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Accounting · head to head

Billit vs DATEV

Billit logo

Billit

Accounting

Belgian invoicing and accounting software with Peppol e-invoicing

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
DATEV logo

DATEV

Accounting

German accounting, payroll and tax software built around the tax adviser rather than the business

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Billit has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Billit annual billing required to get approximately 15% discount (one free month included); DATEV dATEV does not publish transparent per-customer pricing the way a SaaS vendor does; your real cost is buried in your tax adviser's fee note, so comparing it against Lexware or sevdesk on price is genuinely hard.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Billit and DATEV actually diverge.

Attributes where Billit and DATEV differ
AttributeBillitDATEV
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWindows, Web

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Billit

Nothing recorded that DATEV does not also cover.

Only in DATEV

  • Unternehmen online
  • Lohn und Gehalt
  • Rechnungswesen
  • Jahresabschluss
  • DATEV DMS
  • Meine Steuern
  • DATEV-Schnittstelle

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Billit

  • Invoice generation and document management for freelancers and small businessesnot DATEV
  • E-invoicing and Peppol compliance for European businessesnot DATEV
  • Recurring billing and payment reminder workflowsnot DATEV

DATEV

  • A German GmbH that wants its Steuerberater to keep doing the books but wants receipts to stop travelling in a shoeboxnot Billit
  • A payroll department that must file social insurance and wage tax returns to German statutory deadlines without an external bureaunot Billit
  • An SME preparing an e-Bilanz and audit-ready GoBD document archivenot Billit
  • A tax firm standardising dozens of client engagements on one chart of accounts and one document workflownot Billit

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Billit

  • Annual billing required to get approximately 15% discount (one free month included)
  • Additional user seats cost €5 per user per month on top of plan price
  • Overage pricing per document decreases with tier, penalizing rapid growth within a tier

DATEV

  • DATEV does not publish transparent per-customer pricing the way a SaaS vendor does; your real cost is buried in your tax adviser's fee note, so comparing it against Lexware or sevdesk on price is genuinely hard.
  • The board has decided to wind down the Austria-specific portfolio: existing products remain usable to 31 December 2028, are free of charge during 2029, and cannot be used after 31 December 2029, so any Austrian entity on DATEV has a forced migration dated in advance.
  • It is built for German statutory practice, so a group with subsidiaries outside the DACH region will run DATEV for Germany and something else everywhere else, with a consolidation step in between.
  • Large parts of the suite are still Windows desktop software installed on a workstation or terminal server, which means IT overhead most companies no longer budget for when they think they are buying cloud accounting.
  • The lock-in is social as well as technical: because your adviser holds the installation and the history, changing accounting software usually forces you to change or retrain your adviser, which is a far bigger decision than a software migration.

Pricing, plan by plan

Billit

Free
  • Starter$7.5/month
    • Up to 25 documents per month
    • Peppol e-invoicing
    • Invoice customization
  • Growth$25/month
    • Up to 500 documents per month
    • All Starter features
    • Additional documents: €0.25 per document
  • Professional$250/month
    • Up to 1,000 documents per month
    • All Growth features
    • Additional documents: €0.15 per document
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • 1,000+ documents per month
    • Custom pricing

DATEV

On request
  • DATEV Unternehmen online$undefined/month
    • Receipt and bank data exchange with your tax adviser
    • Cash book and master data modules
    • Ordered and usually rebilled through the adviser
  • DATEV Mittelstand$undefined/month
    • In-house financial accounting and invoicing
    • Payroll modules licensed separately
    • Per-workplace licensing
  • Lohn und Gehalt$undefined/month
    • German payroll runs and statutory electronic filings
    • Priced by number of payslips
    • Typically operated by the adviser on the client's behalf

Which should you pick?

Choose Billit if

  • You want to start without paying.
Billit review

Choose DATEV if

  • You need unternehmen online.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want lohn und gehalt.
DATEV review

Questions people ask

Is Billit or DATEV better?
Neither clearly leads. Billit starts at Free and DATEV at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Billit or DATEV?
Billit has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Billit and On request for DATEV.
Does Billit or DATEV run on more platforms?
Billit runs on Web. DATEV runs on Windows, Web.
Can I use Billit for free?
Yes. Billit has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. DATEV starts at On request.
What is Billit best used for?
Billit is most often used for invoice generation and document management for freelancers and small businesses, e-invoicing and peppol compliance for european businesses, recurring billing and payment reminder workflows. Of those, invoice generation and document management for freelancers and small businesses and e-invoicing and peppol compliance for european businesses are not what DATEV is typically brought in for.
What can Billit do that DATEV cannot?
DATEV covers Unternehmen online, Lohn und Gehalt, Rechnungswesen, Jahresabschluss.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Billit: What does Billit Starter plan include and how much does it cost?

Billit Starter is €7.50 per month (or €22.92 per month with annual billing, roughly 15% off) and supports up to 25 documents per month. All plans include Peppol e-invoicing, invoice customization, quotes, mobile app, bank integration, and payment reminders. Extra documents over the limit cost €0.50 each.

Source
DATEV: Can I buy DATEV directly without a tax adviser?

In practice, no for most of the range. Membership of the cooperative is restricted to the tax and legal professions, and companies get access through their adviser or as a client of one.

Billit: How much does it cost to add team members to a Billit account?

The first user is included in your plan. Additional team members cost €5 per user per month. Bookkeepers and accountants can access the accountant portal for free.

Source
DATEV: Is DATEV usable outside Germany?

It operates in Austria, Italy, Spain, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary, but the depth is German. The Austrian product line is being discontinued with a hard end date of 31 December 2029.

Billit: What is the difference between Billit Growth and Professional plans?

Billit Growth is €25/month for up to 500 documents monthly (€0.25 per overage). Professional is €250/month for up to 1,000 documents monthly (€0.15 per overage). Both include all features; the only differences are document limit and overage rates.

Source
DATEV: What is the DATEV-Schnittstelle everyone mentions?

It is the standard export format German invoicing and ERP tools produce so bookkeeping data can be handed to a DATEV-based adviser. Supporting it is effectively a requirement to sell accounting-adjacent software in Germany.

DATEV: Does DATEV handle e-invoicing under the German B2B mandate?

Yes, the accounting and invoicing modules were extended for the XRechnung and ZUGFeRD formats that the German B2B e-invoicing rules require.

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