Evoliz vs Sellsy vs Axonaut: which sales management tool for a small French business in 2026?

A small French services or trading business that still writes quotes in Word, chases late payers by hand and tracks cash in a spreadsheet reaches a tipping point in autumn 2026. Since 1 September 2026, it must be able to receive electronic invoices through an approved platform (plateforme agréée, or PA, ex-PDP), and it will have to issue them no later than 1 September 2027. This is often when the owner compares three names that come up everywhere: Evoliz, Sellsy and Axonaut. This comparison, written with no affiliation to any of these vendors, sets them side by side on what matters to a small company (a TPE, the French term for businesses with fewer than 10 staff): real scope, annual cost, the link with the chartered accountant (expert-comptable) and e-invoicing status as at 26 September 2026.

Quick answer. As at 26 September 2026, all three tools are ready for the reform: Axonaut and TeamSystem Sellsy appear themselves on the official list of approved platforms, while Evoliz relies on the approved platform Chaintrust by Visma, included in the subscription. Evoliz (EUR 29 to 49 excl. VAT per month) targets invoicing and purchases on a tight budget, Sellsy (per-user pricing, EUR 39 excl. VAT and up at annual list price) the management of a sales team, Axonaut (EUR 69.99 excl. VAT per month with no commitment) the all-in-one suite.

This article compares three named sales management suites. If you are looking for a pure CRM for a sales team, our HubSpot vs Pipedrive comparison is a better fit; if you are a tradesperson looking for simple quoting software, read our guide to choosing quote and invoicing software for tradespeople instead. Liberal professions will find a dedicated checklist in our article on invoicing software for liberal professions.

Evoliz, Sellsy and Axonaut all cover quotes, invoices and connection to an approved platform, but they are not built around the same need. The table below summarises the prices published on the vendors' websites on 26 September 2026 and the status checked against the official list kept by the French tax authority (DGFiP). Prices exclude VAT and options.

Two words of caution. First, until 30 September 2026 Sellsy displayed a "Reform Offer" discounting the first year (for example EUR 29 instead of 39 for Invoicing Standard paid annually): that promotional price should not be used to budget over three years. Second, Axonaut's pricing page states both EUR 69.99 per month with no commitment and, in its FAQ, EUR 97 per month including one user: ask for a written quote before signing.

Our view#

None of the three is "the best". The right choice depends on a question many owners never ask: where is your bottleneck? If it is prospecting and converting quotes, Sellsy is built for that. If it is purchase entry, collections and cash for a business with one to three users, Evoliz covers the essentials at the lowest cost. If you want a single tool for everything, including HR and ticketing features, Axonaut cuts the number of subscriptions, at the price of heavier dependence on one vendor.

Invoicing software produces compliant invoices and tracks their payment; sales management software covers the whole chain before and after: prospect, opportunity, quote, purchase order, delivery note, invoice, reminder, then bank reconciliation. For a trading business, sales management also includes stock and supplier purchases.

This distinction explains the price gaps. Evoliz starts from invoicing and extends to purchases and cash. Sellsy starts from CRM and extends to invoicing, with paid modules for cash and marketing. Axonaut bundles everything into a single subscription. Comparing headline prices without comparing scope is like comparing a van, a saloon and a minibus.

The underestimated risk#

The most common trap is not choosing a tool that is too basic, but one that is too rich and only half set up. A CRM whose sales stages are never updated produces false dashboards, and a badly initialised stock module distorts year-end inventory valuation. For a small business, a narrower scope kept up to date every week is worth more.

Yes. As at 26 September 2026, all three tools let you receive and issue electronic invoices through an approved platform. The difference lies in the set-up: Axonaut and TeamSystem Sellsy are themselves registered as approved platforms, while Evoliz is a solution connected to an approved platform in the same group, Chaintrust by Visma, included in the subscription.

We checked these statuses against the official list published on impots.gouv.fr (page updated on 22 September 2026), which lists operators meeting all conditions, interoperability tests included. All three names appear with the date their registration number was issued: Chaintrust by Visma on 18 December 2025, TeamSystem Sellsy on 24 December 2025, Axonaut on 8 January 2026.

