Softwr

Personal Finance · head to head

Afterpay vs Medius

Afterpay logo

Afterpay

Personal Finance

Buy now pay later app splitting purchases into four instalments, owned by Block

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Medius logo

Medius

Accounting

Accounts payable automation and supplier payments for mid-market finance teams, Marlin Equity owned

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Afterpay has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Afterpay a missed instalment triggers a late fee, and while total late fees on a purchase are capped, repeated missed payments across multiple purchases can add up to a meaningful cost that the interest-free marketing does not foreground.; Medius the sourcing, contract and procurement modules are considerably less developed than the AP core, so buying Medius as a full source-to-pay suite means accepting weak upstream tooling.
  • They diverge on capability: Afterpay covers Four-instalment split, Medius covers Invoice capture and coding.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Afterpay and Medius actually diverge.

Attributes where Afterpay and Medius differ
AttributeAfterpayMedius
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree to shoppers with no interest on the standard plan; merchant pays a per-transaction fee, late fees apply to missed paymentsquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryPersonal FinanceAccounting

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Afterpay

  • Four-instalment split
  • No interest on standard plan
  • Late fee structure
  • Merchant transaction fee
  • Afterpay Card
  • Spending limit management

Only in Medius

  • Invoice capture and coding
  • Matching and exception handling
  • Fraud and anomaly detection
  • Supplier payments
  • Approval workflow
  • ERP integration

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Afterpay

  • A shopper wanting to spread the cost of a purchase over six weeks without paying interest, provided every payment is made on timenot Medius
  • A merchant accepting Afterpay to capture shoppers who would otherwise abandon checkout, in exchange for a higher per-transaction fee than card processingnot Medius
  • A younger buyer without an established credit history using instalment purchases as an alternative to a credit cardnot Medius
  • Someone tracking their spending who wants to understand that a missed Afterpay payment can now affect a credit report, not just incur a feenot Medius

Medius

  • A mid-market finance team where most spend arrives as an invoice with no purchase order to match againstnot Afterpay
  • A group with several legal entities on different ERPs that wants one AP process across all of themnot Afterpay
  • Reducing invoice fraud exposure with automated detection of supplier bank detail changesnot Afterpay
  • Replacing a scanning bureau and a shared AP inbox with automated capture and exception-based reviewnot Afterpay

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Afterpay

  • A missed instalment triggers a late fee, and while total late fees on a purchase are capped, repeated missed payments across multiple purchases can add up to a meaningful cost that the interest-free marketing does not foreground.
  • Afterpay has updated its reporting policies so that late payment history can be shared with credit bureaus in some markets including the US, meaning a product marketed as simple instalments can now affect a credit score.
  • Merchants pay a transaction fee commonly in the 4 to 6 percent range plus a fixed fee, well above standard card processing, a cost that is typically absorbed into retail pricing rather than disclosed to the shopper choosing to use Afterpay.
  • Spending limits and approval are based on repayment history within the app rather than a full credit check, which can make it easier to accumulate multiple concurrent instalment obligations across different purchases than a shopper realises.
  • It is only usable at participating retailers or via the Afterpay Card, so coverage is narrower than a general-purpose credit or debit card despite behaving like one at checkout.

Medius

  • The sourcing, contract and procurement modules are considerably less developed than the AP core, so buying Medius as a full source-to-pay suite means accepting weak upstream tooling.
  • Pricing is quote-only and driven by invoice volume, so a business with many low-value invoices pays disproportionately relative to the spend being controlled.
  • Payments are billed on transaction volume separately from the AP subscription, which is easy to omit from a cost comparison against a licence-only AP tool.
  • Private equity ownership since 2017 has produced an acquisition-driven product line, so payments and adjacent capability come from bought-in technology rather than the original platform.
  • ERP integration depth varies sharply by system, and organisations on less common or heavily customised ERPs face integration work that lengthens the implementation.

Pricing, plan by plan

Afterpay

Free
  • Pay in 4Free
    • No interest charged if all four instalments are paid on time
    • Late fee charged per missed payment, capped as a proportion of order value
    • Missed payment history can be reported to credit bureaus in some markets

Medius

On request
  • Medius AP Automation$undefined/year
    • Two packaged AP automation tiers
    • Priced by invoice volume and entity count
    • Sourcing, contracts and procurement modules sold separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Afterpay if

  • You need four-instalment split.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want no interest on standard plan.
Afterpay review

Choose Medius if

  • You need invoice capture and coding.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want matching and exception handling.
Medius review

Questions people ask

Is Afterpay or Medius better?
Neither clearly leads. Afterpay starts at Free and Medius at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Afterpay or Medius?
Afterpay has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Afterpay and On request for Medius.
Does Afterpay or Medius run on more platforms?
Afterpay runs on iOS, Android, Web. Medius runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Afterpay for free?
Yes. Afterpay has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Medius starts at On request.
What is Afterpay best used for?
Afterpay is most often used for a shopper wanting to spread the cost of a purchase over six weeks without paying interest, provided every payment is made on time, a merchant accepting afterpay to capture shoppers who would otherwise abandon checkout, in exchange for a higher per-transaction fee than card processing, a younger buyer without an established credit history using instalment purchases as an alternative to a credit card, someone tracking their spending who wants to understand that a missed afterpay payment can now affect a credit report, not just incur a fee. Of those, a shopper wanting to spread the cost of a purchase over six weeks without paying interest, provided every payment is made on time and a merchant accepting afterpay to capture shoppers who would otherwise abandon checkout, in exchange for a higher per-transaction fee than card processing are not what Medius is typically brought in for.
What can Afterpay do that Medius cannot?
Afterpay covers Four-instalment split, No interest on standard plan, Late fee structure, Merchant transaction fee. Medius covers Invoice capture and coding, Matching and exception handling, Fraud and anomaly detection, Supplier payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Afterpay: Does Afterpay charge interest?

Not on the standard four-instalment Pay in 4 plan if every payment is made on time; longer instalment plans in some markets can carry interest, and missed payments incur late fees regardless.

Medius: Is Medius a procurement suite or an AP tool?

Primarily an AP automation platform with procurement modules attached. If sourcing is your main requirement, look elsewhere.

Afterpay: Can Afterpay affect my credit score?

Afterpay has updated its policies so that late payment history can be reported to credit bureaus in some markets including the US, which can affect a credit score even though the core product is marketed as interest-free.

Medius: Who owns Medius?

Marlin Equity Partners, which acquired it in 2017 and has funded several bolt-on acquisitions since.

Afterpay: Who actually pays for Afterpay to be free for shoppers?

Merchants pay a per-transaction fee, commonly 4 to 6 percent plus a fixed fee, which is generally built into retail pricing rather than shown to the shopper.

Medius: How is it priced?

By quote, driven by invoice volume and entity count, with payments billed separately on transaction volume.

Medius: Does it replace our ERP?

No. It sits alongside the ERP and posts approved invoices into it.

Share

Related pages

More on Afterpay

More on Medius

Keep looking

Other head to heads