Description
The Krankenkassenvergleich of Stiftung Warentest is a database of the contribution rates and extra benefits of 67 German statutory health insurance funds, which together insure about 97 % of contributors. The tester behind it sells no advertising and earns no commission when someone switches.
Stiftung Warentest is a foundation under civil law, set up by the Bundestag in 1964. Its statutes forbid advertising income, and it has received no state money since 2024. Of its €70 million income in 2025, about three quarters came from sales of its magazines, test.de and books, and 9.4 % from licences for its test logo.
The comparison lists the open funds by federal state and rates six extra benefits on a five-level scale: professional teeth cleaning, osteopathy, travel vaccines, alternative medicines, sports medical check-ups and health courses. It also shows each fund’s reserves. The editors write to every fund each month and update the data when rates or benefits change. There is no test winner: Stiftung Warentest estimates that about 95 % of medical services are the same at every fund. Its example is a person earning €3,000 gross a month, who saves about €400 a year by moving from an expensive nationwide fund to a cheap one. The article and the method are free; the full table costs €4.90 or comes with a test.de flat rate (checked November 2026).
Strengths
- Compares six extra benefits as well as the rate, which the official list of the funds doesn’t show.
- No advertising, no commission on switches and no test winner pushing one fund.
- Every fund is asked for its figures each month, and corrections are answered openly in the readers’ comments.
Weaknesses
- The full results cost €4.90, or need a test.de subscription.
- Five open funds are missing, only six extra benefits are rated, and bonus programmes aren’t rated at all.
- Funds can drop extra benefits at short notice, and a planned reform may end payments for homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine.
Who it is for
People with statutory insurance in Germany who use extras such as teeth cleaning or osteopathy and want to weigh them against a higher Zusatzbeitrag before switching.