FastBill alternatives
The 5 best FastBill alternatives in 2026
The short answer: the best FastBill alternative for service businesses is Backbone (from €19/month incl. VAT) — pricier than FastBill Solo, but with dunning, recurring invoices, receipts and time tracking in every plan instead of as an add-on or from Pro, plus an AI assistant and Austria in the same interface. Backbone is our own product; where FastBill is better, we say so just as plainly.
Because FastBill is solid: VAT filing via ELSTER in every plan and a template editor with custom fonts and mm-precise positioning are among the strongest in the market. The typical reasons to switch are the dunning add-on, recurring invoices only from Pro (€27), the single template on Solo, the missing official EÜR and the Germany-only focus. Here are the five serious options — verified as of July 2026.
All alternatives at a glance
| Backbone | sevDesk | Lexware Office | easybill | Odoo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Hours, invoices, dunning & receipts; your tax advisor does the books | Full bookkeeping (EÜR, VAT filing) with invoicing | Full bookkeeping with ELSTER, Germany only | Marketplace sellers (Amazon, eBay, Shopify) | Growing companies with ERP needs (inventory, CRM, manufacturing) |
| Document limit | Monthly allowance per plan; numbers not published yet | Free: 3 invoices/month; paid unlimited | No limit stated (fair use per T&Cs) | Free: 50/month; Starter: 250/month | No limit — even on "One App Free" |
| Price | from €19 / month incl. VAT (Solo) | Free (3 invoices/month); from €12.90 / month | from €12.90 / month (plan M) | Free (50 docs/month); from €9 / month | "One App Free"; then per user/month |
| Invoice from AI prompt | Yesassistant Billy, asks before sending | No | No | No | No |
| All features via AI assistant | Yesnearly everything; also from Claude/ChatGPT (MCP) | Nosuggestions only (receipts, bookings) | Nosuggestions you must accept | NoAI drafts text, you decide | NoAI in places (documents) |
| Professional templates | Partially2 templates (Basic, Minimal), logo + accent color | Yes11 layouts, 6 of them Premium | Partially5 base layouts | Partially2 base layouts you clone | Partiallyconfigurable layouts |
| Live preview | Yesyou write on the page itself | – | Nopreview is a separate step | Nopreview on click | – |
| Recurring invoices | Yesevery plan | Yes | Yesseries invoices | PartiallyProfessional (€25) and up | Yes |
| Automatic email sending | Yesinvoices by email; reminders on schedule from Studio | Partiallyseries invoices optionally automatic; dunning manual | Partiallyseries invoices optionally automatic; no automatic dunning | Partiallyseries from Professional, dunning Premium only | Partiallyfollow-up reminders automatic once configured |
| Bookkeeping | Nono EÜR/VAT filing; export for your tax advisor | Yesin the accounting plan | Yesplan L and up | No | Yesaccounting module |
| E-invoicing | PartiallyZUGFeRD; XRechnung coming soon | Yeseven in the free tier | Partiallysending from plan M | Yeseven in the free tier | Yes |
Competitor pricing and feature claims per the vendors, verified on August 2, 2026, prices net. Backbone details per back-bone.io as of October 9, 2026, prices incl. VAT. Subject to change.
Backbone
The back office with an AI assistantBackbone is the alternative for everyone who uses FastBill mainly for invoicing — and does not want to pay extra for a dunning add-on or the Pro plan for recurring invoices. At Backbone both are in every plan, together with time tracking and receipts with AI matching; the AI assistant drafts invoices from one sentence — sent after your OK.
Full transparency, since Backbone is our product: it is deliberately NOT accounting software, and its entry price is higher than FastBill Solo. If you want to file your VAT return straight from the tool — FastBill’s signature strength — Backbone does not offer that.
Strengths
- An AI assistant that drafts invoices from one sentence — none of the other tools here can (as of July 2026, per their own sites)
- Dunning with interest and the €40 fee, scheduled automatically from Studio
- Time tracking, receipts with AI matching and bank-statement upload in every plan
- Germany AND Austria in one interface (§14 UStG / §11 öUStG), ZUGFeRD e-invoices
- ZIP export or a free login for your tax advisor; cancel monthly
Weaknesses
- No bookkeeping: EÜR, VAT filing and DATEV export are absent
- XRechnung for public-sector clients only coming soon (ZUGFeRD today)
- No free plan (7-day trial with a card on file)
- Web app rather than a native mobile app
sevDesk
The all-in-one accounting solutionsevDesk is the FastBill alternative for anyone for whom the VAT return is not enough: here you get full bookkeeping with EÜR and receipt management — exactly what FastBill does not officially cover. Add 11 invoice layouts (6 of them Premium), native iOS and Android apps and e-invoicing even in the free tier. For Austria there is a separate offering (sevdesk.at).
On dunning it is no better than FastBill, though: reminders are sent manually per invoice, with dunning levels only in the accounting plan. And on template design sevDesk trails FastBill’s editor — colors from a palette only, custom layout only as a paid service.
