Mercury vs Found in 2026: Pricing, Wires, FDIC Coverage and Which to Pick

If you are choosing between Mercury and Found, the decision comes down to one question: what kind of business entity do you have? Mercury is built for registered entities like LLCs and corporations. Found is built for the self-employed, including sole proprietors who have never formed a company. At Ecommerce Paradise, I help students and clients set up the legal and financial side of high-ticket dropshipping stores, and this bank question comes up constantly right after the LLC is formed.

Quick note before we start: some links in this article are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you open an account through them, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend what I would tell a client to use. Every price and feature below was checked against the Mercury and Found pricing pages in October 2026, and where a page did not show something, I say “not shown” instead of guessing.

The short version: if you have an LLC or corporation and an EIN, Mercury is usually the better fit, mostly because of free wires and higher FDIC coverage. If you are a sole proprietor filing a Schedule C and you want taxes built into your bank account, Found is the better fit. Most high-ticket dropshipping operators should form the LLC first, which I cover in my business formation guide.

Mercury vs Found at a Glance

Here is the side-by-side summary. Anything marked “not shown” was not listed on the vendor’s own pages when I checked.

How the Pricing Actually Works

Both platforms have a $0 plan that covers the basics, so the real pricing question is when a paid plan earns its keep. The numbers below are what each pricing page showed in October 2026.

Mercury Pricing

The base Mercury plan is $0 per month. Mercury Plus is $29.90 per month and adds ACH debit invoicing at $1 per transaction, recurring invoices, unlimited 1099 filings, priority support, $50 off LegalZoom compliance plans, and six months of free Xero. Mercury Pro is $299 per month and adds a relationship manager, $0 ACH debit invoicing, and NetSuite categorizations on top of the Plus perks. Mercury mentions a 15% annual discount, but the annual figures were not clearly shown, so check the page before you budget.

Mercury also sells add-ons. Books is listed at $35 per month and Payroll at $100 per month plus $50 per person paid, with both waived until December 31, 2026. I covered the payroll details in a separate news post when it launched.

Found Pricing

Found is $0 on the free plan. Found Plus is $35 per month or $315 per year, which Found describes as saving 25%. Found Pro is $80 per month or $720 per year. Both paid plans come with one 30-day free trial, and the plan you pick is charged automatically after the trial ends.

The free Found plan is generous: a Mastercard debit card, team cards with spending controls, up to 20 Pockets, expense categorization, receipt scanning, a profit and loss view, real-time tax estimates, contractor payments with W-9 collection and 1099 e-filing, and unlimited invoicing. Plus adds 1.50% APY on balances up to $20,000, transaction import, custom rules and tags, and priority phone support. Pro adds 2.50% APY on all balances with no cap, 1% cash back on card purchases, a dedicated account manager, a metal debit card, free paper checks, and discounted wires.

Is Found Plus or Pro Worth It?

Run the math before you pay. The most Found Plus can pay you in interest is 1.50% of $20,000, which is $300 per year. The annual plan costs $315. On interest alone, Plus does not pay for itself, so you would need to value the phone support, rules, and tags to justify it.

Pro is different if you hold real cash. At $720 per year, Pro needs about $28,800 sitting in the account just to earn back its fee at 2.50% APY. Keep $60,000 there and you earn $1,500 in interest against the $720 fee, before counting 1% cash back. The rates are variable, so treat this as an estimate and recheck the page.

Wires and Fees: Where Mercury Pulls Ahead

For a dropshipping business that pays suppliers by wire, this is the section that matters most. Mercury shows free domestic wires to send and receive. International USD wires are free to send, and you can pick SHA, which is free but may have intermediary fees deducted from the recipient, or OUR, which is a flat $15 with intermediary fees charged to Mercury. Non-USD wires carry a 1% conversion fee.

Found charges $15 for an outgoing domestic wire on the Free and Plus plans and $10 on Pro. Incoming domestic wires are included. Found did not show international wire pricing.

Here is what that means in practice. If you send 20 supplier wires a year, Found costs about $300 on the free plan and Mercury costs $0. At 100 wires a year, the gap is $1,500. That is the main place where the choice has a direct dollar cost for a store that buys from US brands and distributors.

If you are still working out who you will be paying, my guide on finding suppliers for high-ticket dropshipping walks through how those accounts get approved and how payment terms usually work.

