For a US sender paying in dollars, Wise is the simpler and more predictable choice: the mid-market rate, one itemized fee, no subscription, no allowance to track. Revolut can cost less on small transfers sent during weekday market hours, especially on a $1,000 euro transfer, but its cost depends on your plan, how much you have already exchanged this month, and the day you send.
Wise prices a transfer as the live mid-market rate plus a fee shown upfront on its US send-money pricing page. Revolut's US fee schedule combines a transfer fee with exchange fees that vary by plan, amount, and timing. The comparison below uses a $1,000 USD-to-EUR transfer as the running example. Rates and fees move daily, so treat every quote as a snapshot from September 30, 2026.
Wise vs Revolut at a glance
| Wise | Revolut | |
|---|---|---|
| Total transfer cost and exchange rate | Mid-market rate plus a separate fee. The $1,000 euro quote shows a $5.47 fee (bank transfer or ACH funding). Fees start from 0.23% on the pricing page and from 0.1% on transfers over $25,000. | Rate "based on our market rate." Standard plan: 0.15% (minimum $0.75) for local-currency international transfers, up to $6.00 for foreign-currency ones. Exchange fees depend on plan, amount, and timing. |
| Plans, exchange limits, weekend surcharges | No subscription or plan. Discount applies automatically once you send $25,000 or more in a month. | Standard $0/month: $1,000 monthly exchange allowance, then 0.5%; 1% outside market hours. Premium $9.99/month: $10,000 allowance. Metal $16.99/month: unlimited. |
| Transfer speed | Wise reports 74% of transfers under 20 seconds and 95% within a day. USD-to-EUR: seconds by direct debit, about 6 to 9 hours by bank transfer. | International bank transfers generally 3 to 5 business days. Revolut-to-Revolut about 20 seconds. The France page shows "should arrive by today" for its sample bank transfer. |
| Currencies and destinations | Long US send-to list, payouts to local bank accounts (IBAN or Swift for Europe). | 140+ countries by bank transfer, 25+ currencies besides USD to choose from. |
| $1,000 USD-to-EUR illustration | $5.47 fee, rate 0.8823, recipient gets €877.44. | $1.50 fee, rate $1 = €0.87982. Recipient amount shown in-app before you send. |
Total cost: transfer fee plus exchange rate
The cost of an international transfer is the fee plus whatever the exchange rate gives away. Wise's pricing overview says it uses only the mid-market rate and charges a fee on top. The fee depends on how you fund the transfer. On the $1,000 USD-to-EUR example, Wise's Europe page lists:
Wise balance: $3.44
Direct debit: $5.47
Bank transfer: $9.87
Credit card: $55.92
Apple Pay or Google Pay: $65.03
The debit-card figure differs between two Wise pages ($19.13 on the main US page, $39.04 on the Europe page), so check the live calculator if you plan to pay by card. Funding method often moves the total more than the exchange rate does.
Revolut describes its exchange rate as market-based and does not publish a fixed markup, so the exchange cost shows up in the in-app quote rather than as a fee line. What the fee schedule does set out:
Local-currency international transfer: 0.15% per transfer, minimum $0.75. Sending EUR to a French account is this type. On $1,000, 0.15% is $1.50, which matches the $1.50 fee on Revolut's France page.
Foreign-currency international transfer: up to $6.00, and this fee does not cover intermediary or recipient-bank fees.
"Pay All Transfer Fees": a $30 flat fee, used when a local-currency route is not available.
Funding: adding money by bank transfer has no load fee, but a domestic debit card carries a fee of up to 1% and a credit card up to 3%.
Each company's comparison widget puts itself ahead, so read them as marketing. Wise's comparison page for $1,000 to euros lists Wise at €877.44 received, ahead of Remitly (€876.77), Western Union (€876.50), Wells Fargo (€855.55), Chase (€852.08), and PayPal (€839.09). Revolut is not in that table. Revolut's France page lists its own totals: Standard at $1,138.98 and Wise at $1,145.63, a $6.65 gap in Revolut's favor. Revolut says you will "save up to $61.2" against other providers. Both widgets agree on the broad picture that banks and card-funded transfers cost far more; they disagree on the narrow Wise-versus-Revolut gap.
