Is Melio or Recurly better?

Neither clearly leads. Melio starts at Free and Recurly at $249/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Melio or Recurly?

Melio has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Melio and $249/month for Recurly.

Does Melio or Recurly run on more platforms?

Melio runs on Web, Mobile app. Recurly runs on Web, Api.

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 Recurly is typically brought in for.

What can Melio do that Recurly cannot?

Melio covers Vendor payments, Card to check, Payment scheduling, Approval workflows. Recurly covers Subscription billing, Revenue recovery, Payment gateway optimization, Analytics. Both handle SOC 2, Web support.

Accounting · head to head

Melio vs Recurly

Melio

Accounting

Simple business payments

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Recurly

Accounting

The subscription management platform built for growth

From: $249/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

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; Recurly starter is $249 a month plus 0.9 percent of billing volume above the first $40K, so the cost rises with revenue rather than with usage
They diverge on capability: Melio covers Vendor payments, Recurly covers Subscription billing.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Melio and Recurly actually diverge.

Attributes where Melio and Recurly differ
Attribute	Melio	Recurly
Starting price	Free	$249/month
Pricing model	freemium	subscription
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web, Mobile app	Web, Api
Founded	2018	2009

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
Approval workflows
QuickBooks sync
QuickBooks
Xero
FreshBooks

Only in Recurly

Subscription billing
Revenue recovery
Payment gateway optimization
Analytics
API
Stripe
PayPal
Braintree

Both cover

SOC 2
Web support

What people use each for

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

Melio

Accounts payable automationnot Recurly
Bill management and payment schedulingnot Recurly
Multi-vendor payment processingnot Recurly
Invoice receivables and payment collectionnot Recurly

Recurly

Subscription billing and recurring invoicingnot Melio
Dunning and failed payment recoverynot Melio
Trials, plan changes and promotionsnot Melio
Revenue recognition through the RevRec add-onnot Melio
Shopify-native subscriptions with subscribe and savenot 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

Recurly

Starter is $249 a month plus 0.9 percent of billing volume above the first $40K, so the cost rises with revenue rather than with usage
All-Access is quoted at under 1 percent of billing volume with a $1M minimum, putting it out of reach of smaller merchants
Only one dunning campaign on Starter; multiple campaigns need All-Access
SSO, multicurrency and payments orchestration are All-Access only
Revenue recognition and the Engage churn tooling are separate add-ons at $850 and $1,600 a month

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

Recurly

$249/month

Starter$249/month
- Automated global subscription billing
- Flexible plans and static churn-prevention tools
- 1 dunning campaign
All-Access$null/month
- Everything in Starter plus AI-powered agents and analytics
- Intelligent churn-prevention with multiple dunning campaigns
- Advanced pricing and promotions
All-Access for Shopify$null/month
- Intelligent churn-prevention and customized bundles
- Subscribe and save, prepaid/gift subscriptions
- Hybrid subscription support and cancel-save flows

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 Recurly if

You need subscription billing.
You work on Web, Api.
You also want revenue recovery.

Recurly review

Questions people ask

Is Melio or Recurly better?: Neither clearly leads. Melio starts at Free and Recurly at $249/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Melio or Recurly?: Melio has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Melio and $249/month for Recurly.
Does Melio or Recurly run on more platforms?: Melio runs on Web, Mobile app. Recurly runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Melio for free?: Yes. Melio has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Recurly starts at $249/month.
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 Recurly is typically brought in for.
What can Melio do that Recurly cannot?: Melio covers Vendor payments, Card to check, Payment scheduling, Approval workflows. Recurly covers Subscription billing, Revenue recovery, Payment gateway optimization, Analytics. Both handle SOC 2, Web support.

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

Recurly: What does Recurly's Starter plan cost?

Recurly Starter plan costs 249 USD monthly plus 0.9 percent of billing volume, with the first 40000 USD monthly volume included in the base fee.

Source

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

Recurly: What is the minimum commitment for Recurly's All-Access plan?

All-Access plans require a minimum 1 million USD annual commitment, billed annually at less than 1 percent of billing volume.

Source

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

Melio vs Recurly

Melio

Recurly

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Melio

Only in Recurly

Both cover

What people use each for

Melio

Recurly

Where each one falls short

Melio

Recurly

Pricing, plan by plan

Melio

Recurly

Which should you pick?

Choose Melio if

Choose Recurly if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Melio

More on Recurly

Keep looking

Other head to heads