Best Accounts Payable Software for Agencies in 2026
Short answer: BILL Team is $65 per user per month when account managers approve vendor bills and the ledger is QuickBooks Online or Xero, verified September 2026.
Melio Boost is $55 per month when client work is coded by class. Zoho Books Professional is $50 per month when the project and the customer have to live on the bill. Xero Established is $90 per month when you want project tracking and domestic ACH without a per-user fee.
The right plan keeps the client on the vendor bill, and a cheaper inbox that drops the job code sends the bill back to the bookkeeper.
Buy the plan that keeps the client on the vendor bill. A cheaper inbox that drops the job code forces a retype before the bill can be rebilled, and that retype is the cost the pricing page never shows.
BILL Team is the default when producers approve and the books already live in QuickBooks Online or Xero. The cheaper plan under it does not keep those ledgers in sync, so the job still gets keyed by hand.
If the job list already lives in QuickBooks Online, price that subscription on Intuit's own page. Then pick the payables tool that writes the bill back, using QuickBooks vs Xero for the ledger choice.
Toolradar data: across the 275 accounting tools we track, 192 (70%) are paid-only, and 27% offer a free or freemium plan.
A one-approver shop is a different purchase, covered in the accounts payable guide for small business. An agency fails that test when a producer, a finance lead, and a client code all have to touch the same bill.
How we chose: we set these 10 against the 275 tools in accounting and checked every price on the vendor site in September 2026.
Top Picks
Picked by editorial review, informed by G2 and Capterra review volume and rating and by media mentions, the signals behind our category rankings. How we rate
| Tool | Starting price | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| BILL | Team $65/user/mo | 4.4 1,811 reviews | Agencies whose producers approve bills in QuickBooks Online or Xero. |
| Melio | Boost $55/mo | 4.1 2,254 reviews | Small agencies that code client work with a class or location. |
| Zoho Books | Pro $50/mo | 4.4 1,009 reviews | Agencies that want the customer and the project on the vendor bill. |
| Xero | Established $90/mo | 4.4 5,158 reviews | Agencies that track project costs and want domestic ACH included. |
| Ramp | Free; Plus $15/user | 4.8 2,727 reviews | Agencies that will move vendor payments onto Ramp's card. |
| Brex | Free; Premium $12 | 3.6 2,343 reviews | Agencies inside two entities that want bill pay on a free seat. |
| Tipalti | AP from $99/mo | 4.5 602 reviews | Agencies paying freelancers in many countries without a per-user fee. |
| Routable | No list price | 5.0 8 reviews | Agencies paying a large contractor roster without a per-seat fee. |
| Stampli | No list price | 4.7 2,476 reviews | Production agencies that match vendor bills to purchase orders. |
| Dext | $25.21/mo annual | 4.4 649 reviews | Agencies whose bookkeeper codes bills into the ledger and pays elsewhere. |
Agencies whose producers approve bills in QuickBooks Online or Xero.
- Pro: Team adds automatic two-way sync with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, and Xero. That tier stops the CSV retype and keeps the client on the bill.
- Pro: The Invoice Coding Agent, for AI multi-line coding, is listed on Team and Corporate. The W-9 Agent is listed from Essentials up, so a media bill and a freelancer tax form are separate upgrades.
- Pro: Corporate adds custom approval policies, purchase orders, 2-way matching, and a discount for approver-only users. Price that plan when producers only tap approve and never code a bill.
- Con: Essentials is $49 per user per month and syncs by CSV. The cheaper seat does not keep QuickBooks or Xero current, so the bookkeeper retypes the client.
- Con: ACH is $0.59, a mailed check is $1.99, and a same-day ACH is $11.99. A busy vendor month can cost more than the seats. Virtual card disbursement is free, and paying by card is 2.9%.
Small agencies that code client work with a class or location.
- Pro: Boost lists class and location tracking, 50 free ACH payments a month, and approval routing by vendor, amount, or user. That is the client tag a small agency needs.
- Pro: Core, at $25 a month or $20 billed annually, adds unlimited QuickBooks Online and Xero sync. It also adds batch payments, W-9 collection, and 1099 filing once a handful of syncs is not enough.
