Corporate Card + AP Automation ComparisonLast updated March 2026
Cleo Pay vs. Ramp: Hospitality-Native AP vs. Corporate Finance Suite
Cleo Pay is a hospitality-focused AP automation platform with no extra fee for standard ACH and same-day payments on Growth and higher plans. Ramp is a corporate finance suite built around a corporate card with bill pay, expense management, and procurement features. Ramp's free plan includes basic bill pay, but same-day ACH costs $10 per payment and advanced automation requires the $15/user/month Plus plan. For restaurants, venues, and hotels, Cleo Pay offers purpose-built features like AI category matching, one-link vendor onboarding, and multi-location P&L segmentation that Ramp does not provide.
Ramp's free plan covers basic ACH bill pay, but same-day ACH costs $10 per payment unless you open a Ramp Business Account. The AI automation features most useful for scaling restaurant groups (auto-coded invoices, advanced approvals) require the Plus plan at $15/user/month plus an undisclosed platform fee. The real cost is feature-gating: you get the basics for free but pay to unlock the tools that actually save time.
Payment Speed
When Do Your Vendors Get Paid?
Standard ACH
Cleo PayAvailable on every planNo extra fee
Ramp1-3 business days (batched in evening runs)$0
Same-Day ACH
Cleo PayOn Growth and higher plansIncluded in Growth and higher plans
RampSame-day if approved by 4:00 PM ET$10/payment (free with Ramp Business Account)
Domestic Wire
Cleo PayN/AN/A
RampSame-day if approved by 1:00 PM ET$15/payment
International Wire
Cleo PayN/AN/A
Ramp1-3 business days (SWIFT USD)$20/payment
The Pay screen: what you paid, what is coming up, what is overdue, and a Pay button on every unpaid bill.
See it on your own invoices.
Bring three to five real bills to the call.
We scan and code them live, QuickBooks sync included.
Both platforms connect to QuickBooks Online, but the depth of automation and hospitality relevance differ. Cleo Pay provides AI-powered category matching designed for hospitality charts of accounts with native class and location code mapping. Ramp offers deep two-way QBO sync with 3-way matching of POs, receipts, and invoices, but AI auto-coding is restricted to the Plus plan ($15/user/month). Ramp does not support QuickBooks Desktop at all, which may affect hospitality businesses still running Desktop.
QuickBooks Integration comparison between Cleo Pay and Ramp
Feature
Cleo Pay
Ramp
QBO Support
Yes, native integration
Yes, deep two-way sync with 3-way matching
QB Desktop Support
On roadmap
Not supported
Category Mapping
AI-powered automatic matching
Basic rules (Free). AI auto-coding (Plus plan only)
Vendor Sync
Automatic bi-directional
Automatic vendor mapping to QBO vendor list
Payment Reconciliation
Auto-marked as paid in QB
Auto-synced with receipts and classifications
Multi-Location Mapping
Native class/location code mapping
Multi-entity support with location-level controls and department routing
Setup Complexity
Connect QuickBooks Online in the app
Integration setup takes minutes, but full onboarding with specialist can take weeks
1099 Compliance & Tax Filing
Both platforms offer 1099 workflows, but the approach and cost differ. Cleo Pay collects W-9s during vendor onboarding, runs IRS TIN matching, and prepares 1099-NEC forms from your payments. Vendors provide their tax info through the self-service portal, so W-9s are captured before the first payment. Ramp provides a comprehensive built-in 1099 workflow with automated W-9 collection, TIN verification against IRS records, and AI-powered identification of 1099-eligible vendors. However, Ramp charges $0.65 per IRS filing. For a hospitality business with 50 or more contractors (musicians, event staff, freelancers), these per-filing fees add up at year-end.
Vendor Onboarding
Cleo Pay provides a one-link vendor portal. Share a single URL with vendors and they enter their own banking details, W-9 information, and payment preferences. No back-and-forth emails, no spreadsheets. Ramp also offers a vendor onboarding flow with secure links for banking and tax details, automated W-9 collection, and a vendor portal for payment tracking. Both platforms reduce manual data entry. The key difference is that Cleo Pay's portal is designed for the hospitality vendor ecosystem, where you may onboard dozens of new vendors per event season, and the single-link approach minimizes friction for vendors who are not tech-savvy.
