BILL vs Melio 2026: Fees, Plans and Which AP Tool to Pick

Melio is the cheaper AP tool in 2026 for a company under 200 bills a month: plans run from $0 to $80 a month flat, with 5 to unlimited free ACH payments included. BILL is the better buy once approvals, procurement and a NetSuite or Sage Intacct sync matter: it costs $49, $65 or $89 per user a month, and every ACH adds $0.59. In our 150-bill scenario below, BILL Team costs $533.50 a month and Melio Boost costs $360.

Prices were read on BILL's pricing page and Melio's pricing page on October 17, 2026. Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, tracks 279 accounting tools as of October 17, 2026, ranked at accounting software. BILL's directory page is BILL and Melio's is Melio.

At a glance

Plan	Best for a finance team	Price	What it includes
Melio Go	A founder paying a handful of vendors from one login	$0/mo	One user, 5 free ACH a month, limited accounting sync (10 syncs), no approval workflows
Melio Core	A bookkeeper on QuickBooks Online or Xero with a second approver	$25/mo, or $20/mo billed annually, plus $10/mo per extra user	20 free ACH a month, approval workflows, QuickBooks Online and Xero sync, W-9 collection and 1099 automation
Melio Boost	A team on QuickBooks Desktop that wants advanced approvals	$55/mo, or $44/mo billed annually, plus $10/mo per extra user	50 free ACH a month, advanced approval workflows, QuickBooks Desktop sync
Melio Unlimited	A NetSuite shop that wants every ACH free and unlimited seats	$80/mo, or $64/mo billed annually	Unlimited users, unlimited free ACH, NetSuite sync
BILL Essentials	A small team that exports a CSV to the ledger	$49 per user/mo	Bill entry, standard approval workflows, ACH, card and check payments, W-9 collection, invoicing, six standard roles
BILL Team	A QuickBooks or Xero team that wants AI coding and automatic sync	$65 per user/mo	Automatic two-way sync with QuickBooks Online, Pro, Premier and Xero, AI multi-line bill coding, custom roles, cash flow forecasting for QuickBooks Online users
BILL Corporate	A controller who needs custom approval policies and procurement	$89 per user/mo	Custom approval policies, approver-only seat discounts, procurement with purchase orders and two-way matching; single sign-on and multi-entity are ticked in BILL's comparison table but placed on Enterprise in its plan cards
BILL Enterprise	A group on NetSuite, Sage Intacct or Dynamics	Custom	Automatic sync with QuickBooks Enterprise, Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics, dual control, premium phone support

An AP tool, for this audience, captures the invoice, routes the approval, pays the vendor and writes the entry to the ledger. Both products do all four. The difference is who pays: BILL prices the seat, Melio prices the payment volume.

How the two price models differ

BILL bills per user, so headcount is the cost driver. Three people on Team cost $195 a month before a single payment. Add two approvers and the bill is $325. Corporate softens this with discounted approver-only seats, but it starts at $89 for every full user. BILL publishes no annual rate, so there is no discount for committing. Spend & Expense, the card product, carries no per-user fee, and a free trial is available for AP and AR in most cases.

Melio bills a flat plan fee, with seats as a small add-on. Core and Boost include one user and charge $10 a month per extra user, or $8 on annual billing; Unlimited includes unlimited users. The driver at Melio is ACH volume: each plan includes a free monthly allowance, and after that every ACH costs $0.50. Melio also gives new customers 90 days of unlimited free ACH payments and advanced automations on the paid plans, with no card required, which makes the first quarter cheaper than the steady state.

What this means for a buyer: a five-person team with 80 bills a month pays Melio less whichever plan it picks, because seats are nearly free. A two-person team paying 600 bills a month should run the numbers, because 600 ACH at BILL's rate is $354 in fees and the same volume on Melio Unlimited is $0 beyond the plan fee. The full BILL fee schedule, including 1099 e-filing at $2.99 per form, is in BILL pricing 2026, and the product itself is in the BILL review.