- Pro: Go has no subscription and includes 5 free ACH payments a month, AI bill capture, and up to 10 ledger syncs. That covers a tiny vendor list, not a working agency month.
- Con: After the free ACH allotment, each ACH is $0.50, and card payments are 2.9%. Global ACH in USD is a flat fee, and four extra monthly Boost users add $40.
- Con: Paid plans are free for 90 days, then the account falls back to Go if you do not subscribe. Melio deletes premium-feature data, so class codes from the trial do not survive.
Melio's pricing is fair, offering a generous free tier for small businesses with limited ACH needs.
Watch out
2.9% fee on all card payments across all tiers
Agencies that want the customer and the project on the vendor bill.
- Pro: Professional is the first plan with bills, at $40 a month on annual billing. It includes 5 users and a yearly cap of 10,000 expenses and bills, so a lower plan cannot hold a vendor bill.
- Pro: Vendor lines can be tied to the customer you bought them for, including a markup when you invoice. A bill created from a project tags that customer, which keeps the rebill on the job.
- Pro: BillPay is $69 a month or $59 billed annually and includes 100 ACH vendor payments. Vendor onboarding and 2-way or 3-way PO matching come with it, a second subscription if ACH lives in Zoho.
- Con: Standard, at $20 a month or $15 billed annually, does not include bills. Buying it for payables means a second upgrade before a vendor bill can exist.
- Con: Extra users are $3 a month or $2.50 billed annually. The free plan stops at $50,000 of revenue a year and is not a bill plan, so a growing agency leaves both.
Zoho Books is the best value in cloud accounting.
Watch out
Additional users cost $2.50/user/month on top of plan price
Agencies that track project costs and want domestic ACH included.
- Pro: Established adds project time and costs, multi-currency, and international bill payments. There is no per-user license fee, so producers can see a project without an AP seat.
- Pro: Domestic ACH is included on Early, Growing, and Established. Same-day, international, and cross-border payments are extra, and Xero does not publish those fees.
- Pro: W-9 and 1099 management is included on every plan. Growing adds automated bill entry and removes Early's bill cap, the step when volume arrives before project tracking.
- Con: Early is $25 a month and allows 5 bills. An agency that starts there for included ACH hits the cap in a busy week and still lacks project tracking.
- Con: Xero subscription prices increase on October 1, 2026, and the new rates are unpublished. The 90% introductory discount ends September 30, 2026, so do not treat today's rate as the renewal.
Watch out
Potential add-on costs for specific integrations
Agencies that will move vendor payments onto Ramp's card.
- Pro: The free plan includes invoice OCR, approval rules, and payment by ACH, check, card, or wire, plus QuickBooks Online and Xero. It is a real payables workflow if the card is approved.
- Pro: Plus is $15 per user per month, 20% less on annual billing. It adds line-item auto-coding, batch payments, and routing by accounting field, so a client can be tagged without a manual pass.
- Pro: 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC filing is $0.65 per IRS filing on Free, Plus, and Enterprise, with state filing free. Freelancer tax forms are a filing fee, not a plan upgrade.
- Con: Plus adds a platform fee based on team size, and Ramp publishes no amount. A 30-day Plus trial does not show the fee that lands on the order form.
- Con: The Ramp card is subject to credit approval, so a decline blocks the free path. Procurement, NetSuite, and Sage Intacct are not on the free plan either.
Ramp's pricing is highly generous, especially with its robust Free tier that offers features often found in paid plans from competitors.
Watch out
No explicit mention of minimum user count for Plus
Agencies inside two entities that want bill pay on a free seat.
- Pro: Essentials is $0 per user per month and lists bill pay, automatic invoice entry, and multi-level approvals. Payment can come from a Brex or external account, but only if the Bills tab is on.
- Pro: Bills can sync to QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or Xero. Approval rules can route on amount and vendor, so a producer can approve without another login.
- Pro: Brex charges no transaction fee for ACH, domestic wires, international wires, or checks from the Brex business account. That undercuts a seat tool that meters every payment.
- Con: Essentials stops at two entities, one of them global. A third company is Premium at $12 per user per month, or a custom Enterprise plan.
