Bank Accounts for Freelancers in Germany: Plans and Costs

For a freelancer in Germany, the best account is the one that accepts your business setup, receives your clients’ payments and produces records your bookkeeping process can use. A free account can fit a consultant with a few transfers; a photographer depositing cash or a studio issuing employee cards needs a different shortlist.

Choose by your business needs#

This is a shortlist by use case, not a ranking based on hands-on performance testing. The product and price details below were checked against official pages on October 3, 2026. Fees, eligibility and included features depend on the selected contract.

1. N26 Business: straightforward banking for your own-name business#

N26’s freelancer plans are designed for self-employed people doing business under their legal first and last name. The account and card cannot carry a company name. Do not assume this freelancer account is the same product as a separate incorporated-company account.

Business Standard has no subscription fee and includes a virtual debit card, 0.1% cashback on card payments and two free euro ATM withdrawals. The comparison lists a €10 physical card charge for Standard. Business Smart is €4.90 per month and adds a physical card, up to ten Spaces and budgeting automation.

Shortlist Standard when you already have accounting software and mainly need euro client receipts and everyday card spending. Choose a paid tier only if its extra features justify the fee. Check your exact incoming international-transfer route before putting an IBAN on foreign-currency invoices.

2. Kontist: tax estimates with transaction-based plan limits#

Kontist’s current pricing lists Free at €0, Start at €11 per month plus VAT and Plus at €25 plus VAT. The included monthly SEPA transfers and direct debits are five, 30 and 100 respectively. The allowance counts incoming and outgoing movements; additional movements cost €0.25 each.

Automatic tax calculation is advertised across these plans; subaccounts are paid-plan features. The page currently includes sevdesk bookkeeping for three, six or 12 months depending on plan. That limited inclusion is different from permanent free bookkeeping. Confirm renewal costs and which application provides the features you will use.

Kontist is a useful candidate if separating tax reserves is a recurring problem. Check the estimate settings against your tax situation, and treat a reserve estimate as planning rather than a final assessment. Ask for the DATEV/receipt export and any UStVA filing feature available to your legal form and current plan.

3. Qonto: match invoicing and account access to the plan#

Qonto’s freelancer pricing now includes a €0 Starter plan with a German IBAN, five monthly transfers and one virtual card. It advertises electronic invoicing and DATEV/Lexware data synchronization. The previous assumption that every Qonto account requires a paid subscription no longer describes this page.

Basic is advertised at €9 per month excluding VAT when billed annually at €108, with 30 monthly transfers, one physical card and two virtual cards. Smart is €19 on annual billing at €228 and adds one subaccount, 100 transfers and accountant access. Monthly billing is also available: compare its actual quote with the annual commitment.

Qonto is a candidate when invoice collection and accountant handoff matter more than a minimal banking app. Multi-user approvals and additional cards need their own plan check; do not infer that the Starter or Basic plan includes every feature advertised for teams.

4. Finom: compare outgoing value allowances#

Finom’s German pricing includes a €0 Solo plan. Its table lists €2,500 in free outgoing SEPA transfers for Solo, one free virtual Visa card and no included physical Visa card. This is a monetary allowance, rather than a promise of unlimited free transfers.

The adjacent Basic and Smart plans show different monthly and annual prices and higher outgoing allowances. Keep those billing modes separate in your quote. Finom is worth comparing if you want invoicing and finance administration alongside the account, but check which accounting connection, user permissions and card charges apply to Solo before planning a team workflow.

5. Holvi: compare monthly billing with an annual commitment#

The Holvi Germany fee schedule, version 1.12 updated August 12, 2026, lists Lite at €9 per month on monthly subscription or €4.50 per month on annual subscription, excluding VAT. Pro is €15 monthly or €9 on annual subscription. The annual figure is a discounted monthly equivalent, not a monthly cancellation promise.

Holvi is a candidate for freelancers who want expense records and invoicing near their payment account. Use the fee schedule to check the plan’s invoicing, card, transfer and bookkeeping allowances together. A receipt attachment, a transaction export and a completed tax return are different outputs; choose the service level your accountant can actually use.

6. bunq: project and reserve accounts#

bunq’s business account page advertises up to 25 accounts, each with its own IBAN, on Pro and Elite Business. That makes these plans relevant when you need separate accounts for project funds, operating expenses and reserves.

Start with two or three defined purposes rather than creating every available account. Before adopting an allocation rule, test how it treats a refunded payment, a partial invoice payment and money you transfer between your own accounts. Confirm the current subscription and transfer charges; the number of IBANs alone does not establish the total monthly cost.

7. FYRST and Commerzbank: include cash handling in the comparison#

FYRST BASE is free of a monthly account fee for natural-person sole proprietors and includes 50 paperless booking entries. Its sole-proprietor page lists €0.19 for each additional entry. Registered legal forms have different pricing. FYRST is a digital Deutsche Bank brand; do not assume every branch service is included at no charge.

If you receive cash, compare Commerzbank’s small-business account terms. Its page says cash deposits are available at Commerzbank ATMs for €2.50 per deposit; PremiumGeschäftskonto Plus includes five per month. Compare the base account fee and other booking charges too. Promotional reimbursement has conditions and does not establish the ongoing account price.

Compare customer-fund protection by institution#

BaFin’s deposit-protection glossary explains the general statutory protection of up to €100,000 per customer at each institution. Multiple accounts at one institution do not multiply that limit. Verify the institution named in your contract and its depositor information sheet.

Kontist’s security page identifies Solaris as the licensed bank behind its account. Qonto’s pricing page identifies Qonto as a payment institution supervised by the Banque de France. A payment account’s safeguarding arrangements and a bank deposit guarantee are different legal mechanisms; read the provider’s current protection disclosure rather than treating every app as a bank.

Calculate cost for a realistic month#

An illustrative sole proprietor has 60 chargeable SEPA transfers/direct debits per month and no extra card, ATM or foreign-currency costs. Using Kontist’s published allowances, Free costs 55 × €0.25 = €13.75 in excess movements; Start costs €11 + 30 × €0.25 = €18.50 before applicable VAT; Plus costs €25 before VAT. Start is not automatically cheaper merely because it includes more transfers.

For comparison, 60 qualifying paperless entries at FYRST BASE would produce ten excess entries at €0.19, or €1.90. These totals compare only the specified banking movements. A more expensive subscription may still be worthwhile for a needed accounting feature, but price that benefit separately.

• Add the ongoing subscription and any annual commitment.
• Count the transactions that each provider includes in its allowance.
• Add physical cards, cash deposits, withdrawals and foreign-currency costs.
• Include bookkeeping renewal charges after a free inclusion ends.
• Compare VAT-exclusive subscription prices with actual cash paid; input-VAT recovery depends on your own tax position.

Switch without losing incoming payments#

A German IBAN can be convenient, but EU location restrictions on eligible euro SEPA payments can be IBAN discrimination. A client form rejecting a valid account in another Member State is an issue to resolve, rather than proof that all German freelancers need a DE IBAN.

1. Confirm eligibility, account-holder name and the account’s permitted business use.
2. Run a small inbound payment, outbound payment and relevant direct debit.
3. Export a sample month and have your bookkeeping contact check references and receipt links.
4. Update new invoices and recurring payments in batches; retain records of each change.
5. Keep enough money in the old account for outstanding direct debits and wait for delayed client receipts before closing it.

Choose once the account handles your normal month at an acceptable cost and its export fits your records. A bank account can help organize tax information, but it does not decide which VAT regime applies to your freelance services.