Melio
Pay vendor bills by ACH, check, or card, collect invoices, and sync the trail to QuickBooks or Xero.
Best for
US shops that already keep books in QuickBooks or Xero and want cheaper vendor bill pay than BILL, with a free Go plan or Core when they need live sync.
Not ideal if
Teams that need BILL-style procurement and in-product 1099 e-file, or whose real problem is employee cards and receipts rather than vendor invoices.
Standout
A free-forever Go plan plus Core at a published $25/month for unlimited QuickBooks Online or Xero sync.
About Melio
Melio is the accounts payable and receivable layer, not the ledger. Vendor invoices land by upload, email inbox, Gmail import, or a pull from QuickBooks Online or Xero. You review the lines, approve them if you set a workflow, and pay by ACH, mailed check, card, wire, or an international transfer. The vendor does not need a Melio account. Customer invoices go the other way: you send a branded invoice or a payment link, and they pay by ACH (free to you) or card (2.9%, you pick who covers it). On Core and above, bills, vendors, invoices, and payments sync both ways with QuickBooks Online or Xero. You still close those books.
It does not replace QuickBooks Online or Xero. BILL is the heavier AP/AR seat ladder with a firm console and 1099 e-file in the product. Ramp is card-first spend, not a vendor-invoice inbox. Kick replaces the ledger instead of sitting next to it. Wave is a free cash-basis file with invoicing, not a dedicated payables rail. Xero completed its purchase of Melio in October 2025. Melio.com still runs on its own and still syncs to QuickBooks. Melio's job is capture, pay, collect, and write the trail back to the file you already have.
People who stick usually want cheaper bill pay than BILL: a free Go plan for a handful of ACH payments, or Core when they need live QuickBooks or Xero sync. Firms get a free Unlimited workspace and discounted client plans. Pay-by-card when the vendor only takes ACH is why some owners stay.
What people who used it say
What they tend to like
Cheaper bill pay than BILL
r/QuickBooks and r/Bookkeeping treat standalone Melio as the lower-cost AP path when the job is pay the bill and sync QBO.
Standalone Melio over in-QBO bill pay
Intuit community and Reddit users say a separate Melio login is more reliable and cheaper than the old QBO bill-pay-powered-by-Melio add-on.
Free inbound ACH and pay-by-card
Owners cite $0 to collect by bank transfer, and the ability to put a vendor who does not take cards on a credit card.
What they hesitate about
Go looks free until the caps hit
Unlimited QBO/Xero sync and W-9/1099 start on Core. Stay on Go and you get 5 ACH and 10 synced payments.
ACH float and the old QBO add-on
Official standard ACH is up to 3 business days. Older QBO-embedded Melio threads complain about slowness; Intuit later replaced that rail with its own bill pay.
Not an expense tool, and sync can drop
r/smallbusiness: Melio will not track expenses. r/quickbooksonline: the QBO connection is usually fine and then breaks and needs a reconnect.
How it hits your books
- Replaces your ledger
- No
- QuickBooks Online
- Partial
- Xero
- Partial
- Multi-entity
- Partial
- Inventory
- No
- 1099s
- Partial
- Payroll
- No
You review coded bills and collected invoices in Melio, then sync into QuickBooks Online or Xero on Core+ (Go stops after 10 payments). Close is still reconcile and exception cleanup in the ledger. Help says the sync fires when a bill, payment, or vendor is created, edited, or deleted; you can also Sync now.
Invite the accountant on Core and above, or let the firm run the free Unlimited accountant workspace. 1099s leave through Tax1099 on Core+ (Tax1099 fees apply). The general ledger and the tax return still live in QuickBooks, Xero, or the CPA's software.
Images
Features
Capture bills into one inbox
Upload, photograph, email to a dedicated inbox, import from Gmail or Amazon Business, or pull unpaid bills from QuickBooks Online or Xero. Melio fills vendor, amount, line items, and due date. You review before you pay. Advanced line items start on Core. Classes and locations start on Boost.
