Lexware Office alternative
Backbone vs. Lexware Office (lexoffice): what do you actually need?
Lexware Office — still known to many as lexoffice — is the accounting classic from the Haufe group: EÜR, ELSTER tax filing, receipt capture. Backbone (formerly Billy) is a back office without the bookkeeping: time tracking, invoices, dunning and receipts in one place, plus an AI assistant that drafts invoices from one sentence and sends them after your OK.
If you want to do your full bookkeeping yourself and only work in Germany, Lexware Office is a solid home. If you mainly want to bill your work, get paid and give your tax advisor clean records, Backbone is the better-fitting tool.
Why freelancers switch from Lexware Office to Backbone
Lexware Office is dependable, but it is an accounting product: invoicing is one module among many, and "AI" means receipt capture with booking suggestions. Backbone puts the work at the center — from the hour logged to the invoice to the reminder.
- Invoices from one sentence to the assistant instead of a form — quotes, cancellations by credit note and reminders included
- Dunning with a reminder, two formal stages, statutory interest and the €40 fee — scheduled automatically from Studio
- Germany AND Austria — Lexware Office is limited to Germany
- Small-business (§19) and §13b reverse-charge notes, a mandatory-details check while you write, ZUGFeRD e-invoices
- Time tracking, receipts with AI matching and a ZIP export for your tax advisor in every plan
Backbone vs. Lexware Office at a glance
| Backbone | Lexware Office | |
|---|---|---|
| AI & automation | ||
| Create an invoice from an AI prompt | Yesassistant Billy, also in Claude/ChatGPT | No |
| AI executes actions (send, update) | Yesdrafts, sends after your OK, chases | Nosuggestions you must accept |
| Automatic dunning | Yeswith interest + €40 fee; scheduled from Studio | Novendor states there is no automatic function |
| AI receipt capture (OCR) | Yesreads receipts, matches payments | Yes |
| Design & interface | ||
| Ready-made invoice designs | Partially2 templates: Basic, Minimal | Partially5 base layouts |
| Live preview while typing | Yesyou write on the page itself | Nopreview is a separate step |
| Custom branding | Partiallylogo, accent color | Partiallylogo, 5 fonts; no freely placed text fields |
| Invoicing from a mobile app | Partiallyweb app, no native app | YesiOS & Android |
| Invoicing workflow | ||
| Recurring invoices | Yesevery plan | Yesseries invoices |
| E-invoicing (XRechnung/ZUGFeRD) | PartiallyZUGFeRD; XRechnung coming soon | Partiallysending from plan M |
| Countries, bookkeeping & price | ||
| Austria (§11 öUStG) | Yessame interface | Novendor states: Germany only |
| Bookkeeping (EÜR / VAT filing) | Noexport for your tax advisor | Yesplan L and up |
| DATEV export | NoZIP of PDFs + CSV report | Yes |
| Entry price (net/month) | €19 incl. VAT (Solo); net ≈ €15.97 (DE) / €15.83 (AT) | from €12.90 (plan M) — plan S cannot invoice; no annual discount |
Lexware Office pricing and feature claims per the vendor, verified on July 31, 2026, prices net. Backbone details per back-bone.io as of October 9, 2026; Backbone prices incl. VAT. Subject to change.
Backbone in detail
When Lexware Office is the better choice
To be fair: Lexware Office ships ELSTER filing, EÜR, DATEV export, native apps and payroll add-ons — if you want all of that in one tool and only work in Germany, it is an established choice and slightly cheaper to start. Backbone deliberately leaves the books to your tax advisor.
See all Lexware Office alternatives