Norman alternatives: 12 tools compared (October 2026)

DATEV provides payroll, tax and accounting software used across Germany through tax advisory firms rather than sold directly. Its AI features include salary benchmarking from anonymized payroll data and a central assistant, DATEV Copilot, being added across its cloud tools.

Key functions

• DATEV Personal-Benchmark online uses AI and anonymized payroll data from the DATEV cloud to estimate market salaries by role
• DATEV Copilot, a central AI assistant, drafts text, analyzes documents, supports research and answers DATEV service questions
• LEXchat in DATEV LEXinform plus searches around 250,000 tax law documents

Compared with Norman

• Names 5 security certificates, Norman 0.
• Starts lower: from €10.50 per month, Norman from €12 per month.
• Strong in the same markets as Norman: Germany.

Check before buying: Because access to DATEV usually runs through a tax advisory firm rather than a direct contract, clarify with that firm which modules and AI features, such as Copilot or Personal-Benchmark, are actually licensed. DATEV publishes its data processing agreement and lists further processors per product, so check which ones apply to the AI features you use. Works council involvement is worth confirming where compensation benchmarking touches individual pay data.

Candis is accounts payable software for small and midsize companies in Germany. It captures incoming invoices, suggests how to book them, routes them for approval and hands the result to DATEV or the ERP, with AI doing most of the reading and coding.

Key functions

• AI data extraction reads invoices, including mixed VAT rates and non-Latin scripts
• Automatic coding suggests GL account, cost center, tax code, posting text and approver, and learns with every booking
• AI invoice review flags missing mandatory details under German VAT law (Section 14 UStG) and possible fraudulent invoices

Compared with Norman

• Starts higher: from €389 per month, Norman from €12 per month.
• Strong in the same markets as Norman: Germany.

Check before buying: Check which plan you need, because AI invoice review and SAML single sign-on come only with Max and contracts run 12 to 36 months. Confirm the DATEV setup with your tax advisor or the ERP connection for SAP Business One, Business Central or Sage 100. Ask for the GoBD certificate and process documentation. The data processing agreement is published, and the help center lists the subprocessors, including AWS in Frankfurt and Google Cloud for the language model. Define approval rules with the four eyes principle.

d.velop invoices is a cloud accounts payable solution from the German document management vendor d.velop. It captures incoming invoices with AI, routes them for approval, validates e-invoices and archives them in an audit-proof way for mid-sized and large companies.

Key functions

• Extracts invoice data with AI, with recognition improving through machine learning
• Classifies documents regardless of format and layout and routes them
• Checks extracted data for quality and plausibility with AI support

Compared with Norman

• Built for larger organizations than Norman's smallest customers.
• Names 2 security certificates, Norman 0.
• Starts higher: from €340 per month, Norman from €12 per month.

Check before buying: Decide on the hosting option: AWS in Frankfurt or T Cloud Public. Check the annual invoice quota, since volume above twelve times the monthly allowance is billed per invoice. d.velop states that customer data is not used to train external AI models; ask for the data processing agreement and subprocessor list, which were not linked publicly. Clarify the connector for your ERP and how approval rules support dual control.

DocuWare is a document management and workflow platform with an invoice processing solution for accounts payable teams of all sizes. It reads invoices with machine learning and generative AI, routes them for approval and archives them in line with GoBD, in the cloud or on premises.

Key functions

• Intelligent Indexing extracts invoice data with machine learning and learns from corrections across the organization
• IDP classifies documents and starts the matching workflow
• GenAI extraction returns fields without prior training and learns from validations

Compared with Norman

• Names 3 security certificates, Norman 0.
• Strong in the same markets as Norman: Germany.

Check before buying: Pricing comes through a partner, so compare offers and ask what the IDP and GenAI extraction add to the base license. In the cloud, choose the EU or US privacy region; European IDP processing runs in a German data center of VSE NET. Ask for the data processing agreement and subprocessor list, which were not on the pages we checked. The vendor says data is anonymized before baseline model training, so confirm this fits your policy.

