Comparison
Pennylane is great. For SMBs.
Pennylane is a complete accounting suite, designed for companies with an in-house accountant or a connected external one. For a solo freelancer who pilots cashflow daily, the model is different.
TL;DR
- Pennylane is an accounting suite — it automates bookkeeping (entries, journal, VAT, balance sheets). Freelance Budget is a financial cockpit — it pilots your treasury in real time.
- Pennylane charges ~€30-50/month depending on plan (often + accountant fees). Freelance Budget: €99/year excl. VAT, around €8/month.
- Pennylane talks to your accountant. Freelance Budget talks to you — no external dependency.
- For a multi-country / multi-entity freelancer, Pennylane is more rigid. Freelance Budget handles multiple entities and currencies natively.
Side by side
Comparison
Freelance Budget
Pennylane
Mission tracking (day rate, worked days)
Pennylane: quotes/invoices OK, no mission piloting
12-month treasury projection
Pennylane: short cash view (90d), no long projection
Health score & runway
What-if scenarios
Shareable mission calendar
Native multi-entity (up to 5)
Pennylane: paid extra, harder to set up
Bank import + auto-matching
Pennylane: excellent on entries, accountant focus
Generated VAT declarations
Full accounting (journal entries, balance sheet)
Freelance Budget: piloting focus, not bookkeeping
Integrated accountant access
Price
€99/year excl. VAT (~€8/month)
€30-50/month (+ accompaniment)
When to choose Pennylane
Pennylane
You need full bookkeeping (balance sheet, journal entries, tax pack) with an external accountant connected to the tool. Pennylane is designed for this, and it does it very well.
Freelance Budget
You want to pilot your business daily — treasury, missions, scenarios — without paying €50/month for a suite you only use at 20%. Freelance Budget and Pennylane can even coexist: piloting on us, bookkeeping on them.