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Accounting · head to head

DATEV vs Wagestream

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
Wagestream logo

Wagestream

Payroll

Financial wellbeing platform with flexible pay, savings and coaching for UK and US employers

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.; Wagestream employees pay a flat fee of around 1.95 pounds per transfer, so frequent users pay a meaningful annual sum to access wages they have already earned.
  • They diverge on capability: DATEV covers Unternehmen online, Wagestream covers Stream pay.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DATEV and Wagestream actually diverge.

Attributes where DATEV and Wagestream differ
AttributeDATEVWagestream
PlatformsWindows, WebWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryAccountingPayroll

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Wagestream

  • Stream pay
  • Build savings
  • Track
  • Coaching
  • Employer subsidy
  • Rostering integration

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

Wagestream

  • A care provider with thousands of shift workers using flexible pay to fill unpopular shiftsnot DATEV
  • A retailer under ESG scrutiny that wants to subsidise the transfer fee and evidence a genuine benefitnot DATEV
  • An employer whose staff use payday lending and who wants a cheaper alternative inside payrollnot DATEV
  • A logistics operator wanting savings-from-pay alongside early access rather than advances alonenot 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.

Wagestream

  • Employees pay a flat fee of around 1.95 pounds per transfer, so frequent users pay a meaningful annual sum to access wages they have already earned.
  • Employers who do not subsidise the fee are, in effect, offering a benefit funded by their lowest-paid staff, which is an awkward position when unions or ESG reporting examine it.
  • Transfers are capped at a share of earned wages, commonly around half a month, so it does not resolve a genuine income shortfall and can delay someone seeking real debt help.
  • It needs accurate payroll and rostering feeds; employers with legacy or multiple payroll systems face long integrations before launch.
  • Uptake concentrates in a minority of staff who use it repeatedly, so headline adoption figures overstate how broadly the benefit is felt across a workforce.

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

Wagestream

On request
  • Wagestream$undefined/year
    • Employer platform fee quoted, commonly per employee per month
    • Employee pays roughly 1.95 per wage transfer unless subsidised
    • Employer can part-subsidise or fully fund the transfer fee

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 Wagestream if

  • You need stream pay.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want build savings.
Wagestream review

Questions people ask

Is DATEV or Wagestream better?
Neither clearly leads. DATEV starts at On request and Wagestream at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DATEV or Wagestream?
DATEV starts at On request and Wagestream at On request.
Does DATEV or Wagestream run on more platforms?
DATEV runs on Windows, Web. Wagestream runs on 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 Wagestream is typically brought in for.
What can DATEV do that Wagestream cannot?
DATEV covers Unternehmen online, Lohn und Gehalt, Rechnungswesen, Jahresabschluss. Wagestream covers Stream pay, Build savings, Track, Coaching.

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.

Wagestream: What does an employee pay?

A flat fee of roughly 1.95 pounds per transfer, unless the employer subsidises part or all of it.

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.

Wagestream: Is it a loan?

No. It is access to wages already earned, netted off at payroll, so there is no interest and no credit agreement.

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.

Wagestream: Can employers cover the fee?

Yes. Employer subsidy is a standard option and is the difference between a genuine benefit and a cost passed to staff.

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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