Qonto Review: Everything You Need to Know

Launching a business can be complicated – I know that from personal experience. There’s a lot more to it than simply finding a great product or service to sell.

For me, one of the biggest challenges has always been keeping on top of my business finances. That’s where Qonto comes in.

This financial technology company, based in France, offers SMEs, freelancers, and startups access to a simple business “banking” experience that packs everything companies might need into a straightforward online solution.

Essentially, Qonto acts as the ultimate alternative to a traditional “bank”, combining cutting-edge technology, security features, and digital-first services.

So, just how valuable is Qonto for SMEs?

I opened up a Basic account for self-employed professionals, and experimented with the features for a month to find out.

Qonto Review: Overview and Key Features

The first thing I should note here is that Qonto is not a bank. It’s a Payment Institution that helps professionals and SMEs save time on financial management, and access the support they need to invest in their company’s growth.

Think of it as a comprehensive business finance management platform, offering everything from dedicated business cards, local IBAN solutions, instant and international transfers, and financing options.

You even get tools for invoice management, budget control, receipt collection and more.

Compared to some other financial and accounting solutions, Qonto is relatively new – but it already has an excellent reputation with a 4.7 out of 5 star score on Trustpilot, and more than 500,000 clients.

Here’s a comprehensive breakdown of what’s included with each Qonto plan.

The Business Account

Let’s start with the heart of Qonto’s offering, the core “business account”.

With Qonto, anyone in a supported country (currently Qonto supports companies in locations throughout Europe), can open an account with a French IBAN in around 10 minutes.

The account comes with access to physical and virtual mastercards, instant and international SEPA transfers, and an online application where you can track transaction histories, and access real-time notifications.

You can cash in checks online, and even request a payment terminal so you can accept payments for your business on the move.

Some of the top features of the business account include:

Business Mastercards

Even though Qonto isn’t technically a bank, it still offers a range of mastercards to choose from, both in physical and virtual formats.

The great thing about the mastercard partnership is that you can rest assured that your cards will be accepted virtually anywhere in the world.

You can block and unblock these cards for security purposes, set up payment limits, and access a range of other features. The three main cards are the:

• One Card: Free to access, with a €20,000 payment limit, €1,000 cash withdrawal limit, and foreign exchange commission of 2%. Each cash withdrawal costs €2.
• Plus Card: Available in virtual or physical format, this card costs €8 per month, has a €40,000 payment limit, and a €2,000 withdrawal limit. The foreign exchange commission is 1% and you get 5 free cash withdrawals per month.
• Metal X Card: This card costs €20 per month, has a €200,000 payment limit, and a €3,000 withdrawal limit, with unlimited free cash withdrawals and free international payments.

All of these cards have different levels of insurance attached to them, and are compatible with Apple and Google Pay. Beyond that, Qonto also offers a host of “instant” cards, virtual cards, fuel cards, and advertising cards for different business needs.

Local and International Payments

As mentioned above, one great thing about Qonto is that it supports “instant” transfers at no extra cost – so you don’t have to worry as much about late payments to suppliers.

You can make immediate transfers whenever you want – with impressive limits of up to €50,000. Plus, you’ll be able to transfer international payments across the full SEPA zone on any device.

Qonto supports international transfers in over 25 countries through local networks and SWIFT. You can also choose from a range of payment methods.

As well as using the wide range of cards Qonto offers, you can also set up SEPA direct debits, take mobile payments via a terminal, and deposit checks.

It’s worth noting that while Qonto’s transfer limits are pretty high, there are certain countries and banking groups that place their own limits on transfers.

You can find out more about the potential limits you’ll need to adhere to on Qonto’s website here.

Business Financing

Need a little extra cash to pay a new supplier or take your company to the next level? No problem.

Qonto makes accessing financing easy and affordable. There’s virtually no red tape to worry about, and no hidden fees.

All you need to do is open an account and apply for the funds you need, and you get an almost immediate response from the team.

You can access buy-now-pay-later options, which allow you to repay your suppliers in 3, 6, or 9 monthly instalments – rather than paying for everything up front.

Alternatively, if you need longer term, higher-sum financing support, you can request funds from Qonto’s partners.

I was particularly impressed by the BNPL options, since they come with access to comprehensive payment tracking features, and support for up to €30,000 in funding – that’s a lot more than you’ll get from some alternative suppliers.

Financing from external partners can extend all the way up to €10 million, although the amount you get does depend on eligibility.

Multi-Account Management

Another thing that makes Qonto pretty incredible for business owners, is the option to set up sub-accounts within your main account.

Each sub account gets its own dedicated IBAN, making it easier to separate expense items, organize team budgets, and handle tax requirements.

You can even use those accounts to set aside funds for things like tax payments, travel expenses, payroll, or supplier payments.

Every account can be connected with its own physical and virtual cards. Plus, you can manage and track everything from your Qonto dashboard.

There are options to allocate budgets, set spending limits, and centralize external accounts to oversee transactions and cash flow details at a glance.

Qonto Financial Tools and Add-Ons

Beyond all the core “business account” features mentioned above, Qonto also gives SMEs a huge range of unique financial tools.

What I really love about these “extras” is that they’re fully integrated into your account management experience, and extremely easy to use. Options include:

Invoice Management

The comprehensive invoice management toolkit makes it easy to ensure you get paid faster with customizable invoices you can track from a central location. You can set your own rules for payments, and automatically process supplier invoices.

Plus, you can track all incoming and outgoing cash in one convenient place. There are even tools that allow you to generate quotes and send them to customers or suppliers in seconds.

Qonto even sends automatic payment reminders on your behalf. This means you can spend less time chasing customers for cash, and you get to avoid more of those awkward “where’s my money” conversations.

