Best for
Best for French companies that want invoicing, supplier purchases, a business account and their accounting firm working on one shared set of data.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Accounting & Invoicing Comparison
Pennylane vs. sevdesk
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for German freelancers and small businesses that keep their own books and want e-invoicing, bank sync and ELSTER filing without paying for a plan they have not grown into yet.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Pennylane | sevdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | lower value Free for micro-entrepreneurs, otherwise from €7 / month excluding VAT Per user and month excluding VAT, no commitment: Starter €7, Basique €14, Essentiel €24 and Premium €79. Companies invited by their accounting firm use the free Collaboratif plan, and micro-entrepreneurs have a free plan of their own. All plans cover up to 1,200 invoices a year. | Free for up to 3 invoices per month, otherwise from €11.90 / month plus VAT Billed monthly, per month plus VAT: Rechnung €11.90, Buchhaltung €25.90 and Buchhaltung Pro €34.90. Annual billing lowers these to €9.90, €22.90 and €30.90 per month, and a 24-month term lowers them further. sevdesk additionally advertises a promotional discount on top of these rates. |
| Free trial | 15 days free, no commitment | 14 days free, no credit card required, alongside a permanently free plan limited to 3 invoices per month |
| Users | Not stated | More than 130,000 companies |
| API | Yes, a public Company API with a sandbox environment, available from the Essentiel plan | Yes, a REST API, available from the Buchhaltung Pro plan |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS) | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Made in | Not stated | Germany |
| Invoicing and quotes | Yes, quotes with e-signature, invoices, part invoices, recurring invoices and subscriptions with automatic reminders, plus electronic invoicing for the French mandate | Yes, quotes and invoices from customisable templates, with XRechnung and ZUGFeRD e-invoices and payment reminders |
| Bookkeeping and bank feeds | Yes, bank synchronisation with automatic categorisation, and a full accounting module with rule-based automatic entries in the Premium plan | Yes, online banking for more than 4,000 banks with automatic transaction matching, and single or double-entry bookkeeping |
| Expenses and receipts | Yes, supplier invoices centralised with approval workflows and payment from the platform, plus expense reports and mileage allowances | Yes, AI-assisted receipt capture through the mobile app or by email |
| Tax and compliance | Yes, tax filing management and year-end closing tools in the Premium plan, built around French accounting rules | Yes, VAT advance return (UStVA), EÜR and P&L filed to ELSTER directly, plus DATEV-compliant and ADDISON exports for the tax adviser (Germany) |
| Payroll | No payroll of its own. Payroll stays in a connected tool, with partner integrations for the French payroll platforms PayFit and Silae | No, sevdesk does not produce payroll or salary statements |
| Reports and exports | Yes, real-time cash flow monitoring and forecasting, with custom dashboards and accounting reports in the Premium plan | Yes, BWA, trial balance lists and a real-time financial dashboard |
| Integrations and API | Yes, a public Company API with a sandbox environment, from the Essentiel plan | Yes, a REST API, from the Buchhaltung Pro plan |
| AI features | No | stated Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Chat, Phone, Community forum | Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Live online demos and webinars | Not stated |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized |
| Integrations | more entries Qonto, Stripe, Shopify, PayFit, Silae | DATEV, ADDISON |
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Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
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 Pennylane Free for micro-entrepreneurs, otherwise from €7 / month excluding VAT sevdesk Free for up to 3 invoices per month, otherwise from €11.90 / month plus VAT
- Free trial Pennylane 15 days free, no commitment sevdesk 14 days free, no credit card required, alongside a permanently free plan limited to 3 invoices per month
- Support Pennylane Chat, Phone, Community forum sevdesk Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat
- AI features Pennylane No sevdesk Yes
- API Pennylane Yes, a public Company API with a sandbox environment, available from the Essentiel plan sevdesk Yes, a REST API, available from the Buchhaltung Pro plan
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Pennylane
Strengths
- Built to be shared with the accounting firm, which works on the same data
- Free Collaboratif plan for companies invited by their accounting firm
- Electronic invoicing for the French mandate included at no extra cost
- Business account with physical and virtual Mastercards inside the platform
Limitations
- Shaped around French accounting rules and a French business account
- The accounting module and tax filing only arrive in the Premium plan, which is a large step up in price
- The public API starts at the Essentiel plan
- Plans are priced per user, so a larger finance team multiplies the cost
sevdesk
Strengths
- Permanently free plan for up to three invoices a month, no credit card
- AI-assisted receipt capture and automatic matching against bank transactions
- UStVA, EÜR and P&L filed to ELSTER directly, with DATEV and ADDISON exports
- Personal support by live chat, email and phone on the paid plans
Limitations
- No payroll: salary statements cannot be produced in sevdesk
- The REST API only comes with the top plan, Buchhaltung Pro
- Built around German tax rules, ELSTER and DATEV, so it suits German businesses specifically
- The lowest advertised rates need a 12-month or 24-month commitment
Plans
Pricing
Pennylane
- Free (micro-entrepreneurs) Free For micro-enterprises, 1 user. Invoice creation and reception, supplier centralisation, mobile app, up to 1,200 invoices a year.
- Starter €7 / month excluding VAT Per user. Business account with virtual and physical cards, invoice management, supplier payment, payment links, bank synchronisation.
- Basique €14 / month excluding VAT Per user. Adds part and advance invoices, delivery notes and purchase orders, supplier management and supplier invoice payment.
- Essentiel €24 / month excluding VAT Per user. Adds automated reminders, quote e-signature, recurring invoices, expense management, automatic categorisation, cash flow forecasting and API access.
- Premium €79 / month excluding VAT Per user. Adds the accounting module, validation workflows, custom dashboards, accounting reports, rule-based automatic entries, tax filing management and year-end closing.
sevdesk
- Kostenlos Free Permanently free, no credit card. Limited to 3 invoices or e-invoices per month, with unlimited contacts and products.
- Rechnung €11.90 / month plus VAT Billed monthly; €9.90 / month on annual billing and less on a 24-month term. Unlimited invoicing and e-invoices, templates, payment reminders, tax adviser access.
- Buchhaltung €25.90 / month plus VAT Billed monthly; €22.90 / month on annual billing and less on a 24-month term. Adds AI receipt capture, online banking, UStVA, EÜR and P&L, cash book.
- Buchhaltung Pro €34.90 / month plus VAT Billed monthly; €30.90 / month on annual billing and less on a 24-month term. Adds cost centres, the REST API and BWA reporting.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Pennylane
- 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.
sevdesk
- 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
Where this comes from
Pennylane https://www.pennylane.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-27
sevdesk https://www.sevdesk.com · 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.