Top 5 Wise alternatives: compare fees, features & benefits

As businesses venture into new markets, the complexity of international transactions can quickly become a major hurdle to growth. You may have come across Wise as an option to handle your growing foreign currency needs, but you might be wondering what alternative platforms there are that might better suit your specific business needs.

This article will guide you through the best alternatives to Wise, helping you find a financial platform that aligns with your business goals and supports your continued growth. We'll explore various options, comparing their features and benefits to ensure you make an informed decision that drives your business forward.

What is Wise?

Wise is a UK-based financial technology company focused on simplifying global money transfers. Its platform is designed to help consumers and businesses send funds overseas easily at a low cost.

For businesses, Wise’s products include:

• Multi-currency accounts

• Virtual debit cards

• Batch international transfers

• Accounting software integrations

With a Wise multi-currency business account, customers can accept and hold payments in nine currencies and transfer funds to over 70 countries. Additional payment options are available for vital markets. 

Best known for supporting consumers and micro-businesses, Wise offers a simple and fast but basic service at low costs. For growing businesses with international vendors, suppliers, and customers, it may be more suitable to look at Wise alternatives. 

The top alternatives to Wise 

There are a few alternatives to Wise that businesses can consider, including Airwallex, OFX, Payoneer, PayPal, and Revolut.

• Airwallex: Founded in 2015, Airwallex is a global financial platform to collect, hold, convert, and send multi-currency payments, designed for businesses only.

• OFX. Previously known as OzForex, OFX launched in 1998 offering foreign exchange services. Today, it also offers a foreign currency account for small- to medium-sized businesses.

• Payoneer: A payments platform designed for marketplace sellers and freelancers to collect, hold, and send payments.

• PayPal: A well-established payment gateway that’s been operating globally for over 20 years. eCommerce brands use it to process payments from credit cards, debit cards, and bank transfers.

• Revolut: Established in 2015, a UK-based financial technology company offering digital financial services to consumers and businesses.

Compare the top 5 alternatives to Wise

The top Wise alternatives: key features and fees

Airwallex, OFX, Payoneer, PayPal, and Revolut are all great alternatives to Wise, but each have their unique strengths. Our platform, Airwallex stands out from the rest with our end-to-end financial operations and global reach. It’s a strong option if you’re looking to scale your financial operations domestically or internationally. 

Below, we summarise the key features and fees of each. For full product and fee information, including other charges, please visit each provider’s official website.

Airwallex

Airwallex lets your business operate without borders by letting you open local bank accounts in over 60 currencies and access fee-free trading in over 120 currencies. You can save up to 80% on your FX fees with Airwallex, with 90% of our transactions going through local payment rails and 95% arriving within a few hours or the same day.

Airwallex is more than just powerful multi-currency support and FX transfers; you can also earn competitive returns on your AUD and USD funds through innovative features like Yield, as well as access Corporate Cards, accounts payable, Expense Management and fully-customisable checkouts for businesses accepting payments.

Unlike Wise, Airwallex provides a more comprehensive financial solution that simplifies global growth by integrating various financial tools and services into one platform.

What fees does Airwallex charge?

Airwallex’s ‘Explore’ bundle starts from $29 per month, which can be waived by holding a minimum of $10,000 or depositing $5,000 per month. You can make transfers to over 120 currencies fee-free, while international transfers are 0.5% above interbank rates for major currencies and 1% for all other currencies.

Pros

• Airwallex offers an all-in-one platform that combines global finance tools, APIs, integrations, and expense management, providing more than just multi-currency support.

• With local bank details in over 60 countries, businesses can payout to over 200 countries while saving more than 80% on FX fees.

• The platform enables businesses to convert, send, and hold funds across an extensive global network.

Cons

• Airwallex operates entirely online, with no physical branches available.

• The platform regularly releases new updates and optimisations, which may require users to adapt to changing features and interfaces.

• A physical POS system is coming soon, though its current unavailability might be a consideration for some businesses.

