Kontist vs Zoho Books Comparison
Compare Kontist vs Zoho Books features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
Kontist
6.1/10
Kontist is a German mobile business account for freelancers and small companies, with automatic tax set-asides, invoicing, receipt management and bundled sevdesk accounting.
Zoho Books
7/10
Cloud accounting software from Zoho for small and growing businesses, covering invoicing, bank reconciliation, bills, inventory and financial reporting.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.1/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Compliance | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Cost | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Customization | 4/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 3/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | €11/mo Start | $20/mo Standard |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Free | $70/mo Premium |
| Features | ||
| Bank Reconciliation | ||
| Expense Management | ||
| Invoicing | ||
| Tax Compliance | ||
| Accountant Access | Not listed | |
| Accounts Payable | Not listed | |
| Audit Trail | Not listed | |
| Budgeting and Forecasting | Not listed | |
| Corporate Cards | Not listed | |
| Financial Reporting | Not listed | |
| General Ledger | Not listed | |
| Inventory Accounting | Not listed | |
| Multi-currency | Not listed | |
| Online Payments | Not listed | |
Kontist vs Zoho Books cost by team size
| Team size | Kontist | Zoho Books |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeFree | FreeFree |
| 5 users | FreeFree | $50/moProfessional |
| 10 users | FreeFree | $70/moPremium |
| 25 users | FreeFree | FreeFree |
| 50 users | FreeFree | FreeFree |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Kontist
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose Zoho Books
- Higher Customization score (8/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Scalability score (6/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for small business (9/10 vs 7/10)
Pros & Cons
Kontist
Pros
- Automatic real-time tax and VAT set-asides, which Trustpilot reviewers repeatedly praise
- Free plan with no monthly fee, a German IBAN and a Visa debit card
- Every plan includes a free period of sevdesk accounting, up to a full year on Plus
- Deposits are held at BaFin-licensed Solaris SE and protected up to 100,000 euros
- The app is available in both English and German, which helps expat freelancers
Cons
- Only available to people who live in and pay tax in Germany
- Reviewers report slow, mostly email-based support that has to be chased repeatedly
- Free tier includes only 5 SEPA transactions a month, and extra transactions cost a fee
- No full double-entry ledger, so proper bookkeeping depends on sevdesk or another tool
- Past complaints include account closures and the handling of unauthorized payments
Zoho Books
Pros
- The free plan includes online payments, bank reconciliation, recurring invoices and 1099 tracking for one user plus an accountant.
- Pricing is per organization, not per user, so small teams avoid per-seat costs.
- It connects natively with Zoho CRM, Zoho Payroll, Zoho Inventory and Zoho Analytics.
- Professional and higher plans include custom workflows, custom roles and approvals, and Premium adds custom modules and functions.
- On the Elite plan, inventory features cover warehouses, serial and batch tracking, and marketplace sync.
Cons
- Budgets, multi-currency and advanced inventory are only available on higher-priced tiers.
- Reviewers on Capterra and in NerdWallet's write-up describe slow or unhelpful customer support.
- It has fewer third-party integrations than its main competitors, according to NerdWallet.
- A PeerSpot reviewer found it awkward to invoice the same customer in different currencies.
- Even the top plan has a hard cap of 15 users, plus annual transaction limits.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Zoho Books scores higher on our Finance Software criteria: 7/10 against 6.1/10 for Kontist. The largest gap is in Customization: 4/10 for Kontist and 8/10 for Zoho Books.
Yes, both Kontist and Zoho Books have a free plan.
Zoho Books is the better fit for small business: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 7/10 for Kontist.
