Free accounting software for Switzerland

What really costs nothing, where each free tier ends, and what you pay from there.

Do you need a program at all?

Legal position as of September 2026

Sole proprietorships and partnerships with less than CHF 500'000 turnover in the last financial year may keep simplified books: income, expenses and the financial position, known in Switzerland as the Milchbüechli (Code of Obligations, Art. 957 para. 2). A well-kept spreadsheet is enough for that.

A GmbH or AG always keeps full double-entry books with a balance sheet and an income statement. And if you are registered for VAT, you need books from which the return can be traced. That is the point where a program pays for itself.

Free, with a limit

Details as of 28 October 2026, from the vendors' own websites

Three of the Swiss vendors in this comparison have a free tier. All three are finished, maintained products, and each draws the line somewhere else.

Banana Accounting Plus, Free: Up to 70 transaction rows per file. Above that the file can no longer be saved, copied or printed. A desktop program, the files stay with you. After that, Professional at CHF 89 a year, including VAT.
CashCtrl, FREE: For 1 user and 1 organisation. Includes the general ledger, QR invoices and VAT booking with a tax report. CashCtrl states it is free now and in the future. Cloud on Swiss servers.
AbaNinja, Starter: For 1 user, 1'000 documents a year and 1'000 addresses and products, gross amounts only, without VAT. It fits as long as you are not registered for VAT. After that, Basic at CHF 21 a month (billing period and VAT basis not stated).

Free without a limit, but with effort

Details as of September 2026, from the projects' websites and licence files

These programs cost no licence fee and have no volume limit. You pay with your time: installing, updating, backing up, and in some cases setting up the Swiss specifics yourself.

GnuCash: Open source (GPL), double-entry, for Windows, macOS and Linux. A Swiss VAT return is not built in.
Manager.io, Desktop: Free with no time or usage limit, for Windows, macOS and Linux. Not open source. The cloud edition is paid.
Odoo Community: Open source (LGPLv3). The Swiss localisation is included: the SME chart of accounts, tax rates, the QR-bill. The VAT return is defined in the Community code, but we did not find the view that displays it there.
ERPNext with erpnextswiss: Open source (GPLv3, with libracore's Swiss app under AGPL-3.0). QR-bill, camt import, pain.001 and the VAT return as an eCH-0217 file. A whole ERP, with the operating effort to match.
Gäld, Community: Open source (AGPL-3.0), self-hosted, with Swiss VAT. The hosted version has a free tier and paid plans.

Banana Accounting Plus, CashCtrl, AbaNinja, Odoo Community, ERPNext with erpnextswiss

TILL and 5 other products, as of 28 October 2026. Every cell links its source.
What is compared	TILL	Banana Accounting Plus	CashCtrl	AbaNinja	OdooCommunity	ERPNextwith erpnextswiss
The basics
Licence	MIT Source	Proprietary, yearly subscription Source	Proprietary Source	Proprietary Source	LGPL-3.0 Source	GPL-3.0; erpnextswiss AGPL-3.0 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	Desktop program for Windows, macOS and Linux, plus apps read 23 September 2026 Source	Vendor cloud Source	Vendor cloud, in the browser Source	A server you run Source	A server you run, or Frappe Cloud Source
Where the data is stored, as the vendor states it	One SQLite file on your computer On the capabilities page	Files on your device Source	Switzerland Note Its terms of service say the servers are exclusively in Switzerland. Source	Not confirmed	Wherever you host it Source	Wherever you host it Note On Frappe Cloud, Frappe hosts it; we did not confirm the regions offered. Source
Price
Free tier and its limit	YesFree, no limit Note MIT licence: no limit on users, companies or bookings, and no subscription. Source	YesFree plan up to 70 transaction rows per file Note Above that, the file can no longer be saved, copied or printed. Source	YesFREE: 1 user, 1 organisation Source	YesStarter: 1 user, 1'000 documents a year, without MWST Source	YesFree, self-hosted Source	YesFree, self-hosted 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	Advanced, CHF 179 a year incl. MWST Note The VAT report and the ESTV XML file need the Advanced plan. Source	FREE, CHF 0 Note The FREE plan includes VAT booking with a tax report, whose figures you transfer to the ESTV form. An eCH-0217 file is not confirmed. Source	Basic, CHF 21 a month; billing period and VAT basis not stated Note Starter has no MWST. The price page states neither whether the price includes MWST nor whether it is billed monthly or yearly. Source	Not confirmed Note The Community code defines the Swiss VAT return, but we did not find the view that displays it there. Source	CHF 0, self-hosted Note The erpnextswiss app prepares the VAT declaration. Frappe Cloud hosting starts at USD 5 a month (VAT basis not stated). Source
Swiss obligations
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	YesEffective and Saldo Plan: Advanced Note eCH-0217 2.0.0 for 2025 periods, through an extension that needs the Advanced plan. Source	Not confirmed Note CashCtrl's roadmap lists an E-MWST XML file; we could not confirm that it has shipped. Source	Not confirmed Note AbaNinja's help describes its VAT overview as a fill-in aid for the ESTV form. We found no eCH-0217 export. Source	Not confirmed	YesEffective and Saldo Note In the erpnextswiss app (AGPL-3.0): XML templates in the eCH-0217 version 2 namespace. Source
Openness and agents
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	Not confirmed	PartlyExports on the FREE plan Note The FREE plan exports to PDF, Excel and CSV; a complete export of all data was not confirmed. Source	Not confirmed	YesYour own database Source	YesYour own database 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)

What free still costs

As of September 2026

Business records must be kept for ten years (Code of Obligations, Art. 958f). A free tier is a vendor's decision, and decisions change over ten years. So before the first receipt, check how you get your data back out.

With self-hosted software that risk is yours: backups, updates, a machine that still opens the file in ten years. It can be done, but it is work, and it belongs in the sum.

And TILL?

TILL is MIT licensed and free, with no volume limit, and the books sit in one SQLite file on your own machine. Nomadik GmbH charges only for help with setup and with moving from bexio. A Swiss-hosted version is planned for later; what it will cost is not decided.

TILL is a public beta. You can keep real books in it as long as your current program keeps running until the figures match. If you need a finished free solution today without a parallel run, pick one from above.

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 any product on this page, and it is not affiliated with any of their vendors.

Try it

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

Get TILL, free See the full comparison

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.