Updated October 18, 2026
If you want to separate tax money, payroll and operating cash, Rho, Bluevine, Novo and Found offer sub-accounts for splitting cash by purpose, and Relay, Mercury and Brex do it with extra full accounts. The catch is that "sub-account" does not mean the same thing everywhere, and the difference decides what each one can do.
Which business bank accounts offer sub-accounts for budgeting?
Rho, Bluevine, Novo and Found offer sub-accounts, while Relay, Mercury and Brex give you more full accounts instead. Baselane offers property-specific accounts for landlords. Rho lets you add checking sub-accounts for payroll, taxes and other uses, each with its own account number and no limit on how many. Novo's Reserves work differently: they are buckets inside one account, with no account number of their own.
Best for: startups that want checking sub-accounts with their own account numbers and no limit on how many. Cards and bill pay are on the same platform.
We compared providers on whether each sub-account has its own account number, how many a plan allows, what it costs and who it fits best, based on what each provider publishes.
Best for, by what you need:
What you need | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
Sub-accounts with no limit on how many, plus banking and cards in one platform for an incorporated startup | Add checking sub-accounts for payroll, taxes and other uses, each with its own account number, with no limit on how many. No monthly, per-user or minimum-balance fees, and $0 for domestic ACH and wires. Corporate cards earn up to 1.25% Cashback on the Rho Corporate Card with Daily Terms (terms apply). Rho is a banking platform built for US-incorporated businesses. | |
Budgeting buckets that stay free | Novo | Reserves are sub-balances inside your checking account, with a $0 monthly fee and no minimum balance. |
A dedicated account number per bucket | Bluevine | Each sub-account gets its own account number. Standard allows up to 5, Plus up to 10, Premier up to 50. |
Named buckets you can pay from directly | Found | Found calls its sub-accounts Pockets and describes them as sub-accounts for easy cash flow management. |
Fully separate accounts, each with its own account number | Relay and Mercury | Relay lets you open 20 checking accounts on Starter and Grow and 50 on Scale. Mercury lets you open up to 100 checking and 100 savings accounts. |
Many uniquely numbered accounts under one business account | Brex | Brex says you can create up to 240 uniquely numbered checking accounts under a single Brex Business Account. |
Landlords tracking cash by property | Baselane | Unlimited property-specific accounts, with no monthly account maintenance fees or minimums. |
Every provider above builds one of three things. The next section shows how to pick.
Internal buckets, separate account numbers or multiple accounts: how to choose
Ask what needs to happen to the money: just be tracked, be paid into directly, or be held apart completely?
Internal buckets inside one account. You label money "taxes" or "payroll" and the dashboard tracks each balance. There is one account number for the whole account. Best when you want a visual split and nothing more. Novo Reserves works this way. The cost is the lowest of the three: one account, one statement.
Sub-accounts with their own account numbers. Each sub-account has its own account number. Rho and Bluevine sub-accounts work this way, and Rho sub-accounts can receive incoming payments. Best when a client, tenant or vendor should pay into a specific account number. The cost is more account numbers to keep track of.
Multiple full accounts. Separate checking accounts, each with its own account number. Best when you want hard separation and are fine managing more accounts. Relay, Mercury and Brex work this way. The cost is more statements and more reconciliation at tax time.
A few situations change the answer:
A startup with one entity. You likely need fewer buckets than you think. Start with the fees, cards and who can access what, then add structure when a real need shows up. For the wider field, see best business banks for small businesses.
More than one legal entity. Separate legal entities usually keep separate accounts, so buckets inside one account will not cover them.
Tax money you do not want to touch. Any bucket or separate account works. The point is that it is out of sight, not which feature name the provider uses.
Agencies, ecommerce sellers and nonprofits. Each tends to track money by client, channel or fund. Rho's guides to business bank accounts for agencies, business bank accounts for ecommerce and bank accounts for nonprofits cover each case.
Which sub-account structure fits your business?
