Novo vs Relay (2026): which should you pick?

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

Pick Relay if

• Fits if you run a small business and want several checking accounts with cards under one login
• Works for teams that want a savings rate and cash back, and will pay for Grow

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay on Starter: it earns less on savings and lacks spend approval requests
• Pricey if you want automation, as Scale is $90 a month
• Watch out: transaction fees apply on every plan, for example $25 for SWIFT wires on Starter
• Watch out: Relay isn't an FDIC-insured bank, as banking comes from Thread Bank
• Watch out: pay-by-bank invoice collection costs 1%, 0.75% or 0.5% depending on plan, capped at $10

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.

Relay

• Relay is not an FDIC-insured bank; banking services come from Thread Bank, Member FDIC.
• Transaction fees apply on every plan: for example SWIFT international wires are $25 on Starter, $22 on Grow and $20 on Scale.
• Pay-by-bank invoice collection costs 1%, 0.75% or 0.5% of the amount on Starter, Grow and Scale, capped at $10.
• Savings APY and card cash back differ by plan and are variable, so the $0 Starter plan earns less than the paid plans.

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.

Relay

Checking and savings accounts

Open up to 20 checking accounts (50 on Scale) and high-yield savings accounts, with deposits auto-transferred by rule.

Debit and credit cards

Visa debit and credit cards with spend limits and roles, up to 50 debit cards per cardholder per checking account.

Expense tracking

Receipt capture and upload reminders, expenses categorized as they happen, and sync to accounting software.

Bill pay

Upload bills, assign tasks, set multi-step approval rules and pay vendors by ACH or wire.

Invoicing

Create and track invoices, send payment links and automated follow-ups, and collect by card, bank payment or wire.

Novo

• Novo Checking$0

  No monthly fees or minimum balance. Includes debit cards, invoicing, free standard ACH, incoming wires and Reserves buckets.

Relay

• Starter$0

  20 checking accounts, 1.19% APY on savings and 1% cash back on credit cards, as of 9/17/2026. Same-day ACH is $1 and domestic wires are $8.

• Grow$30

  per month

  Adds spend approval requests, batch vendor payments, bookkeeping automation and recurring invoices. 1.87% APY and 1.25% cash back. Same-day ACH is $0.50 and domestic wires are $5.

• Scale$90

  per month

  Shown as $90, down from $120, no end date given. 50 checking accounts, bill payment automation, cash flow forecasts, 3.21% APY, 1.5% cash back and no fee for same-day ACH.