Best Business Bank Account in Germany (2026)

A business bank account in Germany costs anywhere from nothing to 55 euros a month, and the gap has almost nothing to do with quality. It tracks who is allowed to hold the account and what the provider is licensed to do.

The other thing nobody tells you upfront: the free business bank accounts that dominate every comparison list are mostly closed to companies. N26's free business account is for freelancers trading under their own name, and a GmbH cannot open one at all.

Then there is the claim that a separate business account is legally required for a GmbH. Commerzbank says so on its own website. The statute does not, and knowing the difference is worth money at formation.

This guide compares what every business bank account in Germany actually charges, who can open one as a foreigner, which providers can hold your share capital, and what it really costs to send and receive money internationally from a German business account.

Compare What a Business Payment Actually Costs

Account fees are the small number. Enter a payment you actually make and see what each provider delivers after the fee and the exchange rate.

Then read on for what each account costs, who can open one, and which providers can hold your share capital.

Do You Actually Need a Business Bank Account in Germany?

A GmbH or UG needs its own business bank account in practice, because it is a separate legal person with its own bookkeeping duty and its share capital has to be paid in and evidenced. A freelancer or sole trader is under no such obligation at all, whatever their bank implies.

What the Law Says for a GmbH or UG

The word Geschäftskonto does not appear in the German limited company statute. What section 7(2) GmbHG requires is that a quarter of each share is paid in before registration, and that the total paid in reaches at least half the minimum capital.

Section 8(2) is the interesting one. The court may, where it has serious doubts, demand proof such as payment records from a financial institution or payment service provider established in the European Union. A payment service provider, not only a bank. That single phrase is why Qonto, Holvi and Finom can legitimately handle a capital deposit despite not holding banking licences.

The numbers: a GmbH needs 25,000 euros of share capital under section 5(1), with 12,500 payable to register. A UG under section 5a(2) can start from one euro but must pay its capital in full, and contributions in kind are not allowed.

Freelancers and Sole Traders

There is no equivalent rule. A Freiberufler is not a Kaufmann under section 1 HGB, so the bookkeeping duty in section 238 HGB does not apply, and no statute anywhere requires an Einzelunternehmer to keep business money in a separate account.

What does apply is your bank's terms. Most German personal accounts prohibit business use, so a freelancer running invoices through a private Girokonto risks the account rather than a fine. A cheap business bank account is the practical answer, not a legal one.

Why Banks Tell You It Is Mandatory

Commerzbank's own GmbH page states that a separate business account is legally prescribed for corporations. That is marketing framing rather than law. The reality is narrower: the capital has to be at the managing director's free disposal and evidenced by a payment record, and a company with its own bookkeeping duty will not survive an audit with its money mixed into a founder's private account.

The distinction matters at formation, because it decides whether you must wait for a traditional bank or can use a provider that opens in a day.

The Best Business Bank Accounts in Germany Compared

Every business bank account in Germany below is shown at its published monthly rate in September 2026, excluding VAT where the provider quotes net. Read the free tiers carefully, because free almost always means a capped number of transfers rather than an unlimited account.

The Monthly Price at a Glance

How to Read the Free Tiers

Holvi's Flex plan is free but charges 0.25 euros for every SEPA transfer and direct debit, so a business making eighty payments a month pays twenty euros in transaction fees to avoid a nine euro plan. Kontist's free tier includes five SEPA transactions a month in total, inbound and outbound combined, which most active businesses pass in a week.

Finom's Solo plan is the most generous of the three, giving 2,500 euros of outgoing SEPA volume a month rather than a transfer count, though it comes with a virtual card only. N26 Business is genuinely free with no transfer cap, and genuinely unavailable to companies. It is the best business bank account in Germany for a freelancer and not an option at all for a GmbH.

One name you will still see recommended: Penta no longer exists. Its domain redirects to Qonto.

Free and Low Cost Options: N26, Finom, Holvi and Kontist

These four business bank accounts cover most freelancers and small companies, and they differ more in eligibility than in price. Three of them are payment or e-money institutions rather than banks, which is covered further down and matters for where your money sits.

