Best Banks for Freelancers and Side Hustlers in 2026

Are you a freelancer in the gig economy or one of the currently 44 million self-employed individuals in the United States? It’s best for you to manage your money by using a dedicated business account designed for freelancers and business owners rather than by using your personal checking account.

Of course, it’s not a necessity for you to open a separate bank account for your freelancing business, but it will help you a lot in running and managing your business later.

The good thing about opening an account with banks for freelancers is that these banking services will provide you with the business-specific features you might not get from your traditional bank accounts. Also, by opening a dedicated bank account for your freelancing business, you can separate your personal expenses from your business-related expenses, which can save you a lot of time when you need to do some accounting or tax filing for it.

Best Business Bank Accounts for Freelancers and Self-Employed Workers

There are many business bank accounts designed for freelancers and self-employed workers you can use today.

Most of them offer features that can help freelancers and business owners to manage and run their businesses. Here are recommended bank accounts for freelancers and self-employed workers:

1. Found

Found is a business banking service designed specifically for self-employed individuals. It offers unique features such as smart tax and bookkeeping to help users manage their finances.

The Found business debit Mastercard is the perfect way to keep tabs on your expenses and save money for taxes. The card automatically categorizes purchases and estimates tax bills in real-time, so you’ll always have an estimate of what you owe.

Features:

• Found allows you to manage your finances all in one place.
• Easily send invoices, save receipts, run reports, and even pay your taxes right from the app if you’re a Schedule C filer and FoundPlus subscriber*.
• Linking it to your payment apps or other bank accounts makes for effortless money management.

Found’s features ease the burden of having to constantly cycle between platforms or pay for other financial tools that end up being ineffective.

All in all, Found provides dependable business banking and top-notch features—without minimums. In using Found, you’re saving both time and money.

Found is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC. The Found Mastercard debit card is issued by Lead Bank pursuant to a license from Mastercard Inc.

*Found’s core features are free. Found also offers an optional paid product, Found Plus for $19.99 / month or $149.99 / year. There are no monthly account maintenance fees, but transactional fees for wires, instant transfers, and ATM apply. Read more here.

2. Novo

Novo provides a simple and powerful business banking solution with no hidden fees, easy transfers, and online banking system. You can sign up for a free business checking account and get access to various small business tools from your account. It also provides the virtual card that you can use for instant and secure spending from your Novo account.

Features:

• Novo provides a simple banking account for business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs, which you can use in the US and abroad.
• It also provides a list of apps you can access to make it easier for you to manage your business with your Novo account, such as Etsy, Quickbooks, Xero, Amazon, WooCommerce, and more.
• You can get the physical debit card from Novo with an EMV chip, along with the virtual card for digital transactions.

3. Axos Basic Business Banking

Axos Basic Business Banking is a business checking account from Axos that is designed for business owners with modest checking needs. You don’t need to pay any maintenance fee per month for your account, and there is no minimum balance you need to maintain. With this business checking account, you can send your first 50 checks for free.

Features:

• Axos Basic Business Banking provides the online banking services with various business tools you can use, which are also accessible via your mobile device.
• You can also create low-fee accounts for your employees via Axos Basic Business Banking, which can make it easier for you to send payroll to them.
• It can accept ACH payments, and it is compatible with QuickBooks.

4. Lili

Lili Banking provides freelancers with the banking services they need, allowing freelancers and business owners to manage various aspects of their business finances in their account. With Lili, you will get a Visa debit card you can use in any ATM and merchants worldwide, with cashback rewards in participating merchants. Lili provides security and peace of mind for each transaction you make in your account.

Features:

• Lili provides various business tools any freelancers and business owners can use, including expense management, tax bucket, invoices, and Visa business debit card.
• It provides various features that ensure your banking security and peace of mind, including transaction notifications, the option to freeze and unfreeze your card, and FDIC-insured account.
• Lili also provides automatic savings with 1% APY and fee-free overdraft for up to $200.

Best Banks for Freelancers Summary

These are the banks for freelancers that you can use to help you run your freelancing business better. You can send invoices, deposit checks, send the payroll to your employees, and fill your tax information with these banks. You can also get other benefits, such as mobile banking, debit cards, rewards, and many others.

Best Bank Accounts for Entrepreneurs FAQs