For a one-person business, the best online option is usually a base account with a $0 monthly fee and no balance condition. As of 2026-10-06, Novo lists $0 a month with no monthly fee, and Found, Mercury and Relay each have a $0 entry tier. Bluevine Standard is also $0 a month, but its 1.3% APY depends on a monthly activity goal. A freelancer who has not yet separated business and personal money should do that first, because the IRS lists opening a business checking account among the first things to do.

What is the best online business bank for a one-person business?

There is no single answer that holds for every freelancer, because the account that suits a low-balance consultant is not the one that suits someone who parks a large reserve. What can be said precisely is which accounts cost nothing each month at their base level, and which of those attach a condition to something else, such as interest.

All prices below come from each provider's own pricing page, checked on 2026-10-06, and may have changed since. The providers are listed alphabetically, which is not a ranking. Editorial judgement appears only in the "best for" lines.

Axos Bank

Axos Bank offers Basic Business Checking at $0 a month, with no minimum balance and no maintenance fee. Its Business Interest Checking is $10 a month, waived with a $5,000 minimum average daily balance, and it takes a $100 opening deposit.

Best for: a freelancer who wants a plain account from a bank rather than an app, and who may later hold enough cash to make the interest account worth its waiver. Axos Bank is the one provider here that is itself a bank, which matters for the insurance question covered below. The trade-off is that the $10 fee returns if the daily balance dips under the threshold.

Bluevine

Bluevine has three plans: Standard at $0 a month, Plus at $30 a month and Premier at $95 a month. The APY is 1.3% on Standard, subject to a monthly activity goal, 1.75% on Plus and 3.0% on Premier. The Plus and Premier fees are waivable, and Bluevine sets out the waiver conditions on its own pricing page.

Best for: a freelancer who wants interest on a working balance and is willing to hit the activity goal. A $0 monthly fee on Standard does not make the 1.3% unconditional. For a one-person business, the paid tiers are a lot to take on unless the interest rate is the point.

Found

Found has a Free plan at $0, a Plus plan at $35 a month or $315 a year, and a Pro plan at $80 a month or $720 a year. Paying annually on Plus or Pro costs less than twelve months at the monthly price.

Best for: a sole operator who wants to begin at no cost and upgrade only if the paid features justify it. What each tier includes, and any tax-related tools, are described on Found's own site. Check the free tier's feature list before assuming a feature you want is in it.

Lili

Lili lists four tiers: Core at $0, Pro at $15 a month, Smart at $35 a month and Premium at $55 a month. The paid tiers are often advertised at roughly 40% off for the first three months. That is promotional only, and the ongoing prices are the ones just given.

Best for: a freelancer content with the free Core tier. Anyone considering a paid tier should budget at the ongoing price, because the discount lasts three months.

Mercury

Mercury has a $0 monthly base account, a Plus plan at $29.90 a month and a Pro plan at $299 a month. The distance between Plus and Pro is wide, and the Pro price is far beyond what most one-person businesses would need.

Best for: a freelancer comfortable with an online-only account at the base level. Mercury's pricing page, not this article, is where to confirm what separates the tiers.

Novo

Novo lists $0 a month with no monthly fee. As of October 6, 2026, its pricing shows one account with no paid tiers to upgrade into.

Best for: a freelancer who wants the simplest fee picture. With fewer tiers there are fewer ways to drift into a charge, though transaction fees can still apply.

Relay

Relay has three plans: Starter at $0 a month, Grow at $30 a month and Scale at $90 a month. The shape of the ladder resembles Bluevine's, with a free entry tier and two paid tiers above it.

Best for: a one-person business that expects to add accounts or people later and wants a clear upgrade path. For a solo operator today, the Starter tier is the relevant one, and the question is whether it covers current needs.

Which fees remain on a $0 account?

The monthly fee is one line on a fee schedule. Wires, cash deposits, out-of-network ATM use and expedited card delivery are commonly priced separately, and a $0 monthly fee says nothing about them. A freelancer who is paid by international wire, or who takes cash from clients, can pay more in transaction charges than a flat monthly fee would have cost.

