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Accounting · head to head

Melio vs Modern Treasury

Melio logo

Melio

Accounting

Simple business payments

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Modern Treasury logo

Modern Treasury

Accounting

Payment operations and ledger infrastructure that sits between your product and your own bank accounts

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Melio has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Melio card payments incur flat 2.9% fee on all plans; Modern Treasury you must already have or be able to obtain your own bank accounts with the right connectivity, so early stage companies without a banking relationship cannot use it and are pushed towards a sponsor bank model instead.
  • They diverge on capability: Melio covers Vendor payments, Modern Treasury covers Multi-rail payment initiation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Melio and Modern Treasury actually diverge.

Attributes where Melio and Modern Treasury differ
AttributeMelioModern Treasury
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Mobile appWeb
Founded2018Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Melio

  • Vendor payments
  • Card to check
  • Payment scheduling
  • QuickBooks sync
  • QuickBooks
  • Xero
  • FreshBooks
  • SOC 2

Only in Modern Treasury

  • Multi-rail payment initiation
  • Bank connectivity
  • Ledgers
  • Automatic reconciliation
  • Virtual accounts
  • Compliance tooling
  • Return and exception handling

Both cover

  • Approval workflows

What people use each for

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

Melio

  • Accounts payable automationnot Modern Treasury
  • Bill management and payment schedulingnot Modern Treasury
  • Multi-vendor payment processingnot Modern Treasury
  • Invoice receivables and payment collectionnot Modern Treasury

Modern Treasury

  • A marketplace paying out to thousands of sellers that needs a ledger its application can trust rather than reconciling a payments dashboard by handnot Melio
  • A lender originating and servicing loans that must track disbursements, repayments and returns against its own bank accountsnot Melio
  • A company that wants to move off a banking as a service provider and hold its own bank accounts after seeing sponsor banks offboard fintech programmesnot Melio
  • An insurer handling premium collection and claims payment across several rails with approval controls and an auditable trailnot Melio

Where each one falls short

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

Melio

  • Card payments incur flat 2.9% fee on all plans
  • International payments charged $20 flat fee or 2.9% conversion rate plus international fees
  • Paper checks cost $1.50 per check
  • Wire transfers cost $10 standard or up to 1% plus $10 for same-day processing
  • Core and Boost plans charged $10/month per additional user beyond base

Modern Treasury

  • You must already have or be able to obtain your own bank accounts with the right connectivity, so early stage companies without a banking relationship cannot use it and are pushed towards a sponsor bank model instead.
  • Pricing rests on an annual minimum commitment, and companies that miss their volume forecast pay the minimum regardless, which makes the headline per-transaction rate close to irrelevant in year one.
  • Supported bank connectivity is a finite list, so if your bank is not on it you are either waiting for an integration or changing banks, which is a far larger project than adopting the software.
  • It is software over banking, not banking, so it does not solve card issuing, deposit accounts or the licensing questions that a company embedding financial products still has to answer elsewhere.
  • The ledger is genuinely good but adopting it properly means making it the source of truth for balances in your product, which is a significant application change rather than a payments integration and is where implementations run long.

Pricing, plan by plan

Melio

Free
  • GoFree
    • 5 free ACH payments per month
    • Pay by card, wire, or check
    • Basic invoicing
  • Core$25/month
    • 20 free ACH payments per month
    • $20/month with annual billing
    • QuickBooks Online and Xero sync
  • Boost$55/month
    • 50 free ACH payments per month
    • $44/month with annual billing
    • QuickBooks Desktop sync
  • Unlimited$80/month
    • Unlimited free ACH payments
    • $64/month with annual billing
    • NetSuite sync

Modern Treasury

On request
  • Modern Treasury Platform$undefined/year
    • Platform access fee covering API, dashboard, infrastructure and support
    • Usage-based fees across ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow, push to card, cheques and stablecoins
    • A single annual minimum commitment that both platform and usage fees count towards

Which should you pick?

Choose Melio if

  • You need vendor payments.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile app.
  • You also want card to check.
Melio review

Choose Modern Treasury if

  • You need multi-rail payment initiation.
  • You also want bank connectivity.
Modern Treasury review

Questions people ask

Is Melio or Modern Treasury better?
Neither clearly leads. Melio starts at Free and Modern Treasury at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Melio or Modern Treasury?
Melio has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Melio and On request for Modern Treasury.
Does Melio or Modern Treasury run on more platforms?
Melio runs on Web, Mobile app. Modern Treasury runs on Web.
Can I use Melio for free?
Yes. Melio has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Modern Treasury starts at On request.
What is Melio best used for?
Melio is most often used for accounts payable automation, bill management and payment scheduling, multi-vendor payment processing, invoice receivables and payment collection. Of those, accounts payable automation and bill management and payment scheduling are not what Modern Treasury is typically brought in for.
What can Melio do that Modern Treasury cannot?
Melio covers Vendor payments, Card to check, Payment scheduling, QuickBooks sync. Modern Treasury covers Multi-rail payment initiation, Bank connectivity, Ledgers, Automatic reconciliation. Both handle Approval workflows.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Melio: What does Melio charge for ACH payments?

Melio's free Go tier includes 5 free ACH payments per month. Core tier provides 20 free ACH payments per month at $25/month. Boost offers 50 free ACH payments at $55/month. Unlimited tier at $80/month includes unlimited free ACH payments.

Source
Modern Treasury: Is Modern Treasury a bank or a banking as a service provider?

Neither. You hold your own bank accounts and it is software over them. That avoids sponsor bank concentration risk but means you need the bank relationship yourself.

Melio: Does Melio charge fees for card payments?

Yes, Melio charges a flat 2.9% fee on all card payments. International card payments also include currency conversion charges and international fees beyond the base 2.9%.

Source
Modern Treasury: What does it cost?

Not published. A platform access fee plus usage fees across rails, on an annual term with a single minimum commitment. Negotiate the minimum, not the per-transaction rate.

Melio: Can I use Melio for free?

Yes, Melio's free Go tier allows 5 free ACH payments per month with no subscription cost. Users can pay by card, wire, or check and access basic invoicing and payment link features.

Source
Modern Treasury: Which rails are supported?

ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow, push to card, cheques and stablecoin payments, subject to what your bank supports.

Modern Treasury: Do we still need our own compliance programme?

Yes. KYB, KYC and transaction monitoring are included in the platform, but you are the one holding the accounts and the regulatory obligation sits with you and your bank.

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