Melio pricing
Melio Pricing: 2026 Plans, Fees, and Real Cost
Melio pricing in 2026 starts with a free Go plan and three paid tiers: Core at $25 a month, Boost at $55 a month, and Unlimited at $80 a month, each with a lower annual rate. The plan sets how many free ACH bank payments you get; beyond the allowance, extra ACH transfers run about $0.50 each, card payments carry a flat 2.9% fee, mailed checks cost $1.50, and international payments run a flat $20. Melio is a bill-payment tool built for small US businesses that want to pay vendors by ACH or card and sync to QuickBooks or Xero, not a full invoice-automation platform with AI capture and multi-step approvals. This page breaks down every Melio plan and fee, shows what pushes your cost up, and compares it to a free-to-start AP automation workflow. Upload a real invoice at the top to see how AI capture and approvals work before you pick a plan.
Try it now, capture a real invoice
Free plan, no credit card, your data stays yours
$0
Melio Go free plan
$25 to $80/mo
Core, Boost, Unlimited paid tiers
2.9%
Flat card payment fee
$0
AutoPayables plan to start
Syncs to your accounting system
What actually drives your Melio bill
Melio publishes clear plan prices, but your real monthly cost depends on how you pay vendors. These are the line items that decide what you pay.
Your plan tier
The Go plan is free. Core is $25 a month, Boost is $55, and Unlimited is $80, each cheaper on an annual commitment. The tier mostly buys a larger allowance of free ACH payments plus higher limits and a few workflow features.
ACH payment volume
Each plan includes a set number of free ACH bank transfers: 5 on Go, 20 on Core, 50 on Boost, and unlimited on the top tier. Once you pass the allowance, each extra ACH payment costs about $0.50, so heavy ACH users climb tiers fast.
Card payments
Paying a vendor by credit or debit card carries a flat 2.9% fee, even when the vendor only takes a check or bank transfer. That fee can be worth it to earn card rewards or extend cash, but at scale it dwarfs the monthly subscription.
Checks and fast payments
Mailed paper checks cost about $1.50 each and take several business days. Faster options cost more: overnight check delivery is roughly $50, and instant or expedited transfers carry their own added fees on top of the base rate.
International payments
Melio supports paying some vendors abroad at a flat fee of about $20 per international payment. That is simple, but it is not the multi-currency, per-entity global rail that platforms built for cross-border AP provide.
What the tiers do not add
Higher Melio tiers mostly raise limits and free-ACH counts. They do not turn Melio into full AP automation: AI invoice capture, PO matching, and deep multi-step approval workflows are not its core, so weigh the plan against what you actually need.
How to estimate your real Melio cost
Four steps to turn the plan prices into a monthly number that fits how you actually pay vendors.
Count your monthly ACH payments
Start with how many vendor payments you send by bank transfer each month. Match that to the free-ACH allowance per plan: 5 on Go, 20 on Core, 50 on Boost, unlimited above. Extra ACH payments run about $0.50 each.
Add card and check fees
Estimate how often you will pay by card at a flat 2.9%, and how many mailed checks at about $1.50 you send. These per-payment fees, not the subscription, usually decide your real monthly total.
Pick the plan that clears your allowance
If you send more ACH payments than a plan includes, the next tier up is often cheaper than paying $0.50 per overage. Compare Core at $25, Boost at $55, and Unlimited at $80 against your real volume.
Check what you still do by hand
Melio pays bills, but you may still key invoices, chase approvals, and match POs elsewhere. Add the cost of that manual work, then compare against an AP tool that captures and routes invoices for you.
Melio vs AutoPayables on cost
Where the money goes with a small-business bill-pay tool versus a free-to-start AP automation workflow.
Melio
- Free Go plan, then $25 to $80 a month by tier
- Free ACH allowance per plan, about $0.50 per extra
- Flat 2.9% on card payments, $1.50 per mailed check
- Built to pay bills, lighter on invoice automation
- QuickBooks and Xero sync on most plans
AutoPayables
- Free plan, no platform or per-user fee to start
- No per-invoice capture charge on the free plan
- AI capture, matching, and approvals included
- Captures, codes, and routes invoices before payment
- Works from your first invoice, self-serve setup
When Melio pricing is worth it, and when it is not
The right answer depends on your payment volume, how you pay vendors, and how much invoice work you want automated.
Small businesses paying a few bills
If you send a handful of vendor payments a month and want a free way to pay by ACH or card with QuickBooks sync, Melio's Go plan is a genuinely low-cost fit. You pay nothing until you exceed the free allowance.
Card-float and rewards users
If you pay vendors by card to earn rewards or extend cash even when they take a check, Melio's flat 2.9% is the whole point. Just size that fee against the value you get, because it grows with every dollar you route.
Teams with heavy invoice entry
If your bottleneck is keying invoices, coding GL lines, and chasing approvals rather than the payment itself, Melio leaves most of that manual. An AP tool that captures and routes invoices saves more hours than a cheaper payment fee.
Growing AP with approvals
As you add approvers, POs, and controls, you outgrow simple bill pay. A platform with AI capture, PO matching, and multi-step approvals scales with that complexity in a way a payments-first tool is not designed to.