GetMyInvoices is invoice management software for small and midsize businesses in Germany. It pulls invoices automatically from supplier portals, email and apps, reads them with AI, routes them through approval and payment and exports them to DATEV or other accounting systems.

Key functions

• AI-based text recognition extracts invoice data and stores it in structured, GoBD compliant form
• Fraud Risk Assistant uses statistical models to check incoming invoices for manipulated bank details, fake invoices from nonexistent vendors and duplicates with slightly altered invoice numbers or timestamps

Compared with Norman

• Starts higher: from €19 per month, Norman from €12 per month.
• Strong in the same markets as Norman: Germany.

Check before buying: Check whether the base plan is enough or whether you need the workflow module for approvals. The Fraud Risk Assistant costs extra and works only together with the workflow module. Confirm the DATEV export setup with your tax advisor and ask for the GoBD documentation for your process description. Because the tool stores portal credentials and can pay invoices, define who may approve payments and use two-factor authentication. The subprocessor list is not published separately.

Jahresabschluss.io prepares German annual financial statements under HGB for limited companies and other entities required to publish accounts. Users upload a trial balance, AI maps the accounts and drafts the notes, and the software files the e-balance sheet and tax returns through ELSTER.

Key functions

• AI account mapping assigns trial balance accounts to German GAAP (HGB) line items
• AI text generation drafts the notes and the management report from the financial data
• AI document recognition captures receipts in ongoing bookkeeping

Compared with Norman

• Starts higher: from €95 per month, Norman from €12 per month.
• Strong in the same markets as Norman: Germany.

Check before buying: The product covers German GAAP only, so groups needing IFRS or consolidated accounts should check scope. The SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certificates mentioned on the website belong to the hosting infrastructure, not to the operator. The company is young, so ask about liability for filings, the subprocessor list and which AI models process your data. Check how existing bookkeeping from DATEV or other software is imported.

BuchhaltungsButler is a cloud bookkeeping tool from Berlin, part of the Visma group, for small and midsize companies in Germany. AI recognizes receipts, pre-codes entries based on past bookings and links receipts to bank payments.

Key functions

• AI-assisted receipt recognition reads invoices and receipts in every plan
• Learning pre-coding suggests bookings based on earlier decisions
• Automatic matching of receipts and payments from connected bank accounts

Compared with Norman

• Starts higher: from €24.95 per month, Norman from €12 per month.
• Strong in the same markets as Norman: Germany.

Check before buying: Check with your tax advisor how the DATEV export fits their process and whether they book or only close the year. If several people approve invoices, compare the invoice approval process with your internal sign-off rules and count the users you need, since Premium includes five. The data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR is linked as a PDF in the terms. According to the privacy notice for the software, document recognition runs through ABBYY with processing in a data center in the Netherlands.

Lexware Office, formerly lexoffice, is a cloud accounting tool from Haufe Group for small businesses and the self-employed in Germany. Its AI reads receipts, proposes accounts and pairs receipts with payments, while the tax advisor connects through DATEV.

Key functions

• AI receipt capture reads amount, document number, date and line items and tells an invoice date from a due date
• AI suggestion for the booking category based on the German SKR03 or SKR04 charts of accounts, including entertainment, fixed assets and reverse charge
• AI independently finds matching receipt and payment pairs across bank accounts, credit cards and PayPal and learns from corrections

Compared with Norman

• Starts lower: from €7.90 per month, Norman from €12 per month.
• Strong in the same markets as Norman: Germany.

Check before buying: Decide with your tax advisor whether the DATEV invoice data service or the booking data service fits your split of work. Plan S covers receipt capture and archive; bookkeeping with cash-basis accounts and VAT returns starts with plan L. Lexware describes bookings as GoBD compliant with ten-year retention. According to the Lexware Office privacy notice, a data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR is concluded with each customer; the text itself was not publicly available in our September 2026 check.