What are the main alternatives to DATEV?

22 other accounting tools are listed in this directory, led by Lexware, sevdesk, Sage 50, Zoho Expense. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.

What is the best free alternative to DATEV?

5 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Lexware, sevdesk, Zoho Expense, Mesh Payments, Spendbase.

Why do people look for an alternative to DATEV?

On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.

Is there an open-source alternative to DATEV?

None of the accounting tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.

How were these DATEV alternatives chosen?

They are the tools filed in the same category, Accounting, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.

Where can I compare DATEV against one of these directly?

Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against DATEV covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.

Does this list cover every accounting tool?

No. It covers what this directory holds in the Accounting category, 22 tools beside DATEV. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.

Accounting · alternatives

Alternatives to DATEV

22 accounting tools sit alongside DATEV in this directory. Below is what separates each from DATEV on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.

Alternatives listed: 22
With a free tier: 5
Cheaper to start: -
DATEV starts at: On request

Why people look past DATEV

Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the DATEV entry measured against the tools listed beside it.

There is no free tier

The record for DATEV carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 5 of the 22 alternatives below can be used without paying.

What each alternative does differently

Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.

Lexware

Free, then €3.95/month

Accounting and invoicing software for German small businesses and freelancers

Can be used without paying; DATEV cannot.
Publishes an entry price of €3.95/month, where DATEV does not.
Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
4 tiers to DATEV's 3.

DATEV vs Lexware Lexware review

sevdesk

Free, then €11.9/month

German accounting and invoicing software for small businesses and freelancers

Can be used without paying; DATEV cannot.
Publishes an entry price of €11.9/month, where DATEV does not.
Sold on a freemium model rather than quote.
4 tiers to DATEV's 3.

DATEV vs sevdesk sevdesk review

Sage 50

$29/month

Windows desktop accounting with the ledger held in a local data file rather than in a browser

Publishes an entry price of $29/month, where DATEV does not.
Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
2 tiers to DATEV's 3.

DATEV vs Sage 50 Sage 50 review

Zoho Expense

Free, then $3/month

Expense reporting and travel management at three dollars per user per month

Can be used without paying; DATEV cannot.
Publishes an entry price of $3/month, where DATEV does not.
Sold on a Per user per month model rather than quote.

DATEV vs Zoho Expense Zoho Expense review

Mesh Payments

Free, then $13/month

Virtual card and spend management platform aimed at SaaS and travel spend

Can be used without paying; DATEV cannot.
Publishes an entry price of $13/month, where DATEV does not.
Sold on a Per user per month model rather than quote.

DATEV vs Mesh Payments Mesh Payments review

Spendbase

Free

SaaS and cloud spend management that charges a share of the savings it finds rather than a licence

Can be used without paying; DATEV cannot.
Sold on a Free card tier, plus a share of savings on the managed plan model rather than quote.
2 tiers to DATEV's 3.

DATEV vs Spendbase Spendbase review

Every DATEV alternative at a glance

A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.

Accounting alternatives to DATEV
Tool	Entry price	Model	Tiers	Head to head
DATEV (this page)	On request	Quote	3
LexwareIf you want to keep German bookkeeping in-house on a product you buy directly, with published prices	Free, then €3.95/month	Subscription	4	vs DATEV
sevdeskIf you are a small German business that wants browser-based invoicing and bookkeeping and only sends a DATEV export to the adviser	Free, then €11.9/month	Freemium	4	vs DATEV
Sage 50If you need German-compliant desktop accounting but want a vendor that sells to you rather than through your adviser	$29/month	Subscription	2	vs DATEV
Zoho Expense	Free, then $3/month	Per user per month	3	vs DATEV
Mesh Payments	Free, then $13/month	Per user per month	3	vs DATEV
Spendbase	Free	Free card tier, plus a share of savings on the managed plan	2	vs DATEV
Rydoo	$10/month	Per user per month	3	vs DATEV
Moss	On request	Quote	1	vs DATEV
Medius Expense	On request	Quote	1	vs DATEV
Happay	On request	Quote	1	vs DATEV
Kodo	On request	Quote	1	vs DATEV
Circula	€15/month	Per user per month	4	vs DATEV
Soldo	£21/month	Per user per month	3	vs DATEV
Ottimate	On request	Quote	1	vs DATEV
Yooz	$199/month	Per month by invoice volume	2	vs DATEV
Workiva	On request	Quote	1	vs DATEV
Basware	On request	Quote	1	vs DATEV
Vena Solutions	On request	Quote	2	vs DATEV
Tropic	On request	Quote	1	vs DATEV
insightsoftware	On request	Quote	1	vs DATEV
Causal	On request	Quote	1	vs DATEV
Medius	On request	Quote	1	vs DATEV

Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the DATEV badges page.

Cheaper ways to solve the same problem

Free to start (5)

These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.

Lexware , Free, then €3.95/month
sevdesk , Free, then €11.9/month
Zoho Expense , Free, then $3/month
Mesh Payments , Free, then $13/month
Spendbase , Free

What you would be giving up

DATEV is most often brought in for a german gmbh that wants its steuerberater to keep doing the books but wants receipts to stop travelling in a shoebox, a payroll department that must file social insurance and wage tax returns to german statutory deadlines without an external bureau, an sme preparing an e-bilanz and audit-ready gobd document archive, a tax firm standardising dozens of client engagements on one chart of accounts and one document workflow. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.

Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.

If DATEV is broadly right and the question is cost, the DATEV pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Accounting category lists everything the directory holds, and best accounting tools ranks them.

DATEV runs on windows, web. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.

Questions about DATEV alternatives

What are the main alternatives to DATEV?: 22 other accounting tools are listed in this directory, led by Lexware, sevdesk, Sage 50, Zoho Expense. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
What is the best free alternative to DATEV?: 5 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Lexware, sevdesk, Zoho Expense, Mesh Payments, Spendbase.
Why do people look for an alternative to DATEV?: On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
What would I give up by switching from DATEV?: DATEV is most often brought in for a german gmbh that wants its steuerberater to keep doing the books but wants receipts to stop travelling in a shoebox, a payroll department that must file social insurance and wage tax returns to german statutory deadlines without an external bureau, an sme preparing an e-bilanz and audit-ready gobd document archive, a tax firm standardising dozens of client engagements on one chart of accounts and one document workflow. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
Is there an open-source alternative to DATEV?: None of the accounting tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
How were these DATEV alternatives chosen?: They are the tools filed in the same category, Accounting, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
Where can I compare DATEV against one of these directly?: Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against DATEV covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
Does this list cover every accounting tool?: No. It covers what this directory holds in the Accounting category, 22 tools beside DATEV. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.