Unlimited free ACH, real QuickBooks sync, and built-in trade credit - starting at $0/mo.
Nickel is a B2B payment and cash-flow platform built for construction contractors, building material suppliers, manufacturers, and trade businesses - the kinds of businesses that send $5K to $50K invoices and need to get paid without losing 3% to processing fees.
With 20,000+ businesses and a 4.9 G2 rating, Nickel is growing fast because it does one thing most payment processors don’t: unlimited free ACH on every plan, including the $0/mo Core plan. No asterisks, no monthly caps, no hidden fees.
For this review, I researched Nickel’s published pricing page, feature documentation, the affiliate program, G2 reviews, user testimonials, and comparison articles across contractor-focused publications. I also evaluated how Nickel fits into the broader contractor software ecosystem - particularly for trade businesses that already use QuickBooks Online and need payment processing that doesn’t eat into margins on large transactions.
Disclosure: Some links in this article are affiliate links, which means Contractor Software Hub may earn a commission if you sign up through these links at no additional cost to you. Nickel is an affiliate partner.
Nickel’s pricing is transparent - published rates for every plan, no “contact sales” walls. If you are comparing the full back-office stack instead of payment rails alone, start with our small contractor bookkeeping software guide.
| Feature | Core ($0/mo) | Plus ($35/mo annual) | Pro (Custom) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACH Transfers | Unlimited, free | Unlimited, free | Unlimited, free |
| Card Processing | 2.9% flat | 2.9% flat | 2.9% flat |
| ACH Turnaround | 3 business days | 2 business days | 2 business days |
| Card Turnaround | 2 business days | Next business day | Next business day |
| Active Users | 3 seats | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Max Transaction | $25,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| QuickBooks Sync | ✓ Real-time | ✓ Real-time | ✓ Real-time |
| Recurring Payments | - | ✓ | ✓ |
| Remote Check Deposit | - | ✓ (coming soon) | ✓ (coming soon) |
| Trade Credit | - | - | ✓ |
What the free plan actually costs you: A contractor processing $50K/month in B2B payments through ACH would pay $0 in processing fees. The same $50K through a typical 2.9% + $0.30 card processor would cost $1,450+/month. That is the Core plan value proposition in one number.
What the paid plans add: Plus ($35/mo annual) is the sweet spot for growing businesses - it removes the $25K transaction cap and 3-user seat limit, adds next-day card settlement, and enables recurring payments. Pro (custom) adds the full trade credit suite: digital credit applications, customer credit insights, decision workflows, and Net 60 terms - genuinely useful for businesses that sell materials or services on net terms.
Nickel’s A/R side covers the full payment collection workflow. Customers get a branded payment portal or a simple payment link. You can accept credit cards (2.9% flat), ACH bank transfers (free), or mailed checks. Partial and full refunds are supported, and you can save buyer payment info for repeat transactions. If your main problem is sending invoices rather than reducing ACH costs, compare the broader options in our best invoicing software for contractors guide. The real standout is one-for-one settlement - every transaction settles individually with your bank, no batch reconciliation. This is a genuine time-saver for contractors who hate matching batches at the end of the month.
You can pay vendors, subcontractors, and suppliers by card, ACH, or physical check ($2 each). The approval workflow lets you set up custom approval chains before payments go out. Scheduled and recurring payments are available on Plus and Pro. For contractors who manage multiple subs and material suppliers on each job, this replaces the check-writing-and-stuffing-envelopes workflow with a few clicks.
This is Nickel’s most differentiated feature and is exclusive to the Pro plan. You can offer digital credit applications that customers fill out online, pull credit reports and insights on applicants, set up decision workflows to approve or decline, and extend net terms up to Net 60. Nickel can also advance the payment so you get cash immediately while the customer pays on their terms. For material suppliers and subcontractors who routinely extend credit, this is a significant upgrade from the manual credit-check-and-invoice process.
Nickel’s QuickBooks Online integration is genuinely two-way and real-time. Create an invoice in QuickBooks and it appears in Nickel. Customer pays through Nickel - QuickBooks is updated instantly with the payment details and reconciliation data. No CSV exports, no manual entry, no “sync now” buttons.