- Con: An account without the Bills tab has to talk to sales about Intelligent bill pay. International wires use Brex's FX rate, and principal protection is a paid add-on with no published fee.
Brex's pricing is quite generous for startups and growing companies with its free Essentials tier, offering robust features without a per-user fee.
Watch out
Smart Card program may have specific procurement requirements.
Agencies paying freelancers in many countries without a per-user fee.
- Pro: Accounts Payable starts at $99 a month with unlimited users, a supplier portal, and core automation. There is no per-user or per-approver fee, so producers do not multiply the platform fee.
- Pro: The payables product lists QuickBooks among its ERP integrations and invoice capture across 146 languages. Local payment rails cover 200+ countries, which fits a roster that is not domestic.
- Pro: Tax forms cover W-9 and W-8, and tax IDs can be checked across 62 countries. Mass Payments, for a large payee network, starts at $249 a month as its own line.
- Con: There is no free plan, and transaction pricing sits on top of the platform fee. Tipalti does not publish the per-payment schedule, so unlimited users are not a known cost per freelancer.
- Con: Procurement, expenses, and treasury are extra modules on top of payables. A domestic agency with a short vendor list pays for a global payout stack it will not use.
The lack of transparent pricing for Starter, Premium, and Elite tiers suggests it's likely on the more expensive side, targeting businesses with significant AP volume.
Agencies paying a large contractor roster without a per-seat fee.
- Pro: The plans include unlimited user seats, so producers can approve without a new seat line. That is the point when approvers outnumber the finance team.
- Pro: Domestic, international, and instant payments are listed, along with Form 1099 and 1042-S filing. A contractor-heavy agency can pay and file without a per-seat tool.
- Pro: Accounting and ERP integrations sit on the core feature list. Higher tiers add PO matching, predictive coding, and advanced approval workflows, so the quote has to name the tier.
- Con: Routable publishes no list price, and included vendors are capped, with 1,000 and 3,000 shown by tier. A long freelancer list can change the quote even though seats are unlimited.
- Con: Trainable OCR, PO matching, and predictive coding sit under invoice automation, not in the Core list. The quote should name which of those you are buying.
While it offers unlimited users, the cost per vendor can quickly become expensive for businesses with many suppliers.
Watch out
Overage fees for vendors beyond tier limits
Production agencies that match vendor bills to purchase orders.
- Pro: The AP product includes invoice capture, a customer success manager, onboarding, and team training. Stampli says deployment is measured in weeks, so the quote includes an implementation.
- Pro: Semi-automated 2-way and 3-way matching is included, and full automation is offered through Cognitive AI. A production agency that lives on purchase orders is the buyer for that quote.
- Pro: Domestic check and ACH, global ACH and wire, and virtual cards are on the payment list. The card column is marked free for Stampli customers, even though the subscription is not.
- Con: Stampli publishes no list price, so you cannot rank it against a seat plan until the quote is in hand.
- Con: Procurement, Direct Pay, and advanced vendor management are separate rows from core AP. Confirm which of those are inside the quote before you compare it with a seat price.
This model typically indicates enterprise-level solutions where pricing is customized based on usage, number of entities, and specific feature sets, suggesting it's likely on the higher end of the market.
Watch out
Overage fees for high transaction volumes.
Agencies whose bookkeeper codes bills into the ledger and pays elsewhere.
- Pro: The annual base price is $25.21 a month, $302.50 billed upfront, for 5 users and 250 documents a month. The 14-day trial needs no card up front, and it buys capture rather than payment.
- Pro: Publishing reaches the ledger through more than 36 accounting integrations, including tools agencies already run. The coded bill can land in the books without a new ledger.
- Pro: The base plan includes 5 line-item documents, and each extra user adds 50 documents. That limit decides whether itemized vendor bills stay inside the subscription.
- Con: Dext Payments, which pays suppliers from inside the product, is UK only, requires Xero, and is marked coming soon. A US agency still pays somewhere else and should budget a second tool.
- Con: Line-item extraction past the included 5 documents starts at $20.50 a month, or 50 cents a document. Itemized media invoices burn that included set in a busy production week.
