BILL vs Nickel
We give BILL a 2.6 GPA and Nickel a 2.8, out of 4.0. BILL grades higher on features and ease of use. Nickel grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
BILL
Bill pay, invoicing and free company cards for small businesses
Nickel
Free ACH invoicing and bill pay for US businesses
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABILLGood | 2.8GPANickelGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DGraded against its bill pay alternatives. A ten-person company paying 20 supplier bills by ACH pays $60.80 a month on Essentials: $49 for one user plus $11.80 in fees at $0.59 each. Nickel, Ramp and Brex send ACH free, and two-way QuickBooks or Xero sync needs Team at $65. | AGraded against its bill pay alternatives. A ten-person company paying 20 supplier bills a month by ACH pays $0 on the free Core plan, since ACH carries no fee on any plan. Checks are $2 and wires $25 if you need them, and Plus is $35 a month billed yearly. |
| Free plan and trial | CSpend & Expense is free: Divvy cards, budgets, receipts and reimbursements, though card and payment fees still apply. Bill pay and invoicing, the main job, need a paid plan, and the trial is offered in most cases with no length given. | BCore is free with 3 users, unlimited invoices and bills, free ACH, payment links and QuickBooks sync. A small business could live on it. The walls are 3 users and $25,000 a payment, and Plus has a 14-day trial. |
| Features | BThe whole job: a bills inbox with approval rules, payments by ACH, check or card, local-currency transfers to 130+ countries, invoices with auto-pay, Divvy cards with budgets, AI bill coding from Team and purchase orders on Corporate. | CBill pay and getting paid are done fully, with batch payments, approvals and vendor onboarding. But it's a smaller job than the category's: no expense reports or receipt tools are listed, and Xero or NetSuite need custom work on Pro. |
| Ease of use | A4.86 from 48,758 App Store ratings, the top band. There are approval rules and an accounting link to set up first, but people clearly get on with it once that's done. | CNo store rating on record. Paying and getting paid by ACH is simple, but there's QuickBooks to connect and vendors to onboard first. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, syncing with QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Dynamics and Acumatica, with an API. No desktop app is listed, and Essentials swaps data with QuickBooks and Xero by CSV only. | BWeb only, with native sync to QuickBooks Online and Desktop on every plan. Xero, NetSuite and Salesforce need the custom integration that comes with Pro at $300 a month, and so does the API. |
| Best for | bill pay with approvals and free company cards | free ACH bill pay and invoicing |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: BILL and Nickel. How we grade
Price against what you get
BILL starts at $49 a month for each person and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Nickel starts at $35 a month and scores 2.3.
BILL scores higher, and starts $14 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other spend and bill pay tools on the chart, none scores higher than BILL for less, and 8 score higher than Nickel for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- BILL starts at $49 per user / month for AP & AR, billing term not stated. Nickel starts at $35 per month, billed annually ($45 billed monthly).
- Only BILL lists iOS and Android apps.
- BILL also covers expense tracking and company cards.
At a glance
| BILL | Nickel | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $49 per user / month for AP & AR, billing term not stated | $35 per month, billed annually ($45 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | BILL Spend & Expense: corporate cards, budgets, expense tracking and reimbursements with no subscription or per-user fee. Card and payment fees still apply. | Nickel Core: 3 users, unlimited invoices and bills, free ACH, payment links and one payment page, QuickBooks sync and 2% APY on Nickel Balance, with a $25,000 limit per payment. |
| Free trial | Free trial of the AP & AR plans "in most cases"; length not stated | 14-day free trial of Nickel Plus |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | BILL Operations, LLC | Nickel Technology Inc. |
| Price read from | bill.com | nickel.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
BILL
- Small businesses that pay many supplier bills by ACH or check
- Accounting firms running bill pay for several clients
- Teams that want free company cards next to their bill pay
Nickel
- US businesses that collect large invoices by ACH
- Teams that want to stop paying card fees by moving customers to bank payments
- QuickBooks users who want free bill pay and receivables
Worth knowing
BILL
- Payments carry fees on every plan: $0.59 per ACH payment, $1.99 per mailed check, $19.99 per USD wire abroad, and 2.9% to pay a bill by card.
