Head to head · Spend transactions · October 2026 research run
Pleo API + MCP vs Spendesk API + MCP
Pleo API + MCP and Spendesk API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.9 (B) and 62.3 (B). Spendesk API + MCP leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics, security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do spend transactions.
Which one, for what
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 55
- Payments & pricing, 15 against 0
- Maintenance & community, 64 against 57
Watch for
The pricing page lists MCP on the Optimise plan only (£18 per user per month, three users minimum, sold through a demo)
Good for A finance team already on Spendesk that wants an assistant to analyse spend, follow invoices and prepare the accounting close, or an ERP sync reading payables and settlements.
Ahead on
- Schema & documentation, 87 against 82
- Agent ergonomics, 62 against 55
- Security & auth, 86 against 71
- Transparency & trust, 80 against 75
Watch for
No public price, free tier or self-serve signup. API access and demo credentials are requested from a Spendesk representative
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Pleo API + MCP | Spendesk API + MCP | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 71 | 55 | Pleo API + MCP +16 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 82 | 87 | Spendesk API + MCP +5 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 55 | 62 | Spendesk API + MCP +7 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 71 | 86 | Spendesk API + MCP +15 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 15 | 0 | Pleo API + MCP +15 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 64 | 57 | Pleo API + MCP +7 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 75 | 80 | Spendesk API + MCP +5 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 62.9 · B | 62.3 · B |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Pleo API + MCP | Spendesk API + MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Pleo Technologies A/S | Spendesk SAS |
| Hosted endpoint | https://external.pleo.io | https://public-api.spendesk.com |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Pleo's Master Service Agreement, API Terms of Service and AI Access Terms | Proprietary service under Spendesk's terms and conditions and a separate Spendesk API agreement |
| Tools exposed | none | 62 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-02 | 2026-09-29 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-03-01 | |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
Verdicts
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.
Spendesk API + MCP
Scoped credentials, MCP write permissions that are off by default, an action log and published guidance on prompt injection suit delegated finance work. Access needs a paying customer and a request to Spendesk, most write endpoints are experimental, no official SDK was found, and the status page lists three critical incidents between 2 and 29 September 2026.
Before you call either
Pleo API + MCP
- Ask a company admin to enable Pleo MCP access under Settings, General, Pleo AI for each entity before connecting. It is off by default
- Name the entity in every request when working outside the default one. Each MCP request targets one entity and the choice doesn't persist
- Set the AI client to require approval for Pleo write tools. Pleo leaves confirmation to the client and doesn't enforce it server-side
- 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
- 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
- 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
Spendesk API + MCP
- Request a token at POST /v1/auth/token with HTTP Basic (client ID and secret). It lasts 3,600 seconds, so renew on a 401
- Stop paging at the last page calculated from
totalandpageSize(maximum 30). A page past the end returns 404, not an empty list - With an organisation-level token, send
X-Company-Idon every v1 call or expect a 400 - The MCP server refuses API keys. Connect with OAuth authorisation code and PKCE, and treat
Tool not found(-32601) as a missing permission - After an unclear write result, read the object again before retrying. Creating a purchase order or supplier twice creates two
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Pleo API + MCP or Spendesk API + MCP?
Pleo API + MCP and Spendesk API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.9 (B) and 62.3 (B). Spendesk API + MCP leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics, security & auth and transparency & trust.
Do Pleo API + MCP and Spendesk API + MCP need an API key?
Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.
Can an agent call Pleo API + MCP and Spendesk API + MCP without installing anything?
Yes. Pleo API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://external.pleo.io and Spendesk API + MCP at https://public-api.spendesk.com.
Other comparisons with Pleo API + MCP or Spendesk API + MCP
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/pleo-vs-spendesk.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/pleo.json·/api/v1/tools/spendesk.json - From a terminal
anchor compare pleo spendesk(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "pleo", "b": "spendesk"}at/mcp, no key