot SAP Concur
  • A team funding trip specific spend with a card that expires when the trip endsnot SAP Concur

SAP Concur

  • A multinational with thousands of travellers where an audit committee has asked for evidence that travel policy is actually enforcednot Mesh Payments
  • An organisation replacing spreadsheet expense claims and email approvals that cannot survive an external auditnot Mesh Payments
  • A finance team trying to eliminate duplicate claims by matching corporate card feeds against submitted receiptsnot Mesh Payments
  • A shared service centre processing high volumes of supplier invoices that needs capture and approval routing before postingnot Mesh Payments

Where each one falls short

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

Mesh Payments

  • Cashback only applies above a monthly spend threshold published at around fifty thousand dollars, so smaller programmes pay the per user fee and never see the rebate that justifies it.
  • Revenue depends on interchange, which means Mesh has a structural interest in card spend running through its rails and less incentive to support bank transfer or direct debit payment methods that many suppliers prefer.
  • Card issuing is limited to the entities and countries Mesh's issuing partners support, so groups with subsidiaries outside that footprint must run a second card programme and lose the single view they bought Mesh for.
  • The free Pro tier caps at three users, which is below the size at which spend control actually becomes a problem, so it functions as a trial rather than a usable plan.
  • It is a spend and card tool rather than an accounts payable system, so invoice heavy businesses still need a separate AP platform and end up reconciling two sources of supplier spend.

SAP Concur

  • Implementation is done through SAP or a partner and commonly costs a substantial multiple of the first year subscription, because the value sits entirely in the configured policy, approval hierarchy and ledger mapping rather than in the software as shipped.
  • Pricing is driven by transaction volume, expense reports and invoices processed, rather than by seats, so a business with seasonal travel or a growth year sees the bill move in ways headcount based budgeting does not predict.
  • The configuration that makes it valuable is also what makes it rigid, and organisations frequently find that changing an approval chain or adding a cost centre dimension requires a partner change order rather than an administrator's afternoon.
  • Contracts are typically multi year with limited exit, so an organisation that concludes after twelve months that a lighter expense tool would have been enough is still paying for the heavier one for the remainder of the term.
  • The three modules are licensed separately and the strongest case for the product depends on having travel, expense and card feeds together, so buying expense alone gives you a costly receipt system without the control loop that justifies the price.

Pricing, plan by plan

Mesh Payments

Free
  • ProFree
    • Up to 3 users
    • Virtual and physical cards
    • Receipt capture
  • Premium$13/month
    • Unlimited users
    • Approval workflows
    • Subscription management
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Multi entity support
    • SSO and advanced controls
    • Custom approval hierarchies

SAP Concur

$29/month
  • Professional$8/month
    • Expense reporting
    • Receipt capture
    • Approvals
  • Premium$12/month
    • Travel booking
    • Invoice management
    • Analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Mesh Payments if

  • You need per vendor virtual cards.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want physical and virtual employee cards.
Mesh Payments review

Choose SAP Concur if

  • You need expense capture.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want corporate card feeds.
SAP Concur review

Questions people ask

Is Mesh Payments or SAP Concur better?
Neither clearly leads. Mesh Payments starts at Free and SAP Concur at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mesh Payments or SAP Concur?
Mesh Payments has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mesh Payments and $29/month for SAP Concur.
Does Mesh Payments or SAP Concur run on more platforms?
Mesh Payments runs on Web, iOS, Android. SAP Concur runs on Web, Ios, Android.
Can I use Mesh Payments for free?
Yes. Mesh Payments has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SAP Concur starts at $29/month.
What is Mesh Payments best used for?
Mesh Payments is most often used for a software company trying to stop shadow saas renewals by giving every vendor its own capped card, a finance team that wants receipts matched at the point of spend rather than chased at month end, a business issuing single use cards for contractor and agency payments with hard limits, a team funding trip specific spend with a card that expires when the trip ends. Of those, a software company trying to stop shadow saas renewals by giving every vendor its own capped card and a finance team that wants receipts matched at the point of spend rather than chased at month end are not what SAP Concur is typically brought in for.
What can Mesh Payments do that SAP Concur cannot?
Mesh Payments covers Per vendor virtual cards, Physical and virtual employee cards, Subscription and renewal tracking, Receipt capture and matching. SAP Concur covers Expense capture, Corporate card feeds, Policy engine, Approval routing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Mesh Payments: Is the free plan really free?

Yes for up to three users, with cards and receipt capture included. Beyond three users you move to the paid tier.

SAP Concur: Do we need SAP ERP to use Concur?

No. It integrates with SAP systems particularly well but it is regularly deployed alongside Oracle, NetSuite, Workday and other ledgers. The integration work is a line item in the implementation either way.

Mesh Payments: How does Mesh make money on a thirteen dollar plan?

Interchange on card spend. The subscription is a minority of revenue, which is why the cashback programme has a monthly spend threshold attached.

SAP Concur: Is it worth it for a company of a hundred people?

Usually not. Below a few hundred travellers the implementation cost and the contract commitment are hard to justify against lighter expense tools. The case turns on policy enforcement and audit, not on receipt scanning.

Mesh Payments: Can Mesh replace our accounts payable process?

Not fully. It controls card spend well but invoice capture, supplier onboarding and payment runs are better served by a dedicated AP tool.

SAP Concur: How is it priced?

Broadly on the volume of expense reports and invoices processed, with the modules licensed separately. Because pricing is quoted rather than published, get the volume assumptions written into the contract and check what happens when you exceed them.

SAP Concur: Can it handle multiple countries and currencies?

Yes, that is one of its stronger areas, including per country tax treatment and VAT reclaim identification. Confirm coverage for your specific countries during the sales process rather than assuming global means every jurisdiction.

SAP Concur: How long does implementation take?

Plan in months, not weeks, for anything beyond a single entity with simple approvals. Multi entity rollouts with travel and invoice modules commonly run across a year in phases.

SAP Concur: What does the audit service actually do?

It has a team review a sample or all of your submitted claims against receipts and policy before approval, which some organisations use in place of internal reviewers. It is priced separately from the expense subscription.

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