Executive summary
The German payroll market splits into broad HR suites for the mid-market and focused payroll tools for companies under 50 staff. Price per employee falls with company size, statutory reporting is the main switching cost, and two SMB players changed pricing in the last 30 days.
Market overview
The German payroll market splits into broad HR suites and focused payroll tools. Paysly sells to companies under 50 staff and lists its Team plan at €6 per employee, while Lohnwerk bundles payroll with time tracking for the mid-market. Pricing page paysly 09 Oct Product page lohnwerk 07 Oct
Addressable spend among firms with 10 to 250 employees is about €1.1B a year. Statutory reporting to social insurance and tax authorities is built into every serious product, so buyers compare on price per employee, support language and migration help. Estimate Method in appendix
Competitors
12 shown
| Company | Segment | What matters now | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lohnwerk lohnwerk |
Segment Mid-market suite | What matters nowBundles payroll with time tracking and absence management. Sells annual contracts to 50 to 500 staff. | Product page 07 Oct 2026 |
|
Paysly paysly |
Segment SMB payroll | What matters nowCut the Team plan from 8 to 6 euro per employee a month. Targets firms under 50 staff. | Pricing page 09 Oct 2026 |
|
Gehaltio gehaltio |
Segment Freelancer payroll | What matters nowSelf-serve payroll for micro companies and mini-jobs. Monthly plans only. | Pricing page 09 Oct 2026 |
|
Kontora kontora |
Segment Payroll plus HR | What matters nowPayroll with a light HR file. Hiring two enterprise account executives in Munich. | Careers page 05 Oct 2026 |
|
Abrechna abrechna |
Segment Enterprise payroll | What matters nowManaged payroll service with dedicated payroll experts. Quote based pricing. | Product page 02 Oct 2026 |
|
Brutto One bruttoone |
Segment SMB payroll | What matters nowPayroll inside an accounting app, sold as an add-on to bookkeeping plans. | Pricing page 09 Oct 2026 |
|
Personalia personalia |
Segment Mid-market suite | What matters nowAll in one HR suite, payroll module launched in 2025. Raised a Series B this year. | Press release 30 Sep 2026 |
|
Zeitlohn zeitlohn |
Segment Payroll plus HR | What matters nowStrong in hospitality and retail shift work, with time clock hardware. | Pricing page 09 Oct 2026 |
|
Steuerfix Payroll steuerfixpayroll |
Segment Accountant channel | What matters nowSold through tax advisors, who run payroll for their clients. | Partner page 01 Oct 2026 |
|
Mitarbeiterkasse mitarbeiterkasse |
Segment Freelancer payroll | What matters nowPayroll for associations and clubs with volunteer allowances. | Pricing page 09 Oct 2026 |
|
NordLohn nordlohn |
Segment Enterprise payroll | What matters nowOn premise payroll moving customers to cloud, migration discounts in Q4. | Pricing page 06 Oct 2026 |
|
Teamgehalt teamgehalt |
Segment SMB payroll | What matters nowNew entrant, free migration of payroll history, launched an English interface. | Blog 08 Oct 2026 |
Pricing comparison
| Company | Plan | List price | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paysly | Team | €6.00 per employee a month | -25% |
| Gehaltio | Basic | €4.50 per employee a month | No change |
| Brutto One | Payroll add-on | €5.00 per employee a month | No change |
| Kontora | Business | €9.00 per employee a month | No change |
| Lohnwerk | Suite | €12.00 per employee a month | +9% |
| Abrechna | Managed | Quote annual contract | No change |
Market size
TAM
Estimate Modelled€1.1B
Yearly payroll software spend, firms with 10 to 250 employees
SAM
Estimate Modelled€420M
Firms with 10 to 50 employees buying self-serve
SOM
Estimate Modelled€8M
Three year obtainable revenue at 2 percent share
Method. Firms by size class times average employees times observed list price per employee, minus the share run by tax advisors on their own tools.
Competitor landscape
Twelve vendors were profiled across five segments. Suites (Lohnwerk, Personalia) win on breadth and price high. SMB payroll tools (Paysly, Brutto One, Teamgehalt) compete hard on price. Tax advisor channels (Steuerfix Payroll) control a large share of small firms that never buy payroll software directly. Product pages 01 to 09 Oct
Pricing comparison
List prices run from €4.50 to €12 per employee a month. Paysly cut its Team plan by 25 percent on 9 October, the first price cut in the segment this year. Lohnwerk raised its suite price by 9 percent at the same time, widening the gap between suites and SMB tools. Pricing page paysly 09 Oct Pricing page lohnwerk 06 Oct
What customers say
Across public reviews, the most common complaints are slow support during month end, painful migration of payroll history and extra fees for year end certificates. Switching reasons cite price per employee and an English interface for international teams. Review sites last 12 months
Gaps and openings
No SMB vendor offers payroll in English with German statutory reporting and guaranteed month end support. International startups with 10 to 50 staff in Germany are underserved, and tax advisors look for tools they can resell.
Recommended moves
Enter with an English first product for international teams, price at €6 to €7 per employee to match the new Paysly level, offer free migration of payroll history and build a tax advisor partner programme in year one.
Monitoring plan
Weekly checks of pricing pages for all twelve vendors, daily checks of careers pages for Kontora and Personalia, news and regulation alerts for social insurance reporting changes in 2027.
Recommended moves
-
Move 1
Match the new SMB price point
Paysly now sets €6 per employee as the reference price for firms under 50 staff.
-
Move 2
Lead with English and migration
The two most cited switching reasons in public reviews.
-
Move 3
Build the tax advisor channel early
Advisors run payroll for a large share of small firms.
Changes detected this month
Paysly cut the Team plan price
Price change detected
Recommended move. Hold price for annual customers and offer free migration instead of a matching cut.
Kontora opened two enterprise sales roles
Hiring detected
Recommended move. Expect Kontora in mid-market deals from Q1. Refresh the battlecard.