Here is the same choice, job by job.
You collect payments for different purposes. Client payments, rent, or one-off invoices: use sub-accounts with their own account numbers. Rho sub-accounts can receive incoming payments, so each purpose gets an account number you can hand out. Bluevine sub-accounts also have dedicated account numbers, within plan limits.
You do not want a cap to plan around. Rho has no limit on how many checking sub-accounts you add, so an incorporated startup can open payroll, taxes and a project account as each need shows up. Bluevine, Relay and Mercury set limits by plan or account type, and the comparison table below has each number.
You only want a visual split. Novo's Reserves are buckets inside one checking account with no account number of their own, and Novo lists a $0 monthly fee and no minimum balance. That is enough if all you need is a clean view of earmarked cash.
You want hard separation across many accounts. Relay, Mercury and Brex are built around opening more full accounts. Brex says up to 240 uniquely numbered checking accounts per Business Account.
You manage rental properties. Baselane offers property-specific accounts for landlords.
You want banking, cards and bill pay in one place. Rho runs checking, corporate cards and bill pay on the same banking platform. Rho serves US-incorporated businesses.
Can a business have multiple bank accounts?
Yes. A business can hold more than one bank account, at one bank or several. Providers like Relay and Mercury are built around opening more full accounts, one per purpose.
Best business bank accounts for Profit First
Any of the three structures can hold Profit First. The method splits every deposit across accounts for income, profit, owner's pay, taxes and operating expenses, so pick by how many account numbers you want to manage.
What is a sub-account, actually?
A sub-account is a way to divide the cash in one business account by purpose, like taxes, payroll or a project. What it actually is depends on the provider.
At some providers it is a labeled bucket. You move money into "taxes" or "Q4 marketing," and the dashboard tracks each balance apart from your spending balance. Novo's Reserves work this way: they sit inside one checking account, with no account number of their own.
At others, each sub-account has its own account number. Rho checking sub-accounts and Bluevine sub-accounts each have their own account number, and Rho sub-accounts can receive incoming payments. Both share a routing number with the main account.
Relay, Mercury and Brex go a step further: they let you open more full accounts and use each one as its own envelope. Baselane offers property-specific accounts for landlords, and Found calls its version Pockets and describes them as sub-accounts for easy cash flow management.
The goal is envelope-style budgeting: know how much cash is free to spend and how much is already earmarked.
Is a sub-account a separate account? Sub-account vs. multiple checking accounts
Is a sub-account a separate account? Not always. A sub-account is a separate account only when it has its own account number. Here is how five of them are built, based on what each publishes:
Rho: checking sub-accounts under one primary Rho Checking account. Each has its own account number, shares the primary account's routing number, and can receive incoming payments.
Bluevine: each sub-account has its own account number, and all Bluevine accounts share one routing number.
Relay and Mercury: each account is its own checking or savings account with its own account number.
Brex: up to 240 uniquely numbered checking accounts under one Business Account.
Novo: Reserves sit inside one checking account and do not have their own account numbers.
Here is how that plays out.
A bucket, like Novo's Reserves, shares the parent account's routing and account number. It is not a separately addressable account.
Money inside it is still, from the bank's perspective, sitting in one account with internal labels on top.
Opening multiple full checking accounts, which is Relay's, Mercury's and Brex's model, gives you a separate account number for each one. Each shows up separately on a bank statement.
Rho and Bluevine sub-accounts each have their own account number and share the primary account's routing number. With Rho, you can hand a vendor a specific account number for invoice payments without opening a new full checking account. The difference is the cap: Bluevine limits sub-accounts by plan, and Rho sets no limit on how many.
None of this changes what the money can do. It changes how visible and how separately trackable each bucket is.
