Kontist as a Finom alternative: Less admin, more focus on your business
Finom and Kontist both support self-employed professionals with a wide range of features for day-to-day business. However, they focus on different priorities. While Finom brings together banking, invoicing and bookkeeping in a single platform, Kontist was built specifically for the needs of self-employed professionals in Germany and helps you manage your taxes, bookkeeping and financial organisation. With Kontist, you'll benefit from features such as:
- Always knowing how much of your money is actually available after taxes
- Automatic income tax and VAT calculation
- Submit your VAT directly to the tax office
- Banking and tax planning in one place
Users love the Kontist app
4.5
on the Google Play Store
4.7
on the App Store
Users love the Kontist app
Is Kontist a good alternative to Finom?
Finom offers a wide range of features that go beyond a traditional business account. Invoicing, expense management, bookkeeping and other tools help you organise your business processes efficiently.
For many solo self-employed professionals, however, different questions are often more important: How much money should I set aside for taxes? How much of my income is actually available to spend? What information does my tax advisor need? And how can I simplify as many administrative tasks as possible?
Kontist could be the better choice if you want to:
keep track of your tax obligations at all times
always know how much of your income is actually available
minimise the number of additional tools you need for taxes and bookkeeping
automate as much of your tax planning as possible
use a solution specifically designed for self-employed professionals in Germany
Kontist vs. Finom: Direct comparison
Kontist and Finom both offer far more than a traditional business account. While Finom aims to bring together as many business processes as possible in one platform, Kontist focuses on the needs of self-employed professionals when it comes to taxes, bookkeeping and financial organisation.
The comparison below shows how Kontist Plus and Finom Smart compare across the features that matter most.
Banking
Kontist Plus | Finom Smart | |
|---|---|---|
Mobile apps (iOS & Android) |
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Web app |
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German IBAN |
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Subaccounts | 5 | Multiple accounts with their own IBAN |
Free SEPA transfers & direct debits | 100/month | 100/month |
Real-time notifications |
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Debit card | Virtual & physical | Virtual & physical |
Apple Pay & Google Pay |
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Loans |
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Account statements |
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Biometric authentication |
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Standing orders |
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Bulk transfers |
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Automatic tax calculation |
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Bookkeeping & Taxes
Kontist Plus | Finom Smart | |
|---|---|---|
Invoicing tool |
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Receipt scanning |
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Submit VAT returns to the tax office |
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AI-powered bookkeeping |
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Add external transactions |
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Fixed asset tracking |
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Integrations with external accounting software |
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Business reports (BWA) |
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Customer service
Kontist Plus | Finom Smart | |
|---|---|---|
Chat & email |
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Blog & Help centre articles |
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Phone support |
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Automatic tax estimation with Kontist
With real-time tax estimation, you'll always know how much of your money is actually available after taxes. Kontist automatically calculates your income tax and VAT based on incoming payments and sets the estimated amount aside as a tax reserve. The settings can be customised to match your individual tax situation.
Automatic tax calculation: Income tax and VAT are recalculated automatically after every incoming payment.
Build tax reserves: The estimated tax amount is automatically set aside in a separate subaccount.
Fully customisable: Tax rates, VAT settings and tax prepayment intervals can all be adjusted to suit your individual circumstances.
More highlights from Kontist
Many of Kontist's features are designed to help self-employed professionals organise their finances more efficiently and manage important administrative tasks directly within their business account.
Quotes & Invoices
Create and manage quotes and invoices directly in the app without needing additional software.
Automatic Categorisation
Income and expenses are categorised automatically, with the categorisation becoming increasingly accurate over time.
Google Pay & Apple Pay
Pay contactlessly with your Kontist Visa card while keeping full control of your finances directly in the app.
Easy Account Switching Service
Switching to Kontist is completely online and guides you through the process step by step.
Notes & Receipt Scanning
Attach receipts directly to transactions and export everything together whenever you need it.
Kontist vs. Finom: Pricing comparison
Both Kontist and Finom offer different plans for different needs. For this comparison, we're looking at Kontist Plus and Finom Smart, as both plans are aimed at self-employed professionals who actively use their business account in their day-to-day work.
When comparing prices, however, it's worth looking beyond the monthly account fee. For self-employed professionals in particular, features for tax planning, bookkeeping and financial organisation can make a bigger difference than additional administrative or team management features.
Kontist | Finom |
|---|---|
Free – 0 € | Standard – 0 € |
Start – 11 € | Prime – 8 € |
Plus – 25 € | Pro – 19 € |
Pro+ – 38 € |
Who is Kontist the best Finom alternative for?
Finom is aimed at self-employed professionals and businesses that want to manage as many business processes as possible within a single platform. Kontist takes a different approach, helping self-employed professionals bring together their banking, taxes and bookkeeping as simply as possible.
Kontist may be particularly appealing for the following groups:
1. Founders
If you're just starting your self-employed journey, you need to win clients, send invoices and keep track of your taxes at the same time. Kontist helps you organise these tasks clearly right from the start.
2. Small business owners (Kleinunternehmer)
If you want to minimise the number of additional tools you use, you'll benefit from a solution that combines banking, tax planning and bookkeeping.
3. Self-employed professionals
Automatic tax calculations, centralised receipt management and integrated bookkeeping features reduce administrative work and free up more time for your actual business.
4. GmbH/UG/GbR
Businesses also benefit from Kontist's banking, bookkeeping and financial management features. Kontist helps bring your business finances and administrative tasks together in one place.
Make the switch easy with the Kontist account switching service
Thinking about switching from Finom to Kontist but keep putting it off? Many self-employed professionals stay with their existing business account longer than they intended because switching initially sounds like extra work.
With the Kontist Account Switching Service, the process becomes much easier. You'll be guided through every step and receive support in transferring your existing banking setup.
The switching service helps you with:
notifying your payment partners of your new bank account
transferring your existing standing orders
organising the switching process
10,000s of freelancers trust in Kontist.
"I feel very well taken care of and can wholeheartedly recommend Kontist."
"The best thing about Kontist is that I can see immediately after each transaction how much is left for me and how much goes to the tax office. This saves me from nasty surprises when I file my tax return".