What accounts payable software does for an agency
Accounts payable software for an agency captures a vendor bill and routes it to the person who owns the client. It then pays that bill without losing the job code. A stored receipt photo does not do that job.
Approval is the agency problem rather than the scan. A producer has to accept a freelancer invoice or a media invoice before finance releases cash.
BILL and Melio both sell that route on different tiers. A plan that only stores the PDF still leaves the yes in email.
The client code is what makes the cost rebillable. Zoho Books can put the customer and the project on the vendor bill, and Melio lists class and location tracking on Boost.
A tool that posts a single expense line with no client forces the rebill to be rebuilt at invoice time. That second coding pass is the cost a cheap inbox hides.
Payment is a separate meter from the monthly subscription. ACH, check, card, and wires carry their own fees. A low subscription with a per-payment charge can pass a seat price once the agency pays dozens of vendors a month.
Capture without payment is a real category, and agencies buy it by mistake. Dext publishes bills into the ledger, but its supplier-payment product is UK only and still marked coming soon. A US agency that needs the vendor paid still needs a second tool.
Xero and Zoho Books can be the ledger and the bill list in one subscription. That saves a second seat when the client already lives in the books.
Ramp, Brex, Tipalti, Routable, and Stampli sit beside a ledger the agency already runs. They are an extra purchase when that ledger already codes the client.
Why the client code decides the tier
The demo usually shows a clean approval on a plan the agency will not buy. Essentials is $49 per user per month and integrates by CSV. QuickBooks Online and Xero do not stay in sync, so someone still keys the client by hand.
Team is the first BILL plan with automatic two-way sync to those ledgers, and it lists the Invoice Coding Agent. A multi-line media bill can be coded there without a second pass.
Corporate adds custom approval policies, procurement, and a discount for approver-only users that BILL does not publish as a dollar amount. You cannot know if the higher plan is cheaper until the quote names that discount.
On Essentials and Team, every user is a full seat, including the producer who only taps approve. An agency that puts four producers on Team is paying full seats for a button.
Corporate is the first plan that discounts approver-only users, and that discount is unpublished. Settle the seat count before anyone signs the order.
Melio's free Go plan includes 5 ACH payments a month and up to 10 QuickBooks or Xero syncs. That covers a tiny vendor list and fails a normal agency month. Approval workflows, batch pay, W-9 collection, and 1099 filing start on Core, so staying on Go after that demo means the wrong product.
Class and location tracking, which is how many agencies tag a client, is listed on Boost. Melio deletes premium data if the account falls back to Go after the 90-day trial.
Zoho Books is stricter about where a bill can exist. Bills are supported only on Professional, Premium, Elite, and Ultimate. Standard organizes expenses and does not carry bills, so it cannot be the payables system.
Project expenses, project invoices, and project profitability are also absent on Free and Standard. The agency plan starts at Professional even before the BillPay add-on.
Xero includes domestic ACH on Early, Growing, and Established, and Early caps the company at 5 bills. An agency clears that cap in a busy week.
Automated bill entry starts on Growing, so that middle plan is the bill-volume step. Project time and costs, plus international bill pay, start on Established. The subscription is not per user, which matters when producers only need to see a project.
Ramp's free plan already captures invoices, routes approvals, and pays by ACH, check, card, or wire, with QuickBooks Online and Xero. The software line can be zero if the agency will actually pay from Ramp.
Line-item auto-coding and routing by accounting field start on Plus. Plus adds a platform fee Ramp does not publish, so the order form can cost more than the seat.
Brex lists bill pay on Essentials, including automatic invoice entry and multi-level approvals. An account without the Bills tab has to talk to sales about Intelligent bill pay. A free software line is not a promise that the tab is on.
Key Features to Look For
A client or project on the bill (Essential)
Zoho Books can tag a vendor line to a customer and create the bill from a project. Melio lists class and location on Boost, and a bill with no client cannot be rebilled without a second coding pass.
Approval that matches the producer (Essential)
BILL automates approval workflows from Essentials up, with custom policies on Corporate. Melio's custom workflows start on Core, so a producer who approves in email still has today's workflow.
A payment fee next to the seat (Essential)
BILL charges for ACH and for a mailed check on top of the seat. Melio includes a monthly allotment of free ACH, then a per-payment charge. Price the month you actually pay, not the empty subscription.
