Airwallex vs Routable (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Airwallex: it is second in our ranking of spend and bill pay tools, and it grades higher too, 3.2 against 1.6.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Airwallex grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Airwallex
Multi-currency business accounts, cards, bill pay and expenses
Which one is for you
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 Routable if
- Fits if you pay hundreds of vendors or contractors each month and need tax forms collected
- Works for finance teams that want payouts to flow back into NetSuite, QuickBooks or Xero
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you're a small business, as the plan starts at $1,250 a month
- Pricey if you count the per-transaction fees, which vary by method and speed and aren't listed
- Not for you if you want it running in a day: setup averages 4 weeks
- Watch out: vendors beyond the included 1,000 aren't priced on the page
- Watch out: PO matching, 1099 / 1042-S filing, OFAC monitoring and SSO are add-ons
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAAirwallexVery good | 1.6GPARoutableWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree and substantial. A ten-person company pays $0 a month on Explore, which covers up to 10 Spend users, and the listing gives no fee for local bill payments. You pay on conversion, 0.5% to 1% over the interbank rate, and on SWIFT at $15 to $25. | D$1,250 a month on yearly billing ($1,575 monthly) for up to 1,000 vendors. Expense tools' dearest tenth starts at $60, though this is a payables platform, not an expense app. |
| Free plan and trial | BExplore is free with accounts in 20+ currencies, unlimited cards, expenses, bill pay, invoicing and Xero or QuickBooks sync. The cap is 10 Spend users: the eleventh takes you to Grow at $12 each plus a platform fee. | FNo free plan and no trial, and the page shows no way to try it before paying $1,250 a month. |
| Features | BThe whole job: multi-currency accounts, Visa cards with no foreign transaction fees, receipts matched by AI, reimbursements in 200+ countries, bill pay with AI data capture, invoicing, card acceptance and APIs. | CMass payouts, international payments, vendor onboarding and tax forms, approvals and accounting sync. PO matching, 1099 and 1042-S filing, OFAC monitoring and SSO are add-ons. |
| Ease of use | B4.81 from 584 App Store ratings, high but short of the 1,000 we want for the top band. There are accounts, cards and an accounting link to set up first. | CNo store rating on record. The vendor says implementation and team training average 4 weeks. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, Business Central, BambooHR, Shopify, WooCommerce and Amazon, plus developer APIs. No desktop app is listed. | BWeb with an API for payouts and connections to NetSuite, QuickBooks and Xero. No phone or desktop app listed. |
| Best for | multi-currency spending and paying abroad | paying many vendors and contractors from one place |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Airwallex and Routable. How we grade
Price against what you get
Airwallex starts at $12 a month for each person and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Routable starts at $1,250 a month and scores 2.3.
Airwallex scores higher and starts $1,238 a month lower. Of the other spend and bill pay tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Airwallex for less, and 16 score higher than Routable for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Airwallex also covers invoicing, expense tracking and company cards.
- Routable also covers workflow automation and partner payouts.
At a glance
| Airwallex | Routable | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $12 per Spend user / month, plus a platform fee based on team size | $1,250 per month, billed annually ($1,575 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Explore: multi-currency accounts, unlimited corporate cards, expenses, reimbursements, bill pay and invoicing for up to 10 Spend users, with no monthly fee. Transaction fees apply. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Airwallex | Routable |
| Price read from | airwallex.com | routable.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Routable
- On top of the subscription, Routable charges a per-transaction fee that varies by payment method and speed, and the pricing page does not list the amounts.
- Vendors beyond the included 1,000 on Growth and 3,000 on Scale are not priced on the page.
- Several features are add-ons rather than included, such as PO matching, form 1099 / 1042-S filing, OFAC monitoring, SSO/SAML and dedicated Slack support.
- The vendor says implementation and team training average 4 weeks.
Key features
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.
Routable
- Mass payouts
- Send payments one at a time, by CSV upload or through the payouts API, with ACH, check and instant payments over FedNow and RTP.
- International payments
- Pays to 220+ countries and territories in 140+ currencies, in 1-3 business days according to the vendor.
- Vendor onboarding and tax forms
- Vendors enter their own bank and tax details through branded onboarding. W-9 and W-8 collection and 1099 or 1042-S filing are available, some as add-ons.
- Accounts payable automation
- Invoice OCR and AI bill coding, with PO matching and predictive coding on higher tiers or as add-ons.
- Approval workflows
- Standard approval workflows are included in the Growth plan, and advanced workflows come with Scale.
- Accounting sync
- Connects to accounting and ERP systems including NetSuite, QuickBooks and Xero.
Plans
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.
Routable
Growth$1,250
per month, billed annually ($1,575 billed monthly)
Unlimited user seats, accounting and ERP integrations, domestic, international and instant payments, API access. Up to 1,000 vendors included.
ScaleCustom
Everything in Growth plus invoice automation, trainable OCR, PO matching, predictive coding and advanced approval workflows. Up to 3,000 vendors included.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Scale, for organizations operating at scale. Quoted through sales.
Ways to pay less
Airwallex
No public discounts listed.
Routable
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
The pricing page shows Growth at $1,250 a month when billed annually, against $1,575 a month billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Airwallex or Routable?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Airwallex starts at $12 per Spend user / month, plus a platform fee based on team size, and Routable starts at $1,250 per month, billed annually ($1,575 billed monthly). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Airwallex or Routable?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Airwallex has a free plan. Routable does not.
Which platforms do Airwallex and Routable run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Airwallex lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.