What Kontist does

Kontist is a German digital business banking platform purpose-built for self-employed individuals and small companies in Germany. Operating as Shine Germany GmbH following the 2022 Ageras Group acquisition and 2025 brand unification under Shine, the company delivers mobile-first business accounts on Solaris SE banking infrastructure (BaFin/ECB-regulated), with German IBANs, SEPA instant transfers, physical and virtual Visa debit cards, subaccounts for tax reserves, and overdraft. Differentiated features include real-time income tax and VAT estimation with automatic subaccount reservation, GoBD-compliant receipt scanning with AI-powered transaction matching, integrated bookkeeping (BWA), UStVA submission directly to the Finanzamt, and DATEV export for tax advisors, with embedded business loans via Froda. Distribution is fully self-serve through iOS/Android apps and web, supported by IDnow video identification and a Qwist-powered account-switching service, with no human sales involvement. Revenue is generated via a three-tier freemium subscription (Free €0, Start €11/month, Plus €25/month, plus VAT), transaction overage fees (€0.40 + VAT per SEPA), card deposit and ATM fees, foreign-currency margins, and referral economics. The customer base is described as tens of thousands of freelancers, Kleinunternehmer, GmbH/UG/GbR entities, and companies in founding (Unternehmen in Gründung) across Germany, with a Trustpilot rating of 4.3 and App Store/Play Store ratings of 4.7/4.5 supporting a product-led acquisition motion and a partner ecosystem spanning sevdesk, lexoffice, lexware, Fastbill, SumUp, and IDnow.

Name

Kontist

Legal name

Shine Germany GmbH

Website

https://kontist.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Kontist is a German digital business banking platform that provides self-employed freelancers, Kleinunternehmer, and small companies with mobile-first accounts, real-time tax estimation, integrated bookkeeping, and DATEV-ready export, monetized via a freemium subscription built on Solaris SE rails.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Business Banking

NAICS

Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (5412), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Cards & Expense Solutions (T&E, purchasing, fleet) (FSABAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Tax & Financial Document Preparation Organization (Non-Advisory) (HSAFAEAG), Data, Evidence & Document Verification (IDV) for KYC (FSAMAMAN)

Keywords

• Business banking accounts
• Freelancer banking services
• Tax estimation software
• Digital bookkeeping tools
• Mobile banking platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Fees: Three-tier subscription model: Free (€0/month), Start (€11/month plus VAT), and Plus (€25/month plus VAT). Paid tiers include more free SEPA transactions, virtual cards, subaccounts, and advanced bookkeeping features.
2. Transaction Fees: €0.40 plus VAT per SEPA transaction after free allocation is exceeded (5 free per month on Free plan, 30 on Start, 100 on Plus).
3. Card Deposit Fees: 2.9% fee for instant deposits via debit/credit card (first deposit free). ATM withdrawals €2 after free allocation.
4. Freemium Model: Free tier monetizes through transaction overages and future upsells to paid plans. Allows unrestricted trial of core banking features.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Kontist provides a German business current account with integrated real-time income tax and VAT estimation, AI-driven transaction categorization, receipt management, subaccounts for tax reserves, and integrations with DATEV, sevdesk, and lexoffice bookkeeping tools. Banking services are delivered on Solaris SE's regulated infrastructure, with onboarding completed via the iOS/Android app and video identity verification (IDnow).

Product overview

Kontist is a German digital business banking platform for self-employed individuals and small companies, built on a tiered subscription model with three core plans (Free, Start at €11/month, and Plus at €25/month). The platform integrates business account services (SEPA transfers, Visa debit cards, subaccounts) with tax management features including real-time tax estimation, automatic tax reserve calculation, receipt scanning with AI-powered categorization, invoice creation, and VAT pre-notification submission. Integration with accounting tools (sevdesk, lexoffice, DATEV) enables seamless bookkeeping workflow. Additional products include business loans up to €50,000 via partner Froda, overdraft facilities, a referral program, account switching service, and a free income tax calculator. The platform is powered by Solaris SE, a BaFin-regulated German bank.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kontist: Primary brand offering free business accounts with real-time tax estimation, Visa Business Debit cards, and integrated bookkeeping for freelancers and small businesses in Germany.

