Melio, founded in mid-2018, is the latest VC-funded entrant in the payables space.


Money and cash flow are the lifeblood of a small business. And it’s an area often overlooked by traditional online banking providers. So a number of companies have emerged during the past decade-plus to better serve SMB needs. Most providers operate on a dual revenue model which includes:
a.) monthly subscription fees to create predictable recurring revenue
b.) transaction fees to cover interchange and other variable processing costs.

We divided the payment providers into four categories:

  1. Charge card & expense management (see our list here)
  2. Bill payments and/or invoicing specialists (see below)
  3. Payment processors (here)
  4. Subscription management platforms (here)

Unlike other fintech areas, 6 of the top 7 providers are more than 10 years old. And none have started in the past 5 years.

Year founded:
2000 to 2009 >>> 7
2010 to 2014 >>> 6
2015 to 2019 >>> 6
2020 or later >>> 0

Small Business Billing Startup Spotlight

Built for every kind of business and is FREE to use!

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NEW: Looking for digital banks, lenders, payment providers, insurance or digital accounting for small businesses? Check out our latest lists: SMB online lenders (33) | SMB challenger banks (12) | SMB insurers (15) | SMB charge cards/expense management (16) | Billpay & invoicing (17)| Payment processors (7) | Subscription processors (7) | SMB digital accounting/bookkeeping (21)

The FAB Score Ranking (Fintech Attention Barometer) is a proxy for the size of a private fintech company.


Top U.S. BillPay & Invoicing Startups (ranked by FAB score***)

Rank Was Company FAB Score Review Founded HQ Total Funding Visits (Jul ’23)
Ad* Melio 302 29 Aug ’23 2018 NYC 504 490,000
1 1 Wave Payments (HR Block) 1465 29 Aug ’23 2009 Toronto 80 7,300,000
2 2 Freshbooks 867 29 Aug ’23 2003 Toronto 330 3,700,000
3 3 Bill.com 622 29 Aug ’23 2006 SF 496 2,800,000
4 5 Tipalti 527 29 Aug ’23 2010 SF 715 1,400,000
5 4 AvidExchange 480 29 Aug ’23 2000 Charlotte, NC 1760 41,000
6 6 Melio 302 29 Aug ’23 2018 NYC 504 490,000
7 7 Vcita 183 29 Aug ’23 2010 Seattle 15 930,000
8 8 Bonsai 97 29 Aug ’23 2016 SF 0 480,000
9 9 Stampli 70 29 Aug ’23 2015 SF 85 200,000
10 10 Plastiq 59 29 Aug ’23 2012 SF 142 210,000
11 11 Autobooks 57 29 Aug ’23 2015 Detroit 97.8 82,000
12 (t) 12 PaySimple 42 29 Aug ’23 2006 Denver 145 150,000
12 (t) 18 Invoice2go (Bill.com) 42 29 Aug ’23 2002 SF 60 230,000
14 13 InvoiceNinja 19 29 Aug ’23 2014 Hefa, Israel 0 100,000
15 14 Emburse (ChromeRiver≥) 29 29 Aug ’23 2014 LA 0.1 150,000
16 15 BillerGenie 26 29 Aug ’23 2018 Miami 9.5 99,000
17 16 Routable 28 29 Aug ’23 2017 Seattle 46 44,000
18 17 Onlinecheckwriter 18 29 Aug ’23 2008 SF 2.7 125,000
19 19 Beanworks 3 29 Aug ’23 2012 Vancouver 12 23,000

Source: FintechLabs, 29 August 2023 using data from Crunchbase, SimilarWeb, SEMrush, Pitchbook, Linkedin

* FintechLabs receives advertising and/or affiliate revenue from the company
**Rank on 24 April 2024
***As nerds do, we are developing a proprietary score measuring the adoption of digital financial services at private companies that do not release traditional metrics (# customers, deposits, AUM, etc). We call it the FAB score, standing for Fintech Attention Barometer. The score uses money raised, valuation and website traffic as a proxy for company size and velocity of growth. It’s a work in progress, so expect changes down the road.
****Funding is the amount invested into the company as either equity or debt.


