Every serious German invoicing tool can issue and receive XRechnung and ZUGFeRD in 2026, so the format is no longer the deciding question. The real differences are price (from €0 to about €39 a month before VAT), whether the free tier caps you at 3 to 5 documents, whether the archive is GoBD-compliant, whether a DATEV export is included on your tier, and whether Kleinunternehmer settings exist at all. Read the tier line, not the checkbox: two tools sell "e-invoices" on cheap tiers that are not full XRechnung. A PDF is still not an e-invoice.
Most freelancers in Germany will not have to send an e-invoice before 1 January 2028. But you have had to receive them since 1 January 2025, and the tool you pick this year is the one you will still be using when the switch comes. Here is what ten tools cost and what they actually do, checked on their own pricing pages on 28 September 2026. Prices are net, and they change without notice.
The legal frame in four lines
The three dates are in our e-invoicing guide, so only the short version here. Receiving since 1 January 2025 for every business established in Germany, Kleinunternehmer included. Issuing from 1 January 2027 only above €800,000 prior-year turnover. Issuing from 1 January 2028 for everyone else, with the standing exception that Kleinunternehmer under § 19 UStG may keep sending ordinary invoices. Compliant formats are XRechnung (pure XML) and ZUGFeRD from 2.0.1 (a PDF with the XML inside), both following EN 16931. The BMF FAQ says the rest in one sentence: "ein einfaches PDF-Dokument fällt dann nicht mehr unter diese Definition."
Two things do not change with the format. The mandatory fields of § 14 Abs. 4 UStG stay what they are; our invoice checklist still applies. And § 14b UStG still wants every invoice kept for eight years, with the structured part of an e-invoice stored unaltered. That archive is what the GoBD lines below are about: the principles for keeping books electronically require that a stored invoice cannot be changed without a trace.
Six questions to ask any tool
- Does it create XRechnung and ZUGFeRD, on the tier I would actually pay for?
- Does it receive e-invoices and read the XML into my books, or does it just store the file?
- Is the archive GoBD-compliant, and can I export the original XML if I leave?
- Is a DATEV export (or an equivalent my tax adviser accepts) included, or an upgrade?
- Does a bank connection reconcile payments automatically?
- Can I switch on the Kleinunternehmerregelung, and does the tool print the § 19 note?
Now the ten tools, grouped by what you pay.
Free tiers that are real, not trials
sevdesk. The free plan writes 3 invoices or e-invoices a month in ZUGFeRD and XRechnung, permanently. The Rechnung tier is €11.90 a month, €9.90 with a 12-month term and €8.90 with 24 months; a time-limited deal on the page cut that to €4.45. Receiving with automatic data extraction starts only at Buchhaltung (€25.90 monthly, €19.90 at 24 months), which is where the DATEV/ADDISON interface and the 4,000-bank connection live. GoBD is stated. If you only send three invoices a month, the free plan is a complete answer.
Accountable. Rechnungen Free is €0 and writes unlimited ZUGFeRD and XRechnung invoices with one bank account. Rechnungen Plus is €9.90 a month on the annual plan, €12.40 monthly, after an 85 % discount for the first three months, and adds DATEV and PDF export. The Buchhaltung plan (€19.90 / €24.90) is built for Kleinunternehmer and includes a free year-end statement for them; receiving supports PEPPOL. Accountable operates under a PSD2 licence supervised by BaFin, which is about payments, not a hosting-location promise. Accountable (affiliate link) is the tool we link in our own guides because the free tier is not a demo.
easybill. Free is permanent: 50 documents a month, but only 3 contacts, which makes it a tool for one or two regular clients. Starter is €9 a month on the annual plan, €12 monthly; Professional €25 / €39; Premium €37 / €45. XRechnung and ZUGFeRD are issued and received on every paid tier. Storage is "zeitlich unbegrenzt und rechtssicher gemäß GoBD", with an archive charge that scales with volume. Watch the DATEV row: it is a checkmark only from Professional. Kleinunternehmer settings exist on all tiers.
Papierkram. Free is €0, S is €9.90 a month on the annual plan (€12.90 monthly), M €19.90 / €24.90, L €39.90 / €49.90. This is the first of the two tier traps. Every tier creates "rechtlich korrekte E-Rechnungen im XML-Format" and receives them, but XRechnung and ZUGFeRD by name, the formats a corporate or public client will demand, are listed only for M and L. The Kleinunternehmerregelung is available from Free up, DATEV export from S, bank accounts 2 / 5 / 10 for S / M / L. GoBD certification is stated for the platform.
