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Accounting · head to head

DATEV vs Plaid

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
Plaid logo

Plaid

Accounting

The safer way to connect financial accounts

From
$29/month
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.; Plaid no dollar amount is published for any product, and the pricing page states no per request rate or minimum commitment
  • They diverge on capability: DATEV covers Unternehmen online, Plaid covers Bank account linking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DATEV and Plaid actually diverge.

Attributes where DATEV and Plaid differ
AttributeDATEVPlaid
Starting priceOn request$29/month
Pricing modelquoteusage-based
PlatformsWindows, WebApi, Web, Ios, Android
FoundedUnknown2013

Identical on both: 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 Plaid

  • Bank account linking
  • Transaction data
  • Identity verification
  • Income verification
  • Asset reports
  • Venmo
  • Robinhood
  • Coinbase

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 Plaid
  • A payroll department that must file social insurance and wage tax returns to German statutory deadlines without an external bureaunot Plaid
  • An SME preparing an e-Bilanz and audit-ready GoBD document archivenot Plaid
  • A tax firm standardising dozens of client engagements on one chart of accounts and one document workflownot Plaid

Plaid

  • Connecting bank accounts to an application for balances and transactionsnot DATEV
  • Verifying account ownership and income for payments or lendingnot 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.

Plaid

  • No dollar amount is published for any product, and the pricing page states no per request rate or minimum commitment
  • Three different billing models apply depending on the product, being one time per connected account, monthly per connected account, and per successful API call
  • That mix means total cost depends on which products are combined rather than on a single unit
  • Discounted rates require the Growth plan, which is a 12 month commitment

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

Plaid

$29/month
  • Pay-as-you-goFree
    • Bank connections
    • Transaction data
    • Account verification

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 Plaid if

  • You need bank account linking.
  • You work on Api, Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want transaction data.
Plaid review

Questions people ask

Is DATEV or Plaid better?
Neither clearly leads. DATEV starts at On request and Plaid at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DATEV or Plaid?
DATEV starts at On request and Plaid at $29/month.
Does DATEV or Plaid run on more platforms?
DATEV runs on Windows, Web. Plaid runs on Api, Web, Ios, Android.
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 Plaid is typically brought in for.
What can DATEV do that Plaid cannot?
DATEV covers Unternehmen online, Lohn und Gehalt, Rechnungswesen, Jahresabschluss. Plaid covers Bank account linking, Transaction data, Identity verification, Income verification.

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.

Plaid: How much does Plaid cost?

Plaid does not publish per request rates. It offers Pay as You Go with no upfront commitment, a Growth plan on a 12 month commitment with discounts, and a Custom plan priced on volume. Figures come from its sales team.

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.

Plaid: How does Plaid bill for its products?

Plaid uses three billing shapes: one time fee products charged once per connected account, subscription products charged monthly per connected account, and per request products charged a flat fee for every successful API call.

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.

Plaid: Can I test Plaid for free?

Yes. Plaid's Limited Production service allows up to 200 API calls with each available product using live data, before any commitment. Plaid is also free for the consumers whose accounts are connected.

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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