Strengths
- Mature bookkeeping: EÜR and VAT filing in the accounting plan
- E-invoicing (XRechnung/ZUGFeRD) even in the free tier
- 11 invoice layouts, 6 of them Premium
- Native iOS and Android apps
- Austria via a separate offering (sevdesk.at)
Weaknesses
- Dunning is manual per invoice; dunning levels need the accounting plan
- Free tier limited to 3 invoices/month
- Colors from a palette only; custom layout only as a paid service
- No AI that creates documents — receipt capture and a support chatbot only
Lexware Office
The accounting classic (formerly lexoffice)Lexware Office is the most established FastBill alternative for anyone moving from VAT prep to full accounting: EÜR, VAT filing via ELSTER and payroll add-ons included. Note that the cheapest plan S cannot write invoices — realistically you start at €12.90 on plan M, and there is no annual discount.
Two things worth knowing: per its own help center it has no automatic dunning function (it points to a paid third-party extension), and on template design its 5 base layouts fall far short of FastBill’s editor.
Strengths
- Mature bookkeeping: EÜR, VAT filing via ELSTER (from plan L)
- Over 230,000 customers, very approachable interface
- Native iOS and Android apps
- E-invoicing: receiving on all plans, sending from M
Weaknesses
- No automatic dunning — per the vendor itself
- Germany only; Austria explicitly not supported
- Plan S (€7.90) cannot write invoices
- Only 5 base layouts, no freely placed text fields
easybill
The e-commerce specialisteasybill is the best FastBill alternative for online sellers: orders from Amazon, eBay and your own shop are billed automatically, OSS and shipping labels included. Its permanently free plan (50 documents/month, e-invoicing included) is the most generous in the field — and on template design, with custom fonts and Liquid templates, easybill plays in FastBill’s league.
The flip side is tier gating: recurring invoices need Professional (€25), and the automatic dunning that genuinely self-sends is Premium only (€37). A VAT-filing connection like FastBill’s is missing.
Strengths
- Permanently free plan: 50 docs/month incl. e-invoicing
- Strongest marketplace integrations (Amazon, eBay, Shopify, OSS)
- Automatic dunning that genuinely self-sends (Premium)
- Own fonts and colors, Liquid template language
Weaknesses
- Automatic dunning only in the Premium plan (€37)
- Recurring invoices only from Professional (€25)
- No native mobile app
- No Austrian version, no bookkeeping (EÜR)
Odoo
The open-source ERP suiteOdoo is the right FastBill alternative when invoicing is only the beginning: the modular suite covers CRM, inventory, manufacturing and projects, and a single app is permanently free. Austria is supported via localization.
The price is complexity: setup takes time (or an implementation partner), billing is per user per month with prices that vary by country, and dunning consists of follow-up rules you configure yourself.
Strengths
- "One App Free": one app permanently free, unlimited users
- Grows with you: CRM, inventory, manufacturing, projects in one suite
- Germany and Austria via localization
- E-invoicing and an accounting module available
Weaknesses
- Setup takes time or a partner — no minutes-to-start
- Per user/month, prices vary by country
- Dunning only as self-configured follow-up rules
- Heavily oversized for pure invoice senders
How we evaluated
All pricing and feature claims come from the vendors’ own pricing and help pages, last verified on 31 July 2026 — including the inconvenient details like tier gating and dunning limitations. Where a vendor does not document something, we do not claim it. Backbone is our own product (details per back-bone.io as of 9 October 2026): we rank it #1 for the use case it is built for, and we state its weaknesses as plainly as everyone else’s.
Do not choose Backbone if …
Backbone is ranked first on this page, and this page belongs to Backbone (formerly Billy). So that you can weigh that: here are the cases where another tool is the better choice.
- You already invoice public-sector clients (XRechnung)Backbone produces ZUGFeRD e-invoices, but XRechnung (and Austria’s ebInterface) is only coming soon. sevDesk, easybill and FastBill ship XRechnung in their cheapest tier, and in Austria FreeFinance creates ebInterface and XRechnung. If you must bill public-sector clients today, choose one of those.
- You want to do your bookkeeping inside the toolBackbone collects receipts, matches them to payments and takes bank statements, but deliberately does no bookkeeping: no EÜR, no P&L, no VAT return via ELSTER or FinanzOnline. Your tax advisor does the books from the export. If you want everything from one tool, take sevDesk, Lexware Office, or FreeFinance in Austria.
- Your tax advisor insists on a DATEV or BMD exportBackbone has none. It delivers a named ZIP of receipts, sent invoices, bank statements and a CSV report — or a free bookkeeper login. Any accountant can open that, but it is not a DATEV interface. If your accountant insists on one, that rules Backbone out — sevDesk and Lexware Office are built for it.
- You want a native mobile appBackbone is a web app: it runs in your phone’s browser and you can upload receipt photos with it — but there is no native app in the store (a Mac app for the timer is coming soon). sevDesk, Lexware Office, FreshBooks, Wave, Zoho and Square all ship one.
- You never want to payBackbone has no free plan: after a 7-day trial (card on file at Stripe, €0.00 due today) it costs from €19 a month incl. VAT. easybill (50 documents a month) and sevDesk (3 invoices a month) have permanently free tiers, and in the US so do Wave and Zoho Invoice.
- Your business is based in the USBackbone is built for Germany and Austria. It invoices in English and in USD, GBP or CHF too — for a German or Austrian business billing clients abroad. It does not handle US sales tax. For a US-based business, QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Wave, Zoho Invoice or Square are the better-fitting tools.