FDIC Coverage: What the Numbers Mean

Neither Mercury nor Found is a bank. Mercury says banking is provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., both Members FDIC. Found says it is a financial technology company, not a bank, and that its banking is provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC.

Mercury states that it offers up to $5M in FDIC insurance. The way it works is that partner bank sweep networks spread your deposits across up to 20 FDIC-insured banks. Sweep participation is opt-in, so confirm it is turned on if coverage matters to you. Found states coverage of up to $250,000 per depositor for each account ownership category, and it notes that FDIC insurance only covers the failure of an insured bank.

That last point applies to every fintech account. FDIC rules are worth reading once, and the FDIC deposit insurance page explains what is and is not covered. If you hold a large operating balance, spreading it or using the sweep option is a decision to make deliberately.

Tax Tools: Where Found Pulls Ahead

Found is built around the self-employed tax workflow. Its pricing page lists real-time tax estimates on the free plan, along with Schedule C and 1120/1120-S form generation, and 1099 e-filing on every plan. In-app quarterly federal tax payments are limited to Plus and Pro, and only for people who file a Schedule C.

If you file a Schedule C with the IRS, which is what a sole proprietor or a single-member LLC taxed as a sole proprietorship does, having estimates and set-asides built into your bank is useful. It cuts down on the bookkeeping you would otherwise do in a separate app.

Mercury is not a tax tool. Its Plus and Pro plans include unlimited 1099 filings, so contractor reporting is covered, but I did not see tax estimates or Schedule C generation listed. Most Mercury users pair the bank with accounting software like FreshBooks or QuickBooks and a tax professional.

Who Can Open Each Account

Mercury’s support center states that it supports single-member and multi-member LLCs, C corporations, and S corporations (an S corp is a tax election, so Mercury asks for the underlying formation document). Partnerships, LLPs, and non-profit corporations can hold a standard business account. Sole proprietorships are not supported, because there is no state formation document to verify, and trusts are also listed as unsupported.

Found’s homepage FAQ describes its customers as sole proprietorships, single and multi-member LLCs, S corps, and C corps. That is a description of who it serves rather than a formal eligibility list, so confirm during signup.

To open an LLC account at either bank you will want your IRS employer identification number, and for Mercury your formation documents as well.

If you do not have those yet, Bizee is one of the two formation services I point most beginners toward. The other is Northwest Registered Agent, which is worth a look if privacy matters to you.

Mercury Treasury and Earning Interest on Idle Cash

Mercury Treasury is a separate product with a $250,000 minimum across your Mercury accounts. The Treasury page lists yields net of fees: 3.30% in the government money market fund and 3.63% in the ultra-short-term bond fund for balances between $250K and $2M, rising to a top listed yield of 4.08% at $20M to $50M. Mercury charges a management fee of 0.15% to 0.6% depending on total deposits. Yields change, so check the page before you plan around it.

At the $250K entry point, 3.30% works out to roughly $8,250 per year. That matters only if you really have that much idle cash. Mercury lists sole-proprietorship LLCs among the business types that are excluded, and partnerships are not eligible for a Treasury account.

For most stores under that threshold, Found’s 2.50% Pro rate or simply keeping a lean balance is the more realistic comparison. I would not choose a bank for a yield you will not qualify for.

What Changed at Mercury in 2026

Mercury applied for a national bank charter in December 2025, and in April 2026 it announced conditional approval from the OCC to establish Mercury Bank, N.A., which would be headquartered in Utah. The company said it still needs final OCC authorization along with pending FDIC and Federal Reserve approvals, and that existing accounts, products, and support stay the same during this phase. It also said it will keep working with its existing partner banks while it builds out the new bank.

For you, nothing changes today. It is worth knowing about if you care where your deposits are held long term.

Which One Fits Your Business

Sole proprietor or freelancer with no LLC

Found, because Mercury will not open an account without a registered entity. Treat it as a stepping stone. Forming an LLC is inexpensive relative to the liability protection and supplier credibility you get, and my high-ticket dropshipping guide explains why brand suppliers usually want to see a real business entity.

Single-member LLC filing Schedule C

Both accept you. Pick Found if built-in tax estimates and forms save you real time, and pick Mercury if you send wires regularly or hold more than $250,000. Many people in this group open Mercury for business banking and use accounting software for taxes.

Multi-member LLC, S corp, or C corp

Mercury is the cleaner fit. Found lists S corp and C corp support, but its Schedule C tools are aimed at a different filer, and the 1120 and 1120-S form generation it lists is the part that applies to you. Compare how much you value that against free wires.

