Gekko
A Dutch and EU freelancer ledger: invoices, receipts, hours, and VAT. No US edition. Most US shops should pick something else.
Best for
Dutch, Belgian, and other EU freelancers who want a free invoice-receipt-hours file, and who will upgrade to Premium for the PSD2 bank feed and a VAT report they copy to the tax office.
Not ideal if
A US shop whose CPA will only open QuickBooks, who needs 1099s or US payroll, or who banks at a US bank with no EU PSD2 feed.
Standout
A truly free Basic ledger (unlimited invoices, receipt scan, hours, trips, P&L) with a €12 Netherlands Premium that adds the bank feed and the VAT report.
About Gekko
Gekko is the ledger for Dutch and other EU freelancers (zzp). You send invoices, photograph receipts in the Costs app, and log hours and trips. On Premium you connect a bank through PSD2 and match the lines to invoices and costs. Those posts are the books. Profit and loss is on every plan. The yearly financial statement and the VAT report you copy into the Belastingdienst portal are Premium.
It replaces QuickBooks Online and Xero. It does not sit on those files. There is no US edition, no 1099s, and no US payroll. Bank feeds are EU PSD2. The live pricing table still names Tink; 2025–2026 product updates name EnableNow and Wise. Wave and Kick are the US replacement ledgers in this directory. FreeAgent and KashFlow are the UK HMRC ledgers. Gekko's job is a cheap Dutch invoice-and-VAT file with hours and mileage in the same login.
People who stick are usually Dutch or Belgian zzp'ers, and some Spanish autónomos, who want invoices, receipts, and hours without a monthly fee. They stay for free Basic books and a €12 Premium bank-and-VAT upgrade. US owners who land here should treat it as the wrong country, not a cheaper QuickBooks.
What people who used it say
What they tend to like
Free Basic actually covers invoices and receipts
Official why-free page: Basic is not a timed trial. App Store: send an invoice, scan receipts, and the bookkeeper is happy.
Local fiscalists recommend it to zzp peers
r/werkzaken: a poster said nearby zzp'ers and a fiscalist were positive about getgekko, next to Moneybird and MoneyMonk mentions.
VAT and the bank live in the same cheap file
Premium calculates the quarterly VAT report; you file it on the Belastingdienst portal. Bank match is a 1-month trial on Basic, unlimited on Premium.
What they hesitate about
The mobile app lags the web file
App Store, 2026: invoice-send crashes; archived projects still appear; no project search; text editing differs from web.
VAT is a report, not a filing button
Official 5-step help: calculate in Gekko, then submit on the Belastingdienst ondernemersportaal. Not MTD. Not IRS e-file.
US tax work is not the product
Wiki and tax tools are Dutch/Belgian VAT, KOR, KvK, and inkomstenbelasting. No 1099, no US payroll, no QuickBooks sync on pages opened.
How it hits your books
- Replaces your ledger
- Yes
- QuickBooks Online
- No
- Xero
- No
- Multi-entity
- Partial
- Inventory
- No
- 1099s
- No
- Payroll
- No
Close is you: match the PSD2 feed (or type costs), attach receipts, then run P&L on any plan. Premium adds cash flow, the VAT report, investments, and the yearly financial statement. You still file VAT and income tax outside Gekko. Nothing writes back to QuickBooks.
Invite the accountant on the free branded portal, or download a ZIP of the administration and an Excel financial statement (Premium). Gekko does not e-file a US return or 1099s. Dutch VAT is calculated here and submitted on the Belastingdienst portal.
Images
Features
Send invoices and collect with Mollie
Create quotes and invoices on the web or in the invoicing app, including UBL e-invoices on Basic. Premium unlocks custom layouts, recurring invoices, foreign currency, standard products, extra attachments, and WooCommerce sales. Payment links run through Mollie (iDEAL €0.32 per successful payment). The live NL table charges Basic 50 cents extra per payment-link transaction and caps quotes at 3. Premium is unlimited. Contactless collection uses the Mollie Tap app.