How much does Melio cost in 2026?
Melio costs nothing on its free Go plan and $25, $55, or $80 a month on the Core, Boost, and Unlimited tiers, with a lower rate if you commit annually. The plan you choose mostly sets how many free ACH bank payments you get each month. On top of the subscription, you pay per-payment fees: about $0.50 for each ACH transfer past your allowance, a flat 2.9% on card payments, roughly $1.50 for a mailed check, and about $20 for an international payment. For most small businesses the per-payment fees, not the monthly plan, decide the real cost. Melio is built to pay bills simply and sync to QuickBooks or Xero, so it is light on the invoice-capture and approval automation that larger AP teams need.
Melio pricing plans at a glance
The table below shows Melio's published 2026 tiers and what mainly separates them. Annual pricing is lower than the monthly rate shown, and every paid tier still charges the same per-payment fees once you pass your free ACH allowance.
| Plan | Monthly price | Free ACH payments | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | $0 | 5 per month | Very small businesses paying a few bills |
| Core | $25 (about $20 annual) | 20 per month | Steady monthly vendor payments |
| Boost | $55 (about $44 annual) | 50 per month | Higher ACH volume and more users |
| Unlimited | $80 (about $64 annual) | Unlimited | Heavy bill-pay volume |
Melio transaction fees explained
The subscription is only half the picture. Once you use up a plan's free ACH payments, each additional ACH transfer costs about $0.50. Paying a vendor by credit or debit card carries a flat 2.9% fee, even if that vendor normally takes a check or bank transfer, which is how card-float and rewards strategies work on Melio. Mailed paper checks cost about $1.50 each and take several business days; overnight delivery runs closer to $50, and instant or expedited transfers add their own fees. International payments carry a flat fee of about $20. Add these up against your real monthly mix, because a business that pays mostly by card at 2.9% can spend far more on fees than on the plan itself.
Is Melio worth the price?
Melio is worth it for small US businesses that mainly need a cheap, simple way to pay vendors by ACH or card and reconcile in QuickBooks or Xero. The free Go plan is a real zero-cost entry point, and paying by card to earn rewards or hold cash can justify the 2.9% fee on its own. Where Melio is weaker value is invoice work: it does not focus on AI capture, PO matching, or deep multi-step approvals, so if your bottleneck is keying and routing invoices rather than sending the payment, a cheaper payment fee does not fix it. The honest test is whether your pain is the payment or the paperwork that comes before it. You can upload a real invoice into the AP automation workflow at the top of this page to see that difference right now.
Melio pricing vs the alternatives
Compared with other AP and payment tools, Melio sits at the small-business, low-cost end. BILL charges a published per-user monthly price and layers on payment fees, and is built for more approval structure. Tipalti adds global payment rails, tax and entity handling, and per-transaction fees for higher-volume and cross-border AP. AutoPayables is free to start with AI invoice capture, matching, and approvals and no per-invoice capture fee, which suits teams whose real cost is manual invoice handling. To weigh the whole field on cost, see the full AP automation pricing comparison and our guide to the best AP automation software. If you want a direct head-to-head, read Bill.com vs Melio, and for lighter or more automated options see our Melio alternatives.
Frequently asked questions
Melio has a free Go plan and three paid tiers in 2026: Core at $25 a month, Boost at $55, and Unlimited at $80, each lower on an annual commitment. The plan mainly sets your free ACH allowance. On top of it you pay per-payment fees for extra ACH transfers, card payments, checks, and international payments.
Melio's Go plan has no monthly fee and includes 5 free ACH payments a month plus QuickBooks or Xero sync. It is genuinely free to start. You still pay per-payment fees once you pass the free ACH allowance or use card, check, or international payments, so real cost depends on how you pay vendors.
After a plan's free ACH allowance, each extra ACH payment costs about $0.50. Card payments carry a flat 2.9% fee, mailed checks cost about $1.50 each, overnight checks run near $50, and international payments are a flat fee of about $20. Faster or instant transfers add their own fees on top.
Each Melio plan includes free ACH bank payments: 5 on Go, 20 on Core, 50 on Boost, and unlimited on the top tier. Once you use the allowance, each additional ACH transfer costs about $0.50. Heavy ACH users often save by moving up a tier rather than paying per-payment overage fees.
Melio focuses on paying bills by ACH, card, or check and syncing to accounting software, not on full invoice automation. It is light on AI invoice capture, purchase-order matching, and deep multi-step approval workflows. Teams whose bottleneck is keying and routing invoices usually need a dedicated AP automation tool alongside or instead of it.
Melio's free Go plan and lower paid tiers make it cheaper to start than Bill.com for very small businesses, especially if you pay only a few bills a month. Bill.com charges a per-user monthly price and offers more approval structure, so the cheaper option depends on your volume, user count, and how much automation you need.
See AP automation before you pick a plan
Upload one real vendor invoice, watch the AI capture and route it, and build your approval rules on the free plan. Compare the full workflow against any Melio tier before you commit.