What does loan software really cost across Latin America?

If you live in Latin America and you saw a price in dollars, you already know that number isn't the one that lands on your card statement. In some countries taxes get added; in others the problem isn't the price at all — it's getting hold of the dollars to pay it. This article puts the figures on the table country by country, unvarnished, and ends with what you can do today if dollar pricing doesn't work for you.

Updated 18 August 2026. The taxes, wages and exchange rates here were verified that day. In several of these countries they age within weeks: confirm the current one before doing your math. >The amounts below are a REFERENCE EXAMPLE, not the price of any plan. For current pricing, always check the pricing page.

The example we'll work with

To be able to compare, take any subscription at US$10 a month. It doesn't matter what product: what matters is what happens to those 10 dollars when they cross the border.

In Argentina the 21% VAT on foreign digital services comes from Decree 813/2018 and the 30% withholding from General Resolution 5617/2024. The Impuesto PAÍS, the painful one, expired and stopped applying in January 2026: if your price reference is from 2024, you pay considerably less today than you remember.

In Colombia the 19% VAT has applied since 2018 and your card issuer withholds it at payment. That's why you usually don't see it itemised: it arrives baked into the charge in pesos, at the day's rate.

The part almost nobody knows: in Argentina, that 30% comes back

The 30% withholding is not a lost tax. It's an advance payment against income tax and personal assets tax, so if you're registered you credit it against what you owe, or claim it back.

Applied to the example: of the US$15.10 you end up paying, US$3 comes back. The real cost is around US$12, not US$15. Provincial withholdings are final, but they're the small bite.

Plenty of people walk away believing they'll pay 50% more forever. They won't.

When the problem isn't the price, it's getting the dollars

This is where the conversation changes depending on where you live, and where a tax table falls short.

Venezuela

The economy already runs on dollars in practice, so a price in dollars surprises nobody. The obstacle is different: the legal minimum wage has been frozen at 130 bolívares since March 2022, about US$0.26 a month at the official rate, with bonuses propping income up to a "minimum integral income" of around US$240. With annual inflation at 649% and double-digit monthly figures, any price in local currency is worthless within weeks.

To pay, Venezuelan banks offer international cards, several of them virtual and issued instantly, aimed precisely at digital services. They work, but they carry daily limits that vary by customer and bank. Before subscribing to anything, check your limit before you check the price.

Bolivia

The region's most particular case right now. Since 29 June 2026 the country runs a managed float, and there's a real gap between the official rate (around Bs 9.73) and the parallel one (Bs 11.50 in mid-August 2026).

But the number that really rules is another: most banks only allow buying between US$30 and US$125 per month per person, and many restrict international card use. There, a subscription doesn't compete against your budget, it competes against your quota: every dollar spent on software is a dollar you don't have for something else. So in Bolivia the right question isn't "how much does it cost?" but "how much of my monthly quota does it take?".

Argentina

On top of the tax surcharge sits volatility: the dollar price doesn't move, but what it represents in pesos does, month to month. That's why annual billing here isn't just a discount, it's insurance.

Elsewhere in the region

Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Central America have neither quotas nor exchange gaps of this kind, and their load is a local VAT usually included in the charge. Ecuador is dollarised on top of that: the price shown is the price paid.

Is it expensive? Compare it to what your portfolio moves

A dollar price is scary in the abstract. Next to what your business generates, the conversation changes.

A loan of 10,000 in your currency at 10% monthly leaves 1,000 in interest for the month. The interest from a single client pays the subscription with room to spare. With twenty borrowers, the software costs a fraction of what one of them produces.

Now flip it: a loan lost for lack of control, a collector who doesn't hand in what he collected, or miscalculated arrears, each cost more than a full year of subscription. That's where it pays for itself, which is why it's worth looking at how much you earn lending money with numbers rather than hunches.

If you're running everything in notebooks or spreadsheets today, migrating your portfolio is the step you notice fastest.

What it actually weighs, with an honest yardstick

To avoid comparing apples with oranges, the local minimum wage puts things in place:

The numbers say what you already know if you live there: the same price doesn't mean the same thing in every country. We're not arguing with that, we're acknowledging it, and that's why the way out at the end exists.

Why there's no automatic local-currency price

It's the question we get most, and it deserves an honest answer instead of a promise.

Charging in local currency isn't just changing the number. Since February 2023, the payment provider we work with only allows showing prices in Argentine pesos to Argentine cards, and declines peso payments from cards issued elsewhere. In Argentina international cards are restricted and the usual method ends up being a transfer; in Colombia it's PSE; in Venezuela, an international card with a daily cap.

And a local price that can't hold is worse than none. Publishing a figure in local currency and rewriting it every time the rate moves turns your invoice into a monthly surprise. With triple-digit inflation, an advertised local price lasts weeks.

Seen that way, pricing in dollars has one concrete advantage for you: it's predictable. Your fee doesn't spike because your currency moved.

So the alternative isn't "nothing": the regional adjustment is agreed by talking, case by case, looking at your operation.

What you can do today

Start free, no card. The Free plan lets you run a genuinely small portfolio, with real clients, loans and services. It answers the only question that matters — whether it works for you — without spending anything or fighting a currency quota.

Pay yearly. Annual billing costs less than twelve separate months and locks your price: if the exchange rate moves, your subscription doesn't. In Argentina, Venezuela and Bolivia that matters more than the discount.

Ask for a custom plan. If dollar pricing doesn't work for you, if you need more capacity than the top plan includes, or if you run several companies, write to us and we'll build it with you. That's exactly what it's for.

One warning, and we mean it

A price adjusted to your region is agreed for your operation in that country. That's the trade-off for being able to give a different number depending on where you work.

If an account is found not to be operating in the country it declared, it may be suspended on suspicion of fraud, and with that suspension you may lose access to all the information tied to it: your clients, your loans, your payments and your documents. This is not decorative fine print. Declare the country where you actually lend, and you'll never have to think about it again.

Questions we get from each country

Is there software for lenders that works in Argentina? Yes. The system doesn't need to be Argentine: what matters is that it handles your operating currency, your collection frequencies and the way you calculate arrears. Prestafolio lets you pick the currency you work in, independently of the currency you pay the subscription in.

Can I use it in Venezuela if I lend in both dollars and bolívares? Yes. Each company sets its own operating currency, so you can run your portfolio in the currency you actually lend in. To pay the subscription you'll need an international card; most Venezuelan banks issue a virtual one for digital services.

Does it work for Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico or Chile? Yes. The system isn't tied to a country: it doesn't depend on a local banking integration or a specific tax format. What changes by country is your taxes, not the software.

Is there a loan system that works offline? Prestafolio is a web app and a mobile app. For fieldwork what matters is that the collector can record the payment from their phone; see how to organise collection routes for how that plays out in practice.

What if I only have twenty clients? Is paying for software worth it? Start with the Free plan, which exists for exactly that size. If in one month you stop losing a single payment, it already paid for itself.

Can I pay in pesos, bolívares or soles? Today the subscription is charged in dollars. Regional adjustments are agreed case by case: write to us and we'll look at your numbers.

In short

• On a US$10 reference subscription: in Argentina you end up paying ~US$15.10, but US$3 comes back; in Colombia, ~US$11.90 with VAT already included.
• Argentina's Impuesto PAÍS no longer exists as of January 2026.
• In Venezuela and Bolivia the obstacle isn't the price: it's card limits and currency quotas.
• Pricing in dollars protects you from your fee rising when your currency moves.
• The interest from a single client covers the subscription.
• If it still doesn't work for you, let's talk: regional adjustments are agreed case by case.