5 / 5
I tried bexio first. It felt like I needed a certification to use it. Magic Heidi just works.
Anna K.
Translator, Lugano
Swiss-Made Software
The bexio Alternative Built for Freelancers
Stop paying for features you don't need. Magic Heidi is a top bexio alternative built exclusively for Swiss freelancers. Simpler. Cheaper. AI-powered.
40%
Cheaper vs bexio
30 sec
to First Invoice
4.9★
App Store Rating
5,000+
Swiss Freelancers
bexio is for Teams.
You're a Freelancer.
bexio is a solid product for a 15-person SME that needs payroll, warehouse management, and a fiduciary portal. If you're a solo freelancer, you're paying for modules you'll never open. Payroll for a team of one. Inventory tracking when you sell time, not products. Magic Heidi gives you what you actually use, and nothing else.
💸
Up to 40% Cheaper
CHF 39/mo vs CHF 52/mo for a comparable bexio plan.🚀
Zero Learning Curve
Invoice in 30 seconds. No setup wizard or onboarding course required.🤖
Unlimited AI Scans
bexio caps at 50–100/mo depending on plan. Magic Heidi has no monthly limit.30-Second Setup
From Sign-Up to Invoice in 30 Seconds
Most invoicing software makes you fill in a profile, configure settings, pick a template, and sit through an onboarding video. Magic Heidi is different. Sign up, enter your client's name and the service you provided, and your first Swiss QR invoice is ready. No setup wizard. No configuration screens. No onboarding course required.
How to Choose
Which Accounting Option Fits You?
Use these three filters to avoid feature overload and pick the right tool.
Under CHF 50K revenue
Budget or simple tools work best. You don't need advanced workflows yet.
CHF 50K–200K revenue
Balanced feature sets. Invoicing, expenses, and VAT covered cleanly.
Over CHF 200K revenue
Deeper workflows and automation start to pay off at this level.
Solo freelancer
Simplicity first. Magic Heidi is built exactly for you.
2–5 people
Collaboration starts to matter. Consider whether you need shared access.
5+ employees
Team workflows become critical. bexio or similar SME tools may fit better.
The 6 best bexio alternatives at a glance
bexio does a lot right: over 100,000 Swiss companies use it, the fiduciary integration is strong and the direct e-banking connection is genuinely useful. The question isn't whether bexio is good — it's whether you are the target audience. These six Swiss tools cover the most common alternative scenarios.
1. Magic Heidi — for freelancers and sole proprietors. The only software in this comparison built exclusively for Swiss solo self-employed people: QR invoices, quotes, expenses, VAT and bank reconciliation — plus an AI receipt scanner with no monthly cap. No payroll, no double-entry bookkeeping with a balance sheet. CHF 25/mo on the annual plan, free up to 3 invoices with every feature unlocked.
2. KLARA — for local businesses with a till and a shop. Invoicing, accounting, point of sale, online shop, website and appointment booking under one roof. Strong for salons, restaurants and retail; for solo service providers it's oversized in much the same way bexio is. From CHF 35/mo, modular.
3. CashCtrl — for accounting pros on a budget. Full double-entry bookkeeping in the cloud with a generous free tier and a strong API, popular with fiduciaries. Assumes you know your chart of accounts and debit/credit, no native mobile apps, no receipt scanning. PRO CHF 24.60/mo.
4. AbaNinja — for occasional invoicers. Part of Abacus, and it allows up to 500 invoices a year for free — the most generous free invoice limit in Switzerland. In exchange the feature set is lean: no AI receipt scanning, rudimentary expense and VAT workflows.
5. Banana Accounting — for bookkeeping-literate desktop users. Double-entry accounting with spreadsheet logic for CHF 89 a year, free up to 70 transactions, used in Swiss schools. Desktop-centric with no mobile workflow, and invoicing is a side feature rather than the core.
6. Smallinvoice — for hourly billing and projects. A Swiss web solution that combines invoicing with project management and time tracking, modular from CHF 7/mo. Expenses, accounting and VAT prep are thinner, and it's web only.
Also on the market: Milchbüechli (deliberately minimalist bookkeeping) and Swiss21 (a free bundle built around AbaNinja). Both are worth a look if your needs are very small.
Full transparency: Magic Heidi is our own product and it sits at number one on this list. To keep the comparison fair, all prices come from the providers' official pricing pages, every tool gets its strengths stated plainly, and we say for whom each one is the better choice. If you have employees, need payroll and want fiduciary access, bexio honestly remains one of the best options.
