Novo review (2026): is it any good?
Free business checking with invoicing, bill pay and debit cards
Novo report card
Very good · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for free business checking for independent businesses
Novo is business checking with no monthly fees or minimum balance, plus debit cards, invoicing and vendor payments. It isn't a bank, the pages give no wire fee schedule, and its expense and bill pay pages are thinner than its checking pages.
Who Novo is for
- 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
Who Novo is not for
- 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
Why Novo gets a 3.0
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- AValue for moneyBusiness checking with no monthly fees, minimums or transaction limits. That's free and substantial.
- AFree plan and trialFree outright: debit cards, invoicing, free standard ACH, incoming wires and Reserves buckets, with no cap a normal person would reach.
- CFeaturesChecking, debit cards, invoicing, payments and Reserves. The pages describe expense management and bill pay in less detail than checking and invoicing.
- CEase of useNo 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.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, iPhone and Android, with QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe, Square, PayPal, Shopify and Gusto. No desktop app.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Novo'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/novo#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/novo.svg" alt="Novo: 3.0 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Novo stands among spend and bill pay tools
Novo'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).
Novo has no paid plan.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4, and no tool on the category's chart scores higher without costing more.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 77 spend and bill pay tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Novo’s own letter is outlined.
- AValue for moneyAbove 70 of 76, level with 6
- AFree plan and trialAbove 71 of 76, level with 5
- CFeaturesAbove 4 of 76, level with 56
- 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 Novo, or make your own?
Keep it
Novo is free, so making your own would save you nothing.
And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces. 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.
What you could make
- Invoicing and expense tracking: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- Money moved between bank accounts, which takes a licensed payments partner.
- Cards issued through a bank.
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- It plugs into other products, QuickBooks, Xero and Stripe among them.
What this rests on. Novo’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 Novo?
Novo is a fintech that offers a business checking account with no monthly fees or minimum balance, virtual and physical debit cards, invoicing and vendor payments by ACH, wire or check. Banking services are provided by Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A., Member FDIC. Novo is a fintech, not a bank, and it connects to accounting and sales tools such as QuickBooks, Xero and Stripe.
Worth knowing
- 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
- 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.
Novo pricing
As of Nov 13, 2026, Novo is free to use.
- Starts at
- Free
- Free plan
- Business checking with no monthly fees, no minimums and no transaction limits.
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Novo Checking | $0 | No monthly fees or minimum balance. Includes debit cards, invoicing, free standard ACH, incoming wires and Reserves buckets. |
Read from novo.co on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Novo before you buy.
How people rate the Novo app
4.8
out of 5 for the iPhone and iPad app
20,052 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
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Common questions
Does Novo have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Novo is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Does Novo have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Novo is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Is Novo open source?
Novo 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.