Contractor tax forms (Important)
Agencies pay freelancers, not only vendors with a W-9 already on file. Melio puts W-9 collection and 1099 filing on Core. Ramp prices each IRS filing, and Tipalti collects W-9 and W-8 without a per-user charge.
A bill cap and a user cap (Important)
Xero Early allows 5 bills, and Zoho Professional includes 5 users plus a yearly cap on expenses and bills. Dext's base plan includes 5 users and 250 documents a month, with 5 line-item extractions. The cheap plan can run out in a busy week.
International payouts, if the roster is global (Important)
Tipalti Accounts Payable starts at a platform fee and pays in 200+ countries. Melio can pay internationally with a flat fee for global ACH in USD. A domestic ACH tool is the wrong default for a cross-border freelancer list.
Purchase-order match, if production is the spend (Nice to have)
Stampli includes semi-automated 2-way and 3-way matching and sells full automation through Cognitive AI. BILL includes purchase orders on Corporate, and on lower plans procurement is an add-on. Skip the match if the agency never issues a PO.
What to decide before the demo
Name the ledger before the demo. BILL Team, Ramp Free, and Brex can sync QuickBooks Online or Xero, while Zoho Books and Xero are the ledger. A second bill tool on a ledger that already codes the client is an extra seat.
Decide whether the client is a class, a customer, or a project. Class points at Melio Boost, and customer plus project points at Zoho Professional. A QuickBooks job you will not leave points at a sync tool, not a new ledger.
Separate the subscription from the payment before you compare plans. Write down a normal month of ACH, checks, and card-funded bills, then set that next to the seat price.
Leave quote-only tools off a seat ranking until the paper names entities, payments, and implementation. Routable and Stampli publish plan shape and no list price.
Evaluation Checklist
On BILL, code one real client bill on Essentials and again on Team, and keep the fields the CSV path leaves for a human, because those fields are the close.
On Melio, confirm class or location is on the plan you will keep after the 90 days, because Go is not that plan.
On Zoho Books, create a bill on Professional, attach it to a customer and a project, then turn on BillPay only if you want the ACH rail inside Zoho.
On Xero, count a busy week's vendor bills against Early's cap of 5 before you treat the cheapest plan as the company rollout.
On Ramp, ask for the Plus platform fee in dollars at today's headcount, because the seat price is not the order form.
On Brex, confirm the Bills tab is on the account, not only listed on the pricing page, because some accounts have to ask sales to turn on Intelligent bill pay.
On Dext, count itemized vendor invoices against the 5 line-item documents included in the base plan, because media bills blow past that in a week.
On Tipalti, ask for transaction fees and entity count on the same page as the platform fee, because the starting price is the floor.
Pricing Overview
Free software, with a catch
No subscription, or a small ACH allotment
Published paid plans
Per user, per org, or a platform fee
Quote-only payables
Routable and Stampli, which you budget as a project until the paper arrives with users, payments, and implementation.
Custom quote
Pricing Comparison
| Tool | Published price | What that price buys | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|
Essentials $49; Team $65; Corporate $89 | Team adds two-way QuickBooks and Xero sync, ACH is $0.59, and checks are $1.99. | Per user, per month | |
Melio | Go $0; Boost $55/mo or $44 annual | Boost adds class and location, Core is $25/mo or $20 annual, and extra monthly users are $10. | Monthly, or annual |
Professional $50/mo or $40 annual | First plan with bills and projects, and BillPay is $69/mo or $59 annual, with 100 ACH. | Per organization | |
Xero | Early $25; Established $90 | Growing adds automated bill entry, Established adds projects, and Early allows 5 bills. | Per org, per month |
Ramp | Free; Plus $15/user/mo | Plus adds line-item coding and an unpublished platform fee, and 1099 filing is $0.65. | Monthly, or 20% off Plus yearly |
Brex | Essentials $0; Premium $12/user | Essentials includes bill pay and stops at 2 entities, with no Brex fee on ACH, wires, or checks. | Per user, per month |
Tipalti | AP from $99/mo; mass pay from $249 | Unlimited users, with transaction fees and extra modules on top, and no free plan. | Platform fee plus transactions |
Dext | $25.21/mo, $302.50 billed annually | 5 users and 250 documents, with 5 line-item docs included, and more from $20.50/mo. | Annual upfront, or monthly |
Routable | No list price | Unlimited seats, with vendor caps of 1,000 and 3,000 by tier, and 1099 filing is listed. | Quote |
Stampli | No list price | Domestic check and ACH, global ACH and wire, 2-way and 3-way match, and the card is marked free for customers. | Quote |
Prices come from vendor sites on September 23, 2026. Xero subscription prices increase on October 1, 2026, and the new rates are unpublished. New US organizations can take 90% off the first 6 months through September 30, 2026.