High-ticket dropshipping operator

This is the group I work with most. You form an LLC, get an EIN, open a business account, and then start applying to brand suppliers. Mercury fits that path well: free domestic wires for supplier payments, higher FDIC coverage while pre-paid funds sit in the account, and a clean setup for connecting accounting tools. Found makes sense only for the stretch before the LLC exists. Once you are researching a high-ticket niche and ready to build, form the LLC and move on.

Service business with contractors

Both handle 1099s. Found includes 1099 e-filing on every plan, while Mercury includes unlimited 1099 filings on Plus and Pro. If you pay contractors regularly and want to stay on a free plan, Found has the edge.

Want the LLC, EIN, banking, and store set up for you? My team can build the whole thing through our done-for-you high-ticket store service → If you would rather learn it yourself with guidance, look at my coaching program →

Switching Between the Two

The usual path runs from Found to Mercury. A sole proprietor starts on Found, forms an LLC as the business grows, and then moves the main operating account to Mercury once wires and supplier payments become routine. Plan for a transition period where both accounts are open, because every vendor, payment processor, and recurring bill needs its new routing details.

A sensible order is to open the new account, move your payment processor payouts first, update vendor billing second, and close the old account last. Keep the old account open for a few weeks so nothing falls through the cracks. If you want the fuller walkthrough, my guide to opening a business bank account for your LLC covers the documents and steps in more detail.

Going from Mercury back to Found is rare, and it usually happens only when someone dissolves the LLC. Dissolving a company to save on bank fees is almost never worth it.

FAQ: Mercury vs Found

Can a sole proprietor open a Mercury account?
No. Mercury’s support center says sole proprietorships are not supported because there is no state formation document to verify. You need an LLC, corporation, or another registered entity. Mercury accepts single-member LLCs, so forming one is the usual fix.

Does Found charge for wires?
Yes. Outgoing domestic wires cost $15 on the Free and Plus plans and $10 on Pro, and incoming domestic wires are included. International wire pricing was not shown on the pricing page. Mercury shows free domestic wires to send and receive.

How much FDIC coverage does each one offer?
Found states up to $250,000 per depositor for each ownership category through Lead Bank. Mercury states up to $5M through partner bank sweep networks that spread deposits across up to 20 banks, and sweep participation is opt-in. Neither company is a bank, and FDIC insurance only covers the failure of an insured bank.

Is Found Plus worth $35 a month?
Not on interest alone. The 1.50% APY applies to balances up to $20,000, so the most you can earn is about $300 per year against a $315 annual price. Pro at $80 a month needs roughly $28,800 in the account at 2.50% to cover its yearly fee through interest. Decide based on the phone support and extra tools you will actually use.

Which is better for a high-ticket dropshipping store?
For most operators it is Mercury, once the LLC and EIN exist. Free domestic wires, higher FDIC coverage, and clean accounting integrations fit a store that pays suppliers regularly. Found is a reasonable placeholder before you form the company.

My Recommendation

If you have an LLC and an EIN, open Mercury and pair it with accounting software like FreshBooks. If you are still a sole proprietor, Found will do the job until your company is formed, and then you can move over. Whichever you choose, keep business and personal money separate from day one, because that habit protects your LLC’s liability shield and makes tax time far easier.

Pricing and features change often at both companies, so confirm the current numbers on the Mercury pricing page before you commit. Do the same on the Found pricing page if you are leaning that way.

If you are earlier in the journey, my free mini course is the best starting point. The masterclass goes deeper on building the whole business.

Related Articles

If you found this useful, these guides go deeper on related topics:

• Mercury vs Chase in 2026: Free Digital-First Business Banking vs Traditional Branch Banking, Which Fits Your Business?
• Mercury Bank vs Relay Bank in 2026: Tech-Forward Ecommerce Banking vs Profit First Multi-Account Architecture, Which Fits Your Business?
• Best Business Bank Accounts for Ecommerce Entrepreneurs in 2026
• Business Formation for Dropshipping: LLC, EIN, Licenses and Banking (2026 Guide)
• High-Ticket Dropshipping: What It Is and How to Start (2026 Guide)

Trevor Fenner

Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and world traveler from Seattle, Washington, 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.

He maintains homes in Seattle and Bali, spends most of the year overseas, and usually returns to Seattle for about a month each summer.

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