What sopea does

sopea GmbH is a privately held German HR-software provider headquartered in Fellbach, Baden-Württemberg, that operates a cloud-based HR platform (HR-Cloud) for small, medium, and large enterprises in Germany, Austria, and German-speaking Switzerland. Its product portfolio unifies four functional modules — Recruiting (applicant management and talent pooling), Personalmanagement (Digital Personalakte, onboarding, self-service portals), Zeitwirtschaft (time and absence management), and Lohn & Gehalt (payroll preparation) — together with a Potenzialanalyse online assessment and Personalentwicklung personnel-development module. A wholly-owned subsidiary, sopea Lohnservice GmbH, performs external payroll processing under §6 No. 4 StBerG, and a standalone time-tracking product, sopea Time-Organizer, was acquired on 1 September 2025.

The business model combines a product-led self-serve channel (30-day free trial with no credit card, prices from €25 per job posting/month and €2 / €2.50 per employee/month for Personalmanagement and Personalmanagement PLUS) with a sales-assisted demo motion for companies of 30+ employees and tailored enterprise configurations. Hosting is delivered from a German Tier III data center certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2013, with AES-256-bit TLS and GDPR/DSGVO compliance. The company reports 2,500+ active customers concentrated in DACH SMB through mid-market, with notable vertical depth in automotive dealer groups (sopea Autohaus and the Mehrmarkenlösung for Volkswagen, Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge, CUPRA, and SEAT partners).

Headcount sits at 11–50 employees, no external funding rounds are disclosed, and ownership is concentrated with managing shareholder (Geschäftsführender Gesellschafter) Claus Reutter. Distribution relies on a DACH-focused content engine (HR Blog, A–Z glossary, webinars) plus direct demos and trade-show presence; AI capabilities are currently limited to a third-party chatbot (moinAI / knowhere GmbH), OCR document search, and announced but not yet shipped KI-Agenten for routine HR task automation.

Name

sopea

Legal name

sopea GmbH

Website

https://sopea.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

sopea GmbH is a privately held German vendor of a cloud-based HR platform (HR-Cloud) that unifies Recruiting, Personnel Management, Time Management, and Payroll Preparation, with industry variants for automotive dealers, serving over 2,500 SMB and mid-market customers across the DACH region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cloud HR Software

NAICS

Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Talent Acquisition (Recruiting) & Applicant Tracking (ATS) (BPACAPAD)

Keywords

• Cloud HR software
• Applicant tracking system
• Digital personnel management
• Payroll preparation software
• Time tracking software

Headquarters

HQ city

Fellbach

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Recruiting Only Subscription: Per job posting subscription at €25/month. Includes job posting, applicant management, one-page applications, BMS automation, talent pool, feedback, and GDPR compliance.
2. Personalmanagement Subscription: Per-employee monthly subscription at €2/employee/month. Includes all Recruiting Only features plus employee master data, onboarding, personnel files, equipment management, payroll preparation, and document management.
3. Personalmanagement PLUS Subscription: Enhanced per-employee subscription at €2.50/employee/month. Includes all Personalmanagement features plus time management and vacation/absence tracking.
4. Individual HR-Cloud Custom Solutions: Custom-configured HR cloud solutions for enterprise customers with tailored configurations and consulting.
5. Media Partner Job Advertising: Job posting distribution through sopea media partners with agency-based billing, including optional services like firm-branded job boards (€290) and branded job postings (€785/ad).
6. Onboarding Training Services: Optional training services including Basic Online Training Personal Management for System Admin at €490.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

sopea provides a unified cloud-based HR software platform (HR-Cloud) that integrates Recruiting (applicant management and job posting), Personalmanagement (digital personnel file, onboarding, employee self-service), Zeitwirtschaft (time and absence management), and Lohn & Gehalt (payroll preparation) into a single solution. The platform is offered as subscription SaaS to small, medium-sized, and large companies in Germany, Austria, and German-speaking Switzerland, with industry-specific variants for automotive dealerships and standalone on-premise time tracking via the acquired Time-Organizer product.

Product overview

sopea is a unified cloud-based HR software platform (HR-Cloud) designed for small, medium, and large enterprises in Germany, Austria, and German-speaking Switzerland. The core platform integrates four primary modules — Recruiting (applicant management), Personalmanagement (digital personnel files, onboarding, self-service), Zeitwirtschaft (time and absence management), and Lohn & Gehalt (payroll preparation) — along with a Potenzialanalyse (online assessment center) and Personalentwicklung (personnel development) module. A fifth module, Personalmanagement PLUS, extends the base package with timewirtschaft features. The portfolio also includes sopea Time-Organizer, a locally-installable time-tracking solution acquired in September 2025, and sopea Lohnservice, a payroll processing sub-brand. Industry-specific variants cover automotive dealerships (sopea Autohaus and the multi-brand solution for VW/VWN/CUPRA/SEAT partners). Pricing operates on three online tiers: Recruiting only (€25 per job posting/month), Personalmanagement (€2 per employee/month), and Personalmanagement PLUS (€2.50 per employee/month), with an option to configure an individual HR-Cloud package.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• sopea Time-Organizer: A time tracking, attendance management, and project time recording software solution that has been part of the sopea family since September 2025.
• sopea Lohnservice
• sopea Autohaus
• sopea Mehrmarkenlösung