N26 Business

Business Standard is free, then 4.90 euros for Smart, 9.90 for Go and 16.90 for Metal. Card payments abroad are free in any currency, with two free eurozone ATM withdrawals a month and 1.7 percent outside it.

The catch is who it is for. N26 states that the free business account is intended for self-employed people and freelancers working under their own name, and that you cannot use your company name on the account or the card. A GmbH or UG is out. International transfers are powered by Wise rather than by N26 itself.

Finom

Solo is free, Basic is 8 euros, Smart 19 and Core 38, all excluding VAT. The free SEPA allowance rises with the plan, from 2,500 euros a month on Solo to 50,000 on Core.

International payments cost 5 euros per SWIFT transfer in or out, plus a volume fee of 1 percent on the cheaper plans falling to 0.2 percent on Pro. Finom issues a German IBAN and will open an account for a GmbH or UG in formation, which not every provider does.

Holvi

Flex is free, Lite is 9 euros, Pro 15 and Business 69, net of VAT. Flex gives you a German IBAN and one virtual card but charges 0.25 euros per SEPA transfer, so it suits low volume rather than genuinely free banking.

Holvi is the clearest of any provider on foreign founders: all users must live in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, and you do not need the citizenship of that country. It does not accept US reportable persons under FATCA. Non-SEPA transfers cost 1 euro plus a 1 percent currency fee on the lower plans.

Kontist

Free, 11 euros or 25 euros a month plus VAT, built around automatic tax calculation for the self-employed, which is its real selling point. The free plan includes five SEPA transactions a month, then 0.25 euros each.

Kontist is not a bank. Accounts sit on Solaris SE, which holds a full German banking licence, so the 100,000 euro deposit protection does apply. It requires German residency and German tax liability, so it is not a route in from abroad. Note that Kontist's own site quotes two different prices for extra transactions, 0.25 euros on the pricing page and 0.40 euros elsewhere, so confirm before you rely on it.

Qonto: The Formation Account

Qonto is the provider most often used to get a GmbH or UG through registration, because it opens a capital account online and issues the deposit confirmation the notary needs, usually within a day.

What It Costs

Starter is free, Basic 9 euros, Smart 19 and Premium 39, all excluding VAT. Every tier carries a German IBAN, which sets it apart from Revolut. Included SEPA transfers run from five a month on Starter to a hundred on Smart, with extras at 20 cents.

Currency transfers are priced openly: 0.8 percent with a 5 euro minimum on standard currencies such as dollars, pounds and francs, 1.8 percent on the rest, dropping to 0.56 and 1.56 percent on Premium. Incoming SWIFT payments are free below 500 euros and 5 euros above.

Depositing Share Capital

This is what Qonto is really selling. You pay the Stammkapital in with a single transfer online and receive a deposit confirmation for the notary within 24 hours, with no separate charge for the capital deposit on top of the plan fee.

Formation packages start at 99 euros excluding VAT for a single founder GmbH or UG, rising to 299 euros for multiple founders. The company's registered office has to be in Germany, and corporate shareholders must be registered in one of a listed set of countries, but there is no stated nationality or residence bar on individual founders.

Qonto applied for a banking licence in 2025 and its own imprint still describes it as a payment institution supervised by the French regulator, so treat it as a payment institution until that changes.

Traditional Banks: Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank and the Sparkassen

A traditional business bank account in Germany buys you a branch, cash handling and a name a landlord or a large client will recognise. It costs three to five times what a digital provider charges, and the introductory offers hide how much.

Commerzbank

The KlassikGeschäftskonto is free for twelve months and then 15.90 euros a month. The Premium account is 8.90 euros for twenty four months and then 34.90 euros. Klassik includes ten free electronic bookings a month, then 20 cents each.

Commerzbank will open the account and process the capital payment within 48 hours from digitally submitted notarial documents, which closes most of the speed gap with the fintechs for company formation.

Deutsche Bank

Business Basic is 14.90 euros a month, Classic 24.90 and Premium 39.90, with electronic SEPA bookings at 30, 20 and 10 cents. The Gründerkonto is the Classic account free for the first year, then 24.90 euros.

Deutsche Bank is also the only bank here that publishes its business exchange rate margin, and it is worth knowing before you pick it for international work. That number is in the next section and it is the largest single cost in this guide.