2026 comparison
The 6 best bexio alternatives compared
Six alternatives plus bexio as a reference. Prices last checked: July 2026 (bexio: March 2026).
| Tool | Best for | Price | Free tier | AI receipt scan | Native apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magic Heidi | Freelancers & sole proprietors | CHF 25/mo (annual) | 3 invoices & 3 expenses, all features | ✓ Yes | iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, Web |
| KLARA | Local businesses with a till/shop | From CHF 35/mo | ✗ None | ✗ No | Mobile app |
| CashCtrl | Accounting pros on a budget | PRO CHF 24.60/mo | ✓ Yes, generous | ✗ No | Web only |
| AbaNinja | Occasional invoicers | Bundles from approx. CHF 15/mo | Up to 500 invoices/year | ✗ No | Limited |
| Banana | Bookkeeping-literate desktop users | CHF 89/year | Up to 70 transactions | ✗ No | Desktop |
| Smallinvoice | Hourly billing & projects | From CHF 7/mo (modular) | ✗ None | ✗ No | Web only |
| bexio (reference) | SMEs with employees | From CHF 35/mo (annual) | 30-day trial only | ⚠ Capped | Mobile app, Web |
Decision guide
Which bexio alternative fits you?
The short recommendation by business model.
Freelancer & sole proprietor
Working alone, no employees? Magic Heidi is built for exactly that — AI receipt scanning and apps on every device included.
Local business with a till
Shop, salon or restaurant with POS, e-commerce or bookings? KLARA brings exactly that breadth.
Accounting pro on a budget
You know bookkeeping and want maximum control? CashCtrl in the cloud or Banana on the desktop (CHF 89/year).
Occasional invoicer
Only the odd invoice, ideally free? AbaNinja with 500 free invoices a year.
Hourly billing & projects
Billing by the hour and need project management? Smallinvoice combines both from CHF 7/mo.
SME with employees
Need payroll and fiduciary access? Then bexio honestly remains one of the best options.
bexio Basic Plan
Sounds Affordable. Here's What's Missing.
bexio's Basic plan (from March 2026) costs CHF 35/month on annual billing. That looks reasonable, until you check what's been removed. No expense management. No e-banking. No AI scanning. No bank reconciliation. To get those back, you need Advanced at CHF 42–52/month.
No E-Banking
No bank interfaces. No automatic reconciliation. No ISO 20022 support.
No Expenses
No supplier invoices. No expense posting. No creditor management.
No AI Scanning
Zero AI extractions. No QR invoice scanning via bexio Go.
No Products
No product management. Can't import from Excel or link to contacts.
Magic Heidi includes all of this, for CHF 39/month.
No credit card required. 30-day money-back guarantee.
Feature Comparison
What You Actually Get at Each Price
Three options compared so you can see exactly where your money goes.
| Feature | Magic Heidi CHF 39/mo | bexio Basic CHF 45/mo | bexio Advanced CHF 52/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-Banking Interfaces | ✓ Bank statement import | ✗ Not included | ✓ 40+ banks |
| Bank Reconciliation | ✓ Included | ✗ Not included | ✓ Included |
| Expense Management | ✓ Included | ✗ Not included | ✓ Included |
| AI Receipt Scanning | ✓ Unlimited | ✗ Not included | ⚠ 50/month |
| QR Invoice Scanning | ✓ Included | ✗ Not included | ✓ Included |
| Product Management | ✓ Included | ✗ Not included | ✓ Included |
| Swiss QR Invoices | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| VAT Support | ✓ All rates | ✓ All rates | ✓ All rates |
| Accounting + Balance Sheet | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
Built for You
Built for One Person. Yours.
bexio can do a lot. But every feature it has for teams that you don't need is one more menu to navigate, one more reason your simple invoice takes three minutes instead of thirty seconds. Magic Heidi was designed by a Swiss freelancer who got tired of software built for companies.
30-Second Invoices
First invoice in 3 clicks. Swiss QR code generated automatically.
Swiss QR-Bills
SIX-compliant standard built in from day one. Every rate, every format.
Full Mobile App
100% feature parity on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows.
Unlimited AI Scans
Snap a receipt. AI extracts date, amount, vendor, VAT, and category. No monthly caps.
Core FeaturesEverything You'll Use
Everything You'll Use
Every Single Day.
Three things that make freelance admin frictionless.
Invoice in 30 Seconds
No complex setup. No learning curve. Enter your client's details, add the service, and send.
- Auto-generated Swiss QR code
- Multiple VAT rates built in
- Professional templates included
- Send directly by email
Unlimited AI Expense Scanning
Snap a photo of any receipt — restaurant, train, equipment, co-working space. Magic Heidi's AI extracts the amount, date, vendor, and category automatically.
- Unlimited scans on every paid plan
- Foreign currency conversion included
- Automatic categorisation
- bexio Advanced caps at 50 scans/month
Full Mobile Experience
Every feature available on desktop works identically on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows. bexio Go's functionality varies by plan tier.
