Pemo has built a well-deserved reputation as one of the UAE's most capable corporate card platforms. With 6,000+ businesses, an annualised AED 1.4 billion transaction volume, and a free Starter plan that includes unlimited cards and cardholders, it has become a strong default choice for UAE SMEs managing internal spend.
But Pemo is not the right fit for every business. Common reasons teams explore alternatives include:
No payment acceptance: Pemo cannot collect payments from your customers. There is no payment gateway, no payment link, no QR code, no POS terminal, and no merchant acquiring of any kind. Businesses that receive money from customers need a separate provider.
No domestic AED cashback on standard plans: If most of your company card spend happens within the UAE in dirhams, local supplier payments, office costs, team expenses, the Pemo Starter and Premium programmes return nothing on those transactions.
Pending licence: Pemo received in-principle CBUAE approval for an SVF licence in July 2026. The full licence has not yet been granted as of October 2026, which matters for businesses with treasury or compliance requirements around counterparty regulation.
Pricing at scale: At AED 399/month (Premium) or AED 1,500+/month (Enterprise), some growing teams are evaluating whether competitors offer better value at their current stage.
This guide compares the three strongest Pemo alternatives for UAE businesses in 2026, ranked by fit for most teams.
Mamo is the only UAE fintech platform regulated by the DFSA that combines payment acceptance with corporate cards and expense management. If your business invoices clients, runs an online store, takes bookings, or accepts any form of customer payment, this distinction is decisive, no other platform on this list can do what Mamo does.
Payment acceptance:
Standard settlement: 2–5 business days. Payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Jaywan (UAE local), Tabby (BNPL), mada, Apple Pay, Google Pay. Products: payment gateway, payment links, QR codes.
Corporate cards:
Regulation: Full DFSA licence, operating from the DIFC.
If you are currently using Pemo for expense management and a separate payment processor for customer payments, Mamo lets you consolidate both onto one platform, one integration, one support team, one dashboard, and one regulatory relationship. For most SMEs, that simplification delivers real operational value.
Even for businesses not yet accepting payments but planning to, Mamo's full DFSA licence, domestic AED cashback, and combined platform make it a strong candidate to grow with.
Alaan is a UAE corporate card and AI-powered expense management platform backed by approximately $55 million in funding, the most heavily funded pure-play spend management platform in the region. It targets mid-market and enterprise teams that need sophisticated approval hierarchies, AI-driven expense intelligence, and deep ERP integrations.
Alaan's depth in AI-driven expense intelligence gives it a meaningful edge for finance teams processing high volumes of transactions with complex policy rules and reporting requirements. If your CFO is running structured expense policies across a team of 50+ people, Alaan's tooling is purpose-built for that use case.
However, Alaan is more expensive than Pemo at the comparable tier, and like Pemo, it has no payment gateway or payment acceptance capability. It is a pure spend management solution.
Mid-market teams with complex finance structures, companies already on enterprise ERP systems, and CFOs who need AI-powered anomaly detection and detailed reporting across high transaction volumes. For smaller teams, Pemo's pricing and feature set remain more competitive.
Pluto is a UAE corporate card platform aimed at tech-savvy startups and SMEs that want a modern, developer-friendly interface, competitive cashback, and a low-friction onboarding experience. It offers one of the lowest entry price points in the market.
Pluto's free plan undercuts Pemo's AED 0 Starter with a broadly comparable feature set. At the paid tier, Pluto's Growth plan at $99/month (approximately AED 364) comes in below Pemo's AED 399/month Premium, though the specific feature parity varies by use case and team size.
Pluto's in-principle DFSA approval and Pemo's in-principle CBUAE approval sit in a similar transitional position, both meaningful milestones, neither a final granted licence as of October 2026.
Like Pemo and Alaan, Pluto has no payment gateway. It is a corporate card and spend management platform only.
Early-stage startups, product-led growth companies, and developer teams who want API-first architecture, competitive international cashback, and the lowest possible entry cost without sacrificing core card management features.
This is the single most important question. If yes, only Mamo among all the platforms reviewed here can help you. Pemo, Alaan, and Pluto are all outbound spend management platforms, they manage how your company pays out, but none of them can accept money on your behalf from customers.
If your compliance function or board requires a fully granted licence, Mamo (DFSA, full operational licence) is the only option here with that status today. Pluto's in-principle DFSA and Pemo's in-principle CBUAE approvals are genuine milestones but are not equivalent to a final licence in force.
If significant company card spend occurs within the UAE in dirhams, local suppliers, facilities, team expenses, Mamo's domestic AED cashback (up to 0.5%, unlimited) provides value where Pemo's Starter and Premium plans return nothing on those same transactions.
Businesses comfortable managing a separate payment processor alongside a corporate card platform retain more options across this list. Businesses that prefer a single dashboard, single reconciliation workflow, and single regulatory relationship will find Mamo's combined model uniquely compelling in the UAE market.
The strongest alternatives to Pemo in the UAE in 2026 are: Mamo (best for businesses that need to accept customer payments, and the only DFSA-licensed provider with a full payment gateway); Alaan (best for mid-market and enterprise teams needing deep AI expense management); and Pluto (best for tech-forward startups wanting a low-cost or free entry point with up to 2% international cashback).
Yes, Mamo. It is the only UAE corporate card platform that also includes a full payment gateway, payment links, and QR codes for accepting customer payments. Alaan and Pluto, like Pemo, offer no payment acceptance capability.
Pluto offers a free $0/month plan, making it the lowest-cost entry point among the alternatives reviewed here. Pemo's Starter plan is also free (AED 0/month). Mamo's Growth plan carries no monthly fee, with costs based on transaction volume. Mamo's Premium plan costs AED 99/month.
Mamo (up to 2% on non-AED (unlimited), up to 0.5% on AED (unlimited) domestic), Pluto Growth (up to 2% on international), and Pemo Premium (up to 2% on international) all offer comparable international cashback. Mamo uniquely provides up to 0.5% unlimited cashback on UAE domestic AED spend, something Pemo does not match on its Starter or Premium plans.
Only Mamo. Alaan, Pluto, and Pemo are all corporate card and spend management platforms with no payment acceptance capability. If you need to collect money from customers, Mamo is the only platform on this list, and the only DFSA-regulated platform in the UAE, that can help.
Yes. Mamo's platform combines a DFSA-regulated payment gateway with corporate cards, expense management, and global payouts. Businesses currently using Pemo for outbound spend management and a separate payment processor for inbound customer revenue can consolidate both functions onto Mamo, reducing integrations, vendor complexity, and reconciliation overhead.
For businesses leaving Pemo, Mamo is the strongest alternative: up to 0.5% cashback on dirham spend (Pemo's Starter and Premium give none), Premium at AED 99 instead of AED 399, and payment acceptance on the same DFSA-regulated account.
Alaan suits larger teams that want AI expense tooling, and Pluto suits teams that need procure-to-pay. Stay with Pemo if its free plan with unlimited cardholders covers what you need.
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