Brex Alternatives for European Businesses: 10 Platforms Compared

If you're a European finance leader evaluating Brex, you're weighing a US-built platform against EU-native alternatives. That gap matters more than it might first appear. Despite Capital One's acquisition closing in April 2026 and the scale that comes with it, Brex is effectively a new EU market entrant.

The real question for European finance teams is whether a recent EU entrant can match the regulatory track record that established EU-native platforms have built over many years.

That gap shows up in practical ways, including:

• Local payment infrastructure

• IBAN acceptance

• Reliable SEPA rails

• DATEV integrations

• Other European accounting-system integrations

• Multi-entity support

• Data residency and compliance documentation

Why European businesses switch from Brex

Brex has a strong reputation in the US. Capital One now backs the well-regarded spend management platform, which has real scale and a polished product. European finance directors reconsidering Brex in 2025 and 2026, however, may find that this pedigree does not yet translate into everything European finance teams need.

Brex's EU capabilities are relatively new. Although its Payment Institution licence expressly covers commercial card issuance and bank payments, including direct debits and credit transfers across all 30 EU member states, Brex only secured that licence in August 2025 and is targeting a full operational rollout during 2026. This gives Brex a fraction of the operating history under EU infrastructure that established European providers have built.

If you are evaluating a platform to run spend across multiple European entities, you are evaluating a product in phased EU rollout rather than one with a long European operating history. The main gaps fall into four categories.

US-centric design and non-EU entity gaps

European companies cannot yet use Brex in exactly the same way as a US team. Entity eligibility and daily payment functions are still catching up.

Non-EU entity onboarding

Brex's Business Account terms state that companies organised or registered outside the United States cannot open Brex Business Accounts. Brex is lifting this restriction through its phased EU rollout, but availability is not universal yet.

US-centric Business Account, with EU payment rails now available

When Brex launched its early EU offering in August 2025, it excluded banking and bill pay entirely.

That gap has since narrowed. EU entities can now open local bank accounts and make local bill payments across a broad list of European countries using EUR local payment rails. The Brex Business Account itself, however, remains largely US-centric.

Brex states that its Business Account carries no IBAN. This may be a consideration for counterparties expecting standard EU account details. Teams should verify this against their specific supplier base and payroll requirements.

Regulatory and compliance shortfalls

European finance teams need documented compliance evidence before onboarding a payments provider. Brex's EU regulatory posture is recent and less publicly confirmed than that of many EU-native competitors.

PSD2 and Strong Customer Authentication

EU-licensed platforms must comply with Strong Customer Authentication requirements under the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2).

Brex explicitly documents SCA for EU payment workflows, stating that EU entities must use Strong Customer Authentication when authorising vendors for local bill payments. Its public SCA documentation is, however, more recent and narrower in scope than that of EU-native competitors that maintain dedicated compliance pages covering a wider range of payment scenarios.

Finance teams should verify that Brex's documented SCA coverage extends to their specific workflows and use cases before onboarding.

GDPR and data residency

GDPR does not require general data localisation, but it strictly governs transfers outside the European Economic Area under Chapter V transfer rules.

These rules require either:

• An EU adequacy decision

• Standard Contractual Clauses

• A Transfer Impact Assessment

For a US-headquartered platform, procurement teams should confirm where Brex stores data and whether Brex has put the required SCCs in place.

Multi-currency and local payment limitations

European teams need SEPA coverage and local IBAN issuance for day-to-day supplier payments and payroll. These are areas where Brex's EU offering is still developing.

SEPA and local IBAN issuance

Brex now explicitly documents SEPA support, including EUR payments from entities in 36 SEPA countries and a SEPA Core Direct Debit mandate. However, Brex states that its Business Account carries no IBAN. EU entities must therefore rely on local accounts for IBAN-dependent transactions such as supplier payments and payroll. Cardholders can make global card payments in more than 30 currencies and make stablecoin payments using USDC. Neither capability replaces local payment rails for European operations.

IBAN discrimination

When a provider issues a single passported IBAN from one country to a customer in another, suppliers and payroll teams may reject it because the country codes do not match. Payment providers and regulators refer to this practice as IBAN discrimination. EU-native platforms issue IBANs from their home regulatory jurisdiction, which can reduce this risk.

