The short answer
Zylo is a SaaS management platform for large enterprises, focused on discovery, licence optimisation and renewals, with its Zylo Clarity AI agent. Cledara is software subscription management built for finance: it manages every subscription from approval and payment to renewal and invoice, and Cledara Agent clears the waste inside each tool, integration or not. If a dedicated SaaS team runs a large estate, Zylo is built for you. If finance owns software spend, Cledara is the closer fit.
Zylo vs Cledara: the core difference
Zylo finds the waste across a large software estate and automates fixes through your identity provider. Cledara manages each subscription from the moment someone asks for it, then does the admin inside each tool so unused seats are taken back for you.
Both find shadow IT and AI tools, and both help you prepare for renewals. The difference is where the work ends. Zylo's actions run through Okta or Microsoft Entra, while Cledara Agent signs in to the tools themselves.
What Zylo does well
Zylo has built its platform for the enterprise. It says it has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for SaaS Management Platforms in 2024, 2025 and 2026, and its customers include Atlassian, Intuit, Salesforce, Adobe, The Home Depot, Hyatt and Netflix.
- Scale of data: Zylo says its platform draws on more than $100 billion of SaaS, cloud and AI spend data, and its Premium plan adds portfolio and pricing benchmarks.
- Zylo Clarity: an AI agent inside Zylo, generally available since October 2026, that surfaces unused licences, prepares renewals, updates records and builds workflows, with people approving consequential actions.
- Identity actions: on its Premium plan, Zylo can act through Okta or Microsoft Entra, and automate tickets in Jira.
- Expert services: SaaS Negotiator and SaaS Operations teams for companies that want specialists alongside the software.
- MCP server: Zylo's data and actions are available in AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini.
For a large company with thousands of users and a team dedicated to the software portfolio, that is a deep set of tools and services. It works best when payments and accounting already run in other systems.
Zylo and AI spend in 2026
In April 2026, Zylo launched Consumption Cost Management, which brings usage-based and AI spend into Zylo alongside seat-based licences. It connects directly to OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, Snowflake and Google Vertex AI, and alerts teams before commitment thresholds are exceeded.
Zylo has also announced that it will unveil a new AI spend management solution, developed with enterprise clients, at its virtual AI Spend Summit on 29 October 2026. Zylo has not yet published the product's name or features, so check Zylo's site for the details after the launch.
What Cledara does for finance-led teams
Cledara starts where finance starts: with the request. People ask for a tool, the request goes through your approval flow and compliance questionnaire, and each approved subscription gets its own virtual card with its own limit and owner. Cancelling is a click.
Before every renewal you get a reminder and benchmarks showing what similar companies pay, and Negotiation Copilot drafts the renewal email from your data. Every invoice is captured, matched to its payment and synced to Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite or Tripletex with the right account code, department and cost centre. See how accounting automation works.
For AI, Cledara's AI dashboard tracks usage-based AI tools such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Cursor, with daily spend and budgets, next to every other subscription. Customers save 23% on software on average through software spend optimisation and get 30+ hours back a month.
"We now know when contracts are ending, and can actively contact vendors to renegotiate before they charge us." Nathan Humphreys, Jiminny
Zylo vs Cledara comparison table
| Feature | Zylo | Cledara |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Large enterprises | Finance-led teams |
| Finds every app, including shadow IT and AI | Yes | Yes |
| Reminders and benchmarks before renewals | Yes | Yes: With Negotiation Copilot |
| Pay for each tool, with its own limit | No | Yes: Cancelling is a click |
| Invoices captured and synced to your accounting system | No | Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite and Tripletex |
| AI agent | Zylo Clarity works inside Zylo | Cledara Agent works inside your tools |
| Leavers removed and unused seats taken back | Through Okta or Entra | In every tool, integration or not, with Cledara Agent |
| Invoices collected from behind each tool's login | No | With Cledara Agent |
| AI and usage-based spend tracking | Consumption Cost Management, with a new AI spend product announced for 29 October 2026 | AI dashboard with daily spend and budgets |
| Prices published online | On request | Yes |
Based on Zylo's public website and announcements, October 2026.
Cledara Agent: waste cleared in every tool
Finding an unused seat is half the job. Cledara Agent does the other half. It signs in to each tool you connect, the way your team would, and removes leavers, takes back unused seats, sets up joiners and collects invoices. It works across 8,000+ SaaS and AI tools, integration or not.
Nothing happens without your approval. Cledara Agent is the only SaaS management agent verified by Cloudflare, and passwords are kept in a secure vault, never seen by AI. It is an add-on for any Cledara plan.
Zylo Clarity and Cledara Agent do different jobs. Clarity works inside Zylo to find savings, prepare renewals and build workflows. Cledara Agent works inside your tools to carry out the admin.
NEWCledara Agent
Done overnight, with your approval
HubSpot invoice collectedMatched to the 1 Nov payment
Ravi S. set up in 5 toolsStarts Monday, from HiBob
Dan W. removed from 4 toolsLeft on Friday
26 unused Miro seats taken backSeats stop billing at renewal
See Cledara Agent The only SaaS management agent verified by Cloudflare. 8,000+ SaaS and AI tools.
Zylo or Cledara: which to choose
Choose Zylo if
- You are a large enterprise with a dedicated SaaS or IT asset team
- You need governance across thousands of users
- You want expert negotiation services alongside the software
- You already have payments and accounting handled elsewhere
Choose Cledara if
- Finance owns software spend and the books
- You want to approve and pay for every tool before it is bought
- You want leavers removed and unused seats taken back for you
- You want AI spend tracked next to every other subscription
For a side-by-side page built for finance teams, see our Zylo alternative comparison. It also sets out the three steps for moving from Zylo to Cledara.
The practical takeaway
List your ten biggest renewals for the next six months. For each one, note who will find the unused seats, who will remove them and who will match the invoice.
If a SaaS team does that work across thousands of users, Zylo fits. If finance ends up doing it, Cledara and Cledara Agent take those jobs off the list. Plans are priced by how many tools you manage, and every price is on the pricing page.
See every subscription in one place
Bring your own tools to a demo and see what Cledara and Cledara Agent would handle for you.
