Melio’s pricing looks simple on the surface, free ACH, one flat card fee, but the fine print around which tier you actually need and when fees stack up trips a lot of people up. I run E-Commerce Paradise, where I teach high-ticket dropshipping, and here’s exactly what you’ll pay.
Start on Melio’s Free Plan, No Credit Card Required
5 free ACH transfers a month at $0, no subscription commitment to test it out.
Melio Pricing at a Glance
| Plan | Monthly Price | Free ACH Transfers/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Go | $0 | 5 |
| Core | $25 (~$20 billed annually) | 20 |
| Boost | $55 (~$44 billed annually) | 50 |
| Unlimited | $80 (~$64 billed annually) | Unlimited |
On top of whichever plan you pick, per-transaction fees apply regardless of tier: a flat 2.9% fee for paying by credit or debit card, $0.50 per ACH transfer once you exceed your plan’s free allotment, and a 1% fee (capped at $75) for fast/same-day payments.
The Go Plan (Free)
The free Go plan covers 5 ACH transfers a month at no cost, which is genuinely enough for a lot of smaller stores paying just one or two suppliers regularly. There’s no credit card required to sign up and no time limit on the free tier, it isn’t a trial. If your bill pay volume is light, this alone might be all you ever need.
Core, Boost, and Unlimited
Once you’re paying more than 5 vendors a month by ACH, the paid tiers start making sense purely on the free-transfer math: Core ($25/mo) covers 20 free ACH transfers, Boost ($55/mo) covers 50, and Unlimited ($80/mo) removes the cap entirely. Paying annually knocks roughly 20% off each tier.
Do the simple math before upgrading: if you’re only running 8-10 ACH payments a month, staying on Go and paying the $0.50 overage fee on the extras is usually cheaper than jumping to Core. The paid tiers only pay for themselves once your transfer volume clearly exceeds what the free allotment covers.
Sync Every Bill Straight Into QuickBooks or Xero
Paid plans auto-sync bills, payments, and vendors in real time, no manual entry.
The 2.9% Card Fee, When It’s Worth Paying
Paying a vendor by card when they only accept ACH or check costs a flat 2.9%, uniform across every plan tier. This only makes financial sense in specific situations: you need the payment float before your card statement is due, you’re earning meaningful rewards or cashback on the spend, or you’re genuinely out of cash on hand and the fee is cheaper than missing a payment deadline. For a routine payment to a vendor who accepts free ACH, paying by card is simply an unnecessary cost.
Fast Payment Fees
If you need a payment to land same-day rather than the standard ~3 business days for regular ACH, Melio’s Fast ACH option costs 1% of the payment amount, capped at $75. On a $3,000 supplier payment, that’s a $30 fee to skip the wait, worth it if a supplier is holding your order for payment, not worth it as a default habit.
International Payment Fees
Paying an international supplier in USD carries a $20 flat fee. This is also the part of Melio reviewers flag most often for friction and delays, so if a meaningful share of your supplier relationships are overseas, test a smaller payment first before routing a large order payment through the platform.
Contractor and 1099 Payments
Paying 1099 contractors, including W-9 collection and year-end 1099 e-filing, is included on paid plans. If you’re 1099’ing multiple VAs, designers, or freelancers each year, consolidating that paperwork into the same tool you use for supplier payments is a real time savings worth factoring into which tier you choose.
Comparing the Cost to Percentage-Based Alternatives
The reason Melio’s pricing model matters is the comparison point: platforms that charge a percentage of every transaction, rather than a flat monthly fee plus free ACH, get expensive fast at high order values. On a $2,000 supplier payment, a 1% platform fee is $20, Melio’s free ACH tier makes that same payment cost nothing beyond your monthly subscription (if any). This is exactly why flat-fee bill pay tools tend to win out for high-ticket supplier payments specifically.
Budgeting Bill Pay as a Fixed Cost
Treat whichever Melio tier you land on as a small, predictable line item in your monthly overhead, similar to how you’d budget other recurring software costs when running your business. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s guidance on managing operating expenses recommends tracking recurring software costs against the time or money they actually save, according to the SBA’s business finance management guide, and bill pay software is a clear case where the paid tiers should only be justified by real, measurable transfer volume.
Watch for Changing Free-Tier Limits
Some users have reported that features previously included free have shifted behind paid tiers over time, a common pattern across fintech platforms as they mature. Always check Melio’s live pricing page before committing to a specific tier, since exact numbers can shift, and don’t assume a feature that was free a year ago still is.
Factoring Fees Into Your Supplier Cash Flow Planning
Whichever tier and payment method you choose, build the actual fee into how you plan supplier cash flow, not just the invoice total. A $5,000 supplier payment funded by card at 2.9% is really a $5,145 outflow, and that difference matters when you’re timing payments against incoming customer revenue. The Federal Trade Commission’s guidance for small businesses on managing payment costs recommends treating processing and transfer fees as a real line item in cash flow forecasting rather than an afterthought, according to the FTC’s small business guidance hub.
Securing Your Account Regardless of Which Tier You Choose
Whatever plan you land on, the account security basics matter more than the pricing tier itself: use a unique, strong password, enable two-factor authentication if Melio offers it, and avoid accessing your account on shared or public devices. This applies to any platform handling business payments, not just Melio, and follows general guidance from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s best practices for protecting financial accounts.
FAQ
Is there a free plan with no time limit?
Yes, the Go plan is permanently free at $0/month with 5 ACH transfers included, it isn’t a trial.
What’s the cheapest way to pay a vendor?
Free ACH within your plan’s monthly allotment is always the cheapest option. Card payments (2.9%) and fast payments (1%, capped at $75) both carry additional fees.
Do I need a paid plan to sync with QuickBooks?
The free Go plan includes limited syncing (10 syncs/month); real-time unlimited sync requires a paid tier.
Is there a setup fee?
No, there’s no setup fee on any plan. You only pay the monthly subscription (if you choose a paid tier) plus any per-transaction fees.
Does the card fee apply to me or the vendor?
The 2.9% card fee applies to you, the payer, when you choose to fund a payment by card. The vendor receives their payment by ACH, check, or wire regardless.
Bottom Line
For most stores paying a handful of domestic suppliers or contractors monthly, Melio’s free Go plan or the $25 Core tier will cover the bulk of your bill pay at little to no cost. The fees to watch are the 2.9% card charge (only worth it for float or rewards) and the $20 international fee (test small first). Run your actual monthly transfer volume against the tiers above before assuming you need to pay for anything.
Getting your payment infrastructure right matters, but it’s still secondary to the fundamentals. If you haven’t yet locked in your niche or found reliable suppliers, those decisions carry more weight than which bill-pay tier you pick.
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Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
