How to choose
What to weigh before you pick
It usually comes down to 3 things. Compare your options on each before deciding.
The all-in price, including fees that are easy to miss.
What each option actually does for your situation.
Which one matches how you will really use it.
SwitchWize may be compensated if you open an account through links on this page. That does not change how we research or write. The Relay comparison is based on Relay's published pricing pages, and the Grasshopper details come from Grasshopper's own product pages, which we checked on October 8, 2026, and, where labeled, from Grasshopper's partner materials. Neither company reviewed this article.
- Both entry-level accounts have no required monthly fee, so cost is not the deciding factor.
- Grasshopper lists tiered checking interest of up to 1.35% APY, dated 11/03/2025 on its own page, so it may have changed. Relay does not disclose a checking APY; its advertised yields are savings yields.
- Grasshopper's 1.00% cash back applies only to qualified debit purchases and only with a $10,000+ average balance in the calendar month.
- Relay is built around many sub-accounts. Grasshopper is a bank with lending products behind the account. Choose by how you want to organise cash.
Quick answer
If you want one account that pays something on idle balances and sits at a bank that also offers a term loan and SBA lending, Grasshopper fits. If you want to split revenue into many named buckets and automate transfers between them, Relay is built for exactly that. Neither is a wrong choice for a small business with modest cash, and the fee at the entry tier is zero for both.
The comparison at a glance
Grasshopper figures are from Grasshopper's own product pages as checked on October 8, 2026, and we have not independently verified them. Grasshopper calls its checking product Innovator Business Checking, though its startup banking page shows it as Accelerator Checking. Rates carry Grasshopper's own dates and may have changed. Relay figures are per Relay's published pricing page as checked in September 2026. Confirm both on the company sites before opening anything.
- Grasshopper Innovator Business Checking
- $0 maintenance fee
- Relay Starter checking
- $0
- Source
- Grasshopper startup banking page; Relay pricing page
- Grasshopper Innovator Business Checking
- None once open; $100 minimum opening deposit
- Relay Starter checking
- No required minimum is stated in the sources we used; confirm on Relay
- Source
- Grasshopper startup banking page
- Grasshopper Innovator Business Checking
- Tiered, up to 1.35% APY (Grasshopper's tiers dated 11/03/2025; may have changed)
- Relay Starter checking
- Not publicly disclosed
- Source
- Grasshopper startup banking page; Relay pricing page
- Grasshopper Innovator Business Checking
- Bank, Member FDIC
- Relay Starter checking
- Financial technology platform banking through Thread Bank
- Source
- Grasshopper startup banking page; Relay pricing page
- Grasshopper Innovator Business Checking
- Debit card; 1.00% cash back on qualified debit purchases only with a $10,000+ average balance in the calendar month, account in good standing, and no NSF items in the prior twelve months
- Relay Starter checking
- Debit cards available; confirm terms on Relay
- Source
- Grasshopper startup banking page
- Grasshopper Innovator Business Checking
- Not detailed on Grasshopper's public pages; confirm with Grasshopper
- Relay Starter checking
- Confirm on Relay
- Source
- n/a
- Grasshopper Innovator Business Checking
- Checking plus a separate Innovator Savings account
- Relay Starter checking
- Many checking sub-accounts, with higher limits on higher plans
- Source
- Grasshopper product pages; our Relay sub-accounts guide
Interest: read the yields carefully
This is where comparison pages most often go wrong, so it is worth slowing down.
Grasshopper's startup banking page lists these tiers for its business checking account (Innovator Business Checking, shown there as Accelerator Checking): 1.00% APY on balances from $0.01 to $24,999.99, 1.35% from $25,000 to $250,000, and 1.00% above that. Grasshopper dates those rates 11/03/2025 and says rates may change after the account is opened, so they may have changed. "Up to 1.35%" is a band, not a flat rate. Separately, Grasshopper's Innovator Savings page lists 1.55% APY on $0.01 to $24,999.99 and 3.00% from $25,000 and up, dated 01/05/2026, and says savings rates are variable and may change at any time. That 3.00% belongs to the savings account only. Checking does not pay it.
Relay's page lists 1.11% on Starter, 1.75% on Grow, and 3.00% on Scale. Those are savings-account yields, according to Relay's own page as checked in September 2026. They are not checking APY, and Relay does not disclose a checking APY. Putting Relay's 3.00% next to Grasshopper's 1.35% would compare a savings yield on a top plan with a checking yield, which tells you nothing useful.
The fair comparison is checking to checking (Grasshopper tiered interest versus no disclosed interest at Relay), and savings to savings, where plan tier and balance both change the result.
Structure: banks versus buckets
Grasshopper is a digital bank serving small businesses, startups, and fintech platforms. Behind the account sit an Innovator term loan (up to $200,000 per Grasshopper's partner materials, with rates as low as 6.99% APR; confirm with the bank) and SBA 7(a) lending. If you expect to borrow later, having a bank that already knows your account is a real convenience. See our Grasshopper business account review and SBA loans review for detail.
Relay's pitch is organisation. Per our earlier guide, its plans allow up to 20 checking sub-accounts on lower tiers and up to 50 on Scale, all sharing a single routing number with different account numbers. It is also a certified Profit First banking platform. If you run a percentage-allocation system for revenue, taxes, and profit, that is a real feature. See the Relay sub-accounts guide.
Who should pick Relay instead
Choose Relay if your main problem is separating money rather than earning on it. That includes owners following Profit First, businesses that want a named account for taxes, payroll, and each client or project, and teams that want cards assigned to specific sub-accounts. If a bucket-style workflow is the reason you are shopping, a bank with a single checking account and a savings account will feel thin by comparison.
Also consider Relay if you do not want your checking to depend on keeping a savings balance to unlock a better rate.
Who should pick Grasshopper
Choose Grasshopper if you want checking that lists tiered interest, a savings account next to it, and a lender in the same place. It also suits owners who prefer dealing with an actual bank. Note the eligibility limits in Grasshopper's partner materials, which we could not find on its public pages: US-based businesses with US owners or owners with an ITIN, up to four signers, and US residents only. Those rules may rule some businesses out before price matters.
What to check before you open either
- Which account type each advertised rate belongs to.
- Your realistic average balance, and which interest tier that lands in.
- Whether you need many sub-accounts or just two or three.
- Whether you may want a loan in the next two years.
- Current fees and terms on each company site, since both can change.
- For Grasshopper's cash back, whether you would actually hold a $10,000+ average balance each month.
- Grasshopper Bank: startup banking page (business checking)· Checked 2026-10-08
- Grasshopper Bank: Innovator Savings page· Checked 2026-10-08
- Grasshopper Bank: SBA lending page· Checked 2026-10-08
- Relay: pricing page· Checked 2026-09-09
- SwitchWize: Relay sub-accounts and Profit First guide· Checked 2026-07-07
Next scheduled verification: 2026-11-06
This is educational information, not personalized financial advice. Rates, fees, and eligibility change; confirm current terms with each company before opening an account.
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