This is the feature that makes Nickel a natural fit for contractors who already run their books on QuickBooks. Most payment processors require either manual reconciliation or a third-party middleware (like Zapier) to bridge the gap. Nickel does it natively.
Nickel operates with PCI-compliant infrastructure, SOC 2 compliance (audited quarterly), and encryption/tokenization for all payment data. Funds move through FDIC-insured holding accounts held in your business’s name - not pooled with other merchants. This matters for contractors who process large transactions and want to know their money is protected and accessible.
| Feature | Nickel | Melio | QuickBooks Payments | Square |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free ACH | Unlimited (all plans) | Free (sender pays) | No | No |
| Card Rate | 2.9% flat | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.25 | 2.6% + $0.10 |
| Free Plan | ✓ Full-featured | ✓ Limited | ✗ | ✓ Limited |
| Trade Credit | ✓ (Pro plan) | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| QuickBooks Sync | ✓ Real-time | ✓ | ✓ Native | ✗ |
| Mobile App | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Max Transaction | $25K-$1M | $100K | Varies | $10K |
| Check Mailing | $2/check | $1.50/check | ✗ | ✗ |
Nickel runs a rewarding affiliate program with favorable terms for content publishers:
These are strong terms compared to most B2B SaaS affiliate programs. The $250 per account payout with no percentage cap means a single high-value referral can generate meaningful revenue. The fact that Nickel offers a genuinely useful free plan (Core) also means there is no paywall barrier for referred users to start using the platform.
Nickel publishes customer results that illustrate the financial impact. One case study shows a business saving $25K+ annually on card and ACH fees, reducing payment processing time by 80%, and decreasing Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) by 10 days. Across its customer base, Nickel reports an average 15% revenue increase from meeting customer credit needs, 30% lower processing costs, and 9x faster deal closing through the digital credit application workflow.
Nickel is the best option I have found for contractors who process B2B payments and want to eliminate processing fees. The unlimited free ACH on the $0/mo Core plan is not a marketing gimmick - it genuinely saves businesses thousands of dollars a year compared to traditional processors. The QuickBooks sync is outstanding among payment platforms, and the trade credit features on Pro are unique in this price range.
The mobile app gap is the single biggest reason to pause. If you collect payments primarily from a desk - send invoices, wait for clients to pay, reconcile in QuickBooks - Nickel is excellent. If you need to swipe cards or send payment links from a job site, you will need a complementary tool for mobile payments. For phone-first invoicing, compare our Zoho Invoice review.
For contractors who are already on QuickBooks Online and want a payment platform that reduces costs and reconciliation time, Nickel earns a strong recommendation - especially starting at $0/mo with no downside to try it. If the bigger decision is which accounting system should anchor the office, read the QuickBooks Online vs Xero comparison next.
See how Nickel stacks up against the top accounting and payment tools for contractors in our FreshBooks review.
Both offer free ACH, but Nickel’s ACH is truly unlimited (no caps) and the free plan is more feature-rich. Melio’s advantage is the mobile app and slightly cheaper check mailing ($1.50 vs $2). For volume-heavy contractors who process many large transactions, Nickel’s unlimited free ACH and trade credit features give it the edge.
QuickBooks Payments has the advantage of being native to QuickBooks - no separate account needed. But it charges for ACH ($10/mo + $0.50/transaction for the cheapest plan) and has higher card rates (2.9% + $0.25). For contractors who process significant ACH volume, paying QuickBooks for ACH when Nickel offers it free is hard to justify. The trade-off is managing two platforms instead of one.
Square wins on mobile payments and in-person processing - it is the industry standard for on-site card swiping. Square’s card rate is slightly lower (2.6% + $0.10 vs 2.9%). But Square’s ACH processing charges 1% per transaction, and the $10K per-transaction cap is a problem for B2B contractors sending large invoices. Nickel is built for B2B; Square is built for retail. Use Square for the job site, Nickel for the office.