Lili and Bluevine offer digital business checking accounts designed for small businesses and freelancers. Both fintechs have multiple plan options, and you can bank for free with either. But, compared side by side, Bluevine’s most basic membership plan has more perks.
Lili |
Bluevine Business Checking |
|
| Finder score | 3.9★★★★★ | 4.5★★★★★ |
| Fee | From $0 per month | From $0 per month |
| Annual Percentage Yield (APY) | 4.00% on balances of $0.01 to $1,000,000 |
3.00% on balances of $0+ 1.75% on balances of $0 to $250,000 1.30% on balances of $0 to $250,000 |
| Minimum deposit to open | $0 | $0 |
| Monthly transaction limit | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Domestic Wires |
Incoming: $0 Outgoing: $15 Outbound wire transfer: $25 Inbound wire transfer: $15 |
Incoming: $0 Outgoing: $7.50 to $15, depending on plan |
| Software integrations | Quickbooks, Cash App, Stripe, Venmo, Xero, FreshBooks, Etsy, and Shopify | Cash App, Expensify, Quickbooks, Square, Stripe, Wave, Wise, Venmo, and Xero |
| Branches | Online only | Online only |
| Currencies supported | USD, and supports payments from 52 countries | USD, and supports payments from 39 currencies, including USD, CAD, AUD, JPY, GBP, EUR and HKD. |
Bluevine and Lili are fintech companies, not banks. Bluevine’s banking services are backed by Coastal Community Bank, and Lili’s bank partner is Choice Financial Group. The banking partners are both FDIC-insured, with both Bluevine and Lili offering deposit insurance of up to $3 million.
If you want free business banking, APY on your balance, outgoing wires, checkwriting, unlimited transactions, various software integrations and high FDIC insurance, Bluevine is the clear choice. The fintech also frequently tops our best business checking list.
Bluevine has three plan options:
Bluevine’s Standard plan comes with 1.3% APY on up to $250,000, unlimited transactions, no overdraft fees, free incoming domestic wires, free ACH transfers, mobile check deposits, team controls and tons of accounting tools. You’ll get all that and more with the paid plans, with Plus offering up to 1.75% APY on up to $250,000 and Premier offering the highest rate of 3% on all balances. The paid plans also have other perks like discounts on same-day ACH transfers and cheaper outgoing wires.
Lili has four plans:
With the free Lili Core plan, you don’t really get much of anything except a debit card, mobile check deposits, unlimited transactions and the ability to save money in an emergency fund. The paid plans are where you can use Lili’s actual features, including cashback rewards, earn interest on savings, expense tracking, no overdraft fees and the ability to set aside money for taxes. And unlike Bluevine, Lili doesn’t offer ways to waive monthly fees.
Bluevine offers a variety of business financing options through its lending partners, and Lili offers a secured business card.
Bluevine offers:
Lili offers:
Bluevine and Lili both offer unlimited transactions on all their plan options, and they also use the MoneyPass ATM network with nearly 40,000 ATMs nationwide.
A rarity for fintechs, Bluevine offers checkwriting privileges with free checks (amount based on plan), which you can order from your Bluevine dashboard if you have at least $1.00 in your account. Bluevine can also send checks to vendors for a $1.50 per check fee. Lili also offers a service to mail a check to a vendor for a $3 fee, which is deducted from your account. Also, Lili and Bluevine both support international wires.
Bluevine supports domestic incoming and outgoing wire transfers, and all incoming domestic wires are free. The pricing for outgoing domestic wires and incoming international wires depends on your membership tier. It also allows for international payments, and supports 39 currencies, including USD, CAD, AUD, JPY, GBP, EUR and HKD.
Lili also accepts domestic wires for free and charges $15 for outgoing domestic wires. Lili accepts wires from 52 countries, costing $25 for outbound and $15 for inbound USD payments.
Both Bluevine and Lili let you create custom invoices to send to customers, and attach various payment options to those invoices.
Bluevine has more software integrations than Lili. With Lili, you can sync with software such as Gusto, Quickbooks and Xero. Bluevine supports Cash App, Expensify, Quickbooks, Square, Wave, Wise, Venmo and Xero.
Lili offers team management features with its paid plans, and each person listed on a Lili account with full access can have one active physical debit Card in their own name. Bluevine also only offers up to one debit card per account, but you can create up to 20 subaccounts with different account numbers and their own cards.
Lili has less expensive plan options when directly compared to Bluevine. However, Bluevine allows you to waive its Plus $30 fee or Premier $95 monthly fee by maintaining a certain balance and making a certain number of debit card transactions a month. But Bluevine charges a 2.9% transaction fee to pay bills with your credit card.
Bluevine and Lili both charge a $2.50 out-of-network ATM fee. Both fintechs are also partnered with Green Dot for cash deposits, likely costing around $4.95 per cash deposit at these locations.
Bluevine and Lili are both accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Bluevine has a BBB rating of A+, and Lili has a B rating. Comparing the number of complaints, Bluevine has had more complaints filed in the last few years than Lili. But overall, grievances are typical for Lili and Bluevine, such as frustrations about frozen accounts, deposits taking longer than expected or attempts in resolving fraudulent charges.
On Reddit, Bluevine’s reception is mixed. Many customers say they chose the account for its APYs, free plan option, unlimited transactions and free incoming wires. Some report they were denied approval for a Bluevine account and weren’t given a reason, and there are many stories about how Bluevine holds deposits or freezes accounts seemingly at random, which breeds frustration.
For Lili, most Redditors aren’t a fan. Many complain of poor customer support, accounts closing without explanation and their deposits and transfers taking many days to clear. On older threads, Lili freelancer customers note that they chose Lili’s free account option because they could save for taxes, but now that feature is only available on its paid plans.
Bluevine is the clear winner against Lili. Bluevine’s free account has more perks than Lil’s most expensive plan option. Bluevine offers checking writing privileges, supports outgoing wire transfers, has more software integrations, supports a wide variety of currencies, offers business financing and more.
Lili’s free plan option is very barebones. One of Lili’s main selling points used to be the ability to save money for taxes, which was very helpful to freelancers, but now you have to upgrade for that feature. And while Bluevine’s highest-tier plan costs $95 per month, Bluevine offers ways to waive the fee through activity requirements. Lili doesn’t.
Bluevine has all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a digital business checking account.
Offers a free plan but with limited functionality.
Bluevine and Lili are both digital options, but you might want to explore other fintechs or banks with in-person support or physical branches for easy cash deposits and in-person support.
Top business checking offers we’ve found are from Bluevine, Chase, PNC, Huntington, AMEX and Bank of America. See requirements here.
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