Top 5 Wise alternatives in the US: compare fees, features, and benefits

If you run a growing business, you’ll need a global payment platform that lets you open local accounts in multiple currencies, seamlessly accept payments from international customers, and send money across borders without excessive fees. Some platforms even enable instant payments using just an email address, highlighting the simplicity and speed modern businesses expect.

Accepting payments in various currencies is essential for global growth. The right provider can help you manage complex payment structures and facilitate smooth international transfers for both businesses and individuals.

While Wise is one option to consider, exploring other alternatives can help you find the solution best aligned with your growth goals and financial needs. Some platforms offer faster settlement times, broader support for local payment methods, and more advanced tools for managing multi-currency transactions at scale, with competitive fees.

What is Wise and why consider alternatives?

Wise is a UK-based financial technology company focused on simplifying global money transfers through its international account services. Its platform is designed to help consumers and businesses send funds overseas at a relatively low cost, supporting both personal and business transfers.

Unlike platforms emphasizing broad payment acceptance capabilities, Wise primarily focuses on efficient and affordable international money transfers rather than serving as a full-scale payment acceptance solution for businesses. This makes Wise a suitable option for users looking for low-cost money transfers over more comprehensive payment processing features.

While Wise does provide a simple and affordable solution for business payments, its limited set of business-focused features – such as the absence of volume-based discounts, advanced expense management, and deeper accounting or ERP integrations – may make it less suitable for growing businesses that require scalable, enterprise-grade solutions. Likewise, depending on your specific needs – such as access to multi-currency accounts, instant payments, or support for different ways to pay like credit cards, bank transfers, or mobile wallets – other providers may be a better fit.

The top alternatives to Wise in the US

Are you based in the US and looking for alternatives to Wise to send money abroad? These alternatives facilitate cross-border transfers and help businesses optimize their cash flow by providing flexible payment options with lower fees. Some alternatives are designed to enable fast and low-cost international transfers for financial institutions.

Payment gateways are also crucial for businesses, offering security, compliance, and multi-currency support, enhancing the overall transaction experience. Here are five standout Wise alternatives and their competitive benefits.

• Airwallex: A global financial platform founded in 2015 to collect, hold, convert, and send multi-currency payments

• Stripe: A point-of-sale (POS) system for brick-and-mortar retailers to accept in-person payments, as well as an online payment gateway for eCommerce businesses to accept credit and debit card payments

• 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 processing credit, debit, and bank transfer payments for over 20 years

• Revolut: A UK-based financial technology company established in 2015, offering digital financial services to consumers and businesses

Compare the top 5 alternatives to Wise in the US

Why choose Airwallex over Wise?

For individuals and small businesses with global money transfer needs, Wise is a good solution, but for growing businesses needing greater global reach and more advanced features, Airwallex is the superior cross-border payment solution. Below are the core reasons businesses should choose Airwallex over Wise. 

Larger currency and payout network 

For businesses that want greater international reach, Airwallex’s multi-currency account for receiving funds supports 20+ currencies, while Wise supports just 18.⁷ Airwallex’s global payout coverage also extends to over 200+ countries, while Wise is limited to 70 countries.⁸

Airwallex also supports ACH Direct Debit as a cost-effective payment method for US businesses, ideal for collecting recurring or large domestic payments with no transaction fees for standard use cases. 

Fewer setup and transaction fees

Business account setup with Airwallex is free for Explore plan users, while Wise charges $31 USD.⁶ Airwallex also doesn’t charge domestic transaction fees or international transaction fees (when sending to 120+ countries using Airwallex local payment rails). 

In contrast, Wise does charge domestic transaction fees and also charges a fixed amount for international transactions, depending on the currency and payment method.^9,10

Advanced business management tools 

Airwallex offers tools to support growing businesses, including account management, online payment acceptance, and expense management tools. Wise provides more limited functionality, without integrated tools for payments acceptance or expense management. 

Embedded finance capabilities

While Wise offers multi-currency business accounts and transparent international transfer options, it does not provide a complete embedded finance infrastructure. 

Airwallex, by contrast, enables platforms to embed multi-currency accounts, cross-border transfers, FX, and financial workflows directly into their own products. This distinction is critical for SaaS platforms, marketplaces, and global businesses looking to deliver financial services to their customers at scale.

Key factors to evaluate when selecting a Wise alternative

When considering alternatives to Wise, consider the following key factors to find the right global payment platform for your business. 

Business features and integrations

Wise and Revolut are often ideal for freelancers or small businesses in need of an international payments solution, but for growing businesses with a  need for more integrated financial and payments tools, other solutions like Airwallex are superior options. For example, if you’re in need of online payment acceptance, embedded finance tools, or multi-currency corporate cards, consider a platform with greater capabilities for growing businesses.

Business type support

Whether you’re a freelancer, small business, or fast-growing startup, you’ll need a platform made for your business model and scale. For example, if you’re a freelancer, you likely just need the simple, low-cost transfers offered by Wise, but for eCommerce or SaaS businesses, you’ll likely need scalable financial infrastructure with APIs, more currency support, and embedded finance solutions. 

Transfers support 

If your business conducts a large number of transfers or needs greater international support for transfers, you’ll need your new payments platform to offer both scale and lower fees for transfers. Consider whether alternatives offer transfer products and the fees associated with making transfers before choosing your alternative. 

Global reach

Consider the size of your new platform’s payout network and how many local currency accounts you’ll require to support your growing business. If your business reach is limited to a select number of countries like the United Kingdom, Wise or Revolut may be sufficient, but if you need greater global payout and currency reach, a solution like Airwallex is a better choice. 

US-business prioritization

For US-based businesses, evaluate whether a platform treats the US as a primary market or an afterthought. For example, does the platform offer a full suite of features built for businesses like yours, with features like native ACH support for low-cost, recurring ACH payments, integrations with US-based accounting software, and corporate cards? 

Final thoughts on alternatives to Wise

Airwallex and Wise are both recognized for providing businesses with competitive cross-border payment solutions. 

For global reach, Airwallex is hard to beat. With a multi-currency business account, businesses can accept and hold 23 currencies and process transactions in over 200 countries. With Airwallex, customers enjoy 0% international transaction fees to 120+ countries using our local payment rails. Wise supports holding 22 currencies and global payout coverage to 70 countries with international payment fees. 

Airwallex includes account management services, Payment Links and plugins, and Expense Management capabilities. For accounts payable solutions, Wise offers a basic offering, integrating with a few software providers.

Our verdict? Wise offers low-cost global money transfers for consumers and smaller businesses, but larger enterprises may struggle.

Airwallex offers a fast and cost-effective international money transfer service. It supports multiple currencies and software integrations, and provides essential services such as account management, online payments, and expense management.

Consider Airwallex for an end-to-end financial solution designed to address all types of cross-border payment challenges. 

Sources and references

1. https://www.airwallex.com/us/pricing

2. https://stripe.com/pricing 

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

4. https://www.payoneer.com/business/ 

5. https://www.revolut.com/business/business-account-plans/

6. https://wise.com/us/business/ 

7. https://wise.com/us/business/receive-money

8. https://wise.com/us/business/invoices  

9. https://wise.com/gb/pricing/business/receive 

10. https://wise.com/us/pricing/business/send-money

Disclaimer: We wrote this article in Q2 2025. The information was based on our own online research, and we were not able to manually test each tool or provider. The information is provided for educational purposes only, and readers should consider their business's specific requirements when evaluating providers. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [email protected].