Fortnox vs. Lexware Office

At a glance

Best for

Best for Swedish small businesses and accounting firms that want the books, invoicing and payroll in one platform built for Swedish rules.

Freelancers
Small and mid-sized

Lexware Office

Best for

Best for German freelancers and small businesses that want quotes, e-invoices, bookkeeping and the VAT return in one place, with a direct DATEV handover to the tax adviser.

Freelancers
Small and mid-sized

Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.

Full Comparison

Criterion	Fortnox	Lexware Office
Starting price	From 238 SEK / month The Mini package, which bundles Fortnox Access and the Bokföring module. Fortnox Access is priced from 29 SEK per month and scales with how active the company is, so the package total rises with activity. Quarterly and annual commitments are priced differently.	From €7.90 / month plus VAT Four versions, each per month plus VAT and cancellable monthly: S €7.90, M €12.90, L €21.90 and XL €32.90. Payroll (Lohn & Gehalt) is a separate add-on at €12.90 / month plus VAT that combines with any version. A 50% discount for the first three months is currently advertised.
Free trial	Six months free for companies started within the last three months, with the code NYSTARTAD; a 30-day money-back guarantee on all subscriptions	30 days free, with the full XL feature set
Users	More than 500,000 Swedish companies, per the vendor	Over 450,000 customers
API	Yes, a REST API with OAuth 2.0 authorisation and an integration marketplace	Yes, the Lexware Office Public API (REST), available from version XL at no extra cost
Hosting	Cloud (SaaS)	Cloud (SaaS)
Made in	Sweden	Not stated
Invoicing and quotes	Yes, invoices as e-invoices, by email or by post, with recurring invoices, automated reminders, foreign currencies, ROT and RUT handling and optional invoice factoring	Yes, quotes, invoices, delivery notes and credit notes, with XRechnung and ZUGFeRD e-invoicing included
Bookkeeping and bank feeds	Yes, with connections to Swedbank, Nordea, SEB, Handelsbanken and other Swedish banks, AI posting proposals and automatic matching of incoming payments	Yes, multibanking with automatic matching proposals for bank transactions, and GoBD-compliant records
Expenses and receipts	Yes, Kvitto & Utlägg captures receipts in the mobile app with automatic interpretation, Resa covers business travel claims and the Fortnox corporate card posts itself	Yes, receipt capture from a phone photo or an email import, with automatic categorisation
Tax and compliance	Yes, an integration with Skatteverket, plus the year-end close and tax return through the Bokslut & Skatt module (Sweden)	Yes, VAT advance return (UStVA) filed from the software, EÜR and year-end preparation, plus a direct DATEV handover to the tax adviser (Germany)
Payroll	Yes, the Lön module, bundled from the Mellan+ package upwards	Yes, as a paid add-on (Lohn & Gehalt) at €12.90 / month plus VAT, combinable with any version
Reports and exports	Yes, the Rapport & Analys module for data visualisation and financial analysis, plus Fortnox Koncern for group consolidation	Yes, a dashboard with account balances and open invoices, plus P&L (GuV) and BWA reports
Integrations and API	Yes, a REST API with OAuth 2.0 documented at apps.fortnox.se/apidocs, with an integration marketplace	Yes, the Lexware Office Public API (REST), from version XL at no extra cost
AI features	stated Yes	No
Deployment	Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based	Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
Support	Phone, Chat	Not stated
Onboarding	Documentation and knowledge base	Not stated
Company size	Freelancers, Small and mid-sized	Freelancers, Small and mid-sized
Integrations	more entries Swedbank, Nordea, SEB, Handelsbanken, Skatteverket	DATEV, PayPal, Shopify, Amazon

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Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.

The short version

Key Differences

Starting price Fortnox From 238 SEK / month Lexware Office From €7.90 / month plus VAT
Free trial Fortnox Six months free for companies started within the last three months, with the code NYSTARTAD; a 30-day money-back guarantee on all subscriptions Lexware Office 30 days free, with the full XL feature set
AI features Fortnox Yes Lexware Office No
Users Fortnox More than 500,000 Swedish companies, per the vendor Lexware Office Over 450,000 customers
API Fortnox Yes, a REST API with OAuth 2.0 authorisation and an integration marketplace Lexware Office Yes, the Lexware Office Public API (REST), available from version XL at no extra cost

Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.

The trade-offs

Strengths and Limitations

Fortnox

Strengths

Books, invoicing, payroll, receipts, travel claims, time reporting and the year-end close in one platform
Connections to the major Swedish banks with AI posting proposals and automatic payment matching
REST API with OAuth 2.0 and a marketplace that pays integration partners 75 percent of subscription revenue
Six months free for newly started companies, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee on all subscriptions

Limitations

Built for Sweden: the Skatteverket integration, Swedish bank links and ROT and RUT handling do not transfer to other markets
Fortnox Access is charged as part of every package and scales with company activity, so the published package rate is a floor rather than the bill
Packages and product pages are published in Swedish and priced in SEK

Lexware Office

Strengths

XRechnung and ZUGFeRD e-invoicing included in the product
Direct DATEV handover, so the tax adviser works on the same data
UStVA and EÜR prepared and filed from the software
Public REST API at no extra cost once you are on version XL

Limitations

Bookkeeping, EÜR and VAT only start in version L, and the API only in XL
Payroll is a paid add-on rather than part of any version
Built around German tax rules, ELSTER and DATEV, so it suits German businesses specifically

Plans

Pricing

Fortnox

Mini From 238 SEK / month Fortnox Access and Bokföring.
Liten From 378 SEK / month Fortnox Access, Bokföring and Fakturering.
Mellan+ From 688 SEK / month Adds Lön, supplier invoice approval and the integration module.
Stor+ From 948 SEK / month Adds the fixed asset register, Rapport & Analys and Rapport & Analys Plus.

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Lexware Office

S €7.90 / month plus VAT Receipt capture and receipt archive.
M €12.90 / month plus VAT Adds quotes, invoices and e-invoices, and dunning.
L €21.90 / month plus VAT Adds bookkeeping, EÜR and VAT (UStVA).
XL €32.90 / month plus VAT Adds EU invoices, part invoices and the Public API.
Lohn & Gehalt (add-on) €12.90 / month plus VAT Payroll add-on, combinable with any version.

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What users say

Review Scores · opens after launch

Fortnox

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.

Lexware Office

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.

How we check reviews

Reviews are not published yet. The form on a tool's page works and reaches us, but nothing from it appears on this site, so no score here is based on a review. The rules below are the ones that will apply once reviews go live.

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Where this comes from

Fortnox https://www.fortnox.se · no check date recorded yet

Lexware Office https://www.lexware.de · checked against the official source on 2026-08-27

This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.