Challenger Billpay & Invoicing Suppliers in the United States


1. Wave (acquired by H&R Block)
FAB Score = 1,465 (down 140 since April 2023)
– HQ: Toronto
– Founded: 2009
– Raised $79.8M (Crunchbase)
– Exit: Acquired by H&R Block for US$400M in June 2019
– Website visits: 7.3M (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 306 (Pitchbook), down 37 from Mar 2023
– Articles: 302 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin:  15,000 followers (303 employees, down 2)
iOS rating: 4.5 (5,700 reviews, up 100)
– Rating: 4.4 ( 1,470 reviews per Software Advice).

2. Freshbooks
FAB Score = 867
(down 120)
– HQ: Toronto
– Founded: 2003
– Raised $332M including $131M in 2021 and $125M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 3.7M (Mar 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 664 (Linkedin), down 34
– Articles: 613 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 87,00 followers (664 employees, down 34)
iOS rating: 4.7 (10,700 reviews, up 100)
SoftwareAdvice rating: 4.5 ( 4,300 reviews, up 100)

3. Bill.com (see also #13 Invoice2Go)
FAB Score = 622 (down 40)
– HQ: San Francisco Bay Area
– Founded: 2006
– Raised $496M including $216M in its Dec 2019 IPO (Crunchbase)
– Annual revenue (TTM): $860M (Yahoo)
– Market Cap: $11.8 (29 Aug 2023, NYSE:Bill), up $3.6B since 24 April 2023
– Website visits: 2.8M (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 2,269 (Pitchbook), unchanged
– Articles: 164 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 45,000 followers (2,960 employees, up 200)
iOS rating: 4.9 (43,000 reviews, up 5,500)
Capterra: 4.2 (468 reviews, up 10)

4. Tipalti
FAB Score = 527 (up 135)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2010
– Raised $715M including $150M (debt) in May 2023 & $270M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Valuation: $8.3B (based on Dec 2021 round)
– Website visits: 1.4M (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 1,108 (Pitchbook), down 16 since April
– Articles: 189 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin:  35,000 followers (1,024 employees, up 24)
G2 rating: 4.5 (164 reviews, up 17)

5. AvidXchange
FAB Score = 480 (down 16)
– HQ: Charlotte, NC
– Founded: 2000
– Raised: $1.8B of which $660M was in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Market cap: $2.1B (29 Aug 2023), up $600M since 24 April 2023; NASDAQ: AVDX
– Annual revenue: $299M (TTM) (Yahoo)
– Website visits: 88,000 (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 1,600 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov 2022
– Articles: 134 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin:  41,000 followers (1,643 employees, up 103)
G2 review:  4.4 (219 reviews, up 5)

6. Melio
FAB Score = 302 (down 24)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2018
– Raised $504M including $360M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 490,000 (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 602 employees (Pitchbook), up 5 since April
– Articles: 68 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 25,000 followers (644 employees, up 47)
Capterra rating: 4.2 (354 reviews, up 56)

7. Vcita
FAB Score = 183 (down 2)
– HQ: Seattle area (Bellevue)
– Founded: 2010
– Raised $15M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 930,000 (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 200 (Pitchbook), up 28
– Articles: 21 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin:  10,000 followers (191 employees, up 17)
iOS rating: 3.7 (88 reviews, unchanged)
Software Advice rating: 4.5 (249 reviews, up 2)

8. Bonsai
FAB Score = 97 (down 36)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2016
– Raised: $120,000+ (Crunchbase)
– Website traffic: 480,000 (Aug 2023, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 49 (Pitchbook), up 15
– Articles: 8 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin followers: 2,600 (48 employees, up 16)
Trustpilot score: 4.6 (395 reviews, up 14)

