VinX, made by I-AG Software in Lucerne, is one of the best-known industry solutions for the Swiss wine and beverage trade: by its own account more than 200 customer businesses, some of them for over 20 years. Vinosoft is cloud software for wineries, wine merchants and wine distributors. Both produce the SWK report, and both handle orders, stock and receivables. The difference is the model: a licence purchase and a rollout project with VinX, a subscription in the browser with Vinosoft. And the price: over five years, Vinosoft costs about half in the worked example below, before VinX's rollout project costs are added.
For VinX, this comparison uses only public information from vinx.ch and the VinX 2025 price list, as of 28 October 2026. We don't claim anything VinX doesn't publish. If you spot a mistake, tell us and we'll correct it.
In short
VinX is the better fit if you are a larger beverage distributor with your own deliveries: route planning, a bonded warehouse for spirits, harvest settlement with growers, en-primeur sales and an Abacus interface are part of VinX's offering, not Vinosoft's.
Vinosoft is the better fit if you are a winery, a wine shop or a smaller distributor that wants to work without its own server, use a Mac or work on the road, run a webshop from the same inventory, work with an AI assistant and an MCP connection for Claude or ChatGPT, and start today rather than in three months — while paying about half as much for software over five years.
At a glance
VinX | Vinosoft | |
|---|---|---|
Vendor | I-AG Software, Lucerne; developing software since 1981 | SparkDynamic GmbH, since 2015 |
How it runs | Desktop software with a Sybase SQL Anywhere database; VinX recommends Windows PCs | In the browser, Mac included; Microsoft Azure in the EU, a separate database per customer |
Pricing | Licence purchase: Basis CHF 4,000 for the first licence, CHF 1,000 per extra licence; modules priced separately | Subscription from CHF 79 per month billed yearly, 3 users included |
Updates | Optional maintenance contract, 12–20% of the licence total per year | Included in the subscription |
Rollout | A 3–6 month rollout project, project costs extra | Sign up and try it yourself, import data from Excel and CSV |
Trial | Demo version sent as an installer by email | Trial account in the browser, no credit card |
SWK report | Cellar book, Formular A and B, inventories | Detailed inventory, Formular A and B; cellar bookkeeping for producers as an add-on module |
Containers and deposits | Container management with a balance per customer | Deposits on bottles and crates with a balance per customer, as a sub-module |
Financial accounting | Receivables in VinX, payables as an option; general ledger via interfaces to Abacus, Infoniqa, SelectLine | Built-in financial accounting with Swiss VAT return (Professional and up); journal export as CSV |
Webshop | Connect your own shop via REST API, or the VinX shop with partner Zynex, from CHF 3,000 | Built-in webshop in the Enterprise edition, from the same inventory |
Till | Till program as an option, CHF 1,200 | POS app for iPad, CHF 29 per month |
AI | Not mentioned in public materials | AI assistant in the back office; MCP connection for Claude, ChatGPT and other AI tools |
Data migration | Part of the rollout project | Migration from VinX free of charge |
Support without a contract | CHF 150 per hour | Phone support CHF 120 per hour; bug fixes free |
Cost: licence or subscription
The two pricing models don't compare one to one. A worked example shows the order of magnitude: three users, five years, all prices excluding VAT. For VinX we include maintenance contract A, because only that contract delivers new versions and legal updates, which Vinosoft includes in the subscription.
Scenario, 3 users, 5 years | VinX | Vinosoft | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
Orders, stock, receivables | Basis 3 licences CHF 6,000 + 3 SQL Anywhere seats CHF 450 + contract A CHF 720 a year = CHF 10,050 | Standard CHF 79 × 60 months = CHF 4,740 | CHF 5,310 (53%) |
Plus webshop and shop till | Add B2C webshop CHF 3,000 and till CHF 1,200, maintenance rises to CHF 1,224 a year = CHF 16,770 | Enterprise CHF 119 and POS app CHF 29 × 60 months = CHF 8,880 | CHF 7,890 (47%) |
With Vinosoft you pay about half in both scenarios. If anything the gap is wider, because these are not included for VinX: rollout project costs, training (kickstart course CHF 375 per person) and your own server or Windows PCs. Not included for Vinosoft: optional add-ons such as the winemaker module (CHF 39 per month) and extra users (CHF 9 per month). The VinX price list quotes prices excluding VAT, while the VinX website shows the same amounts as including VAT; we used the price list.