- Invoice from your phone after a meeting
- Scan expenses anywhere, anytime
- Real-time sync across all devices
- One account, five platforms
AI-Powered
Expense Tracking That Does Itself
Paper receipts are the enemy of freelancers. Lost. Faded. Forgotten until it's tax season. Snap a photo and Magic Heidi's AI extracts the date, amount, VAT, category, and vendor automatically. No manual entry. No shoebox of receipts to reconstruct in April.
Your Dashboard
Your Finances, at a Glance
Revenue, expenses, tax obligations — all in one clean dashboard. Know exactly where you stand without needing to build a spreadsheet or call your Treuhänder. Magic Heidi gives you a real-time overview of your freelance business: which invoices are paid, which aren't, how much VAT you owe, and how your year is tracking.
All Features
Everything a Swiss Freelancer Actually Needs
No payroll modules. No warehouse management. Just the tools you use every day.
Invoicing
Swiss QR invoices in 30 seconds. Professional templates included.
AI Expenses
Snap receipts. AI does the rest. Unlimited.
Accounting
Balance sheet, income statement, and tax-ready reports.
VAT Management
All Swiss VAT rates. Both filing methods. Settlement-ready exports.
Bank Import
Import statements from any Swiss bank. Match payments automatically.
Quotes
Professional offers. Convert to invoice in one click.
Customers
Contact management. Import from CSV.
Security
Data hosted in Zürich. Swiss privacy standards.
Swiss.
Not Swiss-Adapted.
A lot of invoicing software was built for the US or Germany and retrofitted for Switzerland. The VAT rates are an afterthought. The QR-bill format was added later. Magic Heidi was built from the first line of code for Swiss freelancers.
🇨🇭 Swiss-Owned Company
🔒 Data Hosted in Zürich
💬 Swiss Support (DE/FR/IT/EN)
⭐ 4.9★ App Store Rating
📋
Swiss QR-Bills
SIX-compliant invoices. Not a format we added later.
💰
Swiss VAT Rates
8.1%, 2.6%, and 3.8% — because those are the rates you use.
🏦
Swiss Banks
UBS, PostFinance, Raiffeisen, ZKB. That's where your money is.
🌐
4 Languages
DE, FR, IT, EN. Your clients or Treuhänder may speak any of them.
Migration
Switch from bexio in 15 Minutes
You don't need to start from zero. Three steps and you're running.
1. Export from bexio
Download your customer list as CSV. Export your invoice history for your records.
2. Sign Up Free
Create your Magic Heidi account in 30 seconds. No credit card required.
3. Import and Go
Upload your customer CSV with one click. Start invoicing immediately.
Need help? Email hello@magicheidi.ch or call the founder directly.
Testimonials
Trusted by Swiss Freelancers
Join 5,000+ self-employed professionals across every canton.
5 / 5
Clean, beautiful design — unusual for invoicing apps. I actually enjoy opening it.
Sarah M.
Graphic Designer, Zürich
5 / 5
Finally, accounting software that doesn't make me feel stupid. Switched from bexio and never looked back.
Thomas R.
IT Freelancer, Lausanne
5 / 5
As a freelance videographer in Switzerland, it's perfect. Incredibly easy to understand and use.
David S.
Freelance Videographer, Bern
5 / 5
Top-notch support. I had a question about bank imports on a Sunday evening and got a helpful reply within hours.
Lisa W.
Marketing Freelancer, Basel
5 / 5
Simple, clear, and fast support. The invoices look great. Way better than bexio for solo work.
Marc D.
Consultant, Geneva
What switching costs — and what it saves
Compared to bexio Advanced, the cheapest bexio plan that includes expense management and e-banking, you save roughly CHF 204 a year on the annual plan (CHF 504 vs CHF 300). On Optima the gap widens considerably.
What matters for the decision isn't the raw difference, though — it's how many of those modules you actually use. The full breakdown of every bexio package including per-module add-on costs lives in the separate bexio pricing 2026 analysis; this page is about the alternatives themselves.
Simple Pricing. Everything Included.
One plan. All features. 40% less than bexio Advanced — the cheapest bexio plan with expense management and bank integration.
Free Trial
CHF0/month
No time limit
- 3 invoices
- 3 expenses
- All features unlocked
- No credit card required
Best Value
Annual
CHF24.99/month
Billed at CHF 300/year
- Unlimited invoices
- Unlimited expenses
- Unlimited AI expense scanning
- All platforms (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Web)
- Bank statement import
- Swiss VAT management
- Priority support
Monthly
CHF39/month
Flexible, cancel anytime
- Unlimited invoices
- Unlimited expenses
- Unlimited AI expense scanning
- All platforms included
- Bank statement import
- Swiss VAT management
🛡️30-day money-back guarantee. Try it risk-free.
FAQ
Questions About bexio Alternatives
What is the best bexio alternative?
