Mercury review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Business banking with cards, expenses, bill pay and invoicing
Black Friday: is there a Mercury sale?
Mercury report card
Very good · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for online business banking for startups
Mercury is online business banking with checking, savings, company cards, expense management, bill pay and invoicing on a $0 plan. It isn't an FDIC-insured bank, and Plus at $29.90 and Pro at $299 add invoicing extras and support, while Books and Payroll cost extra.
Who Mercury is for
- 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
Who Mercury is not for
- 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
Why Mercury gets a 3.0
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- BValue for moneyThe 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.
- AFree plan and trialThe $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.
- BFeaturesCompany 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.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. You open a business bank account, which takes setup and verification.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb and iPhone, with QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite. No Android or desktop app listed.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Mercury's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/mercury#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/mercury.svg" alt="Mercury: 3.0 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Mercury stands among spend and bill pay tools
Mercury's GPA of 3.0 is higher than 69 of the 76 other spend and bill pay tools we grade, and level with 4.
It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 71 of 76) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $29.90 a month, against a middle price of $12 for the category: 27 of the 36 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 7 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 77 spend and bill pay tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Mercury’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 61 of 76, level with 8
- AFree plan and trialAbove 71 of 76, level with 5
- BFeaturesAbove 61 of 76, level with 15
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 76, level with 64
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 18 of 76, level with 57
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 39 spend and bill pay tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Mercury, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Mercury you would be making cards issued through a bank. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 3.0 is higher than 69 of the 76 other spend and bill pay tools we grade. It costs $358.80 a year.
What you could make
- Expense tracking and invoicing: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- Cards issued through a bank.
- Money moved between bank accounts, which takes a licensed payments partner.
- Payroll taxes worked out and filed with the government for you.
- Live feeds from your bank, which take an agreement with each bank or a service that has them.
- A real app for iOS. Something home-made would be a web page.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Mercury’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Mercury?
Mercury is a fintech company that offers business checking and savings, company debit and credit cards, expense management, bill pay and invoicing from one dashboard. It is not an FDIC-insured bank; accounts are provided through partner banks Choice Financial Group and Column N.A. Paid plans add invoicing extras and support, and Books and Payroll are sold as add-ons.
Worth knowing
- 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.
Key features
- 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.
Mercury pricing
As of Nov 13, 2026, Mercury has a free plan, and paid plans start at $29.90 per month, billed annually.
- Starts at
- $29.90 per month, billed annually
- Free plan
- The Mercury plan is $0 a month with checking and savings, cards, expense management, invoicing and bill pay.
- Free trial
- 30-day free trial of Mercury Plus
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | $29.90per 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 | $299per month, billed annually | Adds a relationship manager, ACH debit invoicing at $0 per transaction and NetSuite categorizations on top of what Plus has. |
Read from mercury.com on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Mercury before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discount15% 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.
Stated on mercury.com
How people rate the Mercury app
4.9
out of 5 for the iPhone and iPad app
- 5 stars95%
- 4 stars3%
- 3 stars<1%
- 2 stars<1%
- 1 star2%
13,837 ratings on the App Store in the United States, read Nov 13, 2026. It rates the app, not everything the product does. See the listing
Works with
Mercury alternatives
- Mercury vs Relay
Free plan · from $30/mo
- Mercury vs Novo
Free
- Mercury vs Brex
Free plan · from $12/mo
- Mercury vs Ramp
Free plan · from $15/mo
- Mercury vs Rho
Paid
Common questions
Does Mercury have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Mercury is listed for Web and iOS.
Does Mercury have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Mercury is listed for Web and iOS.
Is Mercury open source?
Mercury is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 13, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026. What people say is linked where it appears.