Team Expense Management

The team expense management tools are fantastic for maintaining control over employee spending. You can use a centralized dashboard to delegate financial tasks to teams, with multi-layered approval workflows.

There are tools for setting separate budgets for each team members, and you can create customizable card limits and make bulk transfers too.

Plus, with Qonto’s team management tools, it’s easy to integrate your ecosystem with other apps you might be using for payroll and accounting.

I particularly love how easy it is to digitize all of your expenses, so you don’t have to worry as much about tracking information for tax returns.

Accounting and Bookkeeping

While Qonto does integrate with other accounting and bookkeeping tools, it also allows you to access all the core features you need for account management and reconciliation within your mobile or web-based dashboard.

You can track all ingoing and outgoing payments in one space, and even scan paper receipts into your system.

There’s automatic supplier invoice processing for up to 11,000 connected sources, and you can leverage automatic VAT detection too.

That last feature really stands out for me – as it makes it a lot easier for me to keep track of VAT payments without constant calculations.

Qonto can even detect receipts that might be missing from your accounts, so you know what you need to track down before you make any tax returns.

Integrations

Tired of having to navigate and manage financial information across a range of different apps and tools?

Qonto simplifies financial operations by allowing companies to connect all of the tools they already use with their account.

There are more than 15,000 integrations available for accounting and payment tools, banking systems, project management tools, and collaboration apps.

You can even take advantage of connections with Zapier, to create comprehensive automated workflows using webhook integrations.

Plus, there’s a public API if you have a little developer knowledge and want to connect other, external apps.

Qonto Pricing Plans

Overall, Qonto is an incredible impressive solution for finance management – but I do think its pricing structure can be a little difficult to understand.

There are various different fees to consider depending on things like the cards you want to access, and any add-ons you need.

First, you’ll need to choose a monthly plan for your account. Plans are segmented based on the size of your business.

For instance:

Self-Employed Plans

• Basic: €11 per month for 1 One Card, 30 transfers / direct debits per month, 1 account, financing offers, invoice management, invoice centralization, external account syncing, and 14,000+ partner integration options.
• Smart: €23 per month for all the features of Basic, plus 60 transfers/ direct debits per month, 1 sub-account, and accountant access and book-keeping tools.
• Premium: €45 per month for all the features of Smart, plus 100 transfers/ direct debits per month, 4 sub-accounts, and priority support.

Micro Businesses

• Essential: €59 per month: 2 One Card mastercards, 150 transfers/ direct debits per month, 1 account and 4 sub accounts, accountant access, unlimited team members, expense management, bookkeeping tools, account syncing, and 7-days a week support.
• Business: €119 per month: All the features of Essential, plus 10 One card mastercards, 500 transfers /direct debits per month, 9 sub-accounts, and manager roles.
• Enterprise: €249 per month: All the Business features, plus 30 x One card mastercards, 1,000 transfers / direct debits per month, 24 sub-accounts, and a customer success manager.

SMEs

• Business: €119 per month: 10 One Card mastercards, 500 transfers/ direct debits per month, 1 account with 9 sub accounts, manager roles, accountant access, unlimited team members, bookkeeping tools, expense management tools, account syncing, priority support and a customer success manager.
• Enterprise: €249 per month: The features of Business, plus 30 One Card mastercards, 1,000 transfers/ direct debits per month, and 24 sub-accounts.
• Personalized plan: Custom pricing: All the features of Enterprise, plus premium cards, as many transfers and direct debits as you like, unlimited sub-accounts, and access to all collaboration, financial tools, and premium support options.

Company Creators

• Basic: €11 per month (with a €69 one-off deposit fee), 1 One Card mastercard, 1 account, 30 transfers / direct debits per month, invoice creation, account syncing, integrations, financing offers, and invoice centralization.
• Smart: €23 per month (with a €69 one-off deposit fee), all the features of Basic, plus 60 transfers / direct debits per month, accountant access, 1 sub account, bookkeeping tools and 7-days a week support.
• Essential: €59 per month (with a €69 one-off deposit fee), all the features of Smart, plus 2 One Card mastercards, 150 transfers/ direct debits per month, 4 sub accounts, and unlimited team members.

Add-Ons

Beyond all of the plans mentioned above, there are also various add-ons available from Qonto with their own pricing.

For instance, expense and spend management can be added to any plan for €89 per month, You can also access Accounts payable tools for €69 per month, accounts receivable tools for €35 per month, and purchase additional cards individually.

Ease of Use and Customer Support

For me, the only really “confusing” thing about Qonto is its pricing structure.

The platform itself, and the app you get to manage your accounts are incredibly straightforward. Everything is laid out in an intuitive way, making it easy to access transfers, track information, and even create reports.

If you do need extra help, Qonto has a bunch of great self-help resources on its website, as well as offering most account holders 7-days a week support via chat, phone, or email.

Qonto aims to respond to most customers within fifteen minutes – which is impressive – and I found the team to not just prompt – but extremely helpful when answering questions.

Regardless of whether I was reaching out by phone, chat or email, the team was always committed to giving me the best experience possible – even though I only had a Basic account.

The Verdict: Is Qonto Worth It?

Ultimately, it’s hard to find anything to really dislike about Qonto. Although the pricing can seem a little high (depending on the plan you need), it’s worth remembering that you get a lot for your money. You’re not just getting a brilliant solution or making instant and international transfers here.

Qonto offers everything businesses need to manage finances effectively, from invoicing and bookkeeping tools, to accounting systems, and integrations with external apps.

Ultimately, it’s a brilliant all-around solution for businesses (and freelancers) of any size.

Overall, if you’re looking for a straightforward solution for business banking, it’s hard to go wrong with Qonto.

It’s easy to see why the company has earned such a great reputation as one of the top financial technology companies in Europe.