Wire fees, cash deposit fees, out-of-network ATM fees and expedited card fees are set out on each provider's own fee schedule, so check them there. Where a provider does not publish one of these, that absence is worth knowing before applying.

Is the money insured if the provider is not a bank?

This is the question most account comparisons leave out. The FDIC says the deposit accounts of a corporation, partnership or unincorporated association are insured up to $250,000, and that all accounts one entity holds at the same insured bank are combined. Opening extra accounts for different purposes at that bank does not raise the limit.

Many online business accounts are offered by companies that are not banks. The FDIC states that nonbank companies are never themselves FDIC-insured. In its guidance on banking with third-party apps, it adds that funds sent to a nonbank company are not eligible for FDIC insurance until the company deposits them in an FDIC-insured bank and other conditions are met.

The failure case matters as much as the limit. The FDIC says deposit insurance does not protect against the insolvency or bankruptcy of a nonbank company, and that recovery then runs through an insolvency or bankruptcy proceeding that may take some time. Axos Bank is itself a bank. For each of the other providers, confirm on its own site whether it is a bank or a nonbank, and which insured bank holds the funds. For a freelancer with modest balances, the $250,000 limit may never be the constraint, but the nonbank distinction applies at any balance.

Does a freelancer need a separate business account?

The Small Business Administration says that keeping personal and business funds completely separate requires two different bank accounts. It ties separation to liability as well as tidiness: failing to separate risks forfeiting the legal protections that entity structures offer, and separation is pivotal for protecting a person's own assets and credit. Whether a given freelancer has such an entity is a separate question, and the answer differs for a sole proprietor and a single-member LLC.

The Internal Revenue Service makes the same point from the tax side. In Publication 583, it says one of the first things to do when starting a business is open a business checking account, and to keep it separate from the personal checking account. Because every account above has a $0 base tier, cost is no longer a reason to delay.

What does a bank ask for before opening a business account?

Requirements vary by bank. Bank of America, for example, asks for the business name and address, the state of formation, an EIN or SSN, and the date the business was established. It also asks for personal details, including SSN and date of birth, for everyone on the application, including those with at least 25% ownership. It may request the Articles of Organization or an equivalent, and trade name documentation where the business operates under a different name.

Bank of America does not list an operating agreement as required, so it would be wrong to assume every bank wants one. Each provider listed here sets its own application requirements, so check each one before starting.

For a freelancer who is still operating under a personal name and has not formed an entity, the order of operations is the entity if one is wanted, then the EIN, then the account, then the books. That first stretch is where ZenBusiness accounting belongs. ZenBusiness does not offer business banking, but it sells entity formation, the EIN, registered agent service and related compliance support, which are the documents a bank asks for. It also offers a free accounting consultation to customers who form with it, which covers the step after the account is open.

How should a one-person business choose?

Start with the fee that is certain, then work outward to the ones that are not. For the plainest fee picture, Novo and Axos Basic Business Checking are the least complicated on their published pricing. For a free entry tier with room to grow, Found, Lili, Mercury and Relay each fit that description, and the useful question is what the free tier leaves out.

If interest on the balance matters, Bluevine Standard and Axos Business Interest Checking are the two interest-bearing routes, and each carries a condition. If the balance would sit uninsured in the event of a nonbank failure, the Axos Bank route is the one that avoids the nonbank question entirely. Whichever account wins, confirm the insurance structure and the transaction fees before moving money in.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a business account with no fees at all? Not in the sense of zero charges of any kind. A $0 monthly fee covers one line on the fee schedule, and wires, cash deposits, out-of-network ATMs and expedited cards can be charged separately.

Does a freelancer need to form an LLC before opening an account? Not necessarily. Bank of America, for instance, asks for an EIN or SSN, and asks for formation documents only where they apply. Requirements differ by bank, so check the provider's own application page.

Is a nonbank account less safe than a bank account? The FDIC says nonbank companies are never themselves FDIC-insured, and that deposit insurance does not protect against a nonbank's insolvency or bankruptcy. Insurance can still attach to funds the company deposits at an insured bank, but only after conditions are met.

Sources

This is general information rather than legal, tax or accounting advice, and requirements vary and change.