Airwallex vs Braintree: Scale your business globally with more tools to grow
Boost your conversions by offering more local payment methods to your customers with Airwallex. Unlike Braintree, Airwallex offers an end-to-end financial solution for businesses to grow their revenue and scale globally with like-for-like settlement, multiple integration options, and intelligent payment optimisation.
3 reasons why businesses choose Airwallex over Braintree
Offer more ways to pay
With Airwallex, you can give your customers 160+ local payment methods, more than the 30+ payment methods offered by Braintree. Airwallex lets you accept payments in 130+ currencies from 180+ countries.
Like-for-like settlement
Accept multiple currencies from customers and keep them in your multi-currency wallet until you need them, avoiding forced conversion.
AI-powered conversion boosting
Boost conversions with smart retries, intelligent routing, Smart 3DS and AI-led fraud checks to lift approval rates by up to 2.6% and keep global checkouts fast and frictionless.
Grow your business with Airwallex
The biggest difference is that Airwallex is a complete global financial platform, whereas Braintree is primarily a payment processing layer. While Braintree excels at PayPal integration, Airwallex allows you to scale globally by holding multi-currency balances to pay global suppliers and staff directly.
*$0/month if you deposit at least A$5k per month or hold a minimum balance of A$10k, otherwise A$29/month
Cut your costs on every transaction
Save on every sale with lower domestic and international card rates. Beyond card acceptance fees, Airwallex helps you keep more of your revenue by offering like-for-like settlement, so you can collect and settle funds in the same currency without conversion.
What local businesses are saying about Airwallex
"Airwallex Bill Pay has given us better control over our finances, and has helped us roll up important strategic budgeting and forecasting capabilities. It’s also improved our relationship with our suppliers, because we now never miss a beat with paying them on time."
Joel Stehr
Chief Operating Officer, Bilue
"One thing we like about Airwallex, which differentiates it from other providers out there, is the team card approach as well as the individual cards. It’s a massive time saver too - to the point that we just wouldn't use a solution that didn't have an integration with Xero, just due to the volume of transactions and manual work that would be required otherwise. It's amazing.”
Georgia Burns
Strategic Finance Director, Auror
"It’s definitely time saving, from mine and our Head of P&C’s perspective as people that prepare payroll are not having to granularly look through each expense item line. The users have taken to it like a duck to water. It's not a difficult system to use. Sometimes people are like ‘oh, another system, another app to download.’ But it wasn’t arduous at all. Once you download the app, it's very straightforward. There's really been no push back whatsoever from anyone because I think people immediately get the buy in.”
Alec Alltimes
APAC Finance Director, Commission Factory
Frequently asked questions
How do Braintree fees compare to Airwallex in Australia?
Braintree charges 1.75% + A$0.30 to process domestic card transactions and 3.40% + A$0.30 for international cards. For domestic cards, Airwallex charges 1.65% + A$0.30 and 3.4% + A$0.30 for international cards.
Can I settle like-for-like with Braintree?
Generally, no. While Braintree supports multi-currency processing, the funds are usually converted into your home currency (A$) via PayPal at a margin of roughly 3%+. Airwallex lets you settle and hold funds in the same currency your customer pays in to avoid these fees.
Does Braintree offer business accounts or corporate cards?
No. Braintree is a payment processor and gateway. It does not provide multi-currency operating accounts, treasury tools, or corporate spend management. Airwallex is a full financial stack that includes these features.
What alternative solutions to Braintree are there?
Common alternatives include Stripe, PayPal, and Square. However, Airwallex stands out for Australian businesses because it combines payment acceptance with low-cost FX, multi-currency accounts, and expense management.
What is like-for-like settlement?
Like-for-like settlement means that if a customer pays you in US$ (USD), you receive and store exactly US$ in your account. This allows you to avoid forced conversion fees and use those same funds to pay international expenses later.
Who can open an Airwallex account in Australia?
Most Australian businesses are eligible. You will need an active ABN, valid ID for all directors, owners and connected individuals, and your standard business registration documents.
Sign up online, or get in touch with us today
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) read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the Direct Services 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 23 January 2026 (AEDT) and indicate past 7-day annualised returns of the relevant underlying JPMorgan Liquidity Funds.