DeWaWi

DeWaWi is a small German Inventory Management (inventory and commercial workflow) program targeting very small DACH businesses — typically below 10 users — that need lean commercial workflow and basic inventory management tightly integrated with DATEV-anchored accounting. The product positioning is the simplest end of the German Inventory Management market: less feature-broad than Lexware Inventory Management or microtech, less cloud-native than weclapp or myfactory, but operationally lean and economically attractive for very small businesses with straightforward requirements. The vendor footprint is concentrated in Germany with limited international presence. The product's value proposition centres on DATEV-integration depth and a simple Windows-application user experience that very small businesses can operate without IT support.

Architecture and deployment

DeWaWi is delivered as an on-premises Windows application against a local relational-database backend, with optional terminal-server access for multi-user setups beyond a single PC. The architecture is the classical very-small-business pattern: a desktop application that runs on the office PC, the user works directly with it, and data lives in a local database file or small server. Cloud SaaS is not the deployment model — customers who need remote access typically use Windows-remote-desktop or partner-managed hosted-desktop. Customisation is limited to configuration options; there is no plugin-or-extension framework comparable with the larger SMB ERPs. The product is deliberately simple, which is both its competitive strength and its operational constraint.

Functional scope

Functional scope covers very small business commercial-and-inventory workflows: customer and supplier master data, quotation creation, order processing, invoicing with the standard DACH document templates (quotation, order confirmation, delivery note, invoice, credit note), basic inventory tracking, simple article catalogues, supplier purchasing and reporting. Financial accounting is delegated to DATEV integration with the customer's tax adviser as the standard DACH pattern. CRM-light pipeline tracking exists at minimal depth. Manufacturing, project management, multi-warehouse logistics, EDI integration and advanced reporting are outside the scope. The product is deliberately positioned for buyers that want a focused tool covering the basic Inventory Management workflow rather than a platform that competes with broader SMB-ERP products.

DACH localisation and DATEV

DATEV integration is the core competitive differentiator. DeWaWi exports bookings, customer-and-supplier master data and invoice-document linkage to DATEV in the standard formats, with mature handling of the DATEV-typical SKR03 and SKR04 chart-of-accounts conventions and cost-centre patterns. GoBD compliance for digital bookkeeping is built in through immutable-document workflows and audit-trail capability. ZUGFeRD and XRechnung outbound invoicing are supported to address the e-invoicing obligations that affect even small businesses serving B2B and public-sector customers. The Austrian and Swiss localisations are functional but minimal — the customer concentration is firmly in Germany. International rollouts beyond DACH are not the product's positioning.

Pricing model and TCO

DeWaWi is priced at the very-small-business segment with licence costs in the very-low-three-figure annual range for a single-user installation, scaling modestly for multi-user setups. Total cost of ownership for a 1 to 5 user deployment over five years stays comfortably in the low four-figure range, including any modest partner-supplied configuration services. Implementation is fast — many customers go live within days because the product covers the basic Inventory Management workflow without configuration complexity. The economic case is straightforward: DeWaWi is one of the most affordable DACH Inventory Management tools, with the trade-off being narrower functional scope and a smaller vendor footprint compared with Lexware or microtech.

Selection considerations

DeWaWi is a reasonable fit for very small DACH businesses (typically below 10 users) that need basic commercial-and-inventory functionality tightly integrated with DATEV-anchored accounting at the lowest possible cost. It is less compelling for organisations needing cloud-native SaaS delivery (myfactory, weclapp fit better), for any kind of manufacturing depth, for businesses above 10 users where the upgrade path to a more capable SMB ERP becomes the better investment, for buyers needing wider integration ecosystem and partner support (Lexware Inventory Management or microtech provide more) or for any international rollout requirement. The smaller vendor footprint means buyers should validate long-term product roadmap and the specific DATEV-integration depth for their particular bookkeeping setup.

Related Topics

• Lexware Inventory Management
• microtech
• ERP for small business

Fazit

DEWAWI ist eine attraktive Open-Source-Inventory Management für Gründer, Freelancer und kleine Unternehmen, die ein einfaches, lizenzkostenfreies und flexibel betreibbares System suchen. Mit dem Cloud-Angebot wird die Hürde zur professionellen Nutzung niedrig gehalten, während Self-Hosting maximale Kontrolle ermöglicht. Für mittlere und größere Mittelständler oder international aufgestellte Unternehmen sind klassische Standard-ERPs zielführender. In der Einsteigerklasse zählt DEWAWI jedoch zu den interessanten Solutions für Handel und Service providers mit überschaubarem Anspruchsniveau – und ist dabei eine der wenigen ernstzunehmenden Open-Source-Alternativen mit deutscher Lokalisierung und deutschem Support.

Vendor homepage of DEWAWI

Current view of the website https://www.dewawi.com/