Kit Digital vs Kit Consulting: the differences and which one suits you.

The underlying difference: implementing vs advising

The essential distinction is this: Kit Digital pays to implement tools; Kit Consulting pays to advise you on what to do. It sounds like a nuance, but it completely changes who each programme is aimed at and what it is for.

Kit Digital is a digitalization voucher managed by Red.es and charged to the Next Generation funds. It subsidizes the contracting of specific technology solutions through accredited digitalization agents: website, e-commerce, social media management, CRM, business intelligence, ERP, e-invoicing, cybersecurity, secure workstation and several more categories. It is earmarked money to roll out technology your business can use from the very next day. If you want the detail of each category and the process, you'll find it in my complete guide to Kit Digital.

Kit Consulting, by contrast, is an advisory voucher. It is also managed by Red.es, with a budget of 300 million euros in NextGenerationEU funds, but it buys no tools at all: it funds the specialized consultancy services that design your digital strategy before you execute it. We're talking about an expert who analyses your business and hands you a roadmap on artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity or digital transformation. The full breakdown is in my complete guide to Kit Consulting.

Put another way: if Kit Consulting is the architect who draws up the plans, Kit Digital is the building work that raises the structure. That's why so many companies end up going through both.

Who can apply for each grant (the requirement that decides almost everything)

Before looking at amounts, it's worth knowing whether you fit. And here lies the most important filter in the whole comparison: the number of employees.

Kit Digital covers everything from the self-employed with no staff to companies of up to 249 employees. It is organized into five segments by headcount, and the first of them (Segment III, from 0 to fewer than 3 employees) explicitly includes the solo self-employed professional. This is key: if you work on your own and have no one on the payroll, Kit Digital is a real option for you.

Kit Consulting doesn't go that far. It is aimed at SMEs with 10 to fewer than 250 employees, that is, companies with a consolidated workforce. A self-employed person with no staff, or a micro-enterprise of three or four people, cannot apply for Kit Consulting. The programme starts from the idea that strategic advice makes sense when there is an organization with a certain structure behind it.

This single difference resolves a good part of the doubts: if you have fewer than 10 workers, there's no decision to make — your route is Kit Digital. Only when you cross that threshold do both programmes come into play and it begins to make sense to weigh which to prioritize or how to combine them.

Comparison table: Kit Digital vs Kit Consulting at a glance

This table sums up the differences that weigh most when deciding. The amounts are the maximum voucher figures per segment.

Notice the overlap in the middle brackets: a company of 10 to 50 employees can request €12,000 through Kit Digital and €12,000 through Kit Consulting. They are not mutually exclusive, and that's where the opportunity to combine them lies.

What each one funds, in detail

The categories of one and the other are nothing alike, and understanding this helps you see that they cover different needs.

Kit Digital works with a catalogue of operational solutions. The most requested are an online presence (website), e-commerce, social media management, CRM for customer management, business intelligence (BI), e-invoicing, cybersecurity, the secure workstation and ERP-type process-management solutions. Each one has an amount attached within the voucher, and you contract them through a digitalization agent. If you don't yet know who to turn to, I'll leave you my article on how to choose a digitalization agent.

Kit Consulting works with a catalogue of advisory categories, around ten, each with its own amount per service package:

• Artificial Intelligence applied to the business.
• Data analysis, at basic and advanced levels.
• Digital sales.
• Business or production processes.
• Business strategy and performance.
• Cybersecurity, at basic and advanced levels and certification preparation.
• 360 digital transformation.

You'll notice some names repeat across the two programmes — cybersecurity, for example — but the approach is the opposite: Kit Consulting advises you on how to frame your cybersecurity and, where appropriate, prepares you for certification; Kit Digital deploys the measures. In fact, combining the two on security is very powerful, and I develop it in my article on Kit Consulting for cybersecurity and ISO 27001. The same happens with AI: the strategic advice of Kit Consulting dovetails with the implementation you can see in Kit Digital and artificial intelligence for SMEs.

Can Kit Digital and Kit Consulting be combined?

Yes, and not only can they: they are designed to be used together. They are complementary and compatible. A company can benefit from Kit Consulting to define its strategy and, in parallel or afterwards, from Kit Digital to deploy the solutions that strategy recommends.

In fact, a very high percentage of Kit Consulting beneficiaries are also Kit Digital beneficiaries. It makes complete sense: you request advice to find out what you need and, once it's clear, you execute with the implementation voucher. First the plans, then the building work.

The sequence I usually recommend to an SME with enough staff is this:

1. Kit Consulting first. An expert analyses your business and tells you where the real levers are: where AI will save you hours, what data you're not making the most of, what cybersecurity risks you're carrying.
2. Kit Digital afterwards. With that roadmap, you contract the prioritized solutions from the digitalization agents, without spending the voucher on tools that bring you nothing.

The mistake I often see is skipping the first step: companies that request Kit Digital and contract loose solutions because «everyone has a website», with no strategy to connect them. The voucher gets spent, but the business doesn't progress the same way. If you have access to both, make the most of them in order.

Which one suits you according to your profile

Here's the decision, resolved by company type.

If you're self-employed with no staff (or with 1-2 people): your only route is Kit Digital. Kit Consulting requires at least 10 workers, so it's ruled out. You fall under Segment III, with a voucher of up to €3,000 to set up a website, social presence, e-invoicing or basic cybersecurity. There's nothing to compare: go for Kit Digital.