Photograph receipts, or forward them on Premium
Snap a receipt in the Costs app. Amount, VAT, and date are read into a cost you can match to a bank line. Basic includes mobile scan. Premium adds OCR, custom cost types, email forward to [email protected], batch upload (25 files, 5 MB each), and treating a cost as an investment. SmartScan via email and bulk upload shipped in June 2026.
Log hours, projects, and trips
Start a timer or type hours, then pull them onto an invoice. Basic includes hours and GPS trips on the mobile apps. Premium adds Google Calendar and Apple Calendar import, an hours report attached to the invoice, automatic kilometre calculation, address autocomplete, and more than one car.
Connect an EU bank on Premium
PSD2 bank connection imports transactions and lets you match them to invoices and costs. Consent must be renewed (help: every 180 days). Basic gets a 1-month trial and one company profile. Premium is unlimited, and can connect more than one bank. The pricing table still lists Tink. Product updates add EnableNow (July 2025) and Wise (February 2026). US banks and Plaid are not named.
Calculate Dutch VAT, then file it yourself
Premium builds the quarterly VAT report from invoices and costs, including reverse-charged EU / non-EU split (April 2026 redesign). You copy the figures into the Belastingdienst ondernemersportaal. Gekko does not submit the return. Yearly financial statements (balance sheet, P&L, withdrawals) download as Excel on Premium. Income-tax filing is still your return, or a booked IB appointment, not e-file from Gekko.
Accountant portal and extra companies on Premium
Firms get a free branded accountants portal: client books, VAT reports, hours, trips, and a bank tab. Premium can hold unlimited company profiles (holding plus operating company). Basic is one profile and one user; December 2025 updates removed profile switching on Basic. Extra seats are +€6 per team member on the live NL table.
Pricing
A US shop should not pick this to save money versus Wave or Kick; there is no US list. A Dutch sole trader can run invoices, receipts, and hours on Basic at €0. The live Netherlands Premium list is €12/month excl. VAT (support, 17 Jun 2024, and the 12 Sep 2026 pricing table). Extra seats are +€6 excl. VAT on that table (August 2025 changelog; older support still says €5). A 5-person shop is about €12 + 4×€6 = €36/month excl. VAT, plus Mollie iDEAL at €0.32 per paid invoice (€0.50 extra on Basic payment links). Annual billing is a one-year contract at 15% off; the page does not print the yearly euro total. Belgium and Spain have their own list (not fetched this pass). Country price differences come from local bank-connection costs.
Gekko Basic
Dutch or EU freelancers who will invoice, snap receipts, and log hours without a bank feed or VAT report.
- Unlimited invoices and UBL e-invoices; up to 3 quotations
- Receipt scan, hours, and trips on the mobile apps
- Profit and loss; 1 company profile; 1 user
- Bank connection: 1-month trial
- Payment links: 50 cents extra per transaction on the NL table
- 3 document uploads; 3 downloads/day with a 5-minute queue
Gekko Premium
ZZP and small EU shops that want the PSD2 bank feed, VAT report, OCR, and more than one user or company. 15% off if you pay a year.
- Unlimited bank connection (Tink on the table; EnableNow and Wise in updates)
- Automatic VAT report, cash flow, customer insight, yearly financial statements
- OCR, email receipt forward, custom cost types, investments and write-offs
- Recurring invoices, foreign currency, custom invoice design, WooCommerce, KvK lookup
- Unlimited quotations and payment links (no 50-cent Gekko add-on)
- Unlimited company profiles; extra seats +€6 each; unlimited downloads
Integrations
Platforms
Audience
Pick something else instead of Gekko
QuickBooks Online
Stay in QuickBooks Online if you are a US shop, your CPA will only open that file, you need 1099s, US payroll, inventory, or classes. Gekko replaces the file; it does not sit next to it.
Wave
Pick Wave instead if you want a free US cash ledger with invoices and receipts, without moving to a Dutch VAT file.
Kick
Pick Kick instead if you want a US replacement ledger that categorises bank and processor feeds and hands your CPA a year-end package, without an EU tax engine.
FreeAgent
Pick FreeAgent instead if you need a UK HMRC ledger (MTD VAT, Self Assessment). Gekko is Dutch/EU Belastingdienst, not HMRC.