Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Bench vs Medius

Bench logo

Bench

Accounting

America's largest bookkeeping service for small businesses

From
$299/month
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

  • Each has a real cost: Bench recent bankruptcy and acquisition by Employer.com creates uncertainty about product roadmap and support continuity; 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: Bench covers Dedicated bookkeeper, Medius covers Invoice capture and coding.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bench and Medius actually diverge.

Attributes where Bench and Medius differ
AttributeBenchMedius
Starting price$299/monthOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

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 Bench

  • Dedicated bookkeeper
  • Monthly financial statements
  • Bank reconciliation
  • Tax preparation
  • Expense categorization
  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Square

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.

Bench

  • Bookkeeping outsourcingnot Medius
  • Tax preparationnot Medius
  • Financial reportingnot Medius

Medius

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

Where each one falls short

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

Bench

  • Recent bankruptcy and acquisition by Employer.com creates uncertainty about product roadmap and support continuity
  • Higher starting cost at $299/month compared to self-service accounting software like Wave or QuickBooks Online
  • Requires manual connection of financial accounts and ongoing coordination with bookkeeping team, less automated than software-first solutions
  • Tax services limited to US income tax returns; no support for complex entity structures or multi-state taxation
  • History of burning through capital rapidly, raising concerns about long-term business sustainability

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

Bench

$299/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Bench review.

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 Bench if

  • You need dedicated bookkeeper.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want monthly financial statements.
Bench 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 Bench or Medius better?
Neither clearly leads. Bench starts at $299/month and Medius at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bench or Medius?
Bench starts at $299/month and Medius at On request.
Does Bench or Medius run on more platforms?
Bench runs on Web, Ios, Android. Medius runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Bench best used for?
Bench is most often used for bookkeeping outsourcing, tax preparation, financial reporting. Of those, bookkeeping outsourcing and tax preparation are not what Medius is typically brought in for.
What can Bench do that Medius cannot?
Bench covers Dedicated bookkeeper, Monthly financial statements, Bank reconciliation, Tax preparation. Medius covers Invoice capture and coding, Matching and exception handling, Fraud and anomaly detection, Supplier payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bench: What happened to Bench Accounting?

Bench shut down abruptly on December 27, 2024, filing for bankruptcy in Canada with $65 million in debt. The company was acquired by Employer.com on December 30, 2024, and resumed operations in January 2025 under new ownership.

Source
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.

Bench: What are Bench's current pricing plans?

Bench offers Bookkeeping at $299/month (billed annually) and Bookkeeping + Tax at $599/month (billed annually). Both include automated bookkeeping, real-time financial statements, and a dedicated team of bookkeepers.

Source
Medius: Who owns Medius?

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

Bench: Does Bench include tax preparation services?

The Bookkeeping plan includes monthly bookkeeping and year-end tax-ready financial statements. The Bookkeeping + Tax plan adds one-on-one income tax consulting and annual income tax return filing.

Source
Medius: How is it priced?

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

Bench: How does Bench's bookkeeping work?

Bench combines proprietary software with human bookkeepers. You connect your financial accounts to automate data entry, and Bench's team handles bookkeeping and provides year-end tax-ready statements. Customers can reach their dedicated team within 24 hours.

Source
Medius: Does it replace our ERP?

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

Bench: Can I access real-time financial data with Bench?

Yes, Bench provides real-time reporting, allowing you to access or download updated income statements and balance sheets at any time.

Source
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