Best for
Best for Swiss SMEs and the self-employed that want quotes, invoices, bookkeeping, banking and payroll in one system built for Swiss rules.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Accounting & Invoicing Comparison
bexio vs. Xero
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for small businesses that want bank reconciliation, document capture and unlimited users on every plan, with payroll handled through Gusto.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | bexio | Xero |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From CHF 35 / month The Basic package on annual billing, for one user. Monthly billing costs CHF 10 more per month on every package. The list rates on annual billing are CHF 35 for Basic, CHF 42 for Advanced, CHF 69 for Optima and CHF 119 for Ultimate. A 30 percent first-year discount on Advanced and above was running at the time of writing. | From $25 / month United States plans, per organisation. Growing is $55 and Established $90 a month. Plan names and prices differ by country. Xero is running 90 percent off the first six months for purchases made by 30 September 2026. |
| Free trial | 30 days without obligation, on the Ultimate package excluding the document archive and bexio Pay | Not stated |
| Team size | 1 user on Basic, 2 on Advanced, 5 on Optima and 25 on Ultimate | Not stated |
| Users | More than 100,000 companies, per the vendor | Not stated |
| API | Yes, a REST API authenticated over OpenID Connect, plus a marketplace of more than 120 apps | Yes, a documented open API and the Xero App Store with more than 1000 apps |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS), stored in Swiss data centres | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Made in | Switzerland | Not stated |
| Invoicing and quotes | Yes, quotes and orders from stored products and services, QR invoices from multilingual templates, and project time carried into the invoice | Yes, professional online invoices and quotes from the desktop or mobile app, with sales tax calculated automatically |
| Bookkeeping and bank feeds | Yes, single-entry or double-entry bookkeeping with pre-configured Swiss charts of accounts and VAT rates, and automatic reconciliation against more than 65 Swiss banks | Yes, bank reconciliation on every plan, with Hubdoc pulling bills and receipts into Xero |
| Expenses and receipts | Yes, supplier invoices and receipts posted against selected ledgers, with AI receipt scanning in the bexio Go app, metered per package | Yes, employee expense and mileage claims, plus receipt and bill capture through Hubdoc |
| Tax and compliance | Yes, VAT statements in several methods and the year-end close, plus a GeBüV-compliant document archive with tamper-proof timestamps in Swiss data centres (Switzerland) | Yes, automatic sales tax on invoices with an Avalara integration for detailed tax reporting |
| Payroll | Yes, certified to Swissdec 5.3 with automatic reporting to the authorities; a paid add-on on Advanced and included from Optima upwards | Available through an integration with Gusto, Xero's preferred payroll partner |
| Reports and exports | Yes, balance sheet and income statement with year-on-year comparison, plus a dashboard of financial key figures | Yes, financial reports, analytics and a real-time dashboard on every plan |
| Integrations and API | Yes, a REST API over OpenID Connect covering sales, contacts, accounting, purchasing, items, projects, banking, files and payroll, with a marketplace of more than 120 apps | Yes, a documented open API and the Xero App Store with more than 1000 apps |
| AI features | stated Yes | No |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Phone, Email helpdesk | Email helpdesk, Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Guided onboarding |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized |
| Integrations | more entries Clockodo, TimeStatement, 2getHR, PEAX, Worldline, SumUp & PepperShop POS solution, PepperShop Online Shop, Shopify Connector by Helvy, echo for Microsoft Teams, Callwise, Social EDI (gate2b) | Gusto, Avalara, Hubdoc |
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The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price bexio From CHF 35 / month Xero From $25 / month
- Hosting bexio Cloud (SaaS), stored in Swiss data centres Xero Cloud (SaaS)
- Support bexio Phone, Email helpdesk Xero Email helpdesk, Community forum
- AI features bexio Yes Xero No
- API bexio Yes, a REST API authenticated over OpenID Connect, plus a marketplace of more than 120 apps Xero Yes, a documented open API and the Xero App Store with more than 1000 apps
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
bexio
Strengths
- Swiss specifics built in: QR invoices, Swissdec 5.3 payroll, VAT statements and a GeBüV-compliant archive in Swiss data centres
- Free live access for the fiduciary, with around 1,000 certified Swiss partners already working in the system
- Automatic reconciliation with more than 65 Swiss banks
- REST API over OpenID Connect and a marketplace of more than 120 apps
Limitations
- Packages are cut by user count, so one extra login can mean the next tier
- Payroll is absent from the Basic package and a paid add-on on Advanced
- AI receipt scanning in the mobile app is metered on every package except Ultimate
- Built for Switzerland, so the tax, banking and payroll work does not transfer to other markets
Xero
Strengths
- Bank reconciliation and Hubdoc document capture on every plan
- Unlimited users at no extra cost on all plans
- Automatic sales tax with an Avalara integration
- Documented API and an App Store with more than 1000 apps
Limitations
- Payroll relies on the Gusto integration rather than being native
- Multi-currency and project profitability are reserved for the Established plan
Plans
Pricing
bexio
- Basic CHF 35 / month On annual billing, CHF 45 per month billed monthly. One user. Contacts, invoices, accounting, products, expenses, e-banking, document archive, projects, time tracking and stock management. No payroll and no bexio Pay.
- Advanced CHF 42 / month On annual billing, CHF 52 per month billed monthly. Two users. Adds payroll as a paid add-on (CHF 7 to 25 per month), bexio Pay for CHF 14 per month, 50 AI receipt scans per month and more than 90 marketplace apps.
- Optima CHF 69 / month On annual billing, CHF 79 per month billed monthly. Five users. Payroll for five employees included, bexio Pay for CHF 14 per month, 100 AI receipt scans per month.
- Ultimate CHF 119 / month On annual billing, CHF 129 per month billed monthly. 25 users. Payroll for 25 employees included, bexio Pay included, unlimited AI receipt scans.
Xero
- Early $25 Per month, United States pricing. Quotes and 20 invoices, 5 bills, bank reconciliation, Smart Document Capture, real-time reports, sales tax, W-9 and 1099 management and a 30-day cash flow forecast.
- Growing $55 Per month, United States pricing. Removes the invoice and bill limits and adds automated bill entry, auto-reconciliation, performance dashboards, financial health scorecards, budgets and a 60-day cash flow forecast.
- Established $90 Per month, United States pricing. Adds multiple currencies, project time, cost and profitability tracking, employee expense and mileage claims, industry benchmarking and a 180-day cash flow forecast.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
bexio
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
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Xero
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
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Where this comes from
Where this comes from
bexio https://www.bexio.com · no check date recorded yet
Xero https://www.xero.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-19
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.