At-a-glance comparison
Here is how they compare as of October 18, 2026:
Provider | Sub-accounts or accounts allowed | Cost | Structure | What they call it | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rho | No limit on checking sub-accounts | No monthly, per-user or minimum-balance fees on business checking | One primary checking account plus checking sub-accounts, each with its own account number that can receive incoming payments, and a shared routing number | Checking sub-accounts | Startups that want checking sub-accounts with their own account numbers and no limit on how many. Cards and bill pay are on the same platform |
Novo | Multiple Reserves inside one checking account | $0 monthly fee and no minimum balance | Buckets inside one account, sharing the parent account's routing and account number | Reserves | Budgeting inside one account, no per-bucket account numbers needed |
Bluevine | Standard: 5. Plus: 10. Premier: 50 | Standard $0/month. Plus $30/month. Premier $95/month | Sub-accounts, each with its own account number and the same routing number | Sub-accounts | A dedicated account number per sub-account |
Found | Up to 20 Pockets on all plans | Found lists plans from $0/month. | Sub-accounts you can pay directly from | Pockets | Named buckets you can pay from directly |
Relay | 20 checking accounts on Starter and Grow, 50 on Scale | Starter $0/month. Grow $30/month | Separate checking accounts, each with its own account number | Individual checking accounts | Fully separate accounts rather than internal buckets |
Mercury | Up to 100 checking and 100 savings accounts | No additional cost to open extra accounts | Separate accounts, each with its own unique account number | Additional checking and savings accounts | Fully separate accounts, each with its own account number |
Baselane | Unlimited property-specific accounts | No monthly account maintenance fees or minimums | Separate property-specific accounts | Property-specific accounts | Landlords and real estate investors tracking cash per property |
Brex | Up to 240 checking accounts under one Business Account | No monthly fees | Separate checking accounts, each uniquely numbered | Checking accounts | Companies that want many uniquely numbered checking accounts under one account |
Now that you know the mechanics, here's how each provider actually builds it.
The providers, one at a time
Rho checking sub-accounts
Rho gives you one primary checking account, and you can add checking sub-accounts alongside it. Use one for payroll, one for taxes and one for a project, and each gets its own account number.
Key features:
Add checking sub-accounts for payroll, taxes and other uses, with no limit on how many.
Each sub-account has its own account number and can receive incoming payments directly.
Create one in the Rho app.
Corporate cards, expense management and bill pay run on the same platform as your checking.
Pricing: No monthly, per-user or minimum-balance fees on business checking, and $0 for domestic ACH and wires.
Who it's for: US-incorporated startups that want checking sub-accounts with their own account numbers and no limit on how many. Cards and bill pay are on one banking platform.
Novo Reserves
Novo built its sub-account feature, called Reserves, directly into its business checking account. It's the simplest version of the feature covered here: Reserves are sub-balances inside your checking account, with rules for routing a share of each deposit into them.
Key features:
Reserves are sub-balances inside your checking account, not separate accounts.
Reserves share the parent account's routing and account number.
Rules can route a share of each deposit into a Reserve.
Pricing: $0 monthly fee and no minimum balance.
Pros:
Free: $0 monthly fee and no minimum balance.
Cons:
No dedicated account number per Reserve.
Who it's for: Solo founders and small teams who want a clean visual split between spendable cash and money already earmarked, without needing separate account numbers for any of it.
Bluevine sub-accounts
Bluevine's sub-accounts scale with its checking plan tiers, and each one gets its own account number even though they all share the same routing number.
Key features:
Standard plan: up to 5 sub-accounts. Plus: up to 10. Premier: up to 50.
Each sub-account has its own dedicated account number.
Debit cards per sub-account with spend limits, plus automatic transfer rules.
Pricing: Standard $0/month. Plus $30/month. Premier $95/month.
Pros:
The Standard plan has no monthly fee and includes up to 5 sub-accounts.
Dedicated account numbers per sub-account.
Cons:
Needing more than 10 sub-accounts means moving to Premier at $95/month.
Who it's for: Businesses that want sub-accounts with their own account numbers and are fine scaling into a paid tier as the number of sub-accounts grows.
