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Accounting · head to head

Circula vs Fortnox

Circula logo

Circula

Accounting

Expense, travel and employee benefit management for German speaking finance teams

From
€15/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fortnox logo

Fortnox

Accounting

Swedish cloud accounting and business platform for bookkeeping, invoicing and payroll

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Fortnox has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Circula the module pricing stacks: expenses at fifteen euro per licence plus ninety nine euro for cards plus a hundred and forty nine euro for accounts payable means a fifty person company pays well over a thousand euro a month before add ons.; Fortnox corporate packages alone span at least 7 named tiers (Mini through Stor+) priced from 209 kr/man to 919 kr/man, and add-on programs are billed separately per module (SEK)
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Circula and Fortnox actually diverge.

Attributes where Circula and Fortnox differ
AttributeCirculaFortnox
Starting price€15/monthFree
Pricing modelPer user per monthsubscription
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb

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 Circula

  • German per diem engine
  • Receipt capture and OCR
  • Corporate credit cards
  • Employee benefits
  • Accounts payable
  • Mileage and travel
  • DATEV and ERP export
  • Approval workflows

Only in Fortnox

Nothing recorded that Circula does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Circula

  • A German company that must apply statutory per diem rates and meal deductions correctly to avoid payroll tax exposurenot Fortnox
  • A finance team wanting card spend, expense claims and benefits in one DATEV exportnot Fortnox
  • An employer offering the tax free monthly benefit allowance and needing auditable records of itnot Fortnox
  • A mid sized business replacing spreadsheet mileage claims with rule enforced distance calculationsnot Fortnox

Fortnox

  • Registering Swedish corporations with guided formation assistancenot Circula
  • Selling unpaid invoices to improve cash flownot Circula
  • Managing multiple client businesses from bureau dashboardnot Circula
  • Integrating payroll with Swedish banking automationnot Circula

Where each one falls short

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

Circula

  • The module pricing stacks: expenses at fifteen euro per licence plus ninety nine euro for cards plus a hundred and forty nine euro for accounts payable means a fifty person company pays well over a thousand euro a month before add ons.
  • A minimum of ten licences excludes small teams, and the flexible licensing model for occasional claimants makes monthly cost harder to forecast than a flat per seat price.
  • Strength is in German tax rules, so companies with significant operations outside the DACH region gain little from the feature that justifies the price.
  • The accounts payable module includes only a hundred invoices per month, so invoice heavy businesses face metered overage on top of the platform fee.
  • Card issuing carries a per card transaction ceiling and depends on partner issuing, so high value procurement spend can hit limits that a bank issued corporate card would not.

Fortnox

  • Corporate packages alone span at least 7 named tiers (Mini through Stor+) priced from 209 kr/man to 919 kr/man, and add-on programs are billed separately per module (SEK)
  • The Fortnox Access verification tier is priced by transaction volume, rising from 9 kr/man at zero verifications to 199 kr/man at 1000+ verifications (SEK), so cost is not fixed and scales with usage

Pricing, plan by plan

Circula

€15/month
  • Employee and Travel Expenses$15/month
    • Per licence, billed annually
    • Minimum 10 licences
    • OCR receipt capture
  • Credit Cards$99/month
    • Platform fee, unlimited cards
    • Per card spend limits
    • Transaction limit of EUR 750,000 per card
  • Accounts Payable$149/month
    • Platform fee
    • Includes 100 invoices per month
    • Supplier invoice capture and approval
  • Benefits$1/month
    • Per licence
    • Tax free benefit allowances
    • Mobility and meal benefits

Fortnox

Free
  • New Company TrialFree
    • 6-month free trial for newly started businesses

Which should you pick?

Choose Circula if

  • You need german per diem engine.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want receipt capture and ocr.
Circula review

Choose Fortnox if

  • You want to start without paying.
Fortnox review

Questions people ask

Is Circula or Fortnox better?
Neither clearly leads. Circula starts at €15/month and Fortnox at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Circula or Fortnox?
Fortnox has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at €15/month for Circula and Free for Fortnox.
Does Circula or Fortnox run on more platforms?
Circula runs on Web, iOS, Android. Fortnox runs on Web.
Can I use Fortnox for free?
Yes. Fortnox has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Circula starts at €15/month.
What is Circula best used for?
Circula is most often used for a german company that must apply statutory per diem rates and meal deductions correctly to avoid payroll tax exposure, a finance team wanting card spend, expense claims and benefits in one datev export, an employer offering the tax free monthly benefit allowance and needing auditable records of it, a mid sized business replacing spreadsheet mileage claims with rule enforced distance calculations. Of those, a german company that must apply statutory per diem rates and meal deductions correctly to avoid payroll tax exposure and a finance team wanting card spend, expense claims and benefits in one datev export are not what Fortnox is typically brought in for.
What can Circula do that Fortnox cannot?
Circula covers German per diem engine, Receipt capture and OCR, Corporate credit cards, Employee benefits.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Circula: Does Circula calculate German per diems automatically?

Yes, by destination country and trip duration, including meal and accommodation deductions, which is the main reason DACH finance teams buy it.

Fortnox: Does Fortnox offer a free trial?

Yes, newly started businesses receive their first six months in Fortnox at no cost, followed by subscription-based pricing.

Source
Circula: What does it actually cost for fifty employees?

Roughly seven hundred and fifty euro a month for expense licences alone at the fifteen euro rate, before the ninety nine euro card platform fee and any accounts payable module.

Fortnox: What pricing tiers does Fortnox offer?

Fortnox offers tiered subscription packages that vary by module (accounting, invoicing, payroll) but specific pricing details are not listed on the main website.

Source
Circula: Is there a minimum commitment?

Yes. A minimum of ten licences and annual billing on the published rates.

Fortnox: How can I find Fortnox pricing information?

Detailed pricing is available on the packages page (/paket), through a purchasing guide tool at buy-guide.fortnox.se, or by contacting sales representatives directly.

Source
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