9. Stampli
FAB Score = 70 (down 30)
– HQ: San Francisco Bay Area (Mountain View)
– Founded: 2015
– Raised $84.7M including $50M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 200,000 (May 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees:  217 (Pitchbook), up 13 since Nov 2022
– Articles: 40 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 21,000 followers (245 employees, up 25)
G2 rating: 4.7 (753 reviews, up 150)

10. Plastiq (acquired by Priority, Aug 2023)
Fab score = 59 (down 4)
– Founded: 2012
– HQ: San Francisco
– Raised: $142 million including $75M in 2020 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 210,000 (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 103 (Pitchbook), down 60 since April
– Articles: 62 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 6,100 followers (102 employees, down 31)
Trustpilot: 3.2 (954 reviews, up 4)

11. Autobooks
FAB Score = 57 (down 1)
– Founded: 2015
– HQ: Detroit, Michigan
– Raised: $97.8M including $25M in 2021 & $50M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 82,000 (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 92 (Pitchbook), down 48 since April
– Articles: 32 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 5,200 (92 employees, down 7)
FeaturedCustomers: 4.8 (547 reviews, up 72)

12 (tie). PaySimple (division of EverCommerce)
FAB Score = 42 (down 4)
– HQ: Denver, Colorado
– Founded: 2006
– Raised $145M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 150,000 (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 83 (Linkedin), down 8 since Nov 2022
– Articles: 42 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 4,300 followers (84 employees, up 1)
iOS rating: 4.5 (note: only 2 reviews)
Capterra rating: 4.5 (295 reviews, up 4)

12 (tie). Invoice2Go (acquired by Bill.com)
FAB Score = 18 (up 15)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2002
– Raised $60M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Exit: Acquired by Bill.com for $625M in July 2021
– Website visits: 230,000 (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 106 (Pitchbook), unchanged
– Articles: 92 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin:  9,200 followers (44 employees, down 7 since April)
iOS rating: 4.8 (42,600 reviews, up 3,000)
Capterra rating: 4.3 (233 reviews, up 8)

14. InvoiceNinja
FAB Score = 19 (down 12)
– HQ: Hefa, Israel
– Founded: 2014
– Raised Unknown (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 100,000 (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 4 (Linkedin)
– Articles: 14 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 380 followers (5 employees)
iOS rating: 4.9 (47 reviews, up 7)
Software Advice rating: 4.8 (158 reviews, up 5)

15. Emburse (acquired by Chrome River in 2019; Chrome River merged with Certify in 2019)
FAB Score = 29 (unchanged)
Founded: 2014
HQ: LA
Funding: $120,000 (Crunchbase)
Website visits: 150,000 (July 2023, SimilarWeb)
Employees: 1,000 (Pitchbook)
Linkedin: 14,000 (942 employees)

16 (tie). BillerGenie
FAB Score = 26 (up 1)
Founded: 2018
HQ: Miami
Funding: $9.5M (Crunchbase)
Articles: 11 (Crunchbase)
Website visits: 99,000 (July 2023, SimilarWeb)
Employees: 40 (Pitchbook)
Linkedin: 5,200 followers (37 employees)

16 (tie). Routable
FAB Score = 26
– HQ: Seattle
– Founded: 2017
– Raised $46M including $30M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 44,000 (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 129 (Pitchbook), down 13 from April
– Articles: 11 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 8,900 followers (118 employees, down 16)
FeaturedCustomers rating: 4.8 (360 reviews, up 73)

18. Online Check Writer
FAB score = 18 (down 1)
– Founded: 2008
– HQ: San Francisco
– Raised: $2.7M prior to 2020 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 125,000 (July 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 132 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 48 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 34,000 followers (129 employees, up 15)
Trustpilot: 4.8 (1,790 reviews, up 140)

19. Beanworks (acquired by Quadient, March 2021)
FAB Score = 3
– Founded: 2012
– HQ: Vancouver, Canada
– Funding: $12M (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 23,000 (July 2023, SimilarWeb)
– Articles: 14 (Crunchbase)
– Employees: 90 (Pitchbook)
Linkedin: 7,100 followers (133 employees)