Vivid vs. N26: business account comparison 2026

Two German accounts, two different starting points. Vivid is built as a complete business account: cards, sub-accounts, bookkeeping and investing sit in one app. N26 comes from mobile personal banking and placed the business account next to it, as an account for the self-employed. 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, for freelancers who already have one, and for teams that have outgrown their first setup. Everything about N26 comes from the provider’s official pages, and the date of the check is in the note at the end.

Vivid and N26 side by side

Vivid vs N26 boils down to eight points, and those are what the decision rests on in daily use: what the account costs per month and who is allowed to open it at all, how many sub-accounts with their own IBAN are included, whether foreign currencies are part of it, 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, everything about N26 from the provider’s official pages. 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 N26 Business offers

Account, plans and cards at N26

N26 Business is built as an account for the self-employed and sold that way: it runs in your own name and sits in the same app as your personal account. For many people that is exactly the starting point, because one login opens both. There are four tiers, from an entry plan with no monthly fee up to Metal, and a German IBAN is included.

The account includes a debit card, virtual cards, mobile payments with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and instant transfers inside SEPA. N26 pays cashback on card payments; the rate depends on the plan and sits in the table above. Sub-accounts are called Spaces there, and a Space can be given its own IBAN. They arrive on the higher plans and their number is capped.

Investing is available too. Stocks and ETFs start at one euro, straight from the account. Support runs over chat and phone, and identity verification during account opening happens online via video ident.

Where N26 Business runs into limits

The first limit sits right at the start, and it has nothing to do with price. The business account is held in your own name, so it works for freelancers and sole traders. For a GmbH or UG, N26 runs a separate company account, and that one is tied to size: one managing director, no more than nine employees, no more than two million euro in revenue. An existing personal N26 account is required as well. Grow past that, and the threshold bites.

The second limit shows up when you start sorting money. The entry plan includes no Spaces; they arrive on the higher plans and are capped. Anyone who wants VAT, reserves, individual projects and a subsidiary kept apart runs out of room quickly. And anyone invoicing abroad meets the third one: the account settles in euro only.

That leaves bookkeeping. There is no DATEV interface, so transactions leave the account as CSV or PDF. If your tax adviser works with DATEV, you organise the handover yourself. It is doable, but it costs time every month. On cashback, the guaranteed rate depends on the plan, and the higher rate only arrives on the top paid plan.

Cash works differently at digital providers than at a branch bank. Both accounts are built for cashless work: ATM withdrawals are capped per plan, and anyone paying in notes every day pairs that with a branch nearby anyway.

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 makes the difference for share capital before the commercial register entry. SEPA transfers carry no per-transfer 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. That is the most practical difference in the whole comparison, because otherwise you run several accounts at several providers.

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. None of it requires a second brokerage account at a second provider.

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. Virtual and physical Visa cards cost nothing extra, and mobile payments are built in. For bookkeeping, invoicing and digital receipt management sit in the account, along with the DATEV interface and connections to common accounting software. Your tax adviser gets their own access. 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, and a SEPA transfer carries no per-item price. There is no minimum turnover and no activity condition; beyond that, the price and services list applies. Above all, this plan is open to every legal form. At N26, access depends on the legal form: the business account runs in your own name, and capital companies use the separate company account with its size limits. For a newly founded UG, that is 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 N26 the sub-accounts depend on the plan. If your first year is still light on revenue, you still get the full feature set at Vivid.

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. That is why many people start on the €0 plan and only switch once the volume justifies it.

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, with no revenue or headcount limit and no requirement to open a personal account first. As the team grows, roles and card limits grow with it, without a per-user price falling due.

Internationally active businesses hold accounts in 22 currencies inside the same account from Basic, instead of opening one at every bank. And anyone who does not want to look for cashback and investing in a second app finds both in 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 N26: which one fits whom?

Vivid vs N26 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 you split money across several accounts, each with its own IBAN, want to invest straight from the account and want cashback with no monthly cap on all purchases. And it fits when your tax adviser works with DATEV or your business invoices in several currencies.

N26 puts its focus on the mobile euro account next to the personal one. If you are a freelancer who wants both in one app and the Spaces there are enough, that is what you get. At Vivid the business account also sits in one app with the personal account, and on top of it come sub-accounts without a ceiling, 22 currencies from Basic and bookkeeping in the same account.

In practice one question usually decides it: should the account be a second wallet next to the private one, 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 your transfers, your card payments, what comes back as cashback and the hours that go into handing over receipts. 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 N26 was compiled to the best of our knowledge from the provider’s official pages and 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. N26 is a registered trademark of N26 GmbH and N26 Bank AG respectively; there is no business relationship between Vivid and N26. The content of this page has neither been reviewed nor approved by N26. 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.