Nickel vs Plooto
We give Nickel a 2.8 GPA and Plooto a 2.2, out of 4.0. Nickel grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Nickel
Free ACH invoicing and bill pay for US businesses
Plooto
Bill pay and receivables for businesses in Canada and the US
How we grade them
| 2.8GPANickelGood | 2.2GPAPlootoFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CGraded against its bill pay alternatives. A ten-person company paying 20 supplier bills a month pays $29 on Go, $9 plus $1.00 a payment, in dollars its summary file doesn't name as US or Canadian. That's well under BILL but above Melio's free plan, and Nickel and Ramp send ACH free. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day trial with 10 free domestic payments and no credit card needed. After that the cheapest plan is Go at $9 a month plus $1.00 a payment. |
| Features | 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. | CPayables and receivables are covered: invoices read by OCR, multi-level approvals, batch payments, pre-authorized debits and CRA remittances. It's a smaller job than the category's, though, with no company cards or expense reports listed. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Paying and getting paid by ACH is simple, but there's QuickBooks to connect and vendors to onboard first. | CNo store rating on record. You connect QuickBooks or Xero and set approval rules before the first payment goes out, which takes a bit of setting up. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb only, with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop and Xero syncing on every plan and NetSuite as an add-on to Pro at $499 a month. No phone apps are listed. |
| Best for | free ACH bill pay and invoicing | bill pay across the Canada and US border |
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: Nickel and Plooto. How we grade
Price against what you get
Nickel starts at $35 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Plooto starts at $9 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Plooto starts $26 a month lower. Of the other spend and bill pay tools on the chart, 8 score higher than Nickel for less, and 2 score higher than Plooto 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
- Nickel starts at $35 per month, billed annually ($45 billed monthly). Plooto starts at $9 per month, billing term and currency not stated.
- Nickel has a free plan. Plooto does not, though it has a free trial.
At a glance
| Nickel | Plooto | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $35 per month, billed annually ($45 billed monthly) | $9 per month, billing term and currency not stated |
| Free plan | 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. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of Nickel Plus | 30-day free trial with 10 free domestic transactions, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Nickel Technology Inc. | Plooto |
| Price read from | nickel.com | plooto.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Plooto
- Canadian and US businesses that pay suppliers across the border
- Bookkeeping firms paying bills for many clients
- Canadian businesses remitting payroll and GST/HST to the CRA online
Worth knowing
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.
Plooto
- Fees per payment: domestic $1.00 on Go or $0.50 on Grow, checks $1.99, CRA payments $3.00, card acceptance about 2.9% + $0.30. The file also lists cross-border at $9.99.
- Plooto's pricing page answered with a bot check; plan prices come from Plooto's own summary file of April 2026, which does not say whether they are US or Canadian dollars.
- Plooto serves businesses in Canada and the US and says it is a licensed money transmission business in Canada.
- QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop and Xero sync on every plan; NetSuite is a Pro add-on.
Key features
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.
Plooto
- Accounts payable
- Plooto Capture reads invoices by OCR, and bills go through multi-level approvals, scheduling and batch payment with a full audit trail.
- Receivables
- Send invoices and collect by pre-authorized debit or by Visa, Mastercard or Amex with two-business-day settlement, plus recurring payments and reminders.
- International payments
- Pay suppliers in 40+ countries and 25+ currencies over Global ACH, with a flat cross-border fee and no separate FX transfer fee.
- Pay by card
- Pay a supplier with a commercial credit card while the supplier receives EFT, ACH or a check, for a 2.9% fee.
- Plooto Instant
- A pre-funded wallet in US or Canadian dollars that speeds payments up to one or two business days at no extra transaction cost.
- Dashboard for accounting firms
- Firms run payables for every client from one dashboard, with per-client approval rules and dual controls.
Plans
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.
Plooto
Go$9
per month, billing term and currency not stated
1 approver. Domestic payments $1.00 each, cross-border payments a $19 flat fee.
Grow$32
per month, billing term and currency not stated
Unlimited approvers. Domestic payments $0.50 each, cross-border payments a $10 flat fee.
Grow Unlimited$59
per month, billing term and currency not stated
Grow with unlimited free domestic payments.
Pro$499
per month, billing term and currency not stated
Everything in Grow plus single sign-on, priority support and a NetSuite integration add-on.
Ways to pay less
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.
Plooto
- Other savings
Free firm subscription for accountants
Accounting firms with 3 or more active clients on Grow or Pro get their own firm subscription free.