Sparkasse

There is no Sparkasse price. Around 350 independent Sparkassen each set their own, and sparkasse.de simply tells you to ask your local branch. Berliner Sparkasse charges 12.95 euros a month for FirmenKonto pur, 19.95 for komfort and 44.95 for plus, with electronic transfers from 20 to 50 cents each.

Any article quoting one price for a Sparkasse business account is quoting one Sparkasse. The branch network is the reason to choose one, particularly if your business takes cash.

Opening a Business Bank Account in Germany as a Foreigner

Opening a business bank account in Germany as a foreigner is mostly a question of where you live, not what passport you hold. Nationality is rarely the barrier. Residence is. Most providers set a residency condition on the person opening the account and a registered office condition on the company, and the two are assessed separately.

Who Accepts Non-Residents

• Holvi. Users must live in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, with no citizenship requirement. US reportable persons are refused.
• Qonto. The company's registered office must be in Germany. No published nationality or residence bar on individual founders.
• N26 Business. Residence in one of 21 listed European countries, and freelancers only.
• Kontist. German residency and German tax liability required.
• Revolut Business. The business must be registered and physically based in the EEA or the US. Applicants may live in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland.

The practical reading: if you live in Europe you have options, and if you live outside it you will almost certainly need the company registered in Germany first. The same residency wall shows up on the personal side, which is covered in the guide to opening a bank account in Germany as a non-resident.

What You Need

Expect to provide a passport, proof of address, your Handelsregister extract or trade registration, your tax number and the identification of every beneficial owner above 25 percent. Companies in formation submit the notarised articles instead of a register extract.

Verification is by video call at almost every digital provider, which is why a foreign founder can usually complete the process without being in Germany. Traditional banks are more likely to want a branch appointment.

Depositing Share Capital for a GmbH or UG

The capital deposit is the one step where the choice of provider genuinely blocks you. Not every business bank account can receive Stammkapital, and the ones that cannot will not tell you until you have already opened one.

What the Law Actually Requires

As covered above, section 8(2) GmbHG lets the court ask for payment records from an EU financial institution or payment service provider. Nothing requires a German bank, and nothing requires the account to be called a Kapitalkonto.

What the notary needs is documentary proof that the money is in the company's account and at the managing directors' free disposal. How that proof is formatted is the difference between providers.

Which Providers Do It and What They Charge

Holvi is worth a caveat. It provides a downloadable account statement rather than a document it calls a deposit confirmation, and some notaries will want more. Ask yours before you commit.

Wise Business is explicit that the account can only be opened once your UG is fully entered in the Handelsregister, so it is a post formation account, not a formation one.

What It Costs to Pay or Get Paid Internationally

For any business trading outside the eurozone, this line dwarfs the monthly fee. A 25 euro a month business bank account that takes 2 percent on conversions is far more expensive than a 39 euro one that takes 0.5 percent, and almost nobody compares on this basis.

Where the Real Money Goes

Deutsche Bank publishes its business margins, which makes it the honest benchmark: 0.50 percent on the euro against dollars, pounds, francs, yen and the other majors, and 2.00 percent on everything else, a list that includes the Polish zloty, Czech koruna, Turkish lira, Chinese offshore yuan and South African rand. On top of that a third country transfer costs 1.5 per mille with a 10 euro minimum, plus 1.55 euros for the SWIFT message, plus 25 euros if you send it OUR.

Commerzbank publishes no percentage at all for business customers, only a pointer to its own daily rates page. Sparkasse and HypoVereinsbank do the same on the personal side. A margin you cannot see in advance is a cost you cannot budget for, which is the argument the guide to what banks charge for money transfers makes at length.

On a 10,000 euro payment to a supplier in dollars, 0.5 percent is 50 euros and 2 percent is 200 euros. Run that monthly and the difference is 1,800 euros a year, which is more than any account fee in this guide.

Wise Business

9.5

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Fees & Exchange Rates10.0

Transfer Speed9.0

Safety & Trust10.0

Service & Quality9.5

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Wise Business is a 55 euro one off charge with no monthly fee, and it gives you account details in 22 currencies so clients can pay you locally instead of by international transfer. Conversions start at 0.2 percent and are shown as a separate line rather than folded into the rate.

