Vivid vs. Finom: business account comparison 2026

Two digital providers, two different focal points. Vivid is built as a complete business account in which cards, sub-accounts, bookkeeping and investing sit together. Finom comes from invoicing and built the account around it. This comparison looks only at the business accounts of the two, not at the personal ones.

It is written for everyone who is choosing right now: for founders before their first business account as much as for self-employed people who already have one and are unhappy with the monthly bill. The information on Finom comes from publicly available comparison sources, because the provider’s own site blocks our requests; the date of the check is in the note at the end.

Vivid and Finom side by side

Vivid vs Finom boils down to eight points, and those are what the decision rests on in daily use: what the account costs per month and from which plan your legal form is accepted at all, how many accounts with their own IBAN are included, what comes back as cashback, whether you can invest straight from the account and how bookkeeping is connected.

The Vivid column deliberately comes first and is shaded. Everything in it comes from the price list and the help centre. Prices and terms change constantly, which is why the date of the check sits in the note below rather than in the body text.

What Finom offers

Account, plans and cards at Finom

Finom is an electronic money institution with its own licence from the Dutch central bank De Nederlandsche Bank, registered under number R180074. What you actually see of that is mainly one thing: German customers get a German IBAN. Direct debits from suppliers and incoming payments from business clients therefore go through without questions.

The focus is on invoices. You write them in the account, e-invoicing included, and match incoming payments to them directly. The DATEV interface is part of every plan, and receipts move on through bookkeeping integrations. Multiple accounts are part of the plans; Finom does not publish a number for them. Card payments earn cashback from the second plan onwards.

The plan ladder starts at €0 a month, with two further steps above it and higher tiers for larger teams. Finom rebuilt that price list in the summer of 2026, so check it directly with the provider before you commit. The account includes a virtual and a physical debit card as well as mobile payments; account opening runs online via video ident, and support runs over chat.

Where Finom runs into limits

The first limit sits right at the start. The €0 Solo plan is reserved for freelancers and sole traders. For a GmbH or UG, the account only begins on the first paid plan. If you are registering a UG right now, you pay from the first month, while the company has yet to make any revenue.

The second limit concerns the team. Additional users are staggered by plan, and the €0 plan includes none. Anyone who wants a bookkeeper, an assistant and two project leads inside the account moves up a plan quickly, without anything changing about the payments themselves.

Two more points stand out in daily use. There is no investing from the account: a balance stays a balance and earns interest through money-market wallets, and a securities portfolio is not part of it. On cashback, the maths only starts on the first paid plan, with a monthly ceiling. Finom does not accept cash, neither at machines nor at partners.

Cash works differently at digital providers anyway. ATM withdrawals are capped per plan, and anyone regularly taking notes usually pairs a digital account with a branch nearby. For everyone else the difference barely shows in daily use.

Vivid Business in detail

What Vivid Business offers

This is precisely where Vivid comes in. The business account starts with Free Start at €0 a month, permanently and for every legal form: freelancers, sole traders, GbR, GmbH, UG and AG. A company in formation gets an account too, which counts for share capital before the commercial register entry. A SEPA transfer carries no per-item price, so there is no allowance that runs out.

If you want to keep money apart, you open as many sub-accounts as you need. Each one gets its own German IBAN, already on the €0 plan. For the VAT reserve, for every larger project, for payroll: one account per purpose, all in the same overview.

Money does not have to sit still. You can invest from the same account: the company portfolio is provided by Vivid Money B.V. and covers stocks, ETFs, iBonds, money market funds and crypto, plus an interest account for balances that should stay available at short notice. For a reserve you will need next quarter, that is a different starting point from a plain balance account.

Teams cost nothing extra per head. Unlimited team members work with four user roles, with card limits per card and with an approval step when someone needs more room. Visa cards cost nothing extra, and mobile payments with Apple Pay and Google Pay are built in. For bookkeeping, invoicing and digital receipt management sit in the account, along with the DATEV interface, connections to common accounting software and separate access for your tax adviser. If you invoice internationally, the Basic plan adds accounts in 22 currencies.

And on top of that comes cashback: guaranteed and with no monthly cap on all purchases, between 0.1% and 1% depending on the plan, and up to 10% in selected categories. Cash withdrawals and SEPA transfers are among the things that do not earn cashback; the cashback terms in the price and services list apply.

