# Payhawk API + MCP vs Pleo API + MCP

> Pleo API + MCP scores 62.9 (B) on agent readiness against Payhawk API + MCP's 57.1 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do spend transactions. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payhawk-vs-pleo
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payhawk-vs-pleo.md (~2,250 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payhawk-vs-pleo.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payhawk-vs-pleo.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Pleo API + MCP scores 62.9 (B) on agent readiness against Payhawk API + MCP's 57.1 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do spend transactions.

- Payhawk API + MCP: grade C, 57.1/100, rank #561 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/payhawk.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/payhawk.json
- Pleo API + MCP: grade B, 62.9/100, rank #376 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pleo.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pleo.json

## Which one, for what

### Payhawk API + MCP (C)

Good for: A finance team already on Payhawk that wants an ERP or accounting sync, master data kept in step, purchase orders raised from another system, or an assistant that answers spend questions and prepares approvals.

Watch for: No self-serve route. The API needs a Payhawk customer account, and a development sandbox is requested through a form

### Pleo API + MCP (B)

Good for: An agent that completes, codes, reviews and queues expenses for a Pleo customer on the Optimise plan, or for a bookkeeping integration that exports accounting entries and syncs tags, tax codes, accounts and vendors.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 71 against 58
- Schema & documentation, 82 against 71
- Maintenance & community, 64 against 53

Watch for: The pricing page lists MCP on the Optimise plan only (£18 per user per month, three users minimum, sold through a demo)


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Payhawk API + MCP | Pleo API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 58 | 71 | Pleo API + MCP +13 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 71 | 82 | Pleo API + MCP +11 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 52 | 55 | Pleo API + MCP +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 71 | 71 | even |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 13 | 15 | Pleo API + MCP +2 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 53 | 64 | Pleo API + MCP +11 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 78 | 75 | Payhawk API + MCP +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **57.1 · C** | **62.9 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Payhawk API + MCP | Pleo API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Payhawk Limited | Pleo Technologies A/S |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.payhawk.com` | `https://external.pleo.io` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Payhawk's general terms and conditions | Proprietary service under Pleo's Master Service Agreement, API Terms of Service and AI Access Terms |
| Tools exposed | 82 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-02 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-12-09 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-06-29 |  |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |

## Verdicts

**Payhawk API + MCP.** The Developer API has a public OpenAPI 3.1 definition with 179 operations, read-only or full-access keys and a published limit of 15 requests a second. It needs a Payhawk customer account, no official SDK or API changelog was found, and the 82-tool MCP server is added by hand because it is not yet in the assistant directories.

**Pleo API + MCP.** The hosted MCP server acts with the connecting user's own Pleo permissions, is off until an admin enables it per entity, and can't move money, change cards or alter limits. It is listed only on the Optimise plan, its tool definitions aren't published, API keys need enabling by Pleo support, and no official SDK or SLA was found.

## Before you call either

### Payhawk API + MCP

1. Send the key in `X-Payhawk-ApiKey` or as a Bearer token to `https://api.payhawk.com/api/v3`. A read-only key returns 403 on writes
2. Page lists with `$skip` and `$take`. The help centre gives 1,000 a page and the definition a maximum of 10,000, so count what comes back
3. Pass `$filter` as URL-encoded JSON, for example `{"status":{"$equal":"draft"}}`. Date filters compare the date part only
4. Keep to 15 requests a second and wait for `Retry-After` on a 429. Do not send `Idempotency-Key` when creating a per diem expense, which returns 400
5. Use a group-level key and the `/groups/{groupId}` paths for master data in a multi-entity group. Expenses and payments stay on account paths

### Pleo API + MCP

1. Ask a company admin to enable Pleo MCP access under Settings, General, Pleo AI for each entity before connecting. It is off by default
2. Name the entity in every request when working outside the default one. Each MCP request targets one entity and the choice doesn't persist
3. Set the AI client to require approval for Pleo write tools. Pleo leaves confirmation to the client and doesn't enforce it server-side
4. Send API keys as the Basic auth username with an empty password to external.pleo.io. Legacy tokens for openapi.pleo.io don't work there
5. Budget every endpoint against one bucket of 600 requests a minute per credential, and on 429 wait for Retry-After or back off from one second
6. Swap mcp.staging.pleo.io for mcp.pleo.io in the Claude Code command when moving from staging to production. Each needs its own OAuth sign-in

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Payhawk API + MCP or Pleo API + MCP?

Pleo API + MCP scores 62.9 (B) on agent readiness against Payhawk API + MCP's 57.1 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.

### Do Payhawk API + MCP and Pleo API + MCP need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Payhawk API + MCP and Pleo API + MCP without installing anything?

Yes. Payhawk API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.payhawk.com and Pleo API + MCP at https://external.pleo.io.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payhawk-vs-pleo.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payhawk-vs-pleo.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "payhawk", "b": "pleo"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare payhawk pleo`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/payhawk.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pleo.json

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