Mercury vs. Rho

Last verified 32 days ago · 18 sources · Updated automatically

Mercury and Rho compared across Company facts, Pricing, Card & limits, Rewards & cash back, Spend management, Security & compliance and Platform & integrations — every fact sourced and re-verified from each vendor's public material.

Mercury

Business banking with the balance-funded IO card — the simplest card add-on if you already bank with Mercury.

Founded2017

HQ San Francisco, CA

Visit Mercury Full profile

Rho

All-in-one finance platform — a corporate charge card with AP, banking, and treasury in one, with no personal guarantee.

Founded2018

HQ New York, NY

Visit Rho Full profile

Attribute

Mercury

Rho

Company facts

Headquarters

San Francisco, CA

New York, NY 100 Crosby Street, New York, NY 10012

Employees

1k Mercury states 1,000+ employees

345 Approx. 342-351 per third-party aggregators (2026)

Pricing

Starting Monthly Price (USD)

$0 Free Mercury plan; IO card has no annual fee and no per-user software charge

$0 Free platform; $0 subscription and $0 per-user fees

Paid Tier Price (USD/user/mo)

$29.9 Mercury Plus, $29.90/mo (or $23.95/mo billed annually)

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Card & limits

Card Type

charge card Cash-underwritten charge card; balance paid off each pay period

charge card Charge card by default — each day's spend is auto-debited from the linked Rho checking account; optional monthly credit terms available

Card Network

Mastercard

Mastercard Issued by Webster Bank N.A. on Mastercard

No Personal Guarantee

No personal guarantee and no personal credit check

No personal guarantee, personal credit check, or personal credit score pull

Limit Basis

account balance Cash-underwritten: IO balance cannot exceed cash held with Mercury (linked external balances may add headroom)

cash balance & revenue Underwritten on revenue growth, spending patterns, and balance sheet liquidity

Virtual Cards

Issue physical or virtual cards to the team; start spending immediately with virtual cards

Spin up a virtual card in seconds; physical cards also available

No Foreign Transaction Fees

3% currency conversion fee on non-USD IO transactions

1% foreign currency conversion fee on card spend abroad

Rewards & cash back

Rewards Model

flat cash back Unlimited 1.5% cashback on all spend, auto-deposited

flat cash back Up to 1.5% cash back on all spend; no tiers, no categories

Flat Cash-Back Rate

1.5%

1.5% Up to 1.5% on qualifying spend, paid as statement credit

Spend management

Receipt Capture & Matching

Upload/email receipts and Mercury auto-matches them to the right transaction

Receipt upload + Gmail connector auto-finds receipts; auto-coded and matched

Approval Workflows & Policies

Company-wide spend policies plus multi-layered approval rules for bill pay

Approval rules by amount or team; off-policy spend flagged at point of use

Employee Reimbursements

Out-of-pocket reimbursements; 5 active users/mo free, more on paid tiers

Out-of-pocket reimbursements incl. mileage; paid from Rho checking (US bank accounts only)

Bill Pay / AP

Free unlimited bill pay via ACH, domestic/international wire, or check

AP/bill pay via ACH, check, wire, card with approval routing; zero fees

Security & compliance

SOC 2

SOC 2 Type II

SOC 2 Type II (report available via Trust Center)

Platform & integrations

Accounting / ERP Sync

Native sync to QuickBooks, Xero, and NetSuite

Native sync to QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct (real-time)

Public API

Public REST API — balances, transactions, ACH transfers; plus Accounts Receivable/invoicing API

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The verdict

Mercury

Best for credit headroom and a public API

Both start at $0 with charge cards, 1.5% cash back, and no personal guarantee. Mercury adds a documented public REST API (balances, transactions, ACH) for teams that build on their banking, plus a Plus tier at $29.90/mo. Its card limit is cash-underwritten, so spend cannot exceed cash held with Mercury.

Full profile

Rho

Best for spending abroad and revenue-based limits

Rho matches the $0 platform, 1.5% cash back, and no personal guarantee, but charges a 1% FX fee versus Mercury's 3%, cutting costs on overseas spend. Its limit is underwritten on revenue and balance-sheet liquidity, not just cash held, giving growing companies more headroom. Accounting sync adds Sage Intacct with real-time updates.

Full profile

Sources · 18 verified references

en.wikipedia.org rho.co mercury.com pitchbook.com support.mercury.com trust.rho.co

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