The Vivid plans: Free Start, Basic and Pro

Paying annually makes it cheaper. More interesting than the prices themselves, though, is what the entry plan already contains.

The account maintenance fee on this plan is €0 per month, with no minimum turnover and no activity condition; beyond that, the price and services list applies. Above all, Free Start is open to every legal form. At Finom the €0 plan depends on the legal form: The €0 plan is meant for freelancers and sole traders, while a GmbH or UG starts one step higher. For a newly founded UG, that is exactly where the question is decided.

Cashback, the company portfolio, sub-accounts with their own German IBAN and the DATEV connection do not depend on the plan at Vivid; they are there from Free Start. At Finom, cashback starts on Basic and is capped monthly. If your first year is still light on revenue, you still get the full feature set at Vivid, including a team with no per-user price.

From Basic, accounts in 22 currencies come in, and international transfers run from the same account. The guaranteed cashback rate rises, and balances earn better interest. Pro extends that again: more room on limits and cards, and finer rules for spend controls by category, merchant and country. Moving up therefore unlocks no basic function, it lifts ceilings.

Who Vivid suits

For freelancers and sole traders the account is open from day one, with a German IBAN and no monthly fee. Small companies that do not want to carry a fixed monthly fee yet start with Free Start and still keep cashback, sub-accounts and the bookkeeping connection.

A GmbH or UG gets the same entry account as everyone else, without the price depending on the legal form. As the team grows, roles and card limits come with it, without a per-user price falling due. For agencies and trades with several cards in circulation, that is the difference you see at the end of the month.

Internationally active businesses hold accounts in 22 currencies in the same account and settle income in foreign currencies without a second account. And anyone who wants to invest reserves rather than just park them finds the portfolio and the interest account inside the business account itself. Vivid is built for cashless work: payments, cards, sub-accounts and receipts come together digitally.

Opening an account with Vivid

Account opening runs online and without a branch. You create the account in the app and fill in the company profile: name, legal form and registration details. Identity verification follows, for which a passport or ID card and good light are enough; every managing director gets their own link by email. There is no appointment in person, because there are no branches. A SCHUFA check does not stand in the way of the business account at opening.

If you are coming from another provider, you do not have to move in a single day: standing orders and SEPA direct debits can be switched over gradually while the old account is still running. As soon as the check is done, the IBAN and cards are ready and the first payment can go out.

Vivid or Finom: which one fits whom?

Vivid vs Finom rarely ends in a draw, because the two are optimised for different things. Vivid fits when the account should start without a fixed monthly fee and your legal form must not get in the way. It fits when several people work in the account with their own cards and limits, when reserves should be invested rather than parked, and when cashback should come back on every purchase without a monthly ceiling.

Finom puts its focus on the invoice: writing it, matching it, passing it on. If you are a freelancer who mainly issues a lot of invoices and works in the account alone, that is what you get. At Vivid, invoicing, receipt management and the DATEV interface also sit in the account, and on top of them come the portfolio, the interest account and cashback that starts on Free Start.

In practice one question usually decides it: should the account mainly handle invoices, or should it be the place where all the company money sits, works and gets analysed. Vivid covers both, from your first invoice as a freelancer to a GmbH with a team and a company portfolio.

One tip from practice: do not weigh the monthly fees against each other, weigh a typical quarter. Count the people who need access, the card payments, what comes back as cashback and the balance that sits in the account anyway. At small volumes the entry price decides, at larger ones the terms behind it, and both are in the table above.

Open a business account with Vivid

Free Start costs €0 a month, is open to every legal form and comes with sub-accounts carrying their own IBAN, cashback and investing from the start.

Open an account

Last checked: 2 August 2026. The business account is provided by Vivid Money S.A., an electronic money institution supervised by the CSSF in Luxembourg; investment and interest products are provided by Vivid Money B.V. under the supervision of the AFM. The information on Finom was compiled to the best of our knowledge from publicly available comparison sources, because the provider’s own site blocks our requests; it can change at any time, in particular prices, plans and terms. No claim is made to completeness or accuracy. Please check the current terms directly with the provider. Finom is a trademark of the respective company; there is no business relationship between Vivid and Finom. The content of this page has neither been reviewed nor approved by Finom. Investments carry risks; the value of an investment can rise or fall, and past performance is not an indicator of future returns. Crypto assets are unregulated and highly volatile; a total loss is possible. This article is not legal or tax advice.