Capital One acquisition uncertainty

Capital One's acquisition of Brex closed while the EU rollout was still in its phased stage. European buyers should therefore treat Brex as a new EU market entrant and confirm current onboarding availability directly before committing. The confirmed deal facts are as follows:

• Roadmap continuity after the acquisition: Capital One completed its acquisition of Brex on 7 April 2026, during the EU rollout. This introduces some uncertainty about the European product roadmap. Capital One announced the definitive agreement on 22 January 2026, valuing the deal at $5.15 billion.

• Deal structure and leadership continuity: The cash component was approximately $2.75 billion, with roughly 10.6 million shares of Capital One common stock. Pedro Franceschi continues to lead Brex as CEO.

10 Brex alternatives at a glance

Spendesk leads this comparison as the primary reference point for European mid-market finance teams. It sets the benchmark with EU-native regulatory infrastructure, including SEPA payments and local IBANs. Native DATEV and SAP integrations support the accounting workflow, while its pricing does not increase per user.

This makes Spendesk a natural starting point for teams evaluating a Brex alternative. The other EU-native platforms follow, prioritising similar infrastructure and accounting-stack fit. US platforms with meaningful European reach round out the list.

Brex alternatives compared by licensing and payment support

EU-native platforms hold their own European licences and build SEPA and multi-currency support into the core product. Several also support DATEV. US platforms extend into Europe through partnerships or recent acquisitions and generally have a shorter EU regulatory track record. The alternatives below are presented in that order, with European-native platforms first, followed by US platforms with European reach.

Spendesk

Spendesk is an all-in-one spend management platform built for European mid-market finance teams. It combines:

• Company cards

• Expense management

• Accounts payable

• Procurement

• Budgeting

• Multi-entity management

In the EEA, payment services are provided by Spendesk Financial Services, its own French Payment Institution regulated by the ACPR. This provides French-issued IBANs and established EU-native payment infrastructure alongside SEPA payments, multi-entity management and native DATEV and SAP integrations.

In the UK, payment services and card issuance are provided through Spendesk's partnership with Adyen. For European finance teams comparing Brex with an EU-native platform, this means the core payment and accounting infrastructure is already designed around European requirements.

Quick facts

• Regulatory licence: Payment Institution, ACPR France, REGAFI No. 74593.

• SEPA and IBAN: SEPA credit transfers through the French Payment Institution licence, with French-issued IBANs.

• UK payment infrastructure: UK payment services and card issuance are provided through Spendesk's partnership with Adyen.

• Pricing: Quote-only, with a fixed monthly platform fee plus transaction fees. Spendesk does not charge per user or per card.

• Foreign exchange: The standard FX fee is 2.99% for card transactions made in a currency different from the Spendesk account currency.

• ERP integrations: Native DATEV, SAP, NetSuite, Xero and QuickBooks integrations, among more than 40 connectors.

Spendesk versus Brex

When the accounting team eliminates manual month-end re-keying, the finance director gets board-ready numbers sooner. That is exactly what Spendesk's native DATEV sync is designed to support. Transactions post directly, with no export and import cycle between the close and the report.

Brex has not publicly confirmed whether it offers a native DATEV connection. Finance teams relying on that workflow should check with Brex directly, since an undocumented gap could mean that manual reconciliation steps remain part of the month-end close. For a CFO who needs to walk into a board meeting with clean, consolidated figures, the right integration can reduce a close that would otherwise take days.

For a multi-entity European mid-market finance team, Spendesk is a natural fit. The strategic case starts with control and capability. The ACPR Payment Institution licence and French-issued IBANs carry a matching country code where French suppliers and payroll providers expect it, which can help reduce country-code rejections. The same regulatory footing applies consistently across multiple EU entities. That consistency matters when a finance director is trying to maintain coherent governance rather than managing a patchwork of local workarounds.

Spendesk's native DATEV and SAP integrations support the accounting workflow, while multi-entity consolidation keeps visibility from fragmenting as the business grows. The pricing model also avoids user and card charges. It excludes login charges as well, protecting the department's cost-to-revenue ratio as headcount scales without proportional budget growth. The main trade-offs are that pricing is quote-only, so you will not receive a number without a sales conversation. Procurement is also a complementary module with less depth than a dedicated procurement suite.

Payhawk

Payhawk competes on platform breadth similar to Spendesk and targets mid-market and enterprise companies with multi-entity tooling. The Bank of Lithuania licenses Payhawk as an Electronic Money Institution, licence No. 95. Payhawk passports that licence across the EEA.

