SoloDesk vs. KLARA

With SoloDesk Free — CHF 0. Free from day one, with no expiry. The full working tool: scan documents, upload your bank statements, see your VAT balance, send invoices with reminders in 4 languages, manage everything from your phone. Up to 10 documents per month. For a sole proprietor with a low document volume, Free is the only plan you'll ever need.

Meanwhile at KLARA — CHF 69/month on monthly billing. CHF 828 a year.

At Basic, you get invoicing, bank reconciliation, CRM, and receipt scanning through the myKLARA app. What you do not get — at this tier, at any commitment level — are the features that answer the questions a sole proprietor actually asks every day. No real-time VAT balance on the dashboard. No single-action workflow. No Financial Timeline. No full mobile access.

There is also no free tier. Only a 30-day trial that converts to a paid subscription at the end.

With SoloDesk — you scan on mobile or upload on desktop. SoloDesk reads the full document — not just the total, but every line, every VAT rate, the payment details.

With SoloDesk — you open the app. Everything that needs your attention is in one place — the Resolution Feed. One list, grouped by vendor, one flow.

Monday morning: 12 items waiting. A Swisscom bill, a client payment, a supplier receipt. You tap Confirm on a card. Four things happen at once: the contact is linked, the account is categorized, the bank transaction is matched, the invoice status is updated. Next card. The system learns from every confirmation — and gets quieter over time. Twelve items, four minutes. Done for the day.

The Resolution Feed is available on all tiers, on mobile and desktop — not a reporting screen you check occasionally, but the place where your accounting actually gets done.

Meanwhile at KLARA — there is no equivalent to the Resolution Feed. KLARA's modules — expenses, accounting, banking, contacts — are separate. Each has its own navigation, its own workflow, its own view of the same data. A confirmation in one module changes nothing in another.

With SoloDesk — open the dashboard. Your VAT liability for the current quarter is right there. Updated with every transaction. Not at the end of the quarter. Not after your accountant runs the numbers. Right now.

The effective method works on all tiers, including Free. All three Swiss VAT rates (8.1% / 2.6% / 3.8%). When the quarter ends, your Swiss Federal Tax Administration Form 405 is already pre-filled — you're confirming numbers, not calculating them.

Meanwhile at KLARA: VAT reporting is available on all tiers. But there is no documented real-time VAT balance on the main dashboard. VAT data lives inside the accounting module, alongside journal entries and balance sheets. You navigate there when you need it — it doesn't surface automatically.

The real price of SoloDesk Free: CHF 0. With document recognition (10/month), bank reconciliation, Resolution Feed, Financial Timeline, real-time VAT dashboard, dunning in 4 languages, and full mobile workflow.

The real price of KLARA Basic:

KLARA Basic has three prices: CHF 48/month on a 2-year contract, CHF 55/month on an annual subscription, or CHF 69/month with no commitment — cancel at the end of any month. That is CHF 828 a year. Not a small amount for a sole proprietor — the cost of a scanner, a professional association membership, or two months of office supplies. Paid every year. For a tool that still requires accounting knowledge to use — and does not include the real-time VAT dashboard or single-action workflow.

The 30-day trial converts to paid automatically. No reminder. No opt-in. The first invoice arrives without warning.

With SoloDesk — your data is yours. Standard-format export on all tiers, at any time, at no cost. Cancel when you want, take your data when you leave. No conditions.

With KLARA — monthly plan: Monthly subscribers can cancel at the end of any month — no extended notice period required.

The 30-day trial converts to a paid subscription automatically — no reminder, no opt-in. In practice, a recurring theme in customer reviews is post-cancellation billing: charges for subscription periods or add-ons after a cancellation was submitted. Resolving these disputes typically means navigating email-only support — response times average 3–5 days, with no phone option on the Basic tier.

KLARA General Terms, §7.8: KLARA may suspend data export until outstanding payments are settled. Every invoice, receipt, and bank transaction in your account — inaccessible until the dispute is resolved.

One charges CHF 828/year and expects you to navigate accounting modules. The other starts at CHF 0 and does the accounting while you run your business.