Settle

A few months ago we kept running into the same complaint from freelancers and consultants in our network.

They were losing hundreds of dollars on every large invoice they sent. Not because of bad clients or late payments. Because of a 2.9% card processing fee that quietly took a cut every single time someone paid them by credit card.

On a $20,000 invoice that is $580 gone before it ever hits your account. Most people just accepted it as the cost of doing business.

We did not think it had to be that way.

So we built Settle. A free invoice tool that lets freelancers and consultants get paid by bank transfer instead of card. No processing fees. No waiting 2 to 5 business days for settlements. Money moves directly from your client's bank to yours, in seconds.

No account needed for your client. No paid plan to unlock bank transfer. No fees hidden anywhere. Just free, forever.

We are pre-launch right now with 500+ consultants already on the waitlist across the US. We are not done building but we are close.

A few things we learned along the way that might be useful for other builders:

The biggest objection we kept hearing was "my clients will find bank transfer confusing." In practice the opposite was true. Clients preferred it once they tried it because they were not putting a large payment on a card either.

The second thing: "free forever" scared people at first. They assumed there was a catch. Being upfront about how the business model works behind Settle, which is built on Root's payment infrastructure, helped build trust faster than any feature we could have added.

Would love to hear from any freelancers or consultants in this community. What does your current invoicing setup look like and what is the biggest friction point for you right now?