A separate Financial Conduct Authority-authorised UK entity, FRN 987096, supports its UK operations. Payhawk is an official DATEV and NetSuite SDN partner. It also partners with SAP S/4HANA.

Quick facts

• Regulatory licence: Electronic Money Institution, Bank of Lithuania, No. 95. Its UK entity is authorised by the FCA.

• SEPA and IBAN: SEPA through the Lithuanian EMI, with Lithuanian passported IBANs.

• Pricing: The Growth programme starts at £149 per month, including 10 cards and 10 seats. Additional employee seats cost €99 per month, while admin seats cost €19 per seat. Enterprise pricing is quote-only.

• Foreign exchange: Card FX is 1.99%, while global payments have a 0.30% markup.

• ERP integrations: Official DATEV, SAP S/4HANA, NetSuite, Xero and QuickBooks integrations.

Payhawk versus Brex

Payhawk offers broad ERP coverage, including DATEV, SAP S/4HANA and NetSuite integrations. Its published Growth plan starts at £149 per month, including 10 cards and 10 seats. Per-seat charges mean costs increase as the number of users grows.

Employee seats cost €99 per month, and admin seats cost €19 per seat. Payhawk's IBANs carry a Lithuanian country code regardless of where the business operates. Although EU rules prohibit IBAN discrimination, some suppliers or payroll processors may still reject an IBAN with a different country code. It is worth confirming acceptance with key counterparties before committing.

Best for: Larger and more complex multi-entity organisations at the lighter end of enterprise that need broad ERP coverage and are comfortable with per-seat pricing.

Pleo

Pleo focuses on European SMBs and distributed card programmes, with a free entry tier and lighter workflow controls than the mid-market platforms. Denmark's Finanstilsynet licenses Pleo as an Electronic Money Institution, licence No. 40506. Pleo passports that licence across the EEA. Pleo also publishes some of the most granular EU data-residency information among the platforms evaluated.

Quick facts

• Regulatory licence: Electronic Money Institution, Finanstilsynet Denmark, No. 40506.

• SEPA and IBAN: Danish EMI-issued IBAN. Pleo does not publicly detail specific SEPA rail support.

• Pricing in EUR, billed annually: Starter, €4 per month for a maximum of three users; Essential, €18 per month plus €11 per user; Advanced, €99 per month plus €15 per user; Beyond, €199 per month plus €18 per user.

• Foreign exchange: FX fees range from 2.49% on Starter to 1.49% on Beyond.

• ERP integrations: DATEV through three options, plus SAP Business One, NetSuite, Xero and QuickBooks.

Pricing information was stated as of 17 July 2025 and is subject to change.

Pleo versus Brex

Pleo's published tier structure makes total cost predictable for smaller teams. Pleo offers published pricing and detailed EU data-residency information, which may suit smaller businesses looking for a lighter card and expense-management platform. Its paid tiers use per-user pricing, and its workflow controls are lighter than those of mid-market platforms.

Best for: Smaller European businesses with lighter card and expense-management needs. European mid-market teams requiring broader spend management and finance controls may find Spendesk a stronger fit.

Qonto

Qonto combines a business account with spend management and targets small businesses and self-employed users, primarily in France and nearby European markets. Its team plans use a hybrid pricing model with a flat monthly platform fee per tier:

• Essential: €49 per month

• Business: €99 per month

• Enterprise: €199 per month

Each tier includes a set number of seats. Qonto bills teams for seats beyond that allowance. Additional users cost €5 per month per user, while additional admin access costs €10 per month per admin. Total cost therefore scales with team size. Qonto operates under a Payment Institution licence from the French ACPR, licence No. 16958, issued in June 2018. As of July 2025, Qonto had filed for a full banking licence with the ACPR. If granted, the licence could expand Qonto's permitted activities and change how it protects eligible funds.

Quick facts

• Regulatory licence: Payment Institution, ACPR France, No. 16958, issued June 2018. Qonto filed for a banking licence in July 2025.

• SEPA and IBAN: SEPA transfers are a core feature, with French Payment Institution-issued IBANs.

• Pricing: Essential costs €49 per month, Business costs €99 per month and Enterprise costs €199 per month. Additional users cost €5 per month, while additional admins cost €10 per month.

• Foreign exchange: Card FX is 2%, 1% or 0% depending on the tier. Outgoing international transfers cost 0.8%, with a minimum of €5.

