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Accounting · head to head

SAP Concur vs Spendbase

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
Spendbase logo

Spendbase

Accounting

SaaS and cloud spend management that charges a share of the savings it finds rather than a licence

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Spendbase has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Spendbase charging a share of savings gives the vendor an interest in defining savings generously, and the customer cannot verify a counterfactual price it never saw.
  • They diverge on capability: SAP Concur covers Expense capture, Spendbase covers Subscription visibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which SAP Concur and Spendbase actually diverge.

Attributes where SAP Concur and Spendbase differ
AttributeSAP ConcurSpendbase
Starting price$29/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionFree card tier, plus a share of savings on the managed plan
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
Founded1993Unknown

Identical on both: 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 SAP Concur

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

Only in Spendbase

  • Subscription visibility
  • Discount marketplace
  • Virtual cards
  • Cashback
  • Renewal management
  • Savings-share billing

What people use each for

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

SAP Concur

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

Spendbase

  • A startup with no procurement function that wants renewal dates and subscription owners in one placenot SAP Concur
  • A company with heavy Azure or cloud spend that can use pre-negotiated credit allocationsnot SAP Concur
  • Issuing virtual cards per subscription so a forgotten trial cannot renew silentlynot SAP Concur
  • A finance lead who wants software cost reduction without hiring anyone to do itnot SAP Concur

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Spendbase

  • Charging a share of savings gives the vendor an interest in defining savings generously, and the customer cannot verify a counterfactual price it never saw.
  • The savings share is reported at around 25 percent but is not published on the pricing page, so the actual commercial terms only appear in a contract.
  • Spendbase is both a banking provider and your software negotiator, so a company using both concentrates operating cash and vendor relationships in one small, young company.
  • Banking is delivered through partners rather than held directly, meaning deposit protection and service continuity depend on those partners rather than on Spendbase.
  • It is scoped for startups and small companies, so organisations needing approval workflows, purchase orders or ERP integration will find it thin against a real procurement platform.

Pricing, plan by plan

SAP Concur

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

Spendbase

Free
  • Digital bankingFree
    • No monthly fee per user
    • Up to 100 virtual cards
    • EUR and GBP account details
  • Spend management$undefined/year
    • Everything in the free tier
    • Reported share of roughly 25 percent of savings achieved
    • 200 percent return guarantee against a deposit

Which should you pick?

Choose SAP Concur if

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

Choose Spendbase if

  • You need subscription visibility.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want discount marketplace.
Spendbase review

Questions people ask

Is SAP Concur or Spendbase better?
Neither clearly leads. SAP Concur starts at $29/month and Spendbase at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, SAP Concur or Spendbase?
Spendbase has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for SAP Concur and Free for Spendbase.
Does SAP Concur or Spendbase run on more platforms?
SAP Concur runs on Web, Ios, Android. Spendbase runs on Web.
Can I use Spendbase for free?
Yes. Spendbase has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SAP Concur starts at $29/month.
What is SAP Concur best used for?
SAP Concur is most often used for a multinational with thousands of travellers where an audit committee has asked for evidence that travel policy is actually enforced, an organisation replacing spreadsheet expense claims and email approvals that cannot survive an external audit, a finance team trying to eliminate duplicate claims by matching corporate card feeds against submitted receipts, a shared service centre processing high volumes of supplier invoices that needs capture and approval routing before posting. Of those, a multinational with thousands of travellers where an audit committee has asked for evidence that travel policy is actually enforced and an organisation replacing spreadsheet expense claims and email approvals that cannot survive an external audit are not what Spendbase is typically brought in for.
What can SAP Concur do that Spendbase cannot?
SAP Concur covers Expense capture, Corporate card feeds, Policy engine, Approval routing. Spendbase covers Subscription visibility, Discount marketplace, Virtual cards, Cashback.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Spendbase: Is Spendbase free?

The card and banking tier is genuinely free with no per-user fee. The spend management service is paid from a share of the savings it finds, reported at around 25 percent.

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.

Spendbase: How is a saving calculated?

The methodology is not published. Agree the baseline, the measurement period and what counts as a saving in writing before signing.

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.

Spendbase: Does Spendbase hold my money?

Banking is provided through regulated partners including Moorwand in the UK and EEA and Sutton Bank in the US, with Mastercard issuing the cards.

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.

Spendbase: Is it suitable for an enterprise?

No. There are no purchase orders, approval hierarchies or ERP integration; it is built for startups.

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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