The short answer
Both sit the practical test in an automatic. B78 then carries an automatic-only restriction on the licence; it can be struck out later with ten manual lessons and a 15-minute test drive. B197 asks for exactly those ten lessons and that test drive straight away — and carries no restriction afterwards: you may drive manual and automatic.
The two get confused constantly, because they feel identical on test day. The difference is not on the day but in what ends up printed on the card.
What is identical
- The theory classes — the same 14 double lessons
- The theory test — the same 30 questions
- The practical test — in an automatic, no clutch
- The twelve special drives
- The minimum age
What B197 asks for on top
Ten driving lessons in a manual during your training and an internal test drive of 15 minutes with your own instructor. No examiner, no test fee, no appointment at the testing organisation — your instructor confirms in writing that you can handle a manual. What that involves is set out separately.
What ends up on the licence
For B78, key number 78 — meaning “restricted to vehicles with automatic transmission”. For B197, key number 197, and that restricts nothing: it only records the route you took to a full entitlement. What those numbers mean is its own post.
When B78 is still the right call
When it is settled that you will never drive a manual. Electric cars are automatic without exception, the share of new cars with a manual gearbox has been falling for years, and city drivers rarely miss a clutch. Then the ten manual lessons are effort spent on an entitlement you do not use.
The case that decides it
A hire car on holiday, the van on moving day, your parents' car, a job with a company vehicle. Anyone who can imagine sitting in an unfamiliar car in the next few years is better off with B197 — the 78 can still be struck out afterwards, but only after ten manual lessons, a test drive and a trip to the Straßenverkehrsamt.
Changing later
Going from B78 to the unrestricted entitlement later takes the same proof B197 asks for during training: ten driving lessons in a manual, a 15-minute test drive, and the school's certificate handed to the Straßenverkehrsamt. The law does not require a second practical test for it (§ 17a FeV) — the 78 is struck out, the 197 entered, and the entry has to be made within a year of finishing that training. It is different only where the 78 sits on the licence on medical grounds: then the route does go through a practical test.
The detail is on the B197 and B78 pages; what the items cost is on the prices page.