The Peppol network is an open network: you freely choose your own Access Point provider and you can switch at any time. This makes the choice for the right provider important, but also easy. On this page you will find the criteria that truly matter when comparing Peppol Access Points.
No vendor lock-in
Peppol is designed without vendor lock-in. Every Access Point provider is certified by a national Peppol Authority and must meet the same basic standards. You can switch without data loss, retaining your Peppol registrations.
All certified Access Points can send and receive invoices via Peppol. But under the hood, the differences can be significant. One provider delivers a basic connection to the network; another offers automatic format conversion, active monitoring, software integrations and support for future regulations. These differences determine whether e-invoicing runs smoothly for your organisation or becomes a source of hassle. Below are the criteria that make the difference in practice.
If your Access Point goes down, your invoices do not arrive. Therefore, look not only at uptime percentages, but also at how the infrastructure is set up and what the provider can handle during peak loads.
How eConnect does this
The PSB (Procurement Service Bus) has a contractual availability of 99,99% and is reachable 24/7/365, including Peppol connections and REST API. In practice, the PSB has an unbroken track record of 100% uptime. eConnect operates a minimum of five redundant Access Points simultaneously. Volume is automatically distributed; in case of failure, another Access Point takes over seamlessly. We process more than 12 million documents annually for 20.000+ organisations, with a peak capacity of 200.000 messages per hour. Our SLA is available in four levels, from free to Gold with fully guaranteed response times.
Invoicing via Peppol is the foundation, but many organisations need more: orders, despatch advices, status messages or connections to other networks.
How eConnect does this
Via the eConnect PSB (Procurement Service Bus) you get access to Peppol and other procurement networks through a single integration. We support the complete purchase-to-pay chain: from order and despatch advice to invoice and status message. Format conversion happens automatically between all common standards, including sector formats such as SETU (e-timecards in the staffing industry), DICO (SALES005 in construction) and SEEF (energy invoices). You do not need to worry about the format the receiver expects.
The way your Access Point connects to your financial software determines how much manual work remains.
How eConnect does this
eConnect has standard integrations with more than 100 financial software packages, including AFAS, Exact Online, Unit4, SAP, Dynamics 365 Business Central, SnelStart and various sector-specific packages. The full overview is on our documentation site. The PSB REST API is fully documented via Swagger UI, with OAuth2 authentication and webhooks for real-time notifications. Via the free invoice portal you can send e-invoices via Peppol directly, without costs and without technical knowledge.
In sectors such as healthcare, government and construction, strict requirements for information security apply. Not every Access Point provider meets the same standards.
How eConnect does this
eConnect is certified for ISO 27001, NEN 7510 and ISAE 3402 Type 2. We have annual independent penetration tests conducted. This combination of certifications is unusually broad in the Dutch market and makes eConnect suitable for the most demanding sectors, from healthcare to government.
The SMP (Service Metadata Publisher) is the address book of Peppol. It determines where invoices are routed and which document types an organisation can receive. Some providers use a third-party SMP; others manage their own SMP.
How eConnect does this
eConnect has a proprietary SMP implementation that has been validated against the OASIS SMP standard. The European Commission lists eConnect on the official list of eDelivery SMP conformant solutions, which features only ten solutions worldwide. Conformance is maintained as part of our Peppol certification by the Dutch Peppol Authority (NPa). With built-in caching, the SMP is always available, independent of the uptime of other providers. Approximately 30% of all Dutch Peppol registrations are in our SMP.
The e-invoicing market is developing rapidly. European ViDA legislation, the Belgian B2B mandate and the French CTC reform are changing the landscape. Your Access Point provider must keep up.
How eConnect does this
eConnect is ViDA-ready and is preparing for certification as Plateforme agréée (PA) for the French CTC reform. We support country-specific formats such as XRechnung (Germany), Factur-X (France) and UBL.BE (Belgium). As a board member of OpenPeppol and co-founder of the Dutch Peppol Authority (NPa), we are directly involved in tomorrow's standards.
