What Cows Online does

Cows Online GmbH is a privately held, owner-managed German digital agency headquartered in Rheine (Münsterland region) that has operated continuously since 1999. The company employs 20-25 specialists and is led by two managing directors, Christian Oehl and Anneke Drees, with no external investors, parent company, or M&A activity. Its core offering is an integrated digital agency portfolio spanning digital strategy and consulting, web design and content, web development (TYPO3, WordPress), e-commerce (Shopware, Magento, Shopify), online marketing (SEO, SEA, social media management, web analytics), and managed hosting with proprietary data center infrastructure in Rheine and Frankfurt.

The technology stack spans established CMS, e-commerce, and PIM platforms — TYPO3 (Silver Partner), WordPress, Magento 2, Shopware 6 (Solution Partner), Shopify, Akeneo PIM — alongside custom development in PHP, JavaScript, Vue.js, Symfony, and Zend Framework. The agency holds a Google Partner certification (2022) and develops custom SaaS modules, progressive web apps, and bespoke integrations with ERP (Xentral), marketing (Mailchimp, GA4, GTM, Facebook Pixel, Looker Studio), and vertical systems (VeasySport, ResourceSpace, Personio). Notable proprietary deployments include an appointment-booking SaaS used by 300+ dental practices and multi-site TYPO3 platforms serving 5M+ members across North Rhine-Westphalian sports associations.

Revenue is generated through project-based agency engagements (web design, development, e-commerce implementations, online marketing campaigns), recurring retainers (SEO, SEA, social media management), and annual managed-hosting subscriptions. Customers span mid-market and enterprise segments plus selected SMBs and NGOs across logistics, legal, sports, healthcare, furniture, F&B, tourism, IT services, and automotive. All services are delivered through direct consultative sales with no public pricing disclosed, and the agency emphasizes qualitative, customer-needs-driven growth over quantitative scale.

Name

Cows Online

Legal name

Cows Online GmbH

Website

https://cows.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cows Online GmbH is an owner-managed German digital agency founded in 1999 in Rheine, employing 20-25 people to deliver TYPO3/WordPress web development, multi-platform e-commerce, SEO/SEA, social media management, and managed hosting to mid-market and enterprise clients across Germany.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Rheine

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Digital Agency Services: Project-based professional services including web design, web development, e-commerce implementation, online marketing (SEO, SEA, social media), hosting, and ongoing digital consulting. Revenue is generated through project fees, retainer contracts, and ongoing service engagements. The company also offers hosting services with annual subscription model.
2. Web Hosting: Managed hosting services including server infrastructure, domain management, SSL certificates, cloud solutions, and SaaS offerings. Annual prepaid billing model with minimum contract duration of one year.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cows Online is a full-service German digital agency delivering integrated web design, web development (TYPO3, WordPress, Magento, Shopware, Shopify), e-commerce implementation, online marketing (SEO, SEA, social media), and managed hosting services. Services are delivered as custom, project-based professional engagements to businesses and organizations, supplemented by an annual managed hosting subscription product with German data residency.

Product overview

Cows Online is a full-service digital agency offering an integrated portfolio of web design, development, and digital marketing services. The core offering combines strategy consulting, creative design, and technical web development using TYPO3 and WordPress CMS platforms. E-commerce capabilities span multiple platforms including Shopware, Magento, and Shopify, complemented by Akeneo PIM for product data management. Online marketing services include SEO, SEA (Google Ads), web analytics, and social media management. Hosting services with cloud solutions (Nextcloud, Resourcespace) and domain/SSL management complete the service ecosystem. All services are delivered as professional agency engagements rather than self-service SaaS products, with each offering customized to individual client requirements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Quantifiable outcome

• Online appointment booking system used in 300+ dental practices
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration16 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TYPO3 AssociationcoreTechnology or IntegrationTYPO3 Silver Partner status. The agency has developed extensive TYPO3 expertise dating back to the beginning of the millennium, with experience in complex multisite systems, custom extensions using Extbase and Fluid, and comprehensive TYPO3 implementations including multilingual sites and enterprise-grade deployments.
• GooglecoreTechnology or IntegrationCertified Google Partner agency. Provides Google Ads services including search advertising, display networks, video advertising, shopping campaigns, and remarketing. Also implements Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, and Google My Business management for clients.
• ShopwarecoreTechnology or IntegrationOfficial Shopware Solution Partner for Shopware 6 e-commerce implementations. Certified to provide professional consulting, UI/UX design, programming, and deployment services for Shopware 6 online stores.
• Nieschlag & WentrupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner agency for Willmerköster project. Creative and strategic partnership for law firm digital presence development.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• dmcgroup: German digital agency headquartered in Münsterland region, providing web development, e-commerce, online marketing, and hosting services. Closest geographic and portfolio peer to Cows Online — both serve SME/enterprise clients in the same NRW region with overlapping service stacks including TYPO3 and Shopware.
• Shopmacher: German Shopware-focused e-commerce agency providing Shopware 6 implementations, consulting, and digital commerce services. Direct peer in Shopware partnership status and e-commerce implementation focus, serving overlapping mid-market German clients.
• Kolibri Online: German digital agency specialized in TYPO3, Shopware, and online marketing for mid-market clients. Direct peer in TYPO3/Shopware technical capability and mid-market German client focus, with comparable size and service portfolio.
• Amedick & Sommer: Stuttgart-based TYPO3 agency offering web development, hosting, and digital marketing. Highly comparable as a TYPO3-specialized mid-sized German agency with hosting infrastructure and partner status, competing for similar enterprise multisite engagements.
• netz98: German TYPO3 and digital agency providing CMS development, e-commerce, and digital marketing services in the Rhine-Main region. Comparable as a TYPO3-specialized German agency competing for similar multisite and enterprise CMS engagements.
• Werk21: TYPO3-focused German digital agency delivering CMS, e-commerce, and online marketing. Direct peer in TYPO3 specialization and mid-sized German agency positioning, competing for similar open-source enterprise CMS engagements.

Broad incumbents

• SinnerSchrader (Accenture Song): Long-established Hamburg-based digital agency now part of Accenture Song, delivering web, e-commerce, and platform solutions for German enterprise clients. Comparable in service breadth (web, e-commerce, digital marketing) but operates at scale unreachable to a 20-25 person agency.
• nexum: Germany-based full-service digital agency offering strategy, web, e-commerce, and online marketing. Comparable as a mid-market German digital agency serving enterprise clients across similar verticals, though nexum operates at significantly larger scale than Cows Online.
• UDG United Digital Group: Large German digital agency group offering strategy, design, technology, and marketing across enterprise clients. Comparable as a competitor for mid-market and enterprise digital transformation engagements in Germany, though operating at substantially larger scale.
• Ray Sono: Munich-based digital agency offering web, e-commerce, and platform solutions for enterprise clients including automotive and industrial verticals. Comparable in technology-stack depth (TYPO3, Adobe, e-commerce) and German enterprise client focus, with larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cowsonline
• Instagraminstagram.com/cowsonline
• Xx.com/Cows_online
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cows-online-gmbh

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Cows Online