Five BILL Team seats come to $325 a month before ACH. If the leak is employee spend, see expense management, and if the bill starts as a purchase order, see procurement software, while card programs sit in spend management platforms.
Mistakes to Avoid
- ×
Signing BILL Essentials at $49 because it is the cheapest BILL seat. Sync is CSV, so the client is typed into QuickBooks again and the seat savings disappear in bookkeeper hours.
- ×
Counting only the finance hire as a BILL user. Producers who approve are full seats on Team, and five of those seats are $325 a month before the $0.59 ACH fee.
- ×
Treating Melio Go as the agency plan because the subscription is free. Class coding and real approval chains are not on Go, and 5 ACH payments is a short vendor list.
- ×
Starting Xero on Early to get included ACH, then hitting the cap of 5 bills, also leaves project costs off that plan. Growing is the bill-volume step, and Established is the project step.
- ×
Buying Zoho Standard and expecting vendor bills fails, because bills and project expenses start on Professional. The BillPay add-on is a second line, at $69 or $59, and it is not in the org price.
- ×
Buying Dext to pay US vendors pays for the wrong job, because it codes and publishes the bill while payment is not a US feature. Budget a pay tool beside it, or you keep paying from the bank.
- ×
Comparing Tipalti's platform fee with a per-user tool and ignoring transaction fees. Unlimited users are the point, but the payment schedule is still a second number. Mass Payments is a separate product if the roster is the job.
Expert Tips
- →
Put the client code on the bill before the approval, not after the payment. Zoho can do that with a customer and a project, and Melio Boost can do it with a class. A code added at month-end is a rebill you will miss.
- →
If four extra people need Melio on the monthly Boost plan, the $10 seat charge adds $40. Set that next to Unlimited at $80 a month, or $64 billed annually, which includes unlimited users and unlimited ACH.
- →
Ask BILL whether Corporate's approver-only discount, which BILL does not publish, beats full Team seats for producers who never code a bill. Get the discount in dollars before you assume the higher plan costs more.
- →
- →
For a cross-border freelancer, price one real payment before you pick the tool, because Tipalti is built for that roster. Melio's global ACH in USD is a flat fee, fine for a few payees and clumsy for a weekly one.
- →
Read Xero's October 1, 2026 increase note before you annualize the Established rate in a 2027 budget. Xero does not publish the new figure, so the renewal is a separate check.
Red Flags to Watch For
-
A Melio order that stays on Go after the demo showed approvals or classes. Those features are not on the free plan, and dropping back to Go deletes premium data.
-
A Zoho Standard subscription sold as accounts payable is the wrong plan for vendor bills, because bills start on Professional.
-
A Ramp Plus order that will not state the platform fee in dollars. The published seat is not the invoice, and a 30-day Plus trial does not reveal that fee.
-
A Dext subscription sold as the way a US agency pays vendors, because supplier payments in Dext are UK only, marked coming soon, and they require Xero.
The Bottom Line
BILL Team is the agency default when producers approve and the books stay in QuickBooks Online or Xero, so pay for that sync. Essentials looks cheaper and hands the client code back to the bookkeeper.
Melio Boost is the smaller-agency path when a class is enough and a stack of full BILL seats is not. Zoho Books Professional is the path when the customer and the project must sit on the bill, with BillPay only if the ACH should live there too.
Xero Established is the ledger with domestic ACH, project costs, and no per-user fee. Stay on it only if you are off the 5-bill plan.
