Melio
B2B payments for small businesses: pay any vendor by ACH free, or by card (with a fee) even if the vendor only accepts checks
What it does
Melio is a B2B accounts-payable tool. You pay vendors by ACH (free) or by credit card (2.9% fee, but you earn card rewards and float the payment 30-60 days). Melio then delivers the payment to the vendor by ACH, check in the mail, or wire, regardless of how you paid. It plugs directly into QuickBooks Online and Xero so bills sync in and payments sync back. The value: you keep vendors happy (they get the payment however they want), you get card float and rewards, and you avoid writing paper checks or logging into six vendor portals.
Free tier
Yes
Setup
easy
Key features
Integrates with
QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, Gmail
Who this fits
- Small businesses paying 5-50 vendor bills per month
- Contractors and trades paying subs, suppliers, insurance, and equipment leases
- Agencies paying freelancers, contractors, and SaaS bills
- Consultants and professional-services firms managing vendor payments
- Any owner using their business credit card for cashflow / points and paying vendors that only accept ACH or check
- QuickBooks Online users who want AP to stop being a spreadsheet
Who it does NOT fit
- Businesses paying vendors internationally at scale (Melio's international is limited; Wise or Payoneer wins)
- Enterprise AP teams needing full three-way match, PO workflows, or ERP integration (Bill.com, Tipalti, or an ERP-native module wins)
- Businesses with under 3 vendor payments a month (overhead not worth it)
- Payroll (Melio does not do payroll; use Gusto or QuickBooks Payroll)
- Companies whose vendors bill in a currency other than USD as the primary flow
Pricing
Real gotchas
- The 2.9% card fee is the whole business model. It is fair for the float, but do not use card payments as your default or you will burn margin
- Bank verification (micro-deposits) takes 2-3 days on first setup. Onboard before you actually need to send a payment
- Payment delivery is not instant. Standard ACH takes 3-5 business days; checks take 5-7. Same-day ACH costs extra
- Approval workflows live on paid plans. Free plan is single-approver only
- QuickBooks sync is one-way for bill data (in) and payment data (back). Vendor edits should happen in QuickBooks, not Melio, or they drift
- International payment coverage is thin. Do not try to use Melio as your global AP tool
Integrations that matter
Otto’s take on this tool
Recommend Melio when: pain_points include "paying vendors" / "vendor bills" / "accounts payable" / "still writing checks" / "want to use credit card for float and rewards," and the user is on QuickBooks Online or Xero. This is the highest-fit AP tool for a 2-30 person business with vendor payments. Pairs with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and a business credit card program. Do NOT recommend for payroll, for enterprise AP, or for international-first businesses. If the user is on Bill.com and complains about cost, Melio is the downgrade path (cheaper, less featureful, better for SMB scale).
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Editor's curated reviews
1,625 reviews across TrustPilot - avg 3.4/5Curated by Otto from TrustPilot public reviews (fetched 2026-08-31). 1,625 total reviews at a 3.4 headline (77% 5-star, 16% 1-star). LTD-weighted math (4.24) vs headline 3.4 is a 0.84-star gap - within the < 1.0 distribution-headline ship threshold, but flagged: this is a recency-negative direction gap indicating recent complaint volume is dragging the headline below distribution math. Bimodal 77/16 split with a legitimate 1-star cluster centered on two specific patterns worth understanding before signing up: (1) KYC/verification-review holds (payment held while verification runs, sometimes 'refused' entirely) and (2) 1% 'Get Paid Today' expedited-payment fee that reviewers describe as inadequately disclosed. AP-automation tools attract this billing-friction complaint pattern universally (see also Bill.com class). Named-rep positive cluster (Nic, Noelia) shows the support layer works when reached. G2 aggregate (~4.4) checked for cross-verification only (delta ~1.0, within 1.5 tolerance). Verified as meliopayments.com the B2B payments platform, not conflated with any other Melio brand. Not user-submitted on Ottomately.
“Excellent, solved in no time.”
“Nic provided immediate service and was very helpful in answering my questions.”
“The process was straightforward without being arrogant, contrasting with my experience after Melio's verification issues.”
“They absolutely refused refunding a 1% Get Paid Today fee despite acknowledging the communication was confusing.”
“Verification process is a joke and there is no customer service.”
“They tried to take money out of our account again after cancellation, citing suspicious charges.”
“Chat support was less than unhelpful when resolving rejected payment issues.”
“Took the money out of my account. My account was suspended but I never got the money back.”
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