Mercury vs Novo (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Mercury and Novo share a 3.0 GPA, both have a free plan, and Novo has no paid plan to buy, against $29.90 a month for Mercury.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Mercury grades higher on features. Novo grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mercury
Business banking with cards, expenses, bill pay and invoicing
Which one is for you
Pick Mercury if
- Fits if you run a startup and want cards, bill pay and invoicing on a $0 account
- Works for companies that send USD payments and sync to QuickBooks or Xero
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you use Android, as only web and iPhone are listed
- Pricey if you want ACH debit invoicing at $0 or a relationship manager, which sit on Pro at $299 a month
- Watch out: Mercury isn't an FDIC-insured bank, as banking comes from Choice Financial Group and Column N.A.
- Watch out: non-USD international wires carry a 1% exchange fee and non-USD card transactions 3%
- Watch out: Books is $35 a month and Payroll $100 plus $50 a person, both waived only until 31 December 2026
Pick Novo if
- Fits if you're a freelancer or small business that wants checking with no monthly fee
- Works for sellers who connect Stripe, Square, PayPal or Shopify to their account
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need real expense controls, as the pages say little about them
- Not for you if you send wires often: the pages give no fee schedule for them
- Watch out: Novo is a fintech, not a bank, with banking from Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A.
- Watch out: Novo Payroll is listed from 17 November 2026 at $24 a month plus $5 per employee
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAMercuryVery good | 3.0GPANovoVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BThe Mercury plan is $0, with Plus at $29.90 a month and Pro at $299 on yearly billing. The core is free, so the paid plans are optional. | ABusiness checking with no monthly fees, minimums or transaction limits. That's free and substantial. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe $0 plan has no monthly fee or minimum balance, with cards, expense management, invoicing and bill pay. A 30-day free trial of Plus is offered. | AFree outright: debit cards, invoicing, free standard ACH, incoming wires and Reserves buckets, with no cap a normal person would reach. |
| Features | BCompany cards, expense management, bill pay and payments, invoicing and accounting integrations on the free plan. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core work. | CChecking, debit cards, invoicing, payments and Reserves. The pages describe expense management and bill pay in less detail than checking and invoicing. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You open a business bank account, which takes setup and verification. | CNo usable store rating on record: the page shows 4.8 on the App Store and 4.5 on Google Play without the number of ratings. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb and iPhone, with QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite. No Android or desktop app listed. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe, Square, PayPal, Shopify and Gusto. No desktop app. |
| Best for | online business banking for startups | free business checking for independent businesses |
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: Mercury and Novo. How we grade
Price against what you get
Mercury starts at $29.90 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Novo has no paid plan and scores 2.3.
Mercury scores higher, and starts $29.90 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, 7 score higher than Mercury for less, and none scores higher than Novo 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
- Mercury also covers bookkeeping and payroll.
At a glance
| Mercury | Novo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $29.90 per month, billed annually | Free |
| Free plan | The Mercury plan is $0 a month with checking and savings, cards, expense management, invoicing and bill pay. | Business checking with no monthly fees, no minimums and no transaction limits. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of Mercury Plus | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Mercury | Novo |
| Price read from | mercury.com | novo.co |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Mercury
- Mercury is not an FDIC-insured bank; banking is provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.
- Non-USD international wires carry a 1% currency exchange fee, and non-USD card transactions carry 3%.
- Mercury Books is $35 a month and Mercury Payroll is $100 a month plus $50 per person paid, both waived until Dec 31, 2026.
- Treasury, which pays up to 4.21% yield, is available only with a $250K Mercury balance, and Stripe fees apply to credit card invoice payments.
Novo
- Novo is a fintech, not a bank; banking is provided by Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A., Member FDIC.
- Novo Payroll is listed as available November 17, 2026, starting at $24 a month plus $5 per employee.
- Expense management and bill pay are listed in its menu, but the pages we read describe them in less detail than its checking and invoicing.
- The pages we read give no fee schedule for wires, so check it before sending wires.
Key features
Mercury
- Company cards
- Virtual and physical debit and credit cards, with custom spend limits, merchant-locked cards and duplicate subscription detection. Corporate credit cards earn 1.5% cashback.
- Expense management
- Employee cards with limits, automatic receipt matching for card transactions, custom categories and reimbursements, including mileage.
- Bill pay and payments
- Free domestic ACH, wires, real-time payments and checks in USD, plus payment by ACH debit or wire drawdown.
- Invoicing
- Unlimited invoices that accept card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, wire and ACH, with recurring invoices on paid plans.
- Accounting integrations
- Syncs with accounting tools such as QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite.
Novo
- Business checking
- No monthly fees, minimums or transaction limits, with FDIC coverage of up to $5M through partner banks as the vendor describes it.
- Debit cards
- Virtual and physical debit cards. Novo charges no ATM fees and reimburses third-party ATM fees at month end, up to $7.
- Invoicing
- Send invoices with automatic reminders, track when they are viewed and paid, and accept card, ACH, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
- Payments and bill pay
- Pay vendors by ACH, wire or check and move money between Novo accounts instantly.
- Reserves
- Up to 20 buckets inside the checking account for taxes, payroll or slow seasons, filled by rules that route a share of incoming funds.
- Integrations
- Syncs transactions with QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe, Square, PayPal and other tools.
Plans
Mercury
Mercury$0
No monthly fees or minimum balance. Includes company cards, expense management, bill pay, invoicing and free USD ACH, wires and real-time payments.
Mercury Plus$29.90
per month, billed annually
Adds recurring invoices, ACH debit invoicing at $1 per transaction, unlimited 1099 filings, priority support and 6 months of free Xero.
Mercury Pro$299
per month, billed annually
Adds a relationship manager, ACH debit invoicing at $0 per transaction and NetSuite categorizations on top of what Plus has.
Novo
Novo Checking$0
No monthly fees or minimum balance. Includes debit cards, invoicing, free standard ACH, incoming wires and Reserves buckets.
Ways to pay less
Mercury
- Annual discount
15% off with annual billing
The pricing page toggle reads Annual Pricing (15% off), and was on by default when read. The monthly-billed price is not shown.
Novo
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Mercury or Novo?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Novo is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $29.90 a month for Mercury. Mercury starts at $29.90 per month, billed annually, and Novo is free.
Which has a free plan, Mercury or Novo?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Mercury and Novo have a free plan.
Which platforms do Mercury and Novo run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Novo lists an Android app. Both list a web app and an iOS app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.