Airwallex vs Qonto (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Airwallex if

• Fits if you pay suppliers or staff in other countries
• Works for teams that spend abroad and want cards with no foreign transaction fees

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you're about to grow past 10 Spend users, as Grow's platform fee isn't published
• Pricey if you send lots of SWIFT transfers, at $15 to $25 each
• Watch out: conversion costs 0.5% over the interbank rate for major currencies and 1% for others
• Watch out: plan fees are charged per legal entity, and taking international cards costs 4.3% + $0.30
• Skip it if you want a desktop app, as only web, iPhone and Android are listed

Pick Qonto if

• Fits if you run a company in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Portugal or the Netherlands
• Works for small teams that want account, cards and invoices in one place

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you run a US-only business, because the country picker lists only those European countries
• Tight if you do many transfers: past the monthly allowance each costs €0.20 on Basic and Smart
• Pricey if you send money abroad, with 0.8% (min. €5) on outgoing standard-currency international transfers on Basic and Smart
• Watch out: prices are in euros excl. VAT, and monthly billing prices were not shown
• Watch out: extra virtual cards cost €1 to €2 a month, and incoming SWIFT above €500 costs €5

Airwallex

• Currency conversion costs 0.5% above the interbank rate for major currencies and 1% for others; SWIFT transfers cost $15 to $25 each.
• Grow adds a platform fee based on the number of Spend users that the pricing page does not state, and plan fees are charged per legal entity.
• Airwallex US, LLC is a licensed money transmitter that works with Evolve Bank & Trust for some US customers; the cards are issued by Community Federal Savings Bank.
• Taking card payments costs 2.8% + $0.30 for US cards and 4.3% + $0.30 for international ones.

Qonto

• Prices are in euros, excluding VAT, and the page shows monthly equivalents of annual plans; monthly billing exists but its prices were not shown.
• The country picker lists France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands, so it is not for US-only businesses.
• Extra transfers cost €0.20 each beyond the monthly allowance on Basic and Smart, and extra virtual cards cost €1 to €2 a month.
• Incoming SWIFT transfers above €500 cost €5, and outgoing standard-currency international transfers cost 0.8% (min. €5) on Basic and Smart.

Airwallex

Multi-currency accounts

Collect and hold money in more than 20 currencies, send local transfers to over 120 countries and SWIFT transfers to more than 200.

Corporate cards

Virtual and physical Visa cards with per-card limits for use in 60+ markets, with no foreign transaction fees and up to 2% cashback on local USD spend.

Expenses and reimbursements

Receipts are matched by AI from email or bulk upload, staff submit and approve in the mobile app, and reimbursements go to employees in 200+ countries.

Bill pay

Upload, email or sync bills, have their details extracted automatically, and pay domestic or international suppliers in bulk after approval.

Invoicing and payments

Send invoices for free, take cards and 160+ local payment methods through checkout or payment links, and run subscription billing.

Developer APIs

APIs for accounts, payouts, card issuing and payments, for businesses that build these into their own products.

Qonto

Business account with local IBAN

Sub-accounts on Smart and Premium each get their own IBAN, to separate budgets, taxes and activities.

Physical and virtual cards

Every plan includes physical and virtual cards; the One Card is included, with Card Plus (+€8 a month) and Metal Card X (+€20) as upgrades.

Transfers and direct debits

SEPA transfers, instant transfers and outgoing direct debits, plus international transfers in USD, GBP and CHF powered by Wise.

Invoicing and payments

Compliant electronic invoicing is on every plan, along with payment links, Tap to Pay and POS terminals for in-person payments.

Accounting and forecasting

Smart and Premium add accountant access, accounting integrations and cash-flow tracking and forecasting.

Account remuneration

Smart and Premium pay interest of 5% AER for 2 months, then 1.5% AER, with at least 5 eligible transactions a month.

Airwallex

• Explore$0

  Accounts in 20+ currencies, unlimited cards, expense management, bill pay with AI coding, invoicing and Xero or QuickBooks sync, for up to 10 Spend users.

• Grow$12

  per active Spend user / month, plus a platform fee by team size

  Up to 250 Spend users. Adds multi-step approvals, an AI expense policy agent, bill rules, NetSuite and Business Central sync. The platform fee is not shown.

• AccelerateCustom

  Adds purchase orders and requests, AI 3-way matching, several legal entities, a direct ERP integration and an account manager.

Qonto

• Basic€9

  per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€108 a year)

  Account with local IBAN, 30 transfers a month, 1 physical card and 2 virtual cards, payment links and e-invoicing.

• Smart€19

  per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€228 a year)

  Adds 1 sub-account, 100 transfers, 2 physical and 50 virtual cards, cash-flow forecasting and accountant access.

• Premium€39

  per month excl. VAT, billed annually (€468 a year)

  Adds 4 sub-accounts, 200 transfers, 50 Instant cards, subscription tracking, 0.56% FX and 7-day priority support.