For your business, this set-up changes little day to day, provided you check three points:

1. Your directory entry. The approved platform updates the national directory of invoice recipients for its clients. Check that your SIREN (the French company identification number) is linked to your tool's platform, otherwise your suppliers will not know where to send their invoices.
2. Receipt of supplier invoices. Since 1 September 2026, your purchase invoices arrive through the platform. Make sure they feed the purchases module of the chosen tool, not just an inbox.
3. Reversibility. You remain free to change approved platform. Ask how exit works: export of invoices, statuses and history.

For the overall framework, see our article on the obligation to receive e-invoices from 1 September 2026 and our method for choosing an approved platform.

Points to watch#

• E-reporting. Sales to private individuals and international transactions do not give rise to an e-invoice but to a data transmission (e-reporting), together with payment data. For SMEs and small businesses, the obligation starts on 1 September 2027, like issuance. If you sell to both businesses and consumers, test this flow before signing.
• Formats. The core standard provides for three formats: Factur-X (a readable PDF with embedded structured data), UBL and CII. A PDF sent by email is not an electronic invoice. All three tools handle conversion through their platform, but an in-house connector or an upstream trading ERP may cause problems.
• New mandatory details. The customer's SIREN, the category of transaction (goods, services or both), the delivery address if different and the option to pay VAT on debits (an elective French VAT regime) must be set up in customer and item records. This is a data clean-up task, not a software option.

Evoliz suits a small business with one to three users that wants to invoice, process purchases and monitor cash on a limited budget; Sellsy suits a small business or SME with at least two people dedicated to sales that needs pipelines, sales follow-ups and performance tracking. The deciding criterion is the weight of selling in your business.

Evoliz makes sense for:

• a consulting or services agency with regular invoice volumes and little structured prospecting;
• a retailer or wholesaler wanting purchase orders, delivery notes and simplified stock management (Avancée plan);
• a business that wants its accountant to have direct access to the journals and an FEC-format export.

Sellsy makes sense for:

• a B2B services company with a sales cycle of several weeks, where tracking opportunities drives revenue;
• a team that sends many quotes and wants to know which ones have been read and signed;
• an SME planning to grow that wants a tool supporting several salespeople, with differentiated access rights.

Conversely, Sellsy becomes expensive for a business where only the owner sells: per-user pricing and the two-licence minimum on the Sales and Invoicing offer add up quickly. And Evoliz reaches its limits as soon as prospecting needs to be managed in detail.

Yes. Axonaut includes a CRM (unlimited contacts, opportunities, sales actions, marketing) in the same subscription as invoicing, stock, expenses, cash, bookkeeping and HR and ticketing features. Its CRM is less specialised than Sellsy's, but sufficient for a small business that wants to follow its prospects without multiplying subscriptions.

Axonaut's appeal is cost clarity: one monthly price per company plus a per-user supplement, with no add-on module for the main features according to the vendor. The flip side is dependence: if you ever want to change CRM or invoicing tool, the whole suite has to be migrated. The built-in bookkeeping module does not replace bookkeeping and review by your accountant either: treat it as pre-accounting to be exported cleanly.

Trade-off: all-in-one suite or specialised tools#

Both approaches are legitimate. The all-in-one suite (Axonaut) reduces re-keying and fragile connectors, which suits a small business with nobody dedicated to IT. Specialised tools (Sellsy for sales, Evoliz for invoicing, accounting software on the firm's side) offer more depth on each function and better reversibility. Our rule of thumb: below five users and without complex stock logic, the suite makes life easier; beyond that, or as soon as selling becomes a job in its own right, specialised tools regain the edge.

The real cost of a sales management tool is calculated over a year and on the actual number of users, options included, not on the monthly headline price. For the same small business, the gap between the three tools can range from one to three times depending on the number of licences and added modules.

Illustrative example (list prices published on 26 September 2026, excluding promotions and excluding e-signature, registered mail or online payment options): a four-person services company, two of whom sell, with four user accounts.

This calculation is not a ranking: it shows that the question "how many accounts do we really need?" matters more than the choice of vendor. A technician who only checks their jobs does not necessarily need a full licence. To factor in extra fees, tiers and migration costs, use our analysis of the total cost of software and hidden licence fees.