Customer Support & Experience
Ramp holds a 4.8/5 on G2 (2,347 reviews) and 4.9/5 on Capterra, reflecting strong satisfaction among finance teams at scaling startups. However, Ramp's Trustpilot rating has dropped to 3.5/5 (176 reviews) with late 2025 and early 2026 reviews flagging slow email responses, bot-heavy initial interactions, and difficulty reaching humans for payment issue resolution. Ramp's support hours are 7 AM to 10 PM ET. Cleo Pay offers a dedicated hospitality support team founded by operators who understand the urgency of vendor payments in events and F&B. Direct access with no ticket queues or callback scheduling.
Honest Positioning
Who Should Use What
Cleo Pay is best for...
Restaurant groups, venues, hotels, and event production companies
No extra fee for standard ACH payments
Same-day vendor payments on Growth and higher plans
AI-powered invoice processing built for food & beverage
One-link vendor onboarding with automatic W-9 capture
Multi-location P&L segmentation by class and location code
A support team that understands the pace of hospitality
Virtual cards for your team with daily limits and merchant category controls
Ramp may work for...
Scaling startups and mid-market companies that want cards, AP, expenses, and procurement in one platform
Teams that value corporate cards with up to 1.5% cashback and no personal guarantee
Companies that need advanced procurement workflows with 3-way PO matching
Businesses looking for built-in travel management and policy enforcement
Finance teams that prioritize AI-driven spend insights and duplicate subscription detection
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cleo Pay better than Ramp for restaurants?
Cleo Pay is purpose-built for hospitality, meaning features like vendor onboarding, invoice processing, and multi-location management are designed for restaurant, venue, and hotel workflows. Ramp is a powerful all-in-one finance platform, but it is built for mid-market companies and scaling startups, not hospitality specifically. It lacks industry features like AI category matching for food & beverage accounts and hospitality vendor portals.
Is Ramp's bill pay really free?
Ramp's basic bill pay is free on all plans, including standard ACH at no per-transaction cost. However, same-day ACH costs $10 per payment unless you open a Ramp Business Account. The AI automation features that make bill pay efficient (auto-coded invoices, advanced approval workflows) require the Plus plan at $15/user/month plus a platform fee. Cleo Pay has no extra fee for standard ACH and includes same-day payments on Growth and higher plans.
How long does Ramp take to pay vendors?
Standard ACH payments through Ramp are processed in evening batches and arrive in 1-3 business days. Same-day ACH is available if bills are fully approved by 4:00 PM ET, but it costs $10 per payment (free with a Ramp Business Account). Domestic wires are same-day if approved by 1:00 PM ET at $15 per payment.
Can I switch from Ramp to Cleo Pay?
Yes. Cleo Pay is designed for fast onboarding. You can connect your bank account and QuickBooks, import vendors, and start paying. Your existing vendor relationships transfer seamlessly.
Does Cleo Pay work with QuickBooks?
Yes. Cleo Pay offers a native QuickBooks Online integration with AI-powered category matching and automatic vendor sync. Unlike manual mapping required by some platforms, Cleo Pay intelligently maps your hospitality chart of accounts.
What's the best AP automation for restaurants?
The best AP automation for restaurants should offer predictable payment fees, fast vendor payments, W-9 and 1099 support, and multi-location support. Cleo Pay was built by hospitality operators specifically for these needs, with no extra fee for standard ACH and same-day payments on Growth and higher plans.
Does Ramp require a corporate card to use bill pay?
Ramp's bill pay is technically available without using the corporate card, but the platform is designed around it. The card is central to Ramp's value proposition (cashback, spend controls, expense management). Hospitality businesses that prefer to use existing bank relationships or need check-heavy payment workflows may find the card-centric model limiting.
More Comparisons
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