TILL as a bexio alternative: open source and on your own computer

If you need payroll, email sending and a direct bank connection from one product today, stay with bexio. TILL is an alternative in three respects: it is open source under the MIT licence, your books stay in one file on your own computer, and an AI agent works in them through MCP. TILL is a public beta.

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In what respect TILL is an alternative

As of 28 October 2026, bexio details from bexio.com

TILL and bexio both keep the books of a Swiss SME: double-entry accounting, invoices with the QR-bill, the MWST return, camt statement import and payment files. They differ in how they are built and sold.

bexio is cloud software you subscribe to. Since 1.3.2026 its packages are Basic, Advanced, Optima and Ultimate, at CHF 35 to 119 a month billed yearly, excl. MWST. TILL is free and open source under the MIT licence, runs on your own computer, and keeps the books in one SQLite file that you can copy, back up and open without a subscription.

TILL’s interface for software is an MCP server. An AI agent such as Claude prepares bookings, invoices and the MWST return, and you decide in the Studio. bexio has a public REST API; we found no MCP server published by bexio itself.

TILL and bexio side by side

TILL and bexio, as of 28 October 2026. Every cell links its source.
What is compared	TILL	bexio
The basics
Licence	MIT Source	Proprietary Source
Where it runs	Your Mac or Linux computer, or a server you run Note There is no Windows app and no mobile app; TILL is not tested on Windows. On the capabilities page	Vendor cloud, in the browser and apps Source
Where the data is stored, as the vendor states it	One SQLite file on your computer On the capabilities page	Switzerland Note bexio's website says customer data is stored in certified Swiss data centres. Its privacy FAQ reserves storing encrypted backups in data centres in Switzerland and abroad. Source
Price
Free tier and its limit	YesFree, no limit Note MIT licence: no limit on users, companies or bookings, and no subscription. Source	NoNo free plan; 30-day trial Source
Cheapest plan with the MWST returnList price, as the vendor states the VAT basis and billing period	CHF 0, no plan Note There is no subscription. TILL prepares the return from the postings and writes the eCH-0217 file; you upload it in the ESTV ePortal yourself. On the capabilities page	Not confirmed Note bexio lists the VAT form and VAT journal in its package comparison; we could not confirm from which package. Since 1.3.2026 the packages are Basic, Advanced, Optima and Ultimate, at CHF 35, 42, 69 and 119 a month billed yearly (CHF 10 more billed monthly), excl. MWST. Source
Swiss obligations
Issues QR-bills	YesWith structured addresses On the capabilities page	Yes Source
MWST return as an eCH-0217 fileThe format the ESTV ePortal accepts for upload	YesEffective and Saldo Note Version 2.0.0. The beta computes on agreed consideration (vereinbarte Entgelte) only, and you upload and file the return in the ESTV ePortal yourself. On the capabilities page	Not confirmed Note We found no eCH-0217 export in bexio's help centre, which describes saving the VAT form as a PDF and exporting the VAT journal to Excel. Source
Swissdec-certified payroll	NoA hand-off Note TILL exports your employee data for your payroll provider and books the wage journal you bring back. Pay slips, AHV and Swissdec filings stay with the provider. On the capabilities page	YesELM 5.3 Note Listed by Swissdec. An add-on from Advanced, included in Ultimate. Source
Bank and payments
Imports camt.053/054 statements	Partlycamt.053 Note camt.054 notifications are not read; import the day-end camt.053. On the capabilities page	Yescamt.053 upload, and through bank interfaces Source
Writes pain.001 payment files	Yes On the capabilities page	YesAs a file or through a bank interface Source
Direct bank connection	NoNot in the beta Note The EBICS client is built, but the module that connects it to your bank ships later. Until then you import camt.053 files from your eBanking. On the capabilities page	YesBank interfaces such as bLink Source
Sends eBills	NoNot in the beta Note TILL packages an invoice as an eBill, but sending it is not in the beta. On the capabilities page	PartlyThrough a partner app Source
Openness and agents
Public API	YesMCP, and a local REST twin of every verb On the capabilities page	YesREST Note We could not confirm whether every package includes API access. Source
Official MCP server for AI agentsMade by the vendor itself, not a community project	YesRead and write Note By default, your agent waits for your OK before it books anything, moves your money, grants access or deletes your data for good. On the capabilities page	None found Note Community-built MCP servers for bexio exist; we found none published by bexio. Source
Full data export without a subscription	YesThere is no subscription Note A whole company exports in an open, documented format, and the books are a file you hold. On the capabilities page	PartlyUntil one month after the contract ends Note bexio's terms give one month after termination to request the data, after which it is deleted. bexio's help names PDF and Excel exports and no database dump; contacts also export as CSV. Source
Beyond the books
Inventory, projects and time, CRM, fixed assets, multi-currency	YesAll five Note Inventory with lots, projects and time, a sales pipeline, fixed assets with depreciation, and multi-currency. On the capabilities page	PartlyInventory, projects and time, CRM, foreign currency Note Inventory and projects from the Optima package. Fixed assets through a partner app. Source

