A Magic Heidi alternative that tells you what to set aside
Magic Heidi is a Swiss invoicing and expense app with five native apps and a free plan capped at three invoices and three expenses. SoloLedger is a simple accounting app for Swiss solopreneurs and small companies: the same single-entry job for CHF 200 a year, plus a set-aside panel and a Treuhänder export pack.
Below: what Magic Heidi costs, where the two tools genuinely tie, what SoloLedger adds, and — honestly — when Magic Heidi is the better buy.
Full disclosure: SoloLedger is our own product. Every line about a competitor is limited to what their public pages actually stated when we checked, and further down we say plainly where SoloLedger is the wrong tool for you.
See all six Swiss accounting tools comparedWhat it costs, at list price
From Magic Heidi's own pricing page, checked on 31 July 2026.
| Plan | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Magic Heidi free plan (3 invoices, 3 expenses) | CHF 0 | CHF 0 |
| Magic Heidi Pro, billed annually | CHF 25 | CHF 299 |
| Magic Heidi Pro, billed monthly | CHF 39 | CHF 468 |
| SoloLedger standard | CHF 20 | CHF 200 |
| SoloLedger early bird (first 100 subscribers) | CHF 10 | CHF 100 |
Magic Heidi's prices and features checked on magicheidi.ch on 31 July 2026. Vendors change their pricing — confirm on their site before you subscribe.
The row where the two are not the same
Magic Heidi and SoloLedger overlap more than either overlaps with bexio: single-entry books, no payroll, bank statements by CSV, AI receipt scanning. The difference shows up after the invoice is paid. Magic Heidi publishes a profits and estimated-tax calculator but does not document the method behind it. SoloLedger models the specific thing that catches Swiss self-employed people out — the gap between the provisional AVS instalments you pay now and the definitive settlement that lands about two years later.
Magic Heidi Pro: CHF 299 a year — about 1.5× SoloLedger's CHF 200. Both keep single-entry books; what differs is what happens once the invoice is paid.
Feature by feature
SoloLedger against Magic Heidi Pro. Only the rows we could verify on Magic Heidi's public pages on 31 July 2026 — including the ones where they win.
| Feature | SoloLedger | Magic Heidi Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price per year (list) | CHF 200 (CHF 100 early bird) | CHF 299 · free plan capped at 3 invoices and 3 expenses |
| Bank connection | Bank CSV import with automatic matching — no live sync | CSV import with payment matching for UBS, PostFinance, ZKB, Raiffeisen, Migros Bank, neon and Yuh — no live sync |
| Receipt scanning | Gemini OCR, no per-scan quota | AI receipt scanning on the free plan, advanced scanning on Pro |
| Apps | Web app that works in a mobile browser | Five native apps |
| Double-entry bookkeeping | No — single-entry, for the simple regime | No |
| Treuhänder export | Treuhänder pack: tax XLSX, CSVs and a checklist in one ZIP | No Treuhänder export module found |
| Owner tax provisioning | Safe to spend and an AVS reality check — models the gap between your provisional instalments and the definitive settlement | A profits and estimated-tax calculator; the method behind it is not documented publicly |
What SoloLedger adds
The two tools invoice and log expenses much the same way. This is the rest.
Your ledger lives in your own Google Sheets and your receipts in your own Drive. Cancel the subscription and the books are still yours, in a file you can open.
Safe to spend, plus an AVS reality check: what your instalments assume, what your paid invoices imply, and what to park each month so the definitive settlement is already covered.
A Treuhänder export pack — tax XLSX, CSVs and a checklist in one ZIP — and a full XLSX export whenever you want it.
Canton-aware estimates for all 26 cantons, a VAT method comparison and a year-end optimisation checklist.
When you should choose Magic Heidi
They beat us on real things. Here they are.
- You invoice a handful of clients a year. Magic Heidi's free plan covers three invoices and three expenses; SoloLedger has a 7-day trial and no permanent free tier.
- You want genuinely native apps. Magic Heidi ships five; SoloLedger is a web app you can install to your home screen, which is not the same thing.
- You would rather not use a Google account. SoloLedger keeps your ledger in your own Google Sheets — that is the point of the product, but it does mean a Google account is required.
- You only need to invoice and log expenses, and you already know what to set aside. Then the rest of SoloLedger is surface you will never open.
The honest limits of SoloLedger
Worth knowing before you switch, whichever tool you end up with.
- No double-entry bookkeeping — a single-entry ledger, for businesses in the simple sub-CHF-500'000 regime. Magic Heidi has the same limit.
- No payroll. If you employ anyone, neither tool is enough.
- Bank data arrives as a CSV import with automatic matching, not as a live bank connection — the same model Magic Heidi uses.
- A Google account is required, it is a web app rather than a native one, and there is a 7-day trial rather than a free plan.
Magic Heidi alternative — frequently asked questions
Is SoloLedger cheaper than Magic Heidi?
At list price, yes: CHF 299 a year for Magic Heidi Pro against CHF 200 for SoloLedger, or CHF 100 for the first 100 subscribers. Billed monthly, Magic Heidi Pro is CHF 39 a month. Magic Heidi also keeps a free plan — three invoices and three expenses — and SoloLedger does not.
Does Magic Heidi connect to my bank?
Not live. It imports statements for UBS, PostFinance, ZKB, Raiffeisen, Migros Bank, neon and Yuh and matches payments against your invoices. SoloLedger works the same way, from a CSV you export. Neither tool holds a direct connection to your bank.
Magic Heidi already has a tax calculator. Why would I switch?
Because they answer different questions. Magic Heidi publishes a profits and estimated-tax calculator without documenting the method behind it. SoloLedger models the provisional-versus-definitive AVS gap explicitly: what your instalments assume, what your paid invoices imply, and what to park each month. Instalments more than 25% below the definitive contributions attract 5% retroactive interest (Art. 41bis AHVV).
Can my Treuhänder work with SoloLedger?
Yes. There is an export pack with a tax XLSX, CSVs and a checklist in one ZIP, plus a full XLSX export at any time. We found no equivalent module on Magic Heidi's public pages.
Does either of them do double-entry bookkeeping or payroll?
Neither does. Both keep single-entry books, which is what the Swiss rules expect below CHF 500'000 of revenue, and neither runs payroll. If you need either, look at bexio, KLARA or Banana instead.
Try it for a week before you switch
7-day free trial, no card required. Keep Magic Heidi running while you test — if SoloLedger does not cover what you need, you have lost nothing.