Shine and sevdesk both provide invoicing solutions used by freelancers and small companies in Germany. Here, you can explore their key features side by side and discover which option best supports your business needs.
Create quotes
Paid plans only
Create invoices
Limited to 3 invoices in free plan
Send payment reminders
Manual / automatic
Paid plans only
Overview of outstanding invoices
Paid plans only
Custom logo
Paid plans only
Custom design (font & colors)
Paid plans only
Paid plans only
Create contacts
5 / 30 / unlimited
Paid plans only
Recurring invoices
Plus plan only
Accounting plans only
Invoices in English
Paid plans only
Invoices in foreign currencies
Paid plans only
Paid plans only
Both Shine and sevdesk offer a wide range of invoicing features for freelancers and small businesses, but there are important differences when starting out.
Most notably, sevdesk has very minimal invoicing in its free plan. By contrast, Shine’s Free plan lets users create invoices, quotes, and add their own logo to them. Users on the Start and Plus plans can also write invoices in English – particularly useful for freelancers and small businesses with clients in other countries.
Create e-invoices
Limited to 3 invoices in free plan
Record received e-invoices
Accounting plans only
All freelancers and businesses in Germany working in B2B will have to switch to e-invoicing over the next few years. When you need to make the switch depends on your business’s income.
With Shine, you can create and receive e-invoices in all plans. E-invoicing with sevdesk is relatively limited unless you choose the more expensive Buchhaltung or Buchhaltung Pro plans.
Connect online banking
Accounting plans only
Record receipts
10 / 20 / unlimited
Email receipt capture / Scout
Plus plan only
Smart accounting suggestions
Access for your tax advisor
Paid plans only
Accounting plans only
In this area, sevdesk only offers full accounting capabilities in its higher-tier plans – and it doesn’t include email receipt scout in any plan.
Shine provides freelancers who are just starting out with more substantial accounting features at a lower price, which is particularly important for small business owners (Kleinunternehmer) and founders who may not have a large budget for overhead.
Automatic calculation of your VAT
Dashboard of your finances (expenses/income)
Keeping a good overview of your business’s finances helps you make better decisions about the future and plan more effectively. It can also prevent important financial issues from being overlooked.
Shine stands out in this category by offering all users VAT overviews and dashboards – regardless of which plan they choose. The VAT overview in particular is crucial for understanding how much of your income you will actually keep.
Chat & email support
Paid plans only
Phone support
Paid plans only
Paid plans only
Priority phone support
Plus plan only
Help center
Paid plans only
The service customers can expect from Shine and sevdesk differs significantly. At sevdesk, free users have no support options at all.
By contrast, Shine’s Free users benefit from chat and email support, plus a help centre that’s always available. Plus users also receive prioritised service to ensure that any issues are resolved as quickly as possible.
Shine and sevdesk both support freelancers and small businesses with invoicing, but it’s fair to say that Shine offers more from the start – including full e-invoicing in every plan, stronger accounting features for beginners, and a clear VAT overview.
That said, sevdesk may be the better option if your tax advisor handles your VAT and needs regular access to your finances from the very beginning.
Questions about Shine? Here you’ll find some answers. If your question isn’t covered, our customer support team will be happy to help.
Shine is a European financial platform designed to simplify day-to-day business administration for freelancers and small businesses. It combines features for invoicing, estimates and accounting in one intuitive solution, so entrepreneurs can spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on their work.
Sevdesk is a cloud-based accounting and invoicing software company and product designed primarily for self-employed people, freelancers, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), especially in the German-speaking market.
You may not have all your receipts organised in one place when it’s time to do your taxes. One of the best places to start looking is usually your email inbox. Shine’s email receipt capture function is a simple and useful feature that searches your inbox for receipts for tax-deductible items such as software subscriptions, travel expenses, or mobile phone costs, and compiles them for you. This saves you time and reduces manual work.
Being able to accurately project the taxes you owe makes it easier to understand how much money you’re actually making. Shine’s integrated VAT calculation feature shows you how much VAT you owe based on your current invoices, so you can see how much money will remain in your account after taxes.
When your invoicing software is connected to your online banking, it’s easier to see which payments have already been made. Instead of manually comparing your bank account with your open invoices, you can save time and reduce errors that would otherwise need to be corrected later.
Stay on top of your finances by managing expenses, invoices and estimates. All from one solution.