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Accounting · head to head

DATEV vs Rydoo

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
Rydoo logo

Rydoo

Accounting

Expense management with per-user pricing and a five-user minimum, built for European multi-entity teams

From
$10/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.; Rydoo a five-user minimum means very small teams pay for seats they do not have, which removes Rydoo from consideration for firms of two or three.
  • They diverge on capability: DATEV covers Unternehmen online, Rydoo covers Receipt OCR.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DATEV and Rydoo actually diverge.

Attributes where DATEV and Rydoo differ
AttributeDATEVRydoo
Starting priceOn request$10/month
Pricing modelquotePer user per month
PlatformsWindows, WebWeb, iOS, Android

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 Rydoo

  • Receipt OCR
  • Per diem engine
  • Mileage
  • VAT fields
  • Multi-entity
  • ERP export

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

Rydoo

  • A Belgian or German employer that must apply statutory per diem rates correctly across staff travelling in several countriesnot DATEV
  • A group with five legal entities wanting one expense tool but separate approval chains and ledgersnot DATEV
  • A company that already has a corporate card programme and refuses to change banks to get expense softwarenot DATEV
  • A finance team recovering VAT on foreign travel and needing the fields captured at claim timenot 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.

Rydoo

  • A five-user minimum means very small teams pay for seats they do not have, which removes Rydoo from consideration for firms of two or three.
  • Pricing is per user rather than per active user, so organisations where most staff claim expenses twice a year still pay a full seat every month for them.
  • There is no card issuing, so real-time spend control and pre-authorisation are outside the product and remain with your bank.
  • Per diem and multi-entity handling sit on the higher tier, so the countries that most need Rydoo generally cannot buy the cheap plan.
  • Receipt extraction quality varies by language and receipt format, and finance teams still review a meaningful share of claims by hand.

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

Rydoo

$10/month
  • Essentials$10/month
    • Around 9 per user per month billed annually
    • Five-user minimum
    • Receipt capture, approvals and accounting export
  • Pro$12/month
    • Around 11 per user per month billed annually
    • Per diem engine and advanced policy controls
    • Multi-entity and multi-currency handling
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Quoted pricing
    • Custom ERP and single sign-on work
    • Dedicated support and onboarding

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 Rydoo if

  • You need receipt ocr.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want per diem engine.
Rydoo review

Questions people ask

Is DATEV or Rydoo better?
Neither clearly leads. DATEV starts at On request and Rydoo at $10/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DATEV or Rydoo?
DATEV starts at On request and Rydoo at $10/month.
Does DATEV or Rydoo run on more platforms?
DATEV runs on Windows, Web. Rydoo 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 Rydoo is typically brought in for.
What can DATEV do that Rydoo cannot?
DATEV covers Unternehmen online, Lohn und Gehalt, Rechnungswesen, Jahresabschluss. Rydoo covers Receipt OCR, Per diem engine, Mileage, VAT fields.

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.

Rydoo: Does Rydoo issue cards?

No. It is expense software only; you keep your existing corporate card or bank programme.

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.

Rydoo: Is there a minimum?

Yes, pricing carries a five-user minimum, so the smallest bill is five seats regardless of headcount.

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.

Rydoo: Do I need the Pro plan?

If you operate per diems, multiple legal entities or multi-currency claims, yes. Essentials is for single-entity receipt and approval workflows.

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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