Products and services

• Kontist Free
• Kontist Start
• Kontist Plus
• Kontist Business Loan (Unternehmenskredit)
• Real-time Tax Estimation (Steuerschätzung in Echtzeit)
• Kontist Bookkeeping (Kontist Buchhaltung)
• Receipt Management (Belegmanagement)
• Visa Business Debit Card (Visa Business Debitkarte)
• Account Switching Service (Kontowechselservice)
• Taxator Income Tax Calculator

Quantifiable outcome

• Automated tax reserve calculation eliminates year-end surprises
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

AI capability4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Solaris SE (Solarisbank)coreTechnology or IntegrationSolaris SE is the licensed German bank (BaFin and ECB regulated) that provides the actual banking infrastructure. Kontist business accounts are managed through Solaris, which holds German IBAN accounts, manages deposits, and guarantees European deposit protection up to €100,000. Kontist builds the user-facing features while Solaris handles regulatory banking operations.
• IDnowcoreTechnology or IntegrationIDnow provides video identification services for the account opening process. Users verify their identity through a short video call as part of the KYC (Know Your Customer) process.
• SumUpsecondaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSumUp partnership allows Kontist customers to accept card payments directly to their Kontist account. SumUp card readers can be connected to receive digital payments from customers.
• sevdesksecondaryTechnology or IntegrationBookkeeping software integration with sevdesk. Kontist Free includes 3 months free sevdesk, Start includes 6 months free, and Plus includes 1 year free. Allows automatic transaction synchronization for accounting.
• lexofficesecondaryTechnology or Integrationlexoffice is a popular German bookkeeping software integrated with Kontist. Users can automatically sync transactions to their lexoffice accounting system.
• Qwist GmbHsecondaryTechnology or IntegrationQwist provides the account switching service (Kontowechselservice) that helps users transfer standing orders and direct debits from their old bank to Kontist. The automated switching process takes 10 minutes online.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Qonto: Qonto is a French-headquartered neobank for SMBs, freelancers, and self-employed professionals across Europe. It offers business accounts, expense management, and integrated bookkeeping with multi-country support, competing head-to-head with Kontist for the German and European freelancer segment.
• Holvi: Holvi (owned by BBVA) is a Finnish-founded business banking platform targeting freelancers and SMBs across Europe, including Germany. It is the most direct comparable to Kontist in terms of target customer (self-employed professionals), product scope (business account with bookkeeping), and geographic focus.
• FYRST: FYRST is a German digital business banking platform from Varengold targeting freelancers, startups, and SMBs. It directly competes with Kontist in Germany on the freelancer and small business segment, though with less specialization in tax features.
• Wise Business: Wise Business offers multi-currency business accounts to freelancers, SMBs, and international businesses. It is comparable to Kontist on the freelancer self-employed use case and competes particularly for users with cross-border SEPA and non-EUR payment needs that Kontist's Germany-only setup does not serve.
• N26 Business: N26 is a Berlin-headquartered neobank offering business accounts for freelancers and SMBs in Germany and the Eurozone. It is one of the strongest brand competitors to Kontist in the German self-employed segment, with broader product scope but less tax-specific specialization.
• Revolut Business: Revolut's business account targets freelancers, SMBs, and enterprises across Europe with multi-currency, expense management, and integrations. It is a direct competitor in Germany and brings significantly more capital and a wider product portfolio to the same customer segment.
• Tide: Tide is a UK-based mobile-first business banking and admin platform targeting SMBs and the self-employed. Its product-led growth model, integrated invoicing, and expense categorization closely mirror Kontist's approach, though its primary geography is the UK rather than Germany.
• Pleo: Pleo is a European SMB spend management platform offering company cards, expense management, and bookkeeping integrations. While primarily cards-led, it overlaps with Kontist on the freelancer/SMB segment in Germany and across Europe and is increasingly broadening into broader business banking workflows.

Others

• sevdesk: sevdesk is a German cloud bookkeeping platform for SMBs and freelancers, integrated with Kontist as a partner. It is adjacent rather than directly competitive, but its product roadmap into banking-adjacent workflows (invoicing, payments) means it operates in the same freelancer financial-management ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• Deutsche Bank Business: Deutsche Bank offers business banking accounts and services to German freelancers and SMBs through its Führungskonto and broader business banking portfolio. As a major incumbent, it competes on trust and scale but lacks the freelancer-specific tax automation that Kontist provides.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kontist
• Xx.com/Kontist
• Facebookfacebook.com/kontist-1119801628031648

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kontist