The table below shows the criteria alongside the eConnect proposition. Use this overview as a checklist when comparing providers.
Yes, Peppol is designed without vendor lock-in. During a switch, your registration is transferred from your current provider to eConnect via a migration key. Your Peppol address remains the same, so your trading partners can continue sending as if nothing has changed. The only thing that changes is the Access Point where your invoices are delivered.
eConnect guides the switch free of charge and ensures no invoices are lost during the transition. The migration typically takes a few business days. In the meantime, invoices are captured at both points, so there is no interruption in your invoice flow.
After the switch, you immediately benefit from the advantages of eConnect: proprietary SMP technology with caching, a minimum of five redundant Access Points, automatic format conversion and access to multiple networks besides Peppol. Because Peppol is an open network, you do not need permission from your current provider to leave.
Via the free invoice portal you can start immediately with sending e-invoices via Peppol. You create an account, compose your invoice in the browser and send it within minutes. This makes the invoice portal ideal for a quick start or to try Peppol before setting up a full integration.
A software integration with one of the more than 100 supported financial packages is typically operational within a few days. The integration is set up once, after which invoices are automatically sent and received via Peppol from your own software.
For a direct API integration via the PSB (Procurement Service Bus), the lead time depends on the complexity of your integration. The API is fully documented with Swagger UI and SDKs are available in PHP and .NET, which shortens development time. For more complex implementations (large organisations, multiple locations, custom transformations), our specialists guide the process with a personal onboarding plan.
Via the eConnect invoice portal you can compose and send e-invoices via Peppol for free. This makes entry easy for every organisation, regardless of size or budget. The invoice portal is completely free, without transaction costs and without time limit.
For automated invoicing, where your accounting software or ERP system sends and receives invoices directly via the API without manual actions, transaction costs apply that decrease at higher volumes. There are no hidden costs for Peppol registration, SMP registration or format conversion. Automatic conversion between e-invoice formats (UBL, CII, XRechnung, Factur-X and others) is included as standard.
eConnect offers four SLA levels: from a free entry to Gold with fully guaranteed response times and a dedicated account manager. Each level is tailored to a different profile: from freelancers who occasionally send an invoice to enterprise organisations that process millions of documents per year. Costs are always proportional to usage. Contact us for a quote that fits your volume and needs.
No, the Peppol network supports much more than invoices alone. Via eConnect you can digitise the complete purchase-to-pay chain. This starts with purchase orders and continues through to order confirmations, despatch advices (Despatch Advice), invoices, credit notes and status messages (Invoice Response). Each document type is exchanged in a structured format via the Peppol BIS standard.
Status messages deserve special attention, because they provide direct feedback on the processing of your invoice. You automatically receive a confirmation when your invoice has been received, approved or paid. If there is an issue, you receive a structured rejection with the reason, so you can correct quickly. eConnect has supported status messages via Peppol since 2015.
Additionally, there are sector-specific document types: e-timecards (SETU format) for the staffing industry, DICO documents for the construction sector and energy invoices with meter readings and consumption data. The eConnect PSB supports all these document types and the corresponding format conversions. With one integration you cover the entire document chain.
eConnect has standard integrations with more than 100 financial software packages. Well-known packages such as AFAS, Exact Online, Unit4, SAP, Dynamics 365 Business Central, SnelStart and Moneybird are already connected. Additionally, we support various sector-specific packages for sectors such as construction, healthcare, transport and energy.
The complete and current overview of all integrations is on our documentation site. If your package is not listed, there are two alternatives. Many accounting software packages have a built-in UBL export function that allows you to invoice directly via Peppol. In that case, a standard integration is often not even needed. For packages without an existing integration, the PSB REST API offers a direct integration route. The API is fully documented and comes with SDKs in PHP and .NET.
It may also be the case that your software vendor wants to set up the integration with eConnect themselves, for example as a white-label partner. In that case, eConnect guides the technical integration and the software vendor operates under the Peppol certificate of eConnect.
Read more about Peppol Access Points in the documentation
Schedule a meeting
More about our Access Point
PSB API documentation