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Comparisons

beliq vs. InvoiceXML

InvoiceXML is the closest like-for-like alternative to beliq, an EU-hosted compliance API that builds and validates against official artefacts and keeps transmission separate. This is a fair head-to-head, plus the questions to check for yourself.

Of the tools in this space, InvoiceXML is the closest to a like-for-like alternative to beliq. Both are EU-hosted compliance APIs that build and validate e-invoices against the standards bodies’ own rules, both offer REST and an MCP server, and both keep transmission separate from the compliance layer today. If you are weighing the two, the honest starting point is that they overlap a lot.

So this page does two things: it says plainly where they are the same, and it gives you the questions to tell them apart yourself, rather than asking you to take our word for it.

Where they overlap

At the time of writing, both beliq and InvoiceXML:

  • run on EU-hosted infrastructure (each states its own residency and retention posture, worth reading from each vendor directly);
  • validate against the authorities’ own published Schematron and XSD, not a private approximation;
  • build, validate, convert, and parse across the EN 16931 family;
  • expose a REST API and an MCP server, and connect to no-code tools;
  • offer a free way to start.

This overlap is real. “EU-hosted plus official artefacts” is table stakes for a serious compliance API now, not a wedge, and we will not pretend otherwise. The differences are narrower and more specific.

Where beliq is different

The gap that matters is not whether the official rules are run once. It is whether you can see that they stayed current, and prove it from your own result.

  • Every result names the ruleset that judged it. beliq stamps the per-format artefact versions and a rulesetSha256 fingerprint onto each response, so a document carries evidence of exactly which rules it passed. Reviewing InvoiceXML’s public documentation, we did not find a per-result artefact-version field of this kind.
  • The maintenance cadence is published, not implied. Each pinned artefact carries a re-verification due date, and the build fails until someone re-checks it against the authority’s source. Breaking changes are announced at least 90 days ahead, and the outgoing ruleset stays available on the previous channel. See ruleset versioning. We did not find a public dated ruleset changelog on the InvoiceXML site.
  • You can verify it without trusting us. Every result carries the SHA-256 of your file and of the ruleset that judged it, and a keyless public catalog lets you cross-check that ruleset against what beliq pins for everyone. For the national XSD formats, which beliq vendors byte for byte, you can also reproduce the checksum straight from the authority’s own download. See how verification works and verify a hash.
  • Signed webhooks. beliq signs its webhook deliveries with HMAC-SHA256 so you can trust what your endpoint receives. We found no documented webhook feature for InvoiceXML; if that matters to you, confirm it with them.
  • A stated, dated country roster. beliq’s country guides name the authority, the mandate dates, and the date each was last re-confirmed, and are explicit about what is pinned versus pre-confirmation (the UK, for example).

Where “we did not find” appears above, it means exactly that: it is what their public materials showed when we checked, not a claim about what they build internally. Ask them directly.

Where InvoiceXML may fit you better

A fair comparison names the other side’s strengths too.

  • AI extraction from arbitrary PDFs. InvoiceXML’s documentation describes AI-based parsing that turns any PDF invoice into structured data. beliq’s parse reads structured EN 16931 documents into canonical fields; if your inbound is messy, scanned, or unstructured PDFs, InvoiceXML’s AI extraction is aimed squarely at that.
  • Its format and profile coverage may line up better with your exact stack. Check each vendor’s current list against the formats you actually send.
  • Its pricing shape may suit you. InvoiceXML publishes tiered plans with a free trial; beliq publishes its own per-tier pricing. Compare both against your real volume rather than the headline tier.

How to decide for yourself

Do not settle this on marketing copy, ours included. Put the same questions to both vendors and to their live APIs:

  1. Does a validation result tell me the exact artefact version and a checksum I can reproduce?
  2. Is there a dated, public record of when each ruleset last changed and when it was re-verified?
  3. What happens on a breaking rule change: is it announced ahead of time, and can I pin to the previous ruleset while I adapt?
  4. Are webhook deliveries signed, and are they documented?
  5. Does the country and format roster cover what I actually send, and is it honest about what is pre-confirmation?

Whichever tool answers those more convincingly for your case is the right one. We think beliq answers them well, and the validation artifacts and how verification works pages exist so you can check rather than trust.