One advantage of a licence: you own the software. Without a maintenance contract your version keeps running, just without new features or legal updates. Even then, Vinosoft is cheaper over five years: CHF 4,740 against CHF 6,450 for three VinX Basis licences with database. With Vinosoft, access ends with the subscription, so export your data first.
Rollout and running it
VinX describes the path like this: an initial call, an indicative quote, a presentation or an on-site analysis, then a rollout project of three to six months with test runs. Documents are customised to your wishes along the way. That is thorough, but it also takes your time.
With Vinosoft you sign up yourself and work in the browser. You import articles from Excel and customers and suppliers from CSV, then set up number ranges, VAT rates and document layouts once in the configuration. There is no server, database or per-PC update to look after. The back office is available in German, French, Italian and English.
Wine and beverage features
For the wine trade control, both solutions are built for Swiss businesses. VinX prepares the cellar book, Formular A and B and the inventories, and says its processes have been approved by the authority. The SWK doesn't certify software, though: under its cellar bookkeeping guideline (section 2.3), any wine or accounting program may replace the stock cards if it shows every field of the stock card clearly and the wine ordinance is followed. That is checked when your business is inspected, not at the software vendor. Both solutions provide this data. Vinosoft produces the detailed inventory as of 31 December with Formular A and B under Statistics → SWK, see The SWK wine trade control report. For producers who make their own wine, the cellar bookkeeping module tracks grape lots, pressing, blends and bottlings; it is enabled per account. What the SWK requires: Wine trade control: who has to report?
Both handle containers and deposits: Vinosoft charges deposits on bottles and crates on orders, delivery notes and invoices and shows the open balance per customer. Both have price groups, customer prices and quantity discounts; VinX offers time-limited promotional prices, Vinosoft only coupons in the webshop. Both sell sets and mixed cases as a single line.
Accounting and interfaces
This is the biggest difference. VinX keeps receivables and, optionally, payables, and hands the general ledger to Abacus, Infoniqa or SelectLine through an interface. Vinosoft has its own financial accounting with the Swiss VAT return (Professional and Enterprise). There is no interface to Abacus, Bexio, Sage or Banana; you export the journal as CSV, see Journal. If your fiduciary keeps your books in Abacus, that speaks for VinX.
For logistics, VinX offers interfaces to DPD, Imbach, Planzer and Vinolog. Vinosoft has no production shipping interface to these carriers today. Vinosoft does have a public REST API with OAuth2 and a Galaxus connection for stock and prices.
AI assistant and MCP
Vinosoft is built to work with AI. The AI assistant in the back office answers questions about your own numbers: "Which wines sold best this year?", "Which invoices are overdue?", "What is below minimum stock?". It doesn't answer from memory; it queries sales, stock, open items and documents directly in your account, and on request it drafts quotes, order confirmations, invoices, delivery notes and purchase orders. Ask in German, French, Italian or English. The assistant is enabled per account.
With the MCP connection (Model Context Protocol), you connect your Vinosoft account to the AI tool you already use, such as Claude, ChatGPT or your own agent. You create a personal access token for it, read-only or with write access. The AI sees exactly what your user is allowed to see, and every call is logged. For developers there is also the REST API.
VinX's public materials mention no AI features; its newer add-ons are apps for field sales, warehouse and delivery.
When VinX is the better choice
We honestly recommend VinX if you need any of these: route planning for your own deliveries, a bonded warehouse for spirits, harvest settlement with payouts to grape growers, en-primeur sales, commission accounting for sales reps, rental of event furniture, or a direct Abacus interface. Vinosoft doesn't have these features.
Switching from VinX to Vinosoft
Migrating your data from VinX is free. You export articles, customers and suppliers from VinX; we import them into your Vinosoft account and check them with you before you switch.
The easiest time to switch is the start of a year, after the inventory report due 31 January: the cellar books then start from a counted stock. After the import, check price groups and SWK codes in particular. Ask I-AG which export formats your VinX version supports. Open items are best carried over as a balance and closed in the old system.
Sources
- vinx.ch, product overview, Basis or Magnum, interfaces, webshop, references, FAQ, 2025 price list (PDF), all retrieved 28 October 2026
- SWK: cellar bookkeeping guideline, version 4, 03/2025, section 2.3
- Vinosoft: pricing