Revolut plans, exchange limits, and weekend fees
Revolut's US plans page sets three tiers, and the tier decides how much of your transfer is exchanged at no added fee.
| Plan | Monthly price | Exchange allowance | Outside market hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $0.00 | $1,000 per month, then 0.5% on the excess | 1% exchange fee |
| Premium | $9.99 | $10,000 per month (fair usage fees may apply after $10,000 in a 30-day period) | No additional fee |
| Metal | $16.99 | Unlimited | No additional fee |
"Market hours" means every hour except 5:00 p.m. Friday to 6:00 p.m. Sunday Eastern Time. The $1,000 Standard allowance counts all exchanges in all currencies during the billing cycle, not just transfers.
Here is what that means in dollars on Standard:
Weekend send: a $1,000 exchange on a Saturday carries a 1% fee, or $10, on top of the $1.50 transfer fee. The same transfer on a Tuesday carries only the $1.50.
Larger weekday send: a single $5,000 transfer to a euro account on a Tuesday uses the $1,000 allowance for free, then pays 0.5% on the remaining $4,000 ($20). Add the 0.15% transfer fee ($7.50) and the Revolut charges come to $27.50.
Premium break-even: each $1,000 over the Standard allowance costs $5 in fair-usage fees. Premium's $9.99 covers that only after roughly $2,000 of excess exchanges in a month ($9.99 ÷ 0.005 ≈ $1,998). That ignores Premium's other perks.
Paid plans carry commitments. Revolut's Premium and Metal terms say the subscription renews automatically every year and that a fee may apply if you end it within 10 months of starting. A 12-month Metal plan at $16.99 totals $203.88 (16.99 × 12), and Premium at $9.99 totals $119.88. The plans page also lists 20% and 40% discounts on Revolut's own fees for the paid tiers, but notes the discount applies to SWIFT OUR transactions, so it does not clearly reduce the $1.50 bank-transfer fee. Revolut's own euro comparison shows Metal at $1,137.62 against Standard at $1,138.98 (excluding plan fees). That is $1.36 saved on a transfer against a $16.99 monthly price.
Wise has no plans to compare. Its pricing overview says you pay only for what you use, with no subscriptions. The volume discount starts automatically once you send $25,000 or the equivalent in a month, across one or several transfers, in USD or most major currencies, and resets on the first of the month.
How quickly the money arrives
Wise says 74% of its transfers arrive in under 20 seconds and 95% in less than a day. Speed depends on how you fund it. For USD to EUR, Wise's pages estimate seconds for direct debit, card, and wallet payments. A bank-transfer funding estimate is about 6 hours on the main US page and 9 hours on the Europe page. Wise also lets you lock the rate for a set window (13 to 17 hours on the quotes captured).
Revolut says international bank transfers generally arrive in 3 to 5 business days and that external banks can cause delays it cannot foresee. Transfers to another Revolut customer usually arrive in about 20 seconds. Its France calculator shows "should arrive by today" for a sample bank transfer, which conflicts with the 3 to 5 day general estimate. Revolut says you see the estimated arrival time in-app before you send, so if the recipient needs the money by a deadline, use that in-app ETA rather than the page-level figures. On speed alone, Wise has the stronger documented numbers for a US-to-euro bank payout; Revolut is fastest when both sides already hold Revolut accounts.
Destinations, currencies, and payout routes
Wise's US send-money list covers a wide spread: European countries, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, India, the Philippines, Japan, and several African and South Asian destinations (Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka among them). Recipients receive money into local bank accounts and do not need a Wise account. For Europe, Wise lists IBAN and Swift as receive options.
Revolut's US pages say it sends to 140+ countries and territories and supports bank transfers to accounts in 140+ countries. You can enter a transfer amount in USD or 25+ other currencies. The regional lists on its page are collapsed behind "Show all"; the visible Africa entries are Mayotte, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia. Revolut also offers routes Wise's pages do not feature. You can send through a payment link (the recipient does not need to be a Revolut customer), to a phone number or email, or to mobile money accounts.
For either service, confirm three things on the actual quote screen: the recipient's country, the currency they will be paid in, and the payout method. A route that looks supported in a country list can still be limited to a specific currency or account type.
