As you shop for an online business banking platform, you’ll likely come across recommendations for Lili and Novo. Both are reputable, well-established fintech companies that serve hundreds of thousands of U.S. small businesses. But what’s the difference between the two, and which one is better for your company?
While Novo can be suitable for solopreneurs and freelancers with lower revenue and more basic banking needs, Lili is designed to support small companies with bigger teams and businesses as they scale. Read on for an in-depth comparison of the two, which covers pricing, banking features, financial tools, access to funding, and more.
| Lili | Novo | |
| Monthly fee | $0, $15, $35, $55 | $0 |
| Key features | High FDIC insurance limit, APY up to 4%, allows cash deposits, lender network access, business credit building, recurring bill payments, robust customer support | Reports, invoicing, expense categorization, sub-accounts, and receipt attachments in the free plan, invoice financing, rewards credit card, merchant cash advances |
| TrustPilot ratings (star rating out of 5) | 4.7 | 4.0 |
| Best for | New businesses and companies with teams up to 10 employees | Solopreneurs, freelancers, brand new businesses |
What Is Lili?
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in New York, Lili is a fintech company that provides an online business banking platform for small businesses. The company’s focus is on seamless money movement, exceptional support, and access to capital, which it provides through a lineup of advanced banking services and financial tools. Lili is a fintech, so its banking services are provided through a partnership with Sunrise Banks, N.A., Member FDIC.
What Is Novo?
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in New York, Novo is another fintech that provides a simple bank account for small business owners. The company aims to remove the hassles of business banking and empower companies through free checking accounts, tools, and integrations. Also, not a bank, Novo’s banking services are offered through a partnership with Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A., Member FDIC.
Plan Options Compared
Novo offers a single plan with no monthly fee that includes all the platform’s features. Lili, on the other hand, offers a lineup of four plan options, with varying levels of access to the platform’s features.
Novo Plan Option
- Novo Plan: $0 per month to access the full platform
Lili’s Plan Options
- $0 Lili Core: Advanced business banking + business credit access
- $15 Lili Pro: Lili Core + expense and tax management
- $35 Lili Smart: Lili Pro + additional accounting features
- $55 Lili Premium: Lili Smart + premier priority customer service
- Add-On—$30 BusinessBuild Program: Business credit building tools (six key credit scores/ratings, 24/7 access to business credit profile, real-time alerts, BusinessBuild credit card)
Lili also offers a free 30-day trial of any plan and an introductory 40% discount for the first three months of a paid plan.
Verdict: Lili’s base $0/mo plan offers better banking features, while Novo offers more tax and accounting tools without a monthly fee. However, Lili’s paid plans offer more advanced tools and support than Novo’s free plan.
Account Features and Banking Tools
Lili and Novo offer online business checking accounts with a few things in common, including:
- A business checking account with no monthly fee
- A debit card with a major network
- Expedited ACH transfers (with the same 1.5% transaction fee)
- No foreign transaction fees
- No overdraft fees
- No minimum balance requirements
However, the offerings diverge from there—mostly in Lili’s favor.
The Lili Core plan with no monthly fee includes a savings account with a 2.25% APY on balances up to $500,000 and a 4% APY on balances from $500,000 to $1 million. Novo doesn’t offer a savings account or an APY on its checking account. Lili also provides FDIC insurance up to $3 million through the sweep program, far higher than Novo’s $250,000 limit. Further, Lili supports domestic and international wire transfers. In comparison, Novo is just rolling out domestic wires to all customers and only supports international wires through an integration with Wise.
Cash accessibility is also worth considering. Lili offers surcharge-free access to over 40,000 ATMs in the MoneyPass network and allows cash deposits at over 90,000 Green Dot retail locations. Novo doesn’t charge ATM fees, but without an ATM network partner, customers are exposed to ATM operator fees. The company offers up to $7 in ATM fee refunds per month, but that can go quickly if you use ATMs regularly. Novo also doesn’t support cash deposits, so you’ll only be able to fund the account through electronic transfers.
Verdict: Lili comes out ahead on the banking services front, offering far more benefits for the same $0 monthly fee.
| Lili | Novo | |
| Monthly Fee for Banking | $0 (Lili Core) | $0 |
| FDIC Insurance Maximum Limit | $3 million | $250,000 |
| Debit Card Network | Visa | MasterCard |
| Express ACH Fee | 1.5% ($0.50 – $20) | 1.5% ($0.50 – $20) |
| ATM Network | MoneyPass | Not Supported |
| Outgoing Domestic Wire Fee | $15 | $30 |
| Outgoing Intl Wire Fee | $25 | Not Supported |
| APY | 2.25% to 4.00% | Not Supported |
| Cash Deposit Locations | 90,000+ Green Dot Locations | Not Supported |
Tax and Accounting Tools
Along with banking services, both Lili and Novo offer several tax and accounting features, including:
- AI-powered expense categorization
- Auto-allocation of funds into dedicated buckets
- Receipt attachment to transactions
- On-demand financial reports
- The ability to connect external bank and credit card accounts
Where they differ is how the plans are structured. With Novo, the above features are included in the company’s free plan with a business checking account. With Lili, they’re part of the paid plan tiers. That said, Lili also offers additional tax and accounting features.