• ERP integrations: Qonto does not publicly confirm the relevant integrations. Ask Qonto directly.

Qonto versus Brex

Qonto's banking licence application is a significant structural development among the EU-native platforms, since a credit institution licence carries Deposit Guarantee Scheme coverage of up to €100,000 per depositor. Qonto is primarily designed for small businesses and self-employed users rather than mid-market finance teams. It offers French-issued IBANs and SEPA transfers, but its spend-management controls are narrower than those of all-in-one mid-market platforms. Per-user and per-admin charges also increase costs as teams grow.

Best for: Small businesses and self-employed users looking for a business account with spend-management functionality.

Moss

Moss targets the German-speaking mid-market. Germany's BaFin licenses Moss as an Electronic Money Institution, licence No. 159024. Like Spendesk, Moss charges no per-user fee and allows unlimited users. Its BaFin licence and DATEV support address two high-priority procurement criteria for German finance teams.

Quick facts

• Regulatory licence: Electronic Money Institution, BaFin Germany, licence No. 159024.

• SEPA and IBAN: SEPA through the German BaFin EMI, with German EMI-issued IBANs.

• Pricing: Quote-only, with a single platform fee based on modules and volume. There are no per-user fees and users are unlimited.

• Foreign exchange: 2% on major currencies.

• ERP integrations: Native DATEV, SAP, NetSuite, Xero and QuickBooks integrations.

Moss versus Brex

Moss is a natural fit for teams whose accounting runs through DATEV and who prefer a domestic German licence. It is focused on the German-speaking mid-market, with German-issued IBANs, DATEV support and no per-user fees. Its geographic focus makes it particularly relevant to German businesses, although pricing is quote-only and its 2% FX fee should be considered by teams with significant international spend.

Best for: German-focused businesses that prioritise domestic payment infrastructure and DATEV integration.

Soldo

Soldo is a card-led spend-control platform with published and simple pricing. It suits companies of any size that want prepaid card control without heavy platform overhead. The Central Bank of Ireland licenses Soldo as an Electronic Money Institution, licence C179925. The Central Bank of Ireland's May 2026 register lists the licence as active. Soldo has a separate UK entity authorised by the FCA, licence FRN 900459, and confirms EEA data storage. Soldo also states that its 3DS implementation meets PSD2 SCA requirements.

Quick facts

• Regulatory licence: Electronic Money Institution, Central Bank of Ireland, licence C179925. Its UK entity is authorised by the FCA.

• SEPA and IBAN: SEPA through the Irish EMI, with Irish EMI-issued IBANs.

• Pricing in EUR, excluding VAT: Standard costs €21 per month and includes one wallet, three users, three cards and up to 20 transfers per month. Plus costs €33 per month and includes three wallets, three users, three cards and up to 30 transfers per month. Unlimited pricing is available on request.

• Minimum users: Three.

• Foreign exchange: Mastercard rate plus 1.5%.

• Data residency: Soldo confirms EEA storage and includes the UK.

Soldo versus Brex

Trustpilot reviewers describe Soldo as “a great tool for managing micro, and not so micro, spending in companies of any size.” Soldo focuses primarily on card-led spend control, with published pricing and documented European payment and compliance infrastructure. Its scope is narrower than that of an all-in-one spend management platform, making it less suited to teams that also need accounts payable, procurement and broader finance workflows.

Best for: Businesses primarily looking for card-based spend controls rather than an end-to-end spend management platform.

Ramp

Ramp is a US spend management platform primarily built for US-based organisations.

Its platform combines:

• Corporate cards

• Expense management

• Accounts payable

• Procurement

• Payments

Ramp also places a strong focus on automation.

Quick facts

• Regulatory licence: Ramp does not hold a proprietary EU or UK licence. European card issuance relies on third-party payment infrastructure.

• SEPA and IBAN: SEPA Mandate and SEPA Direct Debit for funding, with IBANs provided through a Stripe EU entity.

• Pricing: Free, $0 per user per month; Plus, $15 per user per month plus a platform fee; Enterprise, custom pricing.

• ERP integrations: Ramp does not publicly detail EU-specific ERP integrations or confirm a DATEV integration.

