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Accounting · head to head

DATEV vs Mesh Payments

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
Mesh Payments logo

Mesh Payments

Accounting

Virtual card and spend management platform aimed at SaaS and travel spend

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Mesh Payments has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Mesh Payments cashback only applies above a monthly spend threshold published at around fifty thousand dollars, so smaller programmes pay the per user fee and never see the rebate that justifies it.
  • They diverge on capability: DATEV covers Unternehmen online, Mesh Payments covers Per vendor virtual cards.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DATEV and Mesh Payments actually diverge.

Attributes where DATEV and Mesh Payments differ
AttributeDATEVMesh Payments
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotePer user per month
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, WebWeb, iOS, Android

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 DATEV

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

Only in Mesh Payments

  • Per vendor virtual cards
  • Physical and virtual employee cards
  • Subscription and renewal tracking
  • Receipt capture and matching
  • Approval workflows
  • Travel spend controls
  • Accounting sync
  • Cashback programme

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

Mesh Payments

  • A software company trying to stop shadow SaaS renewals by giving every vendor its own capped cardnot DATEV
  • A finance team that wants receipts matched at the point of spend rather than chased at month endnot DATEV
  • A business issuing single use cards for contractor and agency payments with hard limitsnot DATEV
  • A team funding trip specific spend with a card that expires when the trip endsnot 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.

Mesh Payments

  • Cashback only applies above a monthly spend threshold published at around fifty thousand dollars, so smaller programmes pay the per user fee and never see the rebate that justifies it.
  • Revenue depends on interchange, which means Mesh has a structural interest in card spend running through its rails and less incentive to support bank transfer or direct debit payment methods that many suppliers prefer.
  • Card issuing is limited to the entities and countries Mesh's issuing partners support, so groups with subsidiaries outside that footprint must run a second card programme and lose the single view they bought Mesh for.
  • The free Pro tier caps at three users, which is below the size at which spend control actually becomes a problem, so it functions as a trial rather than a usable plan.
  • It is a spend and card tool rather than an accounts payable system, so invoice heavy businesses still need a separate AP platform and end up reconciling two sources of supplier spend.

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

Mesh Payments

Free
  • ProFree
    • Up to 3 users
    • Virtual and physical cards
    • Receipt capture
  • Premium$13/month
    • Unlimited users
    • Approval workflows
    • Subscription management
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Multi entity support
    • SSO and advanced controls
    • Custom approval hierarchies

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 Mesh Payments if

  • You need per vendor virtual cards.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want physical and virtual employee cards.
Mesh Payments review

Questions people ask

Is DATEV or Mesh Payments better?
Neither clearly leads. DATEV starts at On request and Mesh Payments at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DATEV or Mesh Payments?
Mesh Payments has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for DATEV and Free for Mesh Payments.
Does DATEV or Mesh Payments run on more platforms?
DATEV runs on Windows, Web. Mesh Payments runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Mesh Payments for free?
Yes. Mesh Payments has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. DATEV starts at On request.
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 Mesh Payments is typically brought in for.
What can DATEV do that Mesh Payments cannot?
DATEV covers Unternehmen online, Lohn und Gehalt, Rechnungswesen, Jahresabschluss. Mesh Payments covers Per vendor virtual cards, Physical and virtual employee cards, Subscription and renewal tracking, Receipt capture and matching.

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.

Mesh Payments: Is the free plan really free?

Yes for up to three users, with cards and receipt capture included. Beyond three users you move to the paid tier.

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.

Mesh Payments: How does Mesh make money on a thirteen dollar plan?

Interchange on card spend. The subscription is a minority of revenue, which is why the cashback programme has a monthly spend threshold attached.

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.

Mesh Payments: Can Mesh replace our accounts payable process?

Not fully. It controls card spend well but invoice capture, supplier onboarding and payment runs are better served by a dedicated AP tool.

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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