Key:YesPartlyNoNone found(we looked in what the vendor publishes, on the date read, and found none)Not confirmed(we could not confirm it from a vendor source)

When bexio is the better choice

As of 28 October 2026

When you run payroll yourself and want the Swissdec reporting in the same program. bexio’s payroll is listed by Swissdec for ELM 5.3; TILL hands payroll to your payroll provider.

When invoices and reminders should go out by email from the program, or you need a direct connection to your bank today. The TILL beta does neither yet.

When you want the vendor to run the software and take the backups. With bexio, the vendor does that. TILL is a public beta, with free support and no guaranteed response time.

When several people work in the same books from different places and nobody wants to run a server. TILL shares one book between several people only on a server you host yourself.

Moving from bexio

As of 28 October 2026

TILL reads the Excel and CSV files bexio exports. A guide tells you what to export: contacts, the chart of accounts, the journal, open invoices and more. In a mapping step you match columns, accounts and tax codes to TILL and confirm them. Everything loads into a trial company first, which you then take live or throw away.

Open customer and supplier invoices come over as open items, so you settle them in TILL. For receipts (Belege), the guide has no bulk route yet.

Keep bexio running until the figures in both programs match to the Rappen; TILL’s cutover project compares the two side by side. Before you cancel, check the deletion period in your contract: bexio’s terms give one month after the contract ends to request your data. Nomadik GmbH offers paid help with the move.

What TILL does not do yet

TILL is a public beta. These are its limits today, in the same words on every page:

No payroll of its own. TILL exports your employee data for your payroll provider and books the wage journal you bring back.
No MWST filing from TILL. It writes the eCH-0217 file, and you upload it in the ESTV ePortal.
No MWST on received consideration (vereinnahmte Entgelte): TILL computes the return on agreed consideration only.
No email sending yet. TILL makes the PDF of an invoice, quote or reminder, and you send it from your own mail program.
German (de-CH) and English only. No French or Italian yet.
Runs on macOS and Linux; Windows is not supported (we do not test on it), and there is no mobile app.
No direct bank connection in the beta. You import camt.053 statements from your eBanking.
On your own computer, backups run when you start them, not on a schedule.
Several people in one book only on a server you host yourself. The local app is for one computer.
No eBill sending, no e-signature and no online customer portal.

TILL is an independent project. It is not derived from bexio, and it is not affiliated with its vendor.

Try it

TILL is free, with no account and no subscription. Keep your current program running until the figures match.

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About this comparison

Every statement about another product on this page rests on what its vendor publishes (website, price list, documentation or source code), read on the date shown with it. Where we could not confirm a point from such a source, the table says “Not confirmed”. Prices are published list prices, with the VAT basis and billing period the vendor states, and without promotions. Products and prices change, so check with the vendor before you decide.

If something here is wrong or out of date, write to hello@tillbooks.ch with the subject “Comparison correction”. We check every report and correct confirmed errors within 5 working days, with the date of the change.

This page is published by Nomadik GmbH, which builds TILL, so it is not neutral. TILL is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any vendor named here.

bexio, Banana, CashCtrl, AbaNinja, Abacus, Klara, Infinity, Run my Accounts, Odoo, ERPNext, Frappe, erpnextswiss, GnuCash, Manager.io, Gäld, Infoniqa, Swiss21.org, DeepCloud, 21.AbaSalary, libracore, Swissdec, bLink, QuickBooks, Intuit, Lexoffice, sevDesk and DATEV are trademarks or registered trademarks of their owners and are used here only to name their products.