Zervant. Free promises unlimited invoices and quotes, then caps you at a "monatlichen Rechnungslimit von 5". XRechnung is included free because Zervant creates the file and you send it yourself; other e-invoice formats are premium and go out through partner Basware. Start is €9 a month or €108 a year, Plus €20 or €240. The page says nothing about GoBD, Kleinunternehmer or receiving e-invoices, so treat those as unconfirmed, not absent. Second tier trap: "e-invoice included" here means one format, self-sent.
SumUp Invoices. Debitoor's successor; Debitoor's own page says it is "now SumUp Invoices" and takes no new sign-ups. Free receives unlimited e-invoices and creates up to 4 a month. Plus is €4 a month in the annual plan at a 50 % discount, so the regular price is about €8; re-check before you sign. XRechnung, ZUGFeRD and GoBD-compliant archiving are stated. One discrepancy to name: the page speaks of keeping invoices for 10 years under § 14b UStG, while the law has said eight years since 1 January 2025. Keeping files longer does no harm, but the page has not caught up with the statute.
Paid from the first invoice
Lexware Office (formerly lexoffice). S €3.95, M €6.45, L €10.95, XL €16.45 a month for the first three months, then €7.90 / €12.90 / €21.90 / €32.90. No free tier, a 30-day trial. E-invoices "gemäß EN 16931" in ZUGFeRD and XRechnung, a GoBD long-term archive and multibanking are stated. The tax-adviser link is an "elektronische Pendelakte", not a DATEV export by name; ask your adviser whether that is enough for them.
FastBill. Solo €10 monthly or €9 on the annual plan, Plus €15 / €14, Pro €30 / €27, Premium €59 / €53. No free tier, 14-day trial. The cleanest checklist result of the ten: ZUGFeRD and XRechnung issuing and receiving, GoBD-compliant retention, DATEV export and the Kleinunternehmerregelung setting on every tier, including Solo with its single bank account.
Billomat. Professional €19 a month on the annual plan, €29 monthly; Business €29 / €39. XRechnung and ZUGFeRD on all tiers, incoming invoices on all tiers. DATEV export and the bank connection start only at Business, so the "freelancer" tier is issuing without reconciliation. GoBD and Kleinunternehmer are not mentioned on the pricing page.
WISO MeinBüro. Rechnungen & Angebote is €10.90 a month, but capped at €25,000 annual revenue; Buchhaltung is €19.90 with a €120,000 cap; Auftragswesen €39.90 without a cap. A 50 to 75 % discount code was live until 30 September 2026, so expect promos to return. XRechnung and ZUGFeRD, receiving, archiving and a tax-adviser export "kompatibel ... wie z. B. DATEV" are stated. One caution: the page says e-invoices are "Pflicht seit dem 01.01.2025". That is the receiving duty. Your issuing duty is 2028 unless you are above €800,000.
The free viewer nobody mentions
If all you need today is to open the XRechnung a client sent, the tax administration runs a viewer at elster.de/eportal/e-rechnung: "Sie können hier Ihre E-Rechnung ansehen", described as "ein unverbindlicher Service der Steuerverwaltung". It reads XRechnung 3.0.1. The page does not mention ZUGFeRD, and it does not say whether you need an ELSTER login. It views; it does not archive, book or create. Use it to check what a file contains, then store the original XML where your eight-year archive lives.
Where quotes turn into invoices
If your invoice is the last step of a signed offer, offer.9am.works is 9am's own proposal-to-payment workspace: the client signs the quote there, and invoicing runs through Lexware or Qonto with XRechnung and ZUGFeRD; 9am says it is free for freelancers. Invoices to clients outside Germany follow different rules anyway, and the reverse-charge mechanics are in our guide to invoicing EU and non-EU clients.
What is not on any of these pages
None of the ten pricing pages makes an explicit statement about where your data is hosted. Several vendors are German companies, and Accountable names its BaFin supervision, but a German address is not a hosting guarantee. If EU hosting matters to a client contract, ask the vendor's data-processing page, not its price list. The 9am Freelancer Toolbox keeps a longer list of tools if none of these fits.
What to do on Monday
- Count last month's outgoing invoices. Three or fewer: sevdesk Free, Accountable Free or SumUp Free covers you. More: budget €9 to €12 a month.
- Ask your tax adviser one question: DATEV export, Pendelakte or PDF, which do you need from me? That answer removes half the list.
- Open a real XRechnung in the ELSTER viewer once, so you know what a structured invoice looks like before a client sends one.
- If you are a Kleinunternehmer, check the tier line for the § 19 setting before the trial ends. Two tools in this list do not mention it at all.
- Diary 1 January 2028 as your issuing deadline and keep the e-invoicing guide bookmarked for the details.
Once the tool is set up, the only thing left to optimise is the number of invoices you send. A free 9am profile puts you in front of companies across DACH that hire freelancers, most of which will be sending you e-invoices long before you have to send them one.
This article is general information for practitioners and does not replace tax or legal advice.