Ramp versus Brex

Ramp's European buyer diligence should focus on:

• Current country eligibility

• Card setup

• SEPA funding

• Whether the account can sit with an EU entity as the primary customer

• Accounting compatibility

• Data residency

Ramp primarily serves US-based organisations. For European finance teams, country eligibility, payment infrastructure and accounting compatibility require closer evaluation, particularly where DATEV or established European payment workflows are requirements. European mid-market teams that need local payment infrastructure, native accounting integrations and multi-entity spend management may find Spendesk a stronger fit.

Best for: US-headquartered businesses looking for a US-first spend management platform.

Airbase, now Paylocity for Finance

Airbase became Paylocity for Finance after Paylocity completed its acquisition on 1 October 2024 and launched the integrated product on 22 July 2025.

The launch added Airbase's:

• Spend management

• Accounts payable automation

• Corporate cards

• Guided procurement

to Paylocity's human capital management platform.

Airbase does not publicly confirm SEPA payment rails or local IBAN issuance for EU entities. Paylocity appears to orient the platform towards US-headquartered companies with international subsidiaries.

Quick facts

• Regulatory licence: Airbase does not publicly confirm an EU Electronic Money Institution or banking licence. Ask Airbase directly.

• SEPA and IBAN: Airbase does not publicly confirm SEPA rails or local IBAN issuance for EU entities. Ask Airbase directly.

• Pricing: Quote-only. Third-party estimates, which are not official, put pricing at approximately $500 to $5,000 or more per month.

• ERP integrations: Airbase does not publicly detail EU integrations. Ask Airbase directly.

Airbase versus Brex

Airbase, now Paylocity for Finance, is primarily oriented towards US-headquartered companies with international subsidiaries. It does not publicly confirm local IBAN issuance or standalone SEPA rails for EU entities. These questions should be resolved before shortlisting the platform.

Best for: US-headquartered businesses that want finance functionality alongside Paylocity's HCM platform.

Navan

Navan's European proposition is centred on travel booking and expense visibility. It includes European rail coverage and the ability to connect existing corporate cards. Its payment infrastructure relies on partners rather than a proprietary EU licence, and it does not offer a standalone SEPA supplier-payment product.

Quick facts

• Regulatory licence: Navan holds no proprietary EU licence and relies on Stripe and Adyen to issue cards through partnerships.

• SEPA and IBAN: No standalone SEPA product. Card and payment functions rely on Stripe and Adyen.

• Pricing: Navan Business is available for companies with up to 300 employees. Travel is free, while Expense is free for the first five monthly users and then costs $15 per user per month in the US or £12 per user per month in the UK. Enterprise, for companies with more than 300 employees, is quote-only.

• ERP integrations: Navan does not publicly detail EU-specific integrations. Ask Navan directly.

Navan versus Brex

Navan's value for European teams concentrates on travel, with rail coverage across the UK and Germany. Coverage also extends to France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and Italy.

Best for: Travel-heavy EU finance teams that already use Navan for booking and want consolidated travel visibility without migrating cards.

Airwallex

Airwallex centres its platform on multi-currency operations and global payments.

It offers a full SEPA suite covering:

• SEPA Credit Transfer

• SEPA Instant

• SEPA Direct Debit Core

• TARGET2

De Nederlandsche Bank licenses Airwallex as an Electronic Money Institution in the Netherlands, licence R179622, passported across the EEA. Airwallex also has a separate Autoriteit Financiële Markten investment-firm licence and a UK entity authorised by the FCA, licence FRN 900876. Its Dutch EMI entity supports SEPA Credit Transfer and SEPA Instant. It also supports TARGET2 and SEPA Direct Debit Core.

Quick facts

• Regulatory licence: Electronic Money Institution, DNB Netherlands, licence R179622, passported across the EEA. Its UK entity is authorised by the FCA.

• SEPA and IBAN: Full SEPA suite, including SCT, Instant, Direct Debit Core and TARGET2, with virtual IBANs through the Netherlands-passported entity.

• Pricing: Explore, €19 per month; Grow, €49 per month; Accelerate, from €999 per month or custom pricing. The Explore fee may be waived when the customer maintains the required minimum balance.

• Foreign exchange: FX markup can be as low as 0.4% above the interbank rate for major currencies.

• ERP integrations: Airwallex does not publicly detail the relevant integrations. Ask Airwallex directly.

Pricing should be confirmed against the official regional pricing pages during evaluation.

