What melancer costs
Nothing today. Melancer is in beta, every feature is open, and no card is asked for. This page exists so you know what happens next before you spend an evening setting up your clients.
Right now: free
Every feature, no limits, no card, no trial clock running. Melancer is in beta and charges nobody.
What it will cost
EUR 9 per month, net
or EUR 90 a year, net - two months free
One plan, everything in it
- No per-client and no per-invoice limit.
- No feature kept behind a higher tier.
- No seats - melancer is built for one freelancer.
- Every export and every integration included.
If more than one person ever shares an account, extra people are EUR 6 per person per month. That is the only thing melancer should ever price by, because it is the only one that costs more to run.
The free half, and the paid half
The light half stays free for good: time tracking, projects and client report links, for one freelancer with up to two active clients, including logging time from your AI assistant or a script. Invoicing, expenses, the tax helpers, the exports and the other integrations are the paid plan. Every new account starts with 30 days of the full plan and no card, so your first invoice is written before you decide.
If you use melancer during the beta, you keep the full plan free for 12 months from the day paying starts, and we write to you before that day comes.
Why it is cheaper
Because it does less, on purpose. Melancer sits between the timers and the accounting suites, and the price says so.
| Accounting suites sevdesk, Lexware Office, FastBill, Papierkram | Bookkeeping first, with time tracking added on | about EUR 10 to 30 a month |
|---|---|---|
| Time trackers Toggl Track, Clockify, Harvest | The timer, done well, and it ends there | about EUR 4 to 11 per user |
| Melancer This one | The hour, the client report, the invoice, the handoff | EUR 9 a month |
Prices as published by each vendor in September 2026, for comparison only. What each tool does well is their business; what melancer does is the list above.
What we promise before anything is charged
- At least 30 days' notice before melancer starts costing money.
- Nothing is ever charged without you agreeing to it first.
- If you do not agree, you keep read access and your export.
- An account whose subscription ends falls back to the free plan. What that does not cover turns read-only, and nothing is ever deleted.
What melancer does not do
Melancer does not do your bookkeeping, your EÜR or your bank reconciliation. It does not file anything with the Finanzamt. It is not a CRM and not a project management tool, it takes no payments, and it is not your tax advisor. It tracks the hour, proves it to your client, bills it correctly, and hands the rest over.
- Bookkeeping and the EÜR
- Bank feeds and reconciliation
- Filing through ELSTER
- A CRM, leads or a pipeline
- Tasks, kanban and Gantt
- Taking your clients' payments
- Payroll and dunning
- Tax advice
Works with what you already have
Every place melancer meets another tool is a place it does not have to grow a feature. That is the plan, not an afterthought - which is also why this list is honest about what is not built yet.
- DATEV export for your tax advisor Available One archive per period, with the invoice PDFs and the receipts.
- Import from Toggl, Harvest and Clockify Available The way in, if you are moving off a timer that stops at the timer: your history comes along, with a preview first.
- Push invoices to Lexware Office On the way Today its users upload the export's PDFs by hand.
- Calendar import On the way Turn a meeting you already booked into a tracked hour.
- A REST API and an MCP server Available Log your hours by telling your AI assistant, and let a script do what melancer never will.
- Webhooks On the way So the integrations melancer never builds can hear about new hours and invoices as they happen.
Questions about paying
What happens to my data if I stop paying?
Nothing goes away. The account falls back to the free plan: time tracking and report links carry on for up to two active clients, and your invoices and expenses turn read-only. You can still read everything, record payments on invoices you already sent and take the full export. Deleting your invoices over an unpaid EUR 9 is not a thing melancer does.
Do I still need my accounting tool on top of this?
Usually yes, and melancer is priced for that. It is meant to sit next to the tool your books already live in, not to replace it, which is why it costs a fraction of one.
Are the prices net or gross?
Net. Melancer is sold to businesses, so prices are shown without VAT.
Is there a per-client or per-invoice limit?
Not on the paid plan. The free plan stops at two active clients, which is what keeps it free. Beyond that there is one plan with everything in it: tiering a product that has one kind of user is a tax on the user and on the code.
Is there a trial?
Every new account gets 30 days of the full plan, with no card. Afterwards it carries on free, or you subscribe. Nothing is charged unless you subscribe yourself.
Who takes the payment?
Paddle, on its own checkout page. Paddle sells the plan as the merchant of record, adds VAT where it applies and sends you the invoice. Melancer never sees your card.