OFX

OFX offers a Global Business Account that enables small to medium-sized businesses to manage multiple currencies in one place, receive and send payments globally, and access competitive exchange rates. The financial platform gives access to over 30 currencies and local bank details in multiple countries. While OFX positions itself as a strong competitor to Wise, there are some limitations to its offering, including fees and transfer limits.

What fees does OFX charge?

OFX offers three business pricing plans that start at $0 per month for three users, with custom pricing applied for large businesses. The fees for international payments include a $10 cross-border Wire/SWIFT fee per transaction, and receiving international funds into a Global Business Account costs $5, although these fees can be custom for larger businesses. Additional fees apply when funding the Global Business Account by card, ranging from 1.27% to 3.40% of the amount added per transaction, depending on whether the card is domestic or international.

Pros 

• Make payments in 30+ currencies to 170+ countries

• Local bank details in four currencies and FX transfers

• Batch payments and spend management

• Employee cards

Cons

• For no-fee FX transfers, there is a 20-transaction limit with the free account

• Margin is included in the exchange rate quote, making it hard to calculate the cost of your transfer

Payoneer

Payoneer is used amongst freelancers and businesses due to its focus on cross-border transactions. The platform offers an intuitive interface, supporting multiple payment methods such as bank transfers and debit/credit cards. Payoneer also provides a prepaid Mastercard at $29.95 annually, which can be used for online and in-store purchases. Whilst they offer payment processing services for marketplaces and platforms, fees are higher for international transfers, which may become costly. 

What fees are charged by Payoneer?

Payoneer charges an annual account fee of US$29.95, but this is waived for accounts that receive less than US$2,000 over 12 months. Different fees apply depending on the transaction type and payment method – for example, receiving payments from clients via credit card incurs a fee of up to 3.99%, while sending payments to recipients without a Payoneer account can cost up to 3% of the transaction amount. Additionally, currency conversion fees apply, such as up to 3.5% for transactions involving currency conversion when using the Payoneer card.

Pros

• Supports multi-currency accounts and currency conversion 

• Serves both individuals and businesses

• Some free transactions between Payoneer accounts

Cons

• Transfer limits of $15,000USD per credit card transaction, which may be limiting for larger businesses 

• Different fees apply for specific transactions, which can make forecasting difficult

• Users may need another platform to manage other financial operations

PayPal 

PayPal offers Australian eCommerce businesses a range of benefits, including a widely recognised and trusted payment platform, ease of integration with various eCommerce platforms, and a comprehensive suite of payment tools such as online checkout, invoicing, and payout services. Compared to Wise Business, PayPal is more geared towards eCommerce businesses that need a payment processing solution, while Wise Business is more focused on small- to mid-sized businesses looking for cross-border payments and currency conversions.

What fees does PayPal charge?

For Australian businesses, PayPal charges 2.90% plus a fixed fee  of AU$0.30 AUD per transaction for domestic transactions, while QR code transactions are charged at 1.20%. International transactions incur an extra 1.00% fee on top of the domestic rate.

Pros 

• Wide-spread acceptance and various payment methods

• Suitable for physical and digital stores

• Offers buyer and seller protection

Cons

• Higher fees for international transactions

• While it may be easy to use, there are limited customisations available 

• Doesn’t hold multi-currency funds

Revolut

Revolut is a digital bank that services individuals and businesses. It is best known for allowing individuals to manage their spending and convert between currencies when travelling. Revolut also offers multi-currency accounts for businesses, which allows them to hold and manage multiple currencies in one place. While Revolut offers various pricing models, some basic features require extra fees, such as international transfers beyond set limits. Markups on exchange rates may also apply on weekends and with certain currencies.

What fees does Revolut charge?

Revolut Business offers tiered pricing plans for Australian businesses, with account-keeping fees ranging from $10/month for the Basic plan to $79/month for the Scale plan, and custom pricing for Enterprise plans. The plans come with varying allowances for no-fee local and global transfers, after which a $10 transfer fee applies, as well as currency exchange at the interbank rate, after which a fee of between 0.6–1% applies. Adding team members is free and unlimited across all plans, but adding members to features such as expense management costs $8 per person, per month.

