Best Stripe alternatives for cross-border payments and global businesses (2026)

Key takeaways

• Stripe is hugely popular, but its strengths aren’t in cross-border payments. Using Stripe because you’re already in its ecosystem might mean you’re paying more than you need to.

• Other providers are more than capable of matching Stripe’s payment acceptance and infrastructure products, while offering cheaper and faster international payments.

• Airwallex can act as a like-for-like Stripe replacement or work as a single-solution to global payments – with some transfers up to 85% cheaper.

Any modern business can have contractors, suppliers, and staff overseas. If you’re paying them from your Stripe account, you likely aren’t getting the best rates when sending those cross-border payments.

Choosing a Stripe alternative for your cross-border payments can save you time and money, so it’s well worth investigating. The good news is we’ve done the hard work of researching alternatives for you. In this article, you’ll find an overview of seven different providers, tips for refining your search, and an idea of just how much you could save by switching from Stripe to an alternative.

Best Stripe alternatives for cross-border payments (2026)

There are countless payment providers in the world, but only some of them are equipped to work for truly global businesses. Moving money across borders, at a fair price and at speed, is a unique challenge.

Below, you’ll find seven great options for sending and receiving money internationally.

Airwallex

Airwallex was built to solve international transfers. Using a network of local banking licenses, you can move money around the world like you’re local to everywhere – free from expensive charges and hidden fees. Today, Airwallex is helping 150,000+ businesses move over $100 billion every year.

Along with solving FX and cross-border payments, Airwallex also provides business accounts, corporate cards, spend management, payment acceptance, and embedded finance.

CTA: Check the cost of your next cross-border payment

Adyen

Adyen’s been operating for almost 20 years, with a reputation as one of Europe’s biggest names in payments and the wider financial services industry.

Their target market is businesses that process over £5 million in annual card revenue, so might not be the best choice for small or medium sized businesses. Those businesses are still eligible for Adyen accounts, though.

Checkout.com

The name speaks for itself – Checkout.com is first and foremost a payment acceptance platform for ecommerce. That’s not its only focus, though.

They also offer treasury and global payout services, making them another good option when considering Stripe alternatives for cross-border payments.

Wise Business

Formerly known as TransferWise, Wise was one of the breakout names in affordable international transfers. Founded in 2011, it was one of the UK’s fintech success stories.

The company has a strong business and personal offering – both built on low-cost FX and wide-ranging local acquiring.

Payoneer

Payoneer is primarily a payments company, but also offers financial and employment services including capital advances and acting as an employer of record.

The business divides its attention between freelancers, businesses, and marketplaces.

Worldpay

Worldpay was acquired by FIS in 2019, before separating back into its own brand in 2024. FIS retains a minority shareholding.

The business focuses on merchant services within much of its advertising, but also offers embedded finance services, as well as global payouts and card issuing.

Convera

After being acquired in 2022, Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS) was rebranded as Convera and turned into a standalone business.

The company has strong links to education and the payment of international student fees, but also offers a fully fledged payment solution for businesses.

Comparing Stripe vs. cross-border alternatives side by side

When you’re comparing Stripe to its alternatives, you’ll want to go into lots of detail specific to your business. We can’t do that for you, but we can highlight four criteria that are foundational for understanding the scope and cost of cross-border payment providers.

How Airwallex outperforms Stripe for cross-border payments

With Airwallex, you get a truly internationally minded Stripe alternative – so you can move your money across currencies and borders with minimal cost, stress, and wasted time. Some headline numbers make this abundantly clear.

• Local payout rails in 150+ countries vs. 50 with Stripe. ¹⁶

• Settlement and balances in 20+ currencies vs. three with Stripe. ¹⁷

• Lower costs on international transfers (in the example below, Airwallex is 83% cheaper).

You can manage your global treasury, company spend, and accounts payable and receivable via API, turning your treasury management into a powerfully automated machine. 

Take Airwallex’s stop-limit currency conversion as one quick example. You can set a target and the conversion will only happen automatically when the exchange rate achieves it.

Airwallex also offers an upgrade on Stripe’s accounts and cards features, with full spend and expense management software included as standard.

Why global businesses look for Stripe alternatives

Stripe does many things well, but cross-border payments aren’t their top priority. As a result, international specialist fintechs (like Airwallex) have made greater progress on moving money across borders at speed and low costs.

When you can only hold balances in USD, GBP, and EUR, you miss out on vital currencies used worldwide. As a result, you have to pay for conversion as well as transfer fees whenever you move money beyond those three currencies.

The same is true for the payments you receive – forced currency conversion can cost your business significantly if the payment is made on a bad day for the relevant exchange rate. A true multi-currency account – with global acquiring and payouts – gives you the most control of your revenue.

Finally, Stripe’s customer service is often flagged as an issue by TrustPilot reviewers. ¹⁹ While it’s true that unhappy customers are more inclined to leave reviews, it’s a common theme among their over 16,000 reviews.

What to look for in a Stripe alternative for global payments

In terms of sending your own payments across borders, look for a provider that offers:

• Local payment rails (not just SWIFT transfers)

• A variety of payment methods

• International tax and compliance coverage

• Batch payments and bulk transfers

• Transparent and low-cost (ideally fixed rate) FX margins

Without a multi-currency account to hold different currency balances, you’re exposed to FX volatility when receiving and sending funds. If the exchange rate drops on the same day a customer makes a big purchase, you have to realise the currency loss. The same counts for paying a supplier on a ‘bad’ FX day.

A few percentage points of volatility between USD and GBP (for example) could see you gain or lose over £1,000 on a $50,000 payment.

Special considerations for global payment operations

Sending and receiving money is the fun part, but there’s a lot more to consider beyond the numbers. When reviewing potential Stripe alternatives for your cross-border payments, ask the following questions:

• Does your provider account for different taxes due? (e.g. VAT, GST and 1099-NEC forms)

• Can your provider generate and process invoices in multiple currencies, as well as communicating this with your accounting software?

• Can your provider consolidate your treasury operations, or is it a single-purpose tool to add to your existing technology stack?

• What are the fees and margins involved in international transfers?

• What measures are in place to mitigate fraud and chargebacks across different markets and currencies?

The right Stripe alternative can transform your business

If you’re sending money internationally with any regularity, picking a Stripe alternative could do a lot of good for your bottom line. Stripe is a good choice for many financial services, but cross-border payments are not a priority for the company. As a result, sending international transfers with Stripe can cost your business more than it needs to.

With an alternative cross-border payments provider (like Airwallex), you can save significantly on fees and delays. You can also move more of your financial infrastructure to Airwallex at the same time, to benefit from cheaper payment acceptance and much more.