Ramp and Brex belong when the agency will actually pay from their account, once the unpublished Ramp fee or the Brex Bills tab is confirmed. Tipalti is the pick for paying freelancers across countries.
Routable and Stampli are quotes, for a large contractor roster and for purchase-order match. Dext codes the bill and, in the US, does not pay it.
Cite this: Toolradar, "Best accounts payable software for agencies 2026", September 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best accounts payable software for agencies in 2026?
BILL Team, at $65 per user per month, is the best fit for most agencies whose producers approve vendor bills and whose books are QuickBooks Online or Xero. Melio Boost, at $55 per month, fits a smaller agency that codes clients by class. Zoho Books Professional, at $50 per month, fits an agency that wants the customer and the project on the bill. Xero Established, at $90 per month, fits an agency that wants project tracking and domestic ACH without a per-user fee. Prices were checked on vendor pages in September 2026.
How much does accounts payable software for an agency cost?
Published entry points in September 2026 run from a free Melio Go or Ramp plan up to BILL Corporate at $89 per user per month. The agency-shaped totals are BILL Team, Melio Boost, Zoho Books Professional plus the BillPay add-on if ACH should live in Zoho, and Xero Established. Five Team seats are $325 a month before BILL's ACH fee. Tipalti starts at a platform fee plus transaction fees, and Routable and Stampli publish no list price, so those three stay off a seat ranking until the paper arrives.
Is there a free accounts payable tool for an agency?
Melio Go has no subscription and includes 5 ACH payments a month, then $0.50 each, which is a short vendor list. Ramp's free plan captures bills, routes approvals, and pays them, with QuickBooks Online and Xero, if the card is approved. Brex Essentials is $0 per user and lists bill pay, with a cap of two entities, and some accounts have to ask sales to turn the Bills tab on. None of those free plans is the class-coding or two-way-sync tier an agency usually needs after the first month, and Zoho's free plan does not include bills.
BILL or Melio for an agency?
Choose BILL Team when several people approve and the bill must sync both ways to QuickBooks Online or Xero. Every approver on Team is a full user, and ACH is $0.59 on top of the seat. Choose Melio Boost when a class or location is enough to mark the client and you would rather pay one org subscription than a seat per producer. Melio Go is the wrong comparison, because it does not include those workflows or that class tracking.
Can Xero replace a separate accounts payable tool?
It can, once you are on the right plan. Domestic ACH is included from Early up, automated bill entry starts on Growing, and project time and costs start on Established. Early's cap of 5 bills rules it out for a working agency. Xero does not charge per user, and it does not replace a global freelancer payout tool. Xero has said prices increase on October 1, 2026 without publishing the new rates.
What should an agency use to pay international freelancers?
Tipalti Accounts Payable starts at $99 a month with unlimited users and local rails in 200+ countries. Transaction fees are extra, which suits a roster rather than a handful of wires. Mass Payments starts at $249 a month when the payee network is the product. Melio can send a global ACH in USD for a $20 flat fee, which suits a few overseas payees, not a weekly roster. Brex sends international wires with no Brex transaction fee, at Brex's exchange rate, and a recipient bank may still charge.
Does Dext pay vendor bills?
Not for a US agency, since Dext captures documents and publishes them to the accounting ledger. The annual base plan is $25.21 a month ($302.50 upfront) for 5 users and 250 documents, and only 5 of those documents include line-item extraction. Dext Payments, which pays suppliers, expenses, and payroll from inside Dext, is UK only, requires Xero, and is marked coming soon. Pair it with a pay tool if the vendor still needs cash.
Cite this page: Toolradar, "Best Accounts Payable Software for Agencies in 2026", updated September 2026, https://toolradar.com/guides/best-accounts-payable-software-for-agencies
Sources
Prices and plan details on this page come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker:
- BILL pricing, checked
- Melio pricing, checked
- Zoho Books pricing, checked
- Xero pricing, checked
- Ramp pricing, checked
- Brex pricing, checked
- Tipalti pricing, checked
- Routable pricing, checked
- Stampli pricing, checked
- Dext pricing
Related Guides
Some offers on this page may be paid placements or contain affiliate links.