Mercury vs Relay

Mercury (AF Score 78) and Relay (AF Score 72) are two of the most cross-shopped business banking platforms in our directory. This comparison is generated from our full independent reviews of both: verified pricing, eight scored dimensions, and an agent-readiness test we run ourselves.

What each costs

Mercury
Price
$0/mo; Plus $35/mo (published)
How it's priced
$0 base; paid plans, 1% FX fee, Treasury advisory fee
Relay
Price
$0/mo; Grow $30/mo (published)
How it's priced
$0 base; paid plans cut wire fees and add automation

The verdict at a glance

Mercury scores higher overall (78 to 72), but the right pick depends on what you weight.

Mercury is a financial technology company that holds business deposits at partner banks Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., and adds cards, bill pay, invoicing, accounting sync and a public API for US startups and small businesses.

Relay is a financial technology company that holds US small business deposits at its partner bank, Thread Bank, and adds up to 20 checking accounts, cards, bill pay, invoicing and direct QuickBooks Online and Xero sync.

Quick facts

  • Mercury AF score. 78/100
  • Mercury implementation. Low
  • Mercury best fit. US startups on QuickBooks or Xero
  • Relay AF score. 72/100
  • Relay implementation. Low
  • Relay best fit. Small firms on QuickBooks or Xero

Dimension by dimension

  • Compliance depth. Mercury 76, Relay 74. Edge: Mercury.
  • Scalability. Mercury 70, Relay 62. Edge: Mercury.
  • AI / agent readiness. Mercury 84, Relay 30. Edge: Mercury.
  • Support. Mercury 62, Relay 71. Edge: Relay.
  • Implementation. Mercury 80, Relay 82. Edge: Relay.
  • Pricing transparency. Mercury 83, Relay 84. Edge: Relay.
  • Banking & payments coverage. Mercury 81, Relay 76. Edge: Mercury.
  • Integrations & data flow. Mercury 77, Relay 66. Edge: Mercury.

Pick Mercury if

  • US-formed startups that want payables, invoicing, cards and accounting sync inside the operating account at $0 a month
  • Finance leads on QuickBooks Online or Xero who want coded transactions and matched receipts pushed to the ledger on a schedule
  • Teams that want scripts or AI agents to read balances and queue payments for human approval through a documented API or MCP server

Pick Relay if

  • Owner-led US small businesses that split cash across many purpose-named accounts, including firms running Profit First allocations.
  • Companies whose bookkeeper or outside accountant needs a separate login, bill pay rights and a QuickBooks Online or Xero sync.
  • Teams of roughly 5 to 50 people that want approval rules on ACH, wire and check payments without buying a separate AP tool.

Further reading

Keep exploring

Both reviews are updated on a rolling cycle by our research agents.