If you're a micro-enterprise of 3 to 9 employees: just like the previous case, only Kit Digital. You're in Segment II (up to €6,000) and still below the Kit Consulting threshold. Use the voucher to professionalize your digital tools; subsidized strategic advice isn't for you yet.

If you're an SME of 10 to 49 employees: here you already have both. Kit Digital gives you up to €12,000 to implement and Kit Consulting up to €12,000 for advice. My recommendation: if you have a clear idea of what you need, prioritize Kit Digital and execute. If you're in the middle of rethinking AI, data or a shift in business model, start with Kit Consulting and let the strategy guide the spending of the implementation voucher.

If you're an SME of 50 to 249 employees: both programmes step up in power. Kit Consulting reaches €18,000 (50-99) or €24,000 (100-249), and Kit Digital reaches €25,000 (Seg. IV) or €29,000 (Seg. V). At this size, the sensible thing is to plan both as a single transformation project: advice to set the direction, implementation to execute it. The combination delivers the greatest return.

In short: below 10 employees, Kit Digital with no further thought; from 10 onwards, consider both and use them in sequence. If you work in Castilla y León or Canarias and want me to review your specific case, I cover it on my services page for Castilla y León.

Current status of each programme (2026)

The calendar matters as much as the fit, because the calls have their own timing.

Kit Digital. The general calls closed on 31 October 2025, after surpassing 860,000 grants awarded. The relevant development came with Order TDF/39/2026, of 26 January (published in the BOE of 28 January 2026, BOE-A-2026-2070), which reorders the programme: it removes the fixed closing date and moves to a criterion of awarding grants «until the funds are exhausted», redistributes the leftover funds among segments and relaxes the seniority requirement for the self-employed, who now need six months registered in the RETA. In practice, this reopens opportunities for those who didn't make it in time in the previous calls, as long as budget remains.

Kit Consulting. Its call closed on 31 March 2025, after several deadline extensions. More than 20,600 grants were awarded for an amount exceeding 283 million euros. For SMEs notified from 15 December 2025, the deadline to submit the service-provision agreement was set at 28 February 2026, according to the amendment published in the BOE in December 2025. If your company fell within that bracket, it's worth checking that the justification is in order.

There is also a political debate underway — the PSOE filed a motion — to extend both programmes throughout 2026 with a focus on artificial intelligence. For now it's a proposal, not an approved call, so it's worth following without taking it as a given. When there's something firm, I'll cover it in the linked guides.

How this fits if you're in Valladolid, Castilla y León or Canarias

Both programmes are national in scope: the amounts and requirements don't change by autonomous community. What does change is the local network of agents and advisers, and the way to process the application without losing time.

I work with SMEs and the self-employed in Castilla y León and Canarias, and the difference between an application that succeeds first time and one that gets stuck usually lies in the details: the documentation, the choice of the right agent or adviser and the order of the solutions. If you want to see the step-by-step process of Kit Digital, I have two regional articles that may help you: Kit Digital in Valladolid, step by step and Kit Digital in Canarias and the IGIC, the latter with the tax particularities of the archipelago.

The underlying recommendation is the same in any territory: first define what your business needs and then choose the programme — or the combination — that funds it best. Grants are a tool, not an end in themselves.

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Authorship: Ángel Ortega Castro · independent consultant in strategy, quality and digitalization for SMEs.

Frequently asked questions

Can I apply for Kit Digital and Kit Consulting at the same time?

Yes. They are compatible and complementary grants: Kit Consulting funds the strategic advice and Kit Digital the deployment of the solutions. In fact, many Kit Consulting beneficiaries are also Kit Digital beneficiaries. The usual approach is to use the advice first to set the direction and then the implementation voucher to execute it.

I'm self-employed with no staff — which one applies to me?

Only Kit Digital. Kit Consulting is reserved for SMEs of 10 to 249 employees, so a self-employed person with no staff cannot apply for it. As a self-employed professional you fall under Segment III of Kit Digital, with a voucher of up to €3,000 to implement solutions such as a website, e-invoicing or basic cybersecurity.

Which gives more money, Kit Digital or Kit Consulting?

It depends on the size. Kit Digital reaches up to €29,000 in its largest segment (100 to 249 employees) and Kit Consulting up to €24,000 in its own. In the middle brackets they can be added together: an SME of 10 to 49 employees can claim €12,000 from each programme. It's not about choosing the larger amount, but about using each one for what it's meant for.

How do the two programmes really differ?

Kit Digital pays to implement specific technology tools through digitalization agents. Kit Consulting pays for the strategic advice that defines what to digitalize and how, through specialized advisers. One builds, the other plans.

Does Kit Consulting work for implementing tools?

No. Kit Consulting only funds advisory and consultancy services: analysis, strategy and roadmaps in areas such as artificial intelligence, data, cybersecurity or 360 digital transformation. To implement the solutions that advice recommends, the right programme is Kit Digital.

Are the calls still open in 2026?

Kit Consulting closed its call on 31 March 2025. Kit Digital, after closing its general calls on 31 October 2025, changed its model with Order TDF/39/2026: it removed the fixed date and moved to awarding grants until the funds run out, which reopens opportunities while budget remains. It's worth confirming the current status before processing an application.

What should I do if I have between 10 and 49 employees and I'm unsure where to start?

You have access to both. If you already know what you need, prioritize Kit Digital and implement. If you're rethinking your business model or exploring AI and data, start with Kit Consulting so the strategy then guides the spending of the implementation voucher. The important thing is not to contract loose solutions without a plan to connect them.

Brain marketing is more predictable than opinion marketing. — Ángel Ortega Castro