In practice#

Before signing, ask each vendor for a written quote stating: the number of licences, the commitment period, the price after the first year, included quotas (e-signatures, documents processed by OCR, synced bank accounts) and the exit cost. Reform-related promotions are plentiful in September 2026; only the second-year price allows an honest comparison.

The software that best links invoicing and accounting is the one that produces, without rework, entries your accountant can use: a consistent chart of accounts, sales, purchase and bank journals, and an export in FEC format (the French standard audit file) or a native connector to the firm's production software. All three solutions claim these features; real quality depends mostly on the initial set-up.

What we look at first, on the firm's side:

• Revenue and VAT account set-up by item and customer type (France, European Union, export). An error here repeats on every invoice.
• Payment matching. A bank reconciliation done in the sales tool should flow into the accounts without being redone.
• Credit notes and deposits. These are the transactions that most often break the match between sales revenue and accounting revenue.
• Numbering. Continuous, chronological invoice numbering is mandatory; it must survive a migration.
• Firm access. Evoliz and Sellsy include accountant access; for Axonaut, check access and export terms with the vendor.

The bank connection deserves a separate check: number of synced accounts included, banks covered, update frequency. Our article on bank connections and open banking details the checkpoints. If cash forecasting is your priority, also compare with dedicated tools, covered in our Agicap, Pennylane and Qonto cash management comparison.

Migration pitfalls have less to do with the tool than with data transfer: incomplete customer files (missing SIREN numbers), item catalogues without accounting codes, open invoices and unsettled credit notes, history not imported. A successful migration is prepared outside closing periods and VAT return deadlines.

The errors most often seen in small businesses that change tools:

1. Migrating at month-end or mid-closing. It is best to switch at the start of a month, after the VAT return, with a clear cut-off date.
2. Forgetting open invoices. Invoices issued in the old tool and not yet paid must be followed until settled, without double entry.
3. Starting from an uncleaned customer file. This is the time to add each business customer's SIREN, essential for routing electronic invoices.
4. Not archiving the old system. Issued invoices remain subject to retention obligations; keep access to, or a full export of, the old tool.
5. Neglecting training. A sales management tool only adds value if salespeople and admin staff use it every day.

For a change that also affects the accounts, our guide to migrating to cloud accounting software details the transfer of trial balances and history.

To choose between Evoliz, Sellsy and Axonaut, start from your processes and volumes, not from the features vendors put forward. The method below has six steps and can be completed in two to three weeks, 15-day free trials included.

1. Map the sales cycle. Write down the real steps (prospect, quote, order, delivery, invoice, reminder) and who is involved at each one.
2. Quantify volumes. Number of quotes, sales and purchase invoices per month, number of stock items, number of consumer or foreign customers subject to e-reporting.
3. Count real users. Distinguish daily users from occasional viewers, who do not always justify a licence.
4. Check e-invoicing status. Verify on the official impots.gouv.fr list that the tool's approved platform is registered, and test receipt of a supplier invoice.
5. Test the link with your accountant. Have the tool produce an FEC export or a connector transfer, then ask your accountant to check it.
6. Compare cost over three years. Include licences, modules, quotas, commitment discount, price after the first year and exit cost.

Quick decision#

Construction businesses will find more specialised tools in our comparison of quote and invoicing software for construction.

• As at 26 September 2026, Axonaut and TeamSystem Sellsy are registered approved platforms; Evoliz relies on the approved platform Chaintrust by Visma, included in the subscription.
• Receiving electronic invoices has been mandatory for all VAT-registered businesses since 1 September 2026; issuing and e-reporting will be for SMEs and small businesses from 1 September 2027.
• Evoliz starts from invoicing and purchases (EUR 29 to 49 excl. VAT per month), Sellsy from CRM (per-user pricing, separate modules), Axonaut from the all-in-one suite (EUR 69.99 excl. VAT per month with no commitment).
• The number of licences and added modules weigh more on the annual budget than the headline price.
• The real quality test on the accounting side is an FEC export or connector usable without rework.
• A migration needs preparation: customer SIRENs, item accounting codes, open invoices, archiving of the old tool.