As a live check, a 10,000 euro conversion to dollars quoted a fee of 48.31 euros, which is 0.48 percent, at the mid-market rate with no markup. Against Deutsche Bank's 0.50 percent on the same pair it is close, and against the 2.00 percent band it is a quarter of the price. The mechanics are in the guide to using Wise and the product is scored in the Wise review.

The receiving side is the part freelancers underuse. Local account details in dollars, pounds and the rest mean a client pays you as a domestic payment in their own country, so the correspondent bank charges that eat into a SWIFT transfer never arise. If you invoice abroad, that alone changes what lands in your account.

What Wise Business Cannot Do

It cannot hold your share capital, it cannot be opened before your company is registered, and it is not a bank, so there is no deposit guarantee behind it. The euro IBAN is Belgian rather than German, which is legal across the EU but still causes the occasional argument with a German payer.

It also does not do cash, overdrafts or lending. For most German businesses the sensible shape is a cheap business bank account for domestic life and Wise for anything that crosses a currency.

Compare What a Payment Actually Costs

Put in the amount and the currencies you actually deal in. The comparison shows what each provider delivers after the fee and the exchange rate, which is the only number that matters when you are choosing where to run supplier payments.

Sending in the other direction, the Germany to US corridor page carries live rates, and the mechanics of moving money between institutions are covered in transferring money to an international bank account.

Bank or Payment Institution? Why It Matters

Half the providers in this guide are not banks. That is not a warning in itself, it is a different structure with a different protection, and it is worth knowing which one your business bank account sits in before you keep a float there.

Who Has a Deposit Guarantee

N26 Bank SE, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank and each Sparkasse are licensed German banks with statutory deposit protection to 100,000 euros. Revolut Bank UAB is a Lithuanian bank with Lithuanian deposit insurance to the same limit. Kontist is not a bank but its accounts sit on Solaris SE, which is, so the protection still applies.

Qonto is a French payment institution, Holvi a Finnish one, Finom a Dutch e-money institution, and Wise a Belgian payment institution. None of them carries a deposit guarantee on your balance.

What Safeguarding Means

Instead of insurance, these providers segregate client money at partner banks and hold it in low risk liquid assets. If the provider failed, the money is not part of its estate and should come back to you, but the process is an administration rather than a payout, and it takes time.

Holvi says it in plain terms on its own site: funds on payment accounts are not protected by deposit insurance. Wise says the same, that it is not a bank, does not lend customer money, and is not covered by the Belgian scheme. Both are being straight with you, which is more than a bank saying a business account is legally required.

The practical rule: run the operating balance where the fees are lowest, keep reserves you would miss at a licensed bank.

The Bottom Line

The best business bank account in Germany depends entirely on your legal form. If you are a freelancer trading under your own name, N26 Business is free with no transfer cap and no catch beyond that eligibility rule. Kontist is worth the 11 euros if the automatic tax calculation saves you an accountant's afternoon.

If you are forming a GmbH or UG, Qonto at 9 euros with a free capital deposit and a 24 hour confirmation is the fastest route, and Commerzbank at 48 hours is closer than its reputation suggests if you want an actual bank from day one.

If your business earns or pays in another currency, the account fee is the small number. Deutsche Bank's 2.00 percent band on anything outside the majors will cost you more in a month than a year of any plan in this guide, and that is the comparison worth making before you choose a business bank account in Germany.

Whichever business bank account you land on, the international line is the one to watch. Related reading: the best USD business account in the UK, opening a euro account in the US and how to transfer money between banks.

Business Bank Account in Germany FAQs

Sources

• GmbHG section 7, payment of share capital before registration
• GmbHG section 8, proof accepted from an EU payment service provider
• HGB section 1, who counts as a Kaufmann
• N26 Business pricing
• Qonto pricing
• Qonto share capital deposit
• Holvi pricing
• Finom, accounts for a GmbH or UG in formation
• Kontist pricing
• Deutsche Bank business accounts
• Deutsche Bank, Preis- und Leistungsverzeichnis with business FX margins
• Sparkasse, business account pricing is set per institution
• Wise Business pricing