Found
Found offers sub-accounts, which it calls Pockets, as part of its small business banking platform. Its page describes them as sub-accounts for easy cash flow management.
Key features:
Sub-accounts for easy cash flow management.
Pay directly from your sub-accounts.
Banking services provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC.
Pricing: No monthly account maintenance fees.
Who it's for: Small business owners who want named buckets they can pay from directly, with no monthly account maintenance fees.
Relay
Relay doesn't brand this feature as sub-accounts. Its approach is simpler to describe: open more full checking accounts, each with its own account number.
Key features:
20 checking accounts per business on Starter and Grow, 50 on Scale.
Each checking and savings account has its own account number.
Pricing: Starter $0/month. Grow $30/month.
Pros:
Full account independence: each account has its own account number, so a client or vendor can pay into the right one.
No separate bucket tier to climb: Starter and Grow both allow 20 accounts.
Cons:
Managing 20 separate account numbers and statements is more operational overhead than a single dashboard with internal buckets.
Who it's for: Agencies and teams who want account-level separation, not just visual budgeting labels, and don't mind the extra accounts showing up as separate lines everywhere.
Mercury
Mercury's route to the same goal is more full accounts: open additional checking and savings accounts, up to 100 of each, and use each one as a budgeting category.
Key features:
Up to 100 checking accounts and 100 savings accounts, each with its own unique account number.
No additional cost to open extra accounts.
Pricing: No additional cost to open extra accounts.
Pros:
The cap is 100 checking accounts and 100 savings accounts.
Every account is a full, independent account, useful if you want hard separation rather than internal labels.
Cons:
More accounts means more statements and more reconciliation work at tax time.
Who it's for: Businesses that are already comfortable managing multiple full bank accounts.
Brex
Brex lets you create up to 240 uniquely numbered checking accounts under a single Brex Business Account, according to its website.
Key features:
Up to 240 uniquely numbered checking accounts under one Business Account.
Pricing: No monthly fees.
Who it's for: Companies that want many uniquely numbered checking accounts under one Business Account.
Baselane
Baselane built its accounts specifically for landlords and real estate investors tracking income and expenses property by property, which is a different use case from the general small-business budgeting the other providers target.
Key features:
Unlimited property-specific accounts for all your entities.
Built for multi-property owners, with a separate account for each property.
Pricing: No monthly account maintenance fees or minimums. Banking services provided by Thread Bank.
Pros:
No limit on how many property-specific accounts you open.
No monthly account maintenance fees or minimums.
Cons:
The feature is built around the property use case specifically; a business with no real estate to track gets less out of the property-level framing.
Who it's for: Landlords and real estate investors who need per-property cash tracking, not general small-business budgeting.
Which one fits your business
Rho: US-incorporated startups that want checking sub-accounts with their own account numbers and no limit on how many. Business checking has no monthly, per-user or minimum-balance fees. Cards and bill pay are on the same banking platform.
Novo: the simplest version of this, with no dedicated account numbers per bucket needed. Reserves are free.
Bluevine: sub-accounts with their own account numbers. Sub-accounts scale from free up through Premier as your needs grow.
Found: named buckets you can pay from directly, with no monthly account maintenance fees.
Relay: fully independent accounts, each with its own account number. 20 checking accounts on Starter and Grow, 50 on Scale.
Mercury: several fully separate accounts. Up to 100 checking and 100 savings accounts.
Brex: many uniquely numbered checking accounts under one Business Account, up to 240.
Baselane: built for tracking rental properties specifically. Unlimited property-specific accounts, not general business budgeting.
Still comparing? See business bank accounts that offer sub-accounts and more or compare business bank accounts, or compare accounts that include invoicing.
If you are an incorporated startup and want no monthly, per-user or minimum-balance fees with cards in one place, see how Rho business banking works. Rho serves US-incorporated businesses, so have your entity documents and EIN ready.