Lexware Inventory Management and myfactory both serve small and mid-sized German operations, but they sit in different segments of that market. Lexware Inventory Management — part of the Haufe Group's Lexware family — is an entry-level inventory and order-management product aimed at organisations of one to roughly fifteen employees who want a simple trade workflow tied to the wider Lexware suite (lexoffice, Lexware Accountant, Lexware Faktura). myfactory is a cloud-native German SMB ERP with substantially broader scope, suited to Mid-Market operations of twenty-five up to roughly two hundred users. Both products are German-built, both carry GoBD compliance and a DATEV interface, and both serve organisations that need to file tax returns under Steuerberater supervision — but they are not direct substitutes. This comparison covers where each is genuinely strong, where the practical limits sit, and how a German Mid-Market buyer should read a head-to-head proposal.
Overall positioning
Lexware Inventory Management: the inventory-and-trade module of the Lexware product family from Haufe-Lexware GmbH & Co. KG in Freiburg. Targets very small German trade operations — typically one to fifteen employees — with a focus on tight integration with Lexware Accountant, lexoffice and Lexware Faktura. Tens of thousands of small German businesses use the broader Lexware suite; the Inventory Management component is the natural inventory layer for those customers. myfactory: a cloud-native German SMB ERP from myfactory International GmbH in Munich, in market since the early 2000s. Targets the German Mid-Market (the broad mid-market segment that runs from roughly twenty-five to two hundred employees and which sits between micro-business and the large-enterprise SAP segment), with industry-specific scope for trade, light manufacturing, services and e-commerce. Where they differ in mindset: Lexware is a desktop-leaning small-business tool that has grown a cloud delivery; myfactory was conceived as a browser-based ERP from the start. A one-person German trader picks Lexware; a forty-person German distributor with multi-warehouse needs picks myfactory.
Functional comparison
The functional gap is wider than the segment overlap suggests. Lexware Inventory Management covers basic articles and warehouse, purchasing, sales, invoicing, simple multi-warehouse and a DATEV export — enough for a small trade operation but with limited depth in production, controlling and CRM. Manufacturing is essentially absent; multi-level bills of materials require add-ons. The financial-accounting capability sits in adjacent Lexware products rather than inside Inventory Management itself. myfactory is a much broader ERP: native financial accounting compliant with German rules, multi-warehouse logistics with stock movements and serial/batch numbers, light manufacturing including BOMs and MRP-style disposition, integrated CRM, multi-channel e-commerce connectors (Shopware, Shopify, Magento) and an open REST API. Both products handle the German e-invoicing standards ZUGFeRD and XRechnung, both carry GoBD certification, and both ship a DATEV interface — so for Steuerberater-driven tax processes either is acceptable. The functional gulf opens up around production, controlling, CRM and integration depth, where myfactory is clearly the more complete ERP and Lexware is best understood as inventory management rather than full ERP.
Architecture and deployment
Lexware Inventory Management architecture: a Windows desktop application extended with Lexware Cloud delivery and browser components. Most installations still run on a fat client with a local or small-network database. Subscription pricing starts around twenty-seven euro per user per month for the entry edition. Customisation is shallow by design. myfactory architecture: a genuinely browser-based ERP. The default delivery is multi-tenant cloud hosted in German data centres; private-cloud and partner-hosted options exist for customers with policy reasons to avoid multi-tenant. Pricing starts around forty-nine euro per user per month for the Mid-Market cloud edition. Extensibility is via a documented REST API and a structured customisation framework. Cloud posture: myfactory is the clearer cloud-native product; Lexware Inventory Management is essentially a desktop product with cloud delivery as a wrapper. Organisations on a remote-work / browser-only IT model fit myfactory; organisations comfortable with a Windows client per desk fit Lexware.
Selection considerations
Choose Lexware Inventory Management if: you operate a German micro or very small business (one to fifteen employees), your trade workflow is simple, you already use lexoffice or Lexware Accountant and want a clean handover into your Steuerberater's DATEV environment. Implementation is self-service or a one-to-two-day setup. Choose myfactory if: you are a German Mid-Market operation of twenty-five to two hundred users, you need a genuine multi-user ERP across financials, logistics, production and CRM, you want a cloud-native delivery, and you are willing to invest in a three-to-nine-month implementation project. Cost framing: Lexware is the cheaper sticker, but the products are not substitutes — a Mid-Market operation that picks Lexware to save licence cost will outgrow it within twelve to twenty-four months. Partner network: myfactory's partner network includes DACH implementation specialists for trade and light manufacturing; Lexware's "partner" concept is closer to a reseller-and-Steuerberater channel. The right answer depends on headcount and operational complexity, not on product quality.
What are the main differences between the two systems?
The key differences in architecture, industry fit, customization depth and licensing model are compared in the main section of this page. The exact configuration depends on the industry, company size class and customization depth of the specific ERP setup. A well-founded answer always requires a look at the individual business processes and the strategic IT roadmap.
Which system is better suited for the mid-market?
Mid-market suitability differs by company size (SMEs with 50 employees, classic mid-market with 250 employees, upper mid-market with 1,000+). Suitability per size class is presented in the main section — see also ERP for the mid-market. The exact configuration depends on the industry, company size class and customization depth of the specific ERP setup.
How long does a migration between the two systems take?
ERP migrations typically take 6–18 months. With significantly different data models, it can take longer. Read more under ERP implementation.
What do existing customers say about the two systems?
The Trovarit ERP study and vendor references provide qualitative data. You will find our own reviews on the vendor pages above. The exact configuration depends on the industry, company size class and customization depth of the specific ERP setup.
What customization options do the two systems offer?
Customization depth varies greatly — cloud solutions are usually more restricted, while on-premise systems can often be fully adapted at source-code level. See the main comparison section for details. The exact configuration depends on the industry, company size class and customization depth of the specific ERP setup.