Products and services

• sopea Recruiting Applicant management and recruiting software for creating, publishing, and managing job postings with automated application handling, talent pool management, departmental collaboration, applicant feedback, role-based user management, and comprehensive reporting for SMB to enterprise customers.
• sopea Personalmanagement Personnel management module providing employee master data, digital personnel files with OCR searchability and multi-level permissions, onboarding workflows, equipment management, preparatory payroll accounting, document management, org charts, dashboards, employee self-service portals, and workflow automation for HR departments.
• sopea Zeitwirtschaft Time management module for digital absence tracking and vacation management, enabling paperless recording of leave entitlements, absence planning, and time-related reporting for employees and HR administrators.
• sopea Lohn & Gehalt Payroll preparation module managing all phases of wage processing — from digital data capture to generation of the final transfer file for downstream payroll software or accounting departments, supporting preparatory payroll accounting workflows.
• sopea Potenzialanalyse Online potential analysis (Assessment Center) based on a scientifically validated test procedure, providing statements on social competence, personal abilities, personality traits, and typical behavioral patterns. Used since 2004 with over 200,000 applications, supporting both recruitment selection and personnel development.
• sopea Personalentwicklung Personnel development software supporting qualification management, language documentation, potential management, experience tracking, employee interviews, and succession planning for HR teams and managers.
• sopea Time-Organizer Standalone, locally-installable time tracking and absence management software with over 20 years of practical experience, covering working time recording, project time tracking, shift planning, and interfaces to payroll systems including DATEV. Developed in Germany and designed for long-term stability.
• sopea Lohnservice External payroll processing service provided by wholly-owned subsidiary sopea Lohnservice GmbH, handling payroll preparation activities for clients' employees under German social security and tax law in accordance with § 6 No. 4 StBerG.
• sopea Autohaus Industry-specific HR solution tailored for automotive dealership groups, addressing the particular HR and recruiting needs of car dealerships, including multi-brand support for Volkswagen, Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge, CUPRA, and SEAT franchise partners.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 2,500 companies trust sopea as customers
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 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

Integration1 record

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Time-OrganizercoreTechnology or Integration · 1 September 2025Acquisition of Time-Organizer software (September 2025), a proven time tracking and vacation management solution with over 20 years of experience. The product's functional strengths enrich sopea's HR cloud development, bringing more automation, comfort, and transparency to customers.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• BambooHR: BambooHR is a leading global cloud HR platform serving SMBs primarily in North America and the UK with personnel management, recruiting, and onboarding modules. While not DACH-focused, it represents the broader SMB HR SaaS category benchmark against which sopea's feature set and pricing are evaluated.
• Workday: Workday is a global enterprise HCM and payroll platform used by larger organizations including multinationals operating in Germany. While Workday targets the enterprise tier above sopea's core SMB segment, German enterprise customers and multinationals create indirect competitive overlap as Workday pushes down-market.
• Haufe-Lexware / Haufe HR Services: Haufe is a major German provider of business software, compliance content, and HR/payroll services for SMBs and tax advisors. It overlaps with sopea in HR administration and payroll preparation for German SMBs but operates as a much broader portfolio incumbent rather than a cloud-native HR specialist.
• DATEV eG: DATEV is the dominant German cooperative providing payroll, accounting, and tax-advisor software, with strong integration into HR workflows via interfaces like the one sopea Time-Organizer uses. While not a direct cloud HR SaaS competitor, it shapes the German SMB HR/payroll ecosystem and is a critical integration partner and potential competitor.

Direct peers

• Softgarden: Softgarden is a German recruiting and applicant tracking software vendor serving SMB to enterprise customers in DACH. It directly competes with sopea's recruiting module and has expanded into broader talent management workflows.
• rexx systems: rexx systems is a German HR software provider offering recruiting, talent management, and personnel administration for SMB and mid-market companies in DACH. It directly competes with sopea in the German-speaking HR SaaS market with comparable cloud-based modular offerings.
• HRworks: HRworks is a German cloud HR software platform focused on time tracking, personnel management, and travel expense management for SMBs in the DACH region. It overlaps with sopea's Personalmanagement and Zeitwirtschaft modules and competes for similar customer segments.
• Personio: Personio is a leading all-in-one HR SaaS platform for SMBs in Europe, with strongest presence in Germany and the DACH region. It directly overlaps sopea's recruiting, personnel management, and payroll-preparation modules and competes head-to-head in the German SMB HR software market.

Emerging players

• Kenjo: Kenjo is a European cloud HR software provider focused on SMBs, offering time tracking, personnel management, and onboarding features. It targets similar customers to sopea in the SMB segment and represents an emerging alternative for DACH-adjacent markets.
• Factorial: Factorial is a European SMB-focused HR SaaS platform offering personnel management, time tracking, document management, and recruiting functionality. While headquartered in Spain, it increasingly targets DACH SMBs, placing it in partial competition with sopea in the broader European SMB HR market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sopea

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 sopea