Is Melio really free?

Yes — Melio's Go plan is free forever for one user, with 5 free ACH payments a month (a small per-payment fee applies after that, per the vendor's published pricing as of October 2026). Paid plans unlock more: Core from around $25/month with 20 free ACH, QBO/Xero sync, and approval workflows; higher tiers add users, free ACH volume, and integrations. Check Melio's current pricing page before committing — plans change.

Can Melio pay vendors with a credit card?

Yes — this is Melio's signature feature. You can put a vendor bill on a credit or debit card even where the vendor does not accept cards: Melio charges the card and pays the vendor by their preferred method. Card payments carry a fee of roughly 2.9% (vendor-published; check current terms), so it works best as cash-flow management — float a big bill a cycle, earn the card rewards, pay the fee knowingly.

Does Melio sync with QuickBooks and Xero?

Yes. QuickBooks Online and Xero sync are included on the paid Core plan and above, with unlimited sync there; the free Go plan caps syncs. Higher tiers reach QuickBooks Desktop (Boost) and NetSuite (Unlimited). Payment and bill status flows back to the ledger two-way.

How does Melio compare to BILL?

Melio wins the entry: a free tier, card payments on any vendor, and approval workflows at a lower price. BILL wins the depth: per-user pricing that buys deeper approval hierarchies, broader payment rails, and the category's most mature accountant partner program. See our full [BILL vs Melio comparison](/compare/bill-com-vs-melio) for the side-by-side.

Melio Review (2027): Bill Pay for Small Business

The short answer: Melio is the bill-pay platform for small businesses that want to start free and pay only when they scale — a free-forever Go plan with 5 free ACH a month, pay-any-vendor credit card flexibility, and approval workflows plus QuickBooks/Xero sync from the Core plan up (published pricing as of October 2026; check current terms). It gives up top-end automation depth to BILL in exchange for the lowest entry price in the category.

Melio's bet is the SMB owner who is still paying bills by hand or inside the bank's portal. It digitizes that workflow — bills inbox, AI bill capture, scheduled and batch payments — without demanding a per-user subscription on day one. Our assessment is editorial research based on vendor documentation and published pricing pages, not hands-on testing; prices change, so verify current rates before committing.

Who it's for#

US-based small businesses paying vendor bills — contractors, suppliers, rent, utilities — and the accounting firms that run client bill pay. Best fit at low-to-mid bill volume where the AP team is one to a few people and the GL is QuickBooks Online or Xero. Higher-volume and multi-entity businesses have a dedicated Platinum tier with custom pricing.

What we liked#

The free tier is real. Melio Go costs nothing forever: one user, 5 free ACH payments a month (published allowance as of October 2026; check current terms), invoice creation, and payment links. For a micro business, that covers the actual bill-pay job.
Pay any vendor by card. Melio charges your card and settles with the vendor by their preferred rail — ACH, check, wire — even where cards are not accepted. The ~2.9% card fee (vendor-published; verify current terms) buys float and rewards on bills that would otherwise drain cash same-week.
Payment rails for every situation. ACH, paper check, wire, same-day and instant options, international payments in USD and local currencies, and pay-over-time financing on qualifying accounts.
Approvals and controls on paid plans. Core adds per-vendor, per-amount, and gradual multi-step approvals with defined roles — enough structure for a small team without an enterprise rollout.
Tax-season hooks. W-9 collection with TIN validation and 1099 automation that syncs with Tax1099 for e-filing come built into the paid tiers.

What we didn't#

The useful tier is paid. QBO/Xero sync, approvals, batch payments, and multi-user access all start at Core (from around $25/month as published as of October 2026; check current pricing). The free plan is a solo tool.
Card fees add up. 2.9% on a card-heavy payables mix is a real cost — model it before making card payments the default.
Per-user fees on mid tiers. Core and Boost add $10/month per additional user (or less billed annually, per published pricing; verify), which narrows the gap to BILL for growing teams.

Strengths

Free-forever plan with 5 free ACH payments a month
Pay any vendor by credit card, even where cards are not accepted
Full payment rails: ACH, check, wire, same-day, international
Approval workflows, roles, and W-9/1099 tooling on paid plans

Trade-offs

QBO/Xero sync, approvals, and batch pay need the Core plan or higher
Card payments carry a ~2.9% fee
Per-user fees on Core and Boost narrow the price gap at team scale

Pricing#

Melio prices by plan (all figures vendor-published as of October 2026 — check current pricing):

Go — free forever, one user, 5 free ACH/month (small fee per ACH after; check current terms), card payments, invoicing and payment links.
Core — from $25/month ($20/month billed annually) as listed October 2026, 20 free ACH/month, unlimited QBO/Xero sync, batch payments, custom approval workflows, W-9 collection, 1099 automation, AI assistant; $10/month per additional user.
Boost — from $55/month ($44/month billed annually) as listed October 2026, 50 free ACH/month, QuickBooks Desktop sync, advanced user roles, premium phone support.
Unlimited — from $80/month ($64/month billed annually) as listed October 2026, unlimited free ACH, unlimited user seats, NetSuite sync.
Platinum — custom pricing for high-volume businesses.

Every paid plan currently opens with a 90-day trial of the full feature set (vendor promotion as published; check current terms). Card payments carry a ~2.9% fee across plans, and same-day or instant rails carry their own fees.

Melio vs BILL#

BILL is the deeper AP platform — per-user pricing from $49/user/month (published; check current terms), layered approvals, and the accountant partner program firms standardize on. Melio wins the entry price, the card flexibility, and the free tier; BILL wins approval depth and the practice-side relationship. The full breakdown is in our BILL vs Melio comparison, and the incumbent's profile is in the BILL review.

Verdict#

Melio is the right first bill-pay platform for a small business: start on the free tier, put the occasional big bill on a card for float, and step up to Core when approvals and ledger sync become the job. Teams that outgrow it — layered approvals, many seats, firm-side standardization — graduate to BILL, usually without regret and rarely before they need to.