Business bank accounts for freelancers, compared

If you're still deciding whether you need a business account at all, start with do freelancers need a separate bank account. This post assumes you've decided to open one and compares six options: five online accounts and a local bank or credit union. Fees come from each company's own pricing or help pages. SoloWOS isn't a bank, so it isn't in the list.

The six options at a glance

What each one costs over three years

Monthly fees look small until you add them up. The table uses yearly billing where the company offers it, because that's the cheaper way to pay. A $0 tier stays $0 as long as you avoid per-use fees (wires, instant transfers, out-of-network ATMs), which every company lists separately.

Who each account fits

• Mercury has no monthly fee or minimum balance on its base account. Its help center says it doesn't support sole proprietorships, because there's no state formation document to verify, and it asks for an EIN. It suits an LLC that gets paid by wire. Its paid plan appears at two prices on its own site ($29.90 and $35 a month), so check the price at sign-up.
• Relay has a free Starter plan, Grow at $30 a month and Scale at $120 a month (shown at $90 for a limited time when we checked). Its pitch is many accounts under one login, which fits the "profit first" habit of moving a tax share into its own account each time a client pays.
• Novo advertises no monthly fee and no minimum balance, with free standard ACH and free incoming wires. Its own pages say a sole proprietor can open with an SSN or EIN plus a government ID. Fees from outside providers, such as outgoing wires, are shown before you use them.
• Found is free at the base level and pitches itself at sole proprietors and single-member LLCs. Found Plus adds tax estimates and in-app quarterly tax payments for Schedule C filers. Its pricing page shows Plus at $35 a month or $315 a year, while its small-business banking page shows $19.99 or $149.99, so confirm at checkout.
• Lili has a free Basic plan and three paid plans: Pro ($15 a month or $144 a year), Smart ($35 or $336) and Premium ($55 or $528). Its help center says the first fee is charged 30 days after you join a paid plan.
• A local bank or credit union is the answer if clients pay you in cash or paper checks you'd rather hand to a teller, or if you want a lender who knows you later. Fees vary by institution, and many waive the monthly fee above a minimum balance: ask for the fee schedule before you open.

Bank or app: what deposit insurance covers

Mercury, Relay, Novo, Found and Lili are financial technology companies. They hold your deposits at partner banks, and the FDIC sign on their sites refers to those banks. FDIC insurance protects you if an insured bank fails, up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category. It doesn't cover the app company itself failing, and if the app's records of who owns what are wrong, getting your money back can take time. A sole proprietorship's account counts as the owner's single account, so it shares the $250,000 limit with your personal accounts at the same bank. Credit unions are covered the same way by the NCUA. For most freelancers this is a reason to keep a few months of expenses somewhere other than a single app, not a reason to avoid fintech accounts.

Choose this if

What to bring when you open the account

• A government photo ID and your Social Security number, or an EIN if you have one. A free EIN from the IRS also lets you keep your SSN off W-9 forms; see the W-9 guide for freelancers.
• For an LLC: the articles of organization filed with your state and the IRS letter with your EIN. Mercury lists both.
• If the account will use a business name that isn't your own name, the bank may ask for your assumed-name (DBA) filing. Rules depend on your state and county.
• A first deposit, if the bank or credit union requires one. Novo says it doesn't.

Where SoloWOS fits

SoloWOS isn't a bank and doesn't hold money. You can send invoices clients pay by card through your own Stripe account, which pays out to whichever business account you open, and log business expenses with receipts to see profit and a tax set-aside amount each month. The starting a freelance business checklist covers the other first steps.

Prices checked on October 23, 2026 on each company's site.