Pros 

• Customisable corporate cards 

• Supports multi-currency accounts, currency conversion and local bank accounts

• Serves both individuals and businesses, so those who already have a personal account may find it easier to pick up 

Cons

• Additional transaction fees outside the free transaction allowance may be costly 

• User can't earn interest or returns on idle funds

• No physical branches – digital-only platform and service

Is Airwallex a good alternative to Wise?

Yes, Airwallex is a good alternative to Wise. If you’re a business looking to grow globally without borders, Airwallex gives you powerful tools to support your business ambitions. This includes competitive FX transfers and extensive global payout coverage combined with eCommerce integrations, account management, expense and accounting tools. Compare the key features of Airwallex vs Wise below.

Final thoughts on alternatives to Wise

Wise is known for offering competitive cross-border money solutions for businesses. However, for businesses looking to grow globally without limitations, Airwallex is hard to beat. With a multi-currency business account, businesses can accept and hold 23 currencies, and transfer to over 200 countries, while Wise has a limited payout coverage of 52 countries. Your business can also enjoy 0% international transaction fees to 120+ countries using local payment rails with Airwallex.

The Airwallex platform lets you do a lot more than manage global finance. You can manage all of your business expenses with our built-in Expense Management software – which includes Corporate Cards – and benefit from powerful eCommerce capabilities that include Payment Links and API integrations. Airwallex also lets your business earn on your AUD and USD funds through Yield. 

Our verdict? Wise offers simple, easy, low-cost global money transfers for consumers and smaller businesses, but larger enterprises may find it limiting.

Consider Airwallex for an end-to-end financial solution built to solve all kinds of cross-border payment challenges.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Wise’s biggest competitor?

In Australia, Wise’s biggest competitor for businesses is Airwallex. Both Wise and Airwallex offer multi-currency accounts and foreign currency transfers for businesses with a few key differences between them, including fees and account capabilities. Other competitors include Revolut Business, OFX, PayPal Business, and Payoneer. 

Is Wise good for small business?

Wise can be a good choice for small business. It offers multi-currency accounts in 23 currencies and global payout coverage to 52 countries. However, fees for some transfers – which differ by country and method – may become prohibitive. Wise may not suit all businesses, either, as it does not offer eCommerce integrations or payment plugins.

Is Wise legal in Australia?

Yes, Wise is operating legal and regulated in Australia. It is regulated by by AUSTRAC (Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) and ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) and holds an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). This means it can provide certain financial services in Australia, such as multi-currency accounts.

Sources & references

https://wise.com/au/business/invoices

https://wise.com/au/business/interest

https://wise.com/au/pricing/business 

https://www.payoneer.com/about/pricing

https://www.paypal.com/au/enterprise/payment-methods

https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees

https://www.revolut.com/business/accept-payments/

https://wise.com/au/pricing/business

https://wise.com/au/pricing/business/send-money

https://wise.com/au/pricing/business/receive

Disclaimer: The information in this article is based on our own online research. Airwallex was not able to manually test each tool or provider. The information is provided for educational purposes only and a reader should consider the specific requirements of their business when evaluating providers. This research is reviewed annually. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [[email protected]]. This information doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. If you are a customer of Airwallex Pty Ltd (AFSL No. 487221) it is important for you to read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the Direct Services, which is available here.

The Airwallex Yield Liquidity Fund (Yield) is issued by K2 Asset Management Limited (K2) (ABN 95 085 445 094, AFSL No 244393), a wholly owned subsidiary of K2 Asset Management Holdings Limited. This information doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. Read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Financial Services Guide (FSG) for Yield, available at www.airwallex.com.au/terms from Airwallex Capital Pty Ltd (ABN 37 609 653 312, AFSL No. 549026). All investments carry risk. *Target returns are net of fees as at 1 April 2025 (AEDT) and indicate past 1-day annualised returns of the relevant underlying JPMorgan Liquidity Funds.