Another key functionality to consider is bill pay management. With Lili, you can simply scan and upload a bill to enter it into the system. From there, you can set up recurring bills, get due date reminders, and automatically notify vendors when payments are made. Your books will also update when payments are made. Novo allows you to schedule payments to payees, but doesn’t offer recurring payments or comparable advanced bill management features.
Verdict: Novo offers a few helpful tax and accounting tools as part of its free plan. However, if you want more advanced support, Lili’s paid plans will be better.
| Lili | Novo | |
| AI-powered expense categorization | Yes | Yes |
| Auto-allocation of funds into separate accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Receipt attachment to transactions | Yes | Yes |
| On-demand financial reports | Yes | Yes |
| Connect external bank and credit card accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time, personalized AI advice | Yes | No |
| Integrations | 50+ | 40+ |
| Recurring bill payments | Yes | No |
Invoicing and Payment Processing
Both Novo and Lili allow you to send unlimited invoices through their financial platforms. You can also customize the invoices with both companies, set up automatic payment reminders for clients, and get notified when invoices are paid.
As for payment options, both Novo and Lili allow your clients to pay through bank transfers, credit or debit cards, PayPal, Venmo, or checks. Lili facilitates bank and card payments through Stripe, while Novo uses Stripe and Square.
One notable difference between the two companies is that Novo offers Invoice Flex, which allows you to get paid upfront for eligible invoices within one day. Lili doesn’t provide invoice financing at this time. Novo also includes these invoicing features in its free plan, while they’re only available on Lili’s paid plans.
Verdict: Novo wins on the invoicing front, as it offers unlimited branded invoices in its free plan and invoice financing.
| Lili | Novo | |
| Unlimited invoices | Yes | Yes |
| Brand customization | Yes | Yes |
| Automated payment reminders | Yes | Yes |
| Download PDF | Yes | Yes |
| Track payment status | Yes | Yes |
| Payment options | ACH, credit, debit, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, checks | ACH, credit card, debit card, PayPal, Venmo, checks |
| Payment integrations | Stripe | Stripe, Square |
| Invoice advance financing | No | Yes |
Customer Support
Lili provides comprehensive customer care through a dedicated support phone line, email address, and 24/7 AI assistant. The phone and email support teams work from 9 am to 8 pm ET, while the email support team is also available on weekends from 9 am to 6 pm ET. Premium customers also get a dedicated specialist assigned to their account and priority case handling. Customers report high satisfaction on TrustPilot, where Lili has an average rating of 4.7 stars based on about 4,100 reviews.
Novo’s customer support is much more sparse. The company primarily offers support through a ticket system, which is operational on weekdays from 9 am to 6 pm ET. You can create a ticket online or in the app, and the company will get back to you during business hours. There’s no customer support phone line, live chat, or AI assistance, which can delay a customer’s ability to get quick answers. Still, Novo fares well on TrustPilot with a rating of 4.0 stars based on about 4,500 customer reviews.
Verdict: Lili provides more comprehensive customer support than Novo thanks to more support channels, weekend support, and 24/7 AI assistance. It also has a higher average rating on TrustPilot.
| Lili | Novo | |
| Phone support line | Yes | No |
| Email support | Yes | Yes |
| Support on weekends | Yes | No |
| Dedicated specialists | Yes (Premium members) | No |
| AI assistant 24/7 | Yes | No |
| TrustPilot rating | 4.7 | 4.0 |
Funding and Credit Building
Lili offers the BusinessBuild Program, in collaboration with Dun & Bradstreet, which allows you to establish and build two business tradelines. The program also grants you access to a dashboard where you can monitor your Dun & Bradstreet scores and undergo business credit training. As your credit builds, Lili can connect you with business loans and credit lines from its lending partners without hard credit checks. Lili customers can try this program free for a month, and add it to their monthly plan for $30 per month ($18 for the first three months).
Novo doesn’t offer a business credit-building program, but it does offer a business credit card with rewards that gets reported to the business credit bureaus. The company also offers merchant cash advances with six-month repayment terms. The latter come with flat fees and can help members bridge cash flow gaps or invest in growth initiatives.
Verdict: Lili pulls ahead here due to its comprehensive credit-building program and large lender network.
Lili vs Novo: Which One Should You Choose?
The better business bank account for you depends on your business and priorities. Novo offers a free business checking account with a few helpful features, such as the ability to send unlimited invoices, have your expenses automatically categorized, and auto-allocate funds for certain purposes. However, it also has some notable drawbacks. For example, you only get $250,000 in FDIC insurance, can’t deposit cash into the account, and can’t call customer care. Novo can be a good fit for owners of smaller fully digital businesses who are okay with more basic banking features, tools, and support.
Lili offers a more comprehensive financial platform that’s built to support small to mid-sized businesses as they grow. It can work well from early-revenue stages through phases with higher revenue and growing employee rosters. You can rest assured that customer service is available seven days per week and available by phone on weekdays if you need to talk to someone. Further, the tools are designed to streamline every aspect of your financial operations, from bookkeeping and invoicing to expense tracking, bill payment, and tax preparation.