Pay by ACH, check, card, or wire
All plans. Free ACH each month: Go 5, Core 20, Boost 50, Unlimited uncapped, then $0.50. Published extras: check $1.50, wire $10, card 2.9%, same-day ACH or instant 1% ($75 max). Official help: standard ACH up to 3 business days. The vendor does not need a Melio account.
Two-way sync on Core and above
Go syncs only the first 10 payments either way. Core and above: unlimited QuickBooks Online and Xero. Boost adds QuickBooks Desktop. Unlimited adds NetSuite. Vendor credits sync from QuickBooks Online only, and only on Boost+. You still close in those books.
Approvals and extra seats
Go is one user with no approval chain and no batch pay. Core: extra users $10/mo ($8 billed annually), amount-based and multiple approvers, batch schedule, combine bills to one vendor. Boost adds per-vendor, per-scheduler, and gradual approvals. Unlimited: unlimited seats.
Invoices out, payments in
AR is on every plan. Create invoices and share payment links. Inbound ACH is free. Inbound card is 2.9% (you or the customer). Branded invoices start on Core. Customers do not need a Melio account.
W-9 collection and 1099 via Tax1099
Core, Boost, and Unlimited: request W-9s, TIN match, then sync to Tax1099 for 1099 e-file. Tax1099's own fees apply. Go does not include W-9 or 1099 sync. Melio does not e-file 1099s itself.
Pricing
Go is $0 for one user and 5 free ACH a month, then $0.50 each, but live QuickBooks or Xero sync stops after 10 payments. A two-person QBO shop that wants unlimited sync pays Core: $25 + $10 for the second user ($35/mo, or $28/mo billed annually) plus $0.50 after 20 ACH. Five Core seats are $25 + $40 = $65/mo before payments. A few hundred extra ACH payments can beat that software bill; Unlimited at $80/mo ($64 billed annually) with unlimited ACH and unlimited seats is the volume math. Checks are $1.50. Card pay-out is 2.9%. Standard ACH is up to 3 business days unless you buy same-day or instant (1%, $75 max). Firms get Unlimited free; clients cannot stay on Go and get a 45-day trial, then published 30–45% accountant off. First 90 days unlock paid features; after that, unpaid accounts fall back to Go and premium-feature data is deleted.
Go
One user paying a handful of bills. Fine if you do not need unlimited QuickBooks or Xero sync.
- 1 user, no approval workflows
- 5 free ACH/month, then $0.50
- Pay by ACH, check, card, or wire
- AI bill capture and dedicated inbox
- Free AR invoices and payment links
- QuickBooks Online and Xero sync limited to the first 10 payments
Core
The usual plan for a QuickBooks Online or Xero shop that wants live unlimited sync.
- 20 free ACH/month, then $0.50
- Unlimited QuickBooks Online and Xero sync
- Batch payments and custom approval workflows
- Extra users $10/mo ($8/mo billed annually)
- W-9 collection and Tax1099 1099 sync
- Branded invoices, AI assistant, priority chat
Boost
More approvers, QuickBooks Desktop, and vendor credits from QuickBooks Online.
- 50 free ACH/month, then $0.50
- QuickBooks Desktop sync
- Apply vendor credits (QuickBooks Online only)
- Advanced user roles and gradual approvals
- Classes and locations
- Premium phone support
Unlimited
High ACH volume or a larger team. Unlimited seats and unlimited free ACH.
- Unlimited free ACH
- Unlimited user seats
- NetSuite sync
- Everything in Boost
Platinum
Invite tier for high card volume (FAQ: over $300K/month in card payments). Quote only.
- Custom transaction and card fees
- Priority payment processing
- Custom integrations and API access
- White-glove account management
Integrations
Platforms
Audience
Pick something else instead of Melio
BILL
Pick BILL instead if you need the firm console, heavier approval and procurement, or 1099 e-file inside the AP product rather than a Tax1099 sync.
Ramp
Pick Ramp instead if the problem is employee cards, merchant locks, and a receipt chase. Melio is vendor invoices, not a card program.
Kick
Pick Kick instead if you want the books to live in a replacement ledger. Melio sits next to QuickBooks or Xero; it does not replace the file.
Wave
Pick Wave instead if you want free invoicing and a simple cash-basis file and you do not need a dedicated bill-pay rail.