Payment fees side by side

Payment	BILL	Melio
ACH from a bank account	$0.59 each	Free within the plan allowance, then $0.50 each
Faster ACH	Pay Faster ACH $11.99, same day if scheduled by 10:00 am PT	Fast ACH 1%, capped at $75
Mailed check	$1.99	$1.50; fast check $20
Domestic wire	Not listed on the fee grid	$10; same-day wire 1%, with a floor equal to the standard wire fee and a $75 maximum
Instant payment to vendor	1%, $9.99 minimum, $100 maximum	Instant transfer 1%, capped at $75
International USD wire	$19.99, may be passed to the receiver	$20 flat; fast USD 1%, $30 minimum, $95 maximum
International in local currency	Free, exchange rate applies	Not listed on the pricing page
Pay with a credit or debit card	2.9%	2.9% plus the delivery method fee
Virtual card	Free	Not listed

The check fee is where small AP teams lose money. Forty mailed checks a month cost $79.60 at BILL and $60 at Melio, a gap that pays Melio's Core plan twice over. Both charge 2.9% to pay a vendor by card, so the float trick of putting rent on a card costs the same on either side; on a $10,000 invoice that is $290 whichever tool sends it.

International is a draw on USD and a BILL win on local currency. A USD wire abroad is $19.99 at BILL and $20 at Melio. BILL also sends international FX wires and local transfers at no fee beyond the exchange rate, with a UK and Canada fee table for receivers. Melio's pricing page lists only USD international payments, so a company paying suppliers in euros or pesos should read BILL's FX terms before choosing on price. The best AP automation software roundup and AP automation pricing compared cover the tools built for global payables, and what AP automation does explains the process if you are starting from a shared inbox.

Approvals, sync and the close

BILL wins control. Essentials ships standard approval policies and six user roles; Team adds custom roles and AI multi-line bill coding; Corporate adds custom approval policies and two-way matching against purchase orders; Enterprise adds dual control. BILL's pricing page places single sign-on and multi-entity on Enterprise in its plan cards and FAQ, while its comparison table also ticks them for Corporate, so confirm in writing which plan includes them. A controller who needs a department threshold, a PO match and an audit trail that satisfies a SOX reviewer finds all of it on BILL's grid, at $89 per user and up.

Melio wins simplicity. Approval workflows start on Core and become advanced on Boost, and W-9 collection plus 1099 automation are on every paid plan. There is no procurement module, no purchase order matching and no SSO line on the pricing page. For a bookkeeper who needs the owner to approve anything over a threshold, that is enough. For a multi-entity close with three approval tiers, it is not.

Sync decides the plan on both sides. Melio Go limits accounting sync to 10 syncs; Core syncs QuickBooks Online and Xero; Boost adds QuickBooks Desktop; Unlimited adds NetSuite. BILL Essentials syncs only by CSV import and export; Team and Corporate sync automatically with QuickBooks Online, Pro, Premier and Xero; NetSuite, Sage Intacct and Dynamics need Enterprise. A NetSuite company therefore pays $80 a month at Melio or a quote at BILL. If the ledger choice is still open, the QuickBooks Online review, the Xero review and the NetSuite review are the places to settle it first, and the month-end close checklist shows where AP lands in the close.

A 150-bill month, priced both ways

Our scenario: three AP users, 150 bills a month paid as 100 ACH, 40 mailed checks and 10 USD international wires, on QuickBooks Online. Totals use each vendor's published monthly rates and exclude card payments, faster-payment fees and sales tax.

Line	BILL Team	Melio Boost	Melio Unlimited
Software	$195 for three users	$75, one included user plus two extra seats	$80, unlimited users
100 ACH	$59	$25, after 50 free	$0
40 checks	$79.60	$60	$60
10 USD international wires	$199.90	$200	$200
Monthly total	$533.50	$360	$340

Melio Unlimited is $193.50 a month cheaper than BILL Team in this scenario, which is $2,322 a year, before the first-quarter saving from the free ACH offer. The wires are the largest single line on all three columns, so the payment mix moves the total more than the plan does. Switch the 10 wires to local-currency transfers and BILL's column drops by nearly $200, because BILL charges no fee on international FX wires; Melio does not list that option. BILL Corporate would add $72 a month to the BILL column for the procurement module and custom policies, which is the price of control.