Airwallex versus Brex

Airwallex is strongest as a global payments and accounts provider. It has lighter spend-management workflow depth than all-in-one platforms. Its core strengths are global accounts, multi-currency operations and cross-border payments. Its SEPA and FX capabilities are broad, but its spend-management workflow is lighter than that of an all-in-one platform such as Spendesk, particularly around:

• Approval controls

• Policy enforcement

• Procurement

• Broader finance operations

Best for: Businesses where multi-currency accounts and cross-border payments are the primary requirement rather than end-to-end spend management.

How to choose the right Brex alternative

Match the platform to your entity structure and compliance requirements before weighing individual features. A finance director running spend across five EU entities has different non-negotiables from one running a single UK entity with a US parent. Start with regulatory fit, then test accounting fit.

Regulatory fit

Consider:

• What licence type do you need?

• Which country issues your IBANs?

• Where are customer funds safeguarded?

• Are your suppliers and payroll providers likely to accept the relevant IBAN country code?

• Does the provider document PSD2 and SCA compliance?

• Where is customer data stored?

EU-native platforms hold Payment Institution or Electronic Money Institution licences in specific jurisdictions.

If you hold large float balances on-platform, remember that EU rules exclude EMI and PI funds from Deposit Guarantee Scheme coverage. Safeguarding requirements protect customer funds instead. Qonto's pending banking licence is the exception in progress. Suppliers and payroll teams in other markets may reject Lithuanian or Irish passported IBANs, creating IBAN discrimination concerns. A French Payment Institution-issued IBAN from Spendesk or Qonto matches the country code where French suppliers and payroll providers expect it. A German EMI IBAN from Moss offers the same local alignment in Germany.

Accounting fit

Does your accounting run through DATEV? For German-speaking teams, DATEV support is a hard filter.

• Spendesk and Pleo each offer two or more DATEV pathways.

• Payhawk and Moss also support DATEV.

• Ramp and Airbase do not publicly confirm DATEV support.

Budget considerations

Model total cost against two factors:

1. Headcount

2. Transaction volume

Do not rely only on the headline tier price.

No-per-user models such as Spendesk and Moss charge a fixed platform subscription plus transaction fees with unlimited users. This typically costs less than per-seat pricing for teams with more than 100 users. Pleo and Ramp use per-user models. Navan does too, so costs scale linearly with team size. Qonto sits in between. It charges a fixed monthly tier fee for Essential, Business or Enterprise, with per-user and per-admin charges for seats beyond the included allowance.

Foreign exchange fees are another important cost lever:

• Airwallex: As low as 0.4% above interbank for major currencies

• Moss: 2%

• Spendesk: 2.99% for card transactions in a currency different from the account currency

• Soldo: Mastercard rate plus 1.5%

Also watch for minimums and bundled allowances, such as:

• Soldo's three-user minimum

• Payhawk's 10-seat Growth bundle

• Qonto's included seat allowance

• Pleo's user-based pricing structure

Migration considerations

Plan for a clean cutover that runs longer than the technical setup may suggest, especially when multiple entities are involved. Documented timelines vary by scope.

Technical setup for an SME

For approximately 50 users, implementation may take:

• Two to four weeks for Pleo or Spendesk

• Approximately 15 to 20 days for Payhawk activation

Multi-entity setup

A five-entity Spendesk deployment took approximately two months in the Pierre Frey case study.

Enterprise migration from Brex

Pleo estimates six to 12 weeks for an enterprise migration from Brex, including a one- to two-month parallel run.

Full cutover

A complete cutover may take 60 to 90 days when the implementation team needs to:

• Reissue cards

• Rebuild approval workflows

• Migrate supplier and subscription details

• Train employees

• Run systems in parallel

• Validate accounting exports

In Germany, Betriebsrat, or Works Council, consultation on employee monitoring typically adds two to six months independently of the technical implementation.

Factor this into the rollout plan from the start.

Final recommendations

Match the platform to your profile and focus on fit rather than feature count. Five profiles cover most European finance teams evaluating Brex alternatives.

Multi-entity EU mid-market teams

For businesses with 50 to 1,000 employees, Spendesk is the strongest fit.

It combines:

• Cards

• Expenses

• Accounts payable

• Procurement

• Budgeting

• Multi-entity management

• EU-native payment infrastructure

• French-issued IBANs

• UK payment services through Adyen

• Native DATEV and SAP integrations

• No per-user pricing

Larger organisations with more complex multi-entity requirements may also consider Payhawk, although its per-seat pricing should be modelled carefully as headcount grows.