Illustration: $1,000 to a euro bank account
This is an illustration, not a matched head-to-head. The two quotes come from different pages at different moments, so the rates reflect different timestamps.
| Wise | Revolut | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount sent | $1,000 | $1,000 (Revolut's sample route) |
| Transfer fee | $5.47 (bank transfer or ACH funding) | $1.50 (bank transfer to France) |
| Exchange rate | 0.8823 EUR per USD | $1 = €0.87982 |
| Recipient receives | €877.44 | Shown in the in-app quote before you send |
| Other costs | None in the quote | Standard: $10 more if sent outside market hours; 0.5% on exchanges above $1,000 per month |
Wise's rate moved within the same day. Its main US page quoted 0.8809 and €876.04 for the same $1,000, which is €1.40 less than the €877.44 above (877.44 − 876.04). The Wise and Revolut rates differ by about 0.0025, but because the quotes were not taken at the same moment, that gap does not settle which service gives the higher payout. Run both in-app quotes for your amount and compare the euros received.
Pros and cons
Wise
Pros: mid-market rate with a separate fee; no subscription or monthly allowance; local bank-account payout with no recipient account needed; fast delivery figures for card and direct-debit funding; automatic discount above $25,000 a month.
Cons: fee rises sharply with card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay funding ($55.92 to $65.03 on $1,000); on $1,000 to euros, the visible fee ($5.47 by direct debit, $9.87 by bank transfer) is higher than Revolut's $1.50.
Revolut
Pros: low stated bank-transfer fee ($1.50 on the $1,000 euro example); free transfers to other Revolut users; a large country list and extra payout routes such as payment links; $0 Standard plan.
Cons: the $1,000 monthly exchange allowance is easy to use up; 1% exchange fee from Friday 5 p.m. to Sunday 6 p.m. ET on Standard; international bank transfers generally take 3 to 5 business days; paid plans carry annual renewal and a possible early-exit fee; the exchange-rate cost is not broken out on the fee pages.
Which to choose
Choose Wise if you want to know the full cost before you tap send. You get the mid-market rate, a fee listed on its own line, no subscription, and no monthly allowance to manage. It also fits senders who move larger amounts, since fees are lower above $25,000 a month, and anyone who sends on weekends or needs the euros to land within hours by funding with a bank transfer or direct debit.
Choose Revolut if you already use its account and usually send small amounts within your plan's exchange allowance on weekdays, where the $1.50 fee on a $1,000 euro transfer is hard to beat. It is also the better tool for sending to another Revolut customer, which is free and arrives in about 20 seconds. A paid plan only makes sense if you exchange well past $1,000 a month regularly; do the break-even math above before paying $9.99 or $16.99.
Before confirming either transfer, get both in-app quotes for your exact amount and send day, then compare what the recipient will receive in euros, not the fee line. If you are on Revolut Standard and the send falls on a weekend, wait until after 6 p.m. Sunday Eastern Time.
FAQ
Which is cheaper for sending $1,000 to a euro bank account?
It depends on the moment and your plan. Wise's quote shows a $5.47 fee and €877.44 received. Revolut shows a $1.50 fee and a rate of $1 = €0.87982, but the recipient amount appears only in the in-app quote. Revolut's own France widget ranks Revolut Standard ahead of Wise by $6.65 ($1,138.98 against $1,145.63 total), while Wise's widget does not list Revolut. Get both live quotes.
Does Revolut charge extra on weekends?
Yes, on Standard. Revolut charges a 1% exchange fee outside foreign-exchange-market hours, meaning 5:00 p.m. Friday to 6:00 p.m. Sunday Eastern Time. On $1,000 that is $10. Premium and Metal show no additional fee outside market hours.
Do I need a paid Revolut plan to send money abroad?
No. Standard is $0 a month and includes $1,000 of exchanges a month. Paid plans raise the allowance ($10,000 on Premium, unlimited on Metal) and remove the out-of-hours fee, but they cost $9.99 and $16.99 a month and renew annually.
Does Wise charge a subscription?
No. Wise's US pricing has no plans or subscriptions; you pay a fee per transfer. Fees fall from $25,000 a month of transfers.
Can the recipient get the money without an account?
With Wise, recipients are paid into a local bank account and do not need a Wise account. With Revolut, a bank transfer goes to the recipient's bank account using their BIC or SWIFT code and IBAN or account number. A Revolut payment link also lets a non-customer claim the money.
Can I cancel an international transfer?
Federal rules generally let you cancel an international money transfer within 30 minutes of sending it, with no fee, unless the recipient has already picked it up or the money has reached their account. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also says you can report a problem up to 180 days after the funds are available, and the company must investigate within 90 days. Contact the provider first.