Who should pick which

Pick Melio when the team is small, the ledger is QuickBooks or Xero, and the job is paying bills with a simple approval chain. Start on Core at $25 a month, move to Boost for advanced approvals or QuickBooks Desktop, and take Unlimited when ACH volume passes 50 a month or NetSuite enters. The Melio review covers the product in detail.

Pick BILL when approvals, procurement or the ERP sync drive the purchase. Team is the plan for a QuickBooks Online or Xero shop that wants AI coding and automatic sync; Corporate is the plan for custom policies and purchase orders; Enterprise is the quote for NetSuite, Sage Intacct and Dynamics. Budget the per-user seats and the per-payment fees together, because the seats are rarely the larger number.

Skip both if the card program is the real purchase: Ramp vs BILL runs that matchup, and the Tipalti review and Stampli review are the AP tools built for high-volume or global payables.

How we compared

We read BILL's pricing page, including its payor, receiver and international fee tables, and Melio's pricing page, including its plan grid and transaction fees, on October 17, 2026. The 150-bill scenario multiplies published monthly rates by our assumed volumes; it is our arithmetic, not a vendor quote, and it leaves out Melio's 90-day free ACH offer and any negotiated BILL Enterprise terms. Louis Corneloup, founder of Toolradar and Dupple, edited the verdict. Re-check both pricing pages before you sign.

FAQ

Is Melio cheaper than BILL?

For most small teams, yes. Melio's plans are $0, $25, $55 and $80 a month flat, with free ACH allowances of 5, 20, 50 and unlimited, while BILL charges $49 to $89 per user a month plus $0.59 per ACH and $1.99 per check. In a 150-bill month with three users, Melio Unlimited costs $340 against $533.50 for BILL Team.

What does BILL charge per transaction?

BILL charges $0.59 per ACH, $1.99 per mailed check, $19.99 per international USD wire and 2.9% to pay by credit or debit card, on every plan. Pay Faster ACH is $11.99 and instant payments cost 1% with a $9.99 minimum and a $100 cap. International FX wires and virtual card payments are free, with the exchange rate applied.

Does Melio have a free plan?

Yes. Melio Go is $0 a month for one user with 5 free ACH payments a month and limited accounting sync, and without approval workflows. After the free allowance, each ACH is $0.50. New customers on Core, Boost or Unlimited also get 90 days of unlimited free ACH payments with no card required.

Which one syncs with NetSuite?

Melio Unlimited syncs with NetSuite at $80 a month, or $64 a month billed annually. BILL puts NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics and QuickBooks Enterprise on Enterprise, which is quoted. Both sync QuickBooks Online and Xero on their mid-tier plans, and Melio Boost adds QuickBooks Desktop.

Which has better approval workflows?

BILL. Custom approval policies, approver-only seats and purchase order matching live on Corporate, and dual control on Enterprise. BILL's plan cards put single sign-on on Enterprise while its comparison table also ticks it for Corporate, so confirm that one in writing. Melio offers approval workflows from Core and advanced workflows on Boost, with no procurement module or PO matching on its pricing page.

Can I pay vendors by credit card with either tool?

Yes, both charge 2.9% of the payment to fund it from a credit or debit card, and the vendor still receives ACH, a check or a wire. Melio adds the delivery method fee on top; BILL adds the expedited fee only on Pay Faster checks. On a $10,000 invoice the card fee is $290 either way, so treat it as a short-term cash tool, not a rewards play.

Cite this: CFOpresso, "BILL vs Melio 2026: Fees, Plans and Which AP Tool to Pick", October 2026.

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