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Accounting · head to head

DATEV vs Pennylane

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
Pennylane logo

Pennylane

Accounting

French tool combining business finances, accounting and a pro account in one platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Pennylane no pricing is displayed on the homepage or linked pricing page; visitors are directed only to a Demarrer maintenant (Start now) signup flow with no published EUR figure
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DATEV and Pennylane actually diverge.

Attributes where DATEV and Pennylane differ
AttributeDATEVPennylane
PlatformsWindows, WebWeb

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), 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 DATEV

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

Only in Pennylane

Nothing recorded that DATEV does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

DATEV

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

Pennylane

  • Automated invoicing with payment reminders and collectionsnot DATEV
  • Real-time cash flow visibility and financial forecastingnot DATEV
  • Employee expense management with card controls and workflowsnot DATEV
  • Automated supplier invoice payment processingnot DATEV
  • Mandatory e-invoicing compliance (France September 2026)not DATEV

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Pennylane

  • No pricing is displayed on the homepage or linked pricing page; visitors are directed only to a Demarrer maintenant (Start now) signup flow with no published EUR figure
  • The product bundles accounting, invoicing and a business bank account together, so buyers cannot subscribe to only one function

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Pennylane

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Pennylane review.

Which should you pick?

Choose DATEV if

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

Choose Pennylane if

Nothing in the data separates Pennylane from DATEV on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Pennylane review

Questions people ask

Is DATEV or Pennylane better?
Neither clearly leads. DATEV starts at On request and Pennylane at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DATEV or Pennylane?
DATEV starts at On request and Pennylane at On request.
Does DATEV or Pennylane run on more platforms?
DATEV runs on Windows, Web. Pennylane runs on Web.
What is DATEV best used for?
DATEV is most often used 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. Of those, a german gmbh that wants its steuerberater to keep doing the books but wants receipts to stop travelling in a shoebox and a payroll department that must file social insurance and wage tax returns to german statutory deadlines without an external bureau are not what Pennylane is typically brought in for.
What can DATEV do that Pennylane cannot?
DATEV covers Unternehmen online, Lohn und Gehalt, Rechnungswesen, Jahresabschluss.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Pennylane: What financial processes does Pennylane help automate?

Pennylane streamlines multiple financial functions including invoice creation, expense management, payment collection, and receipt documentation. The platform centralizes data from facturation, purchasing, treasury, and accounting in one unified system.

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.

Pennylane: Can Pennylane help with corporate spending control?

Yes. Pennylane provides corporate cards for employees with built-in spending controls and authorization workflows, allowing businesses to manage team expenses while maintaining visibility and approval requirements.

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.

Pennylane: Does Pennylane provide real-time financial visibility?

Yes. Pennylane's unified dashboard provides live transaction visibility and real-time cash flow monitoring across the entire business, helping teams access financial data instantly.

Source
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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