There is no single best alternative — there is a best one for your company size. For freelancers and sole proprietors without employees, Magic Heidi is the most focused choice; for local businesses with a till, KLARA; for bookkeeping-literate budget users, CashCtrl or Banana; for high-volume simple invoicing, AbaNinja; and for hourly billing with projects, Smallinvoice.
Is there a free bexio alternative?
Yes, several — each with a different logic: CashCtrl offers a generous free accounting tier, AbaNinja up to 500 free invoices per year with basic features, Banana is free up to 70 transactions, and Magic Heidi is free up to 3 invoices — but with every feature included, AI receipt scanning as well, no time limit and no credit card. bexio itself has no permanent free tier, only a 30-day trial.
Is it worth switching from bexio mid-year?
Yes, if you pick the cut-off date carefully. If you're VAT-registered, switch at the start of a reporting period (quarter or half-year) so each VAT return stays inside one system. Without VAT registration you can switch any time: import contacts, issue new invoices in the new tool, let open bexio invoices run their course. Only cancel your bexio subscription once the last open invoice has been paid.
Is bexio suitable for sole proprietors and freelancers?
It works, but you pay for SME substance: from CHF 35/mo (annual, as of March 2026) you get a system with payroll, inventory and team features that a one-person business rarely needs. Freelancer-specific tools cost less and are faster to set up.
Is Magic Heidi compliant with Swiss accounting standards?
Yes. Magic Heidi fully supports Swiss QR invoices (the Swiss payment standard), all Swiss VAT rates (8.1%, 2.6%, 3.8%), and generates all the documentation you need for your annual Steuererklärung.
Can I import my customer data from bexio?
Yes. Export your customer list from bexio as a CSV file and import it directly into Magic Heidi with one click. Your contacts will be ready immediately. Most freelancers complete the full migration in under 15 minutes.
Does Magic Heidi work with my Swiss bank?
Yes. Magic Heidi generates Swiss QR invoices compatible with all Swiss banks including UBS, PostFinance, Credit Suisse, Raiffeisen, ZKB, and cantonal banks. You can import bank statements to match payments to invoices automatically.
Why do you compare against bexio Advanced and not Basic?
bexio's new Basic plan (from March 2026) doesn't include expense management, e-banking interfaces, or AI receipt scanning. For most freelancers who need to track expenses and reconcile bank payments, the cheapest suitable bexio plan is Advanced at CHF 42/month (annual) or CHF 52/month (monthly). That's the most honest comparison. If you only need invoicing and basic accounting, bexio Basic at CHF 35/month (annual) may also work, but Magic Heidi still includes those extra features at a lower price.
Doesn't bexio also have AI scanning?
Yes. bexio offers AI-powered document scanning via bexio Go, but the number of scans depends on your plan: Basic has no scanning, Advanced allows 50 scans/month, Optima allows 100/month, and Ultimate offers unlimited (fair use around 1,000/month). Magic Heidi includes unlimited AI expense scans on every paid plan.
What features does bexio have that Magic Heidi doesn't?
bexio offers features that Magic Heidi doesn't include: payroll accounting (optional on Advanced, included on Ultimate), stock and warehouse management (Optima+), project management with time tracking (Optima+), GeBüV-compliant document archiving (Optima+), legal advice by phone (Optima+), direct e-banking interfaces with 40+ Swiss banks (Advanced+), and a marketplace with 100+ third-party integrations. Magic Heidi supports bank statement import rather than direct bank interfaces. If you're a solo freelancer who doesn't need payroll, inventory, or project tracking, Magic Heidi covers everything you need at a lower price.
Does bexio have a mobile app?
Yes. bexio Go covers contact management, document access, and invoice creation on Basic. On Advanced and up, it adds QR invoice scanning, AI receipt posting, and from Optima, mobile time tracking. Magic Heidi provides full feature parity on mobile — every feature available on desktop works identically on iOS and Android.
Is Magic Heidi really easier to use than bexio?
We designed Magic Heidi for freelancers with no accounting background. You can create your first invoice in 30 seconds. bexio is a more comprehensive platform aimed at SMEs with up to 25 users, which means more menus and more configuration. The right choice depends on what you actually need.
Is my data safe?
Yes. All data is hosted in Zürich, Switzerland. We follow Swiss privacy standards and never share your data with third parties.
What if I need help switching from bexio?
Email us at hello@magicheidi.ch or call the founder directly. We'll guide you through the migration step by step. You can also visit our help centre or book a free onboarding call.
What happens if I want to cancel?
Cancel anytime with one click. No lock-in, no hidden fees, no complicated cancellation process. We keep your data securely stored for 10 years so you can always come back or export it later.
Join 5,000+ Swiss Freelancers
Try Magic Heidi free today — no credit card required.