- The Essentials plan exchanges data with QuickBooks and Xero only by CSV file; automatic two-way sync starts on Team, and NetSuite or Sage Intacct needs Enterprise.
- Spend & Expense is provided by Divvy Pay LLC, the Divvy Card is issued by its bank partners, and credit lines depend on approval.
- Every Essentials and Team user pays the full seat price; cheaper approver-only seats come with Corporate and Enterprise.
Nickel
- Card payments cost 2.9% (another 1% for international cards), and you choose whether you or the customer pays; mailed checks cost $2 and wires $25.
- The free plan stops at 3 users and $25,000 per payment; Plus lifts that to unlimited users and $1 million.
- Native sync is QuickBooks Online and Desktop only; Xero, NetSuite or Salesforce need custom integration, included on Pro.
- Nickel says it is not a bank: banking services and its Visa commercial card are provided by Grasshopper Bank, N.A.
Key features
BILL
- Accounts payable
- Bills arrive in one inbox, are routed through approval rules and are paid by ACH, check, virtual card or card, with W-9s collected by an agent.
- Invoices and receivables
- Send one-off or recurring invoices, chase them with automatic reminders, and get paid by ACH or card with auto-charge and auto-pay.
- Spend & Expense with the Divvy Card
- Corporate cards with budgets and spending rules. Receipts are captured by photo or text message and matched to transactions.
- International payments
- Pay suppliers in more than 130 countries, in their local currency with no BILL fee beyond the exchange rate, or by USD wire.
- AI bill coding
- From the Team plan, the Invoice Coding Agent fills in line-by-line accounting codes on incoming bills.
- Procurement
- Purchase requests, purchase orders, tolerance rules and 2-way matching, included on Corporate and an add-on below it.
Nickel
- Free ACH both ways
- Sending and receiving standard ACH costs nothing on any plan; payments clear in two to three business days, a day faster on paid plans.
- Invoices and payment pages
- Branded payment links, hosted payment pages, QR codes and reminders. Plus adds recurring invoices, saved cards and banks, and autopay.
- Bill pay
- Unlimited bills a month, scheduled ahead or paid in batches, with approval workflows and a secure link that collects vendors' bank and tax details.
- Nickel Balance
- Money received can be held in a Nickel Balance earning 2% APY, where incoming ACH and card payments arrive instantly and expedited ACH is free.
- Penny AI
- From Plus, an AI assistant works from your email inbox, follows up on unpaid invoices and keeps the books reconciled.
- QuickBooks sync
- Native two-way sync with QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop on every plan, including the free one.
Plans
BILL
Spend & Expense$0
BILL Divvy Card, budgets, receipt capture, reimbursements and credit lines from $1,000 to $5M, subject to approval.
Essentials$49
per user / month, billing term not stated
Bill entry and approvals, payments by ACH, card or check, invoicing, W-9 collection. Syncs with accounting software by CSV only.
Team$65
per user / month, billing term not stated
Adds automatic two-way sync with QuickBooks and Xero, AI bill coding, custom user roles and cash flow forecasting.
Corporate$89
per user / month, billing term not stated
Adds custom approval policies, purchase orders and requests, cheaper approver-only users, single sign-on and multi-entity books.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds sync with NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Dynamics and QuickBooks Enterprise, 2- and 3-way matching, dual control and premium phone support.
Nickel
Nickel Core$0
3 users, $25,000 per-payment limit, invoices, bill pay, vendor onboarding, free ACH and QuickBooks Online and Desktop sync.
Nickel Plus$35
per month, billed annually ($45 billed monthly)
Unlimited users, $1M per-payment limit, faster payouts, recurring invoices, autopay, 1099 filing and the Penny AI assistant.
Nickel Pro$300
per month, billed annually ($375 billed monthly)
Adds API access, vendor verification, single sign-on, the option to turn off card payments and a dedicated account manager.
EnterpriseCustom
Multi-entity support, custom ERP and data warehouse integrations, custom per-payment pricing and a dedicated support line.
Ways to pay less
BILL
No public discounts listed.
Nickel
- Annual discount
Save 20% with yearly billing
Nickel Plus costs $35 a month billed yearly instead of $45 monthly, and Nickel Pro $300 instead of $375.