Small businesses

Consider Qonto or Pleo. Qonto suits a France-centric business account with SEPA transfers and a pending banking licence. Pleo suits a distributed card programme with published pricing and provides detailed EU data-residency information.

US-headquartered businesses

Ramp or Airbase may be relevant where the primary operating model and finance stack are US-based. European-headquartered teams should prioritise platforms with:

• Established European payment infrastructure

• Local accounting integrations

• SEPA support

• Appropriate data-residency arrangements

• Local IBAN availability

Travel-heavy teams

Navan may be suitable for integrated travel booking and European rail and carrier coverage, provided you accept that card and payment functions rely on Stripe and Adyen rather than a proprietary EU licence.

Businesses with heavy multi-currency and cross-border payment needs

Airwallex is a strong option because of its full SEPA suite and virtual IBANs. Its FX markup can be as low as 0.4% above interbank. If the organisation also needs deeper approval controls, policy enforcement, procurement and broader spend management, an all-in-one platform such as Spendesk may be more appropriate.

Finding the best fit

If you're a European mid-market finance team comparing Brex alternatives, Spendesk is a natural place to start. It brings cards, expenses, accounts payable, procurement and multi-entity management together with:

• EU-native payment infrastructure

• French-issued IBANs

• UK payment services through Adyen

• Native DATEV and SAP integrations

• No per-user pricing

The right choice ultimately depends on your entity structure, accounting stack, payment requirements, travel needs and appetite for a newer European market entrant.

Frequently asked questions

Are these platforms PSD2 and GDPR compliant?

PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication requirements apply to EU-native platforms that hold Electronic Money Institution or Payment Institution licences.

Spendesk and Pleo publish explicit PSD2 and SCA statements. Soldo and Payhawk do too.

For GDPR data residency:

• Pleo confirms EU storage in Ireland and Frankfurt.

• Spendesk confirms EU hosting.

• Payhawk confirms EU hosting.

• Soldo confirms EEA storage.

Where a platform does not publicly confirm residency, request its Data Processing Agreement and review the relevant transfer mechanisms.

Which platforms support multi-currency accounts, SEPA and local IBAN issuance?

Airwallex offers the fullest SEPA suite, including:

• SEPA Credit Transfer

• SEPA Instant

• TARGET2

• SEPA Direct Debit Core

• Virtual IBANs

Qonto treats SEPA transfers as a core feature and provides French-issued IBANs. Spendesk and Payhawk support SEPA through their respective licences. Moss and Soldo do too. Airbase and Navan do not publicly confirm standalone SEPA products.

Should I choose an EU-native platform or a US tool with European reach?

Choose an EU-native platform when regulatory alignment and SEPA payments are hard requirements. Local IBANs and DATEV support may also make an EU-native platform the stronger fit. US platforms such as Ramp offer global payment reach but lack DATEV. They also offer more limited EU regulatory depth, with Ramp beginning direct EU onboarding only in summer 2026.

How do pricing models differ across these platforms?

Two structures dominate. Spendesk and Moss use no-per-user models that charge a fixed platform fee plus transaction fees with unlimited users.

Pleo and Ramp use per-user models where costs scale directly with headcount. Navan does too. Qonto sits in between. Its team plans charge a fixed monthly fee for Essential, Business or Enterprise, with per-user add-ons on top rather than using a pure per-seat structure.

FX fees range from Airwallex's 0.4% above interbank to Moss's 2%. Model total cost against both your headcount and cross-border transaction volume.

How does the Capital One acquisition affect Brex customers?

Capital One completed its acquisition of Brex on 7 April 2026 in a $5.15 billion deal. Pedro Franceschi continues as CEO.

The acquisition closed while Brex's EU rollout was still in its phased stage after Brex secured an EU Payment Institution licence in August 2025. EU-headquartered companies should therefore confirm current onboarding availability and product coverage directly with Brex.

Which platforms integrate with DATEV, NetSuite, SAP, Xero and QuickBooks?

Spendesk and Pleo integrate with NetSuite, SAP, Xero and QuickBooks, in addition to their DATEV support. Payhawk and Moss cover the same ERP set. Ramp does not publicly confirm a DATEV integration but supports the other four systems. Ask Qonto, Soldo, Navan and Airwallex to confirm their ERP integrations directly before committing.