Airwallex vs Spendesk
We give Airwallex a 3.2 GPA and Spendesk a 2.2, out of 4.0. Airwallex grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and 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
Free plan · from $12/mo
Spendesk
Spend management with unlimited cards and users, priced by quote
Paid
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAAirwallexVery good | 2.2GPASpendeskFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CNo price is published, so it sits in the middle by our rule. Spendesk quotes a fixed monthly platform fee plus variable fees on card purchases, invoice payments and expense claims, so there's no monthly figure for a ten-person company. |
| 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. | FNothing free. There's no free plan or published free trial, only a demo and a product tour. |
| 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. | BThe whole job: unlimited cards of four kinds, receipt rules and OCR, expense claims, live budgets, multi-entity reporting, an open API and an MCP connector, with accounts payable and procurement sold as 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. | B4.7 from 637 App Store ratings, high but short of the 1,000 we want for the top band. Receipt reminders run themselves once the rules are set. |
| 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, iPhone and Android, with Xero, QuickBooks, DATEV, Slack and an open API. No desktop app is listed, and HR and ERP integrations are an add-on. |
| Best for | multi-currency spending and paying abroad | unlimited cards and users for one quoted fee |
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 Spendesk. How we grade
Where they differ
- Airwallex has a free plan. Spendesk does not.
- Airwallex also covers invoicing.
In commonWebiOSAndroidPublic APIAI featuresExpense trackingBill payCompany cards
At a glance
| Airwallex | Spendesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $12 per Spend user / month, plus a platform fee based on team size | Not published |
| 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 | Spendesk |
| Price read from | airwallex.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Airwallex
- Businesses that pay suppliers or staff in other countries
- Teams that want multi-currency cards with no foreign transaction fees
- Online sellers collecting payments in several currencies
Spendesk
- European companies that want unlimited cards and users for one fee
- Finance teams that want receipt collection enforced automatically
- Businesses paying many software subscriptions by card
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.
Spendesk
- No prices are published: Spendesk quotes a fixed monthly platform fee plus variable fees on card purchases, invoice payments and expense claims.
- Procurement, accounts payable, advanced workflows, HR and ERP integrations and AI fraud detection are add-ons to the base package.
- It serves the EEA, the UK and the US; payments and Visa debit cards come from Spendesk Financial Services, Adyen and Sutton Bank respectively.
- There is no free plan or published free trial; Spendesk offers a demo and a product tour instead.
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.
Spendesk
- Unlimited cards
- Physical cards for employees, single-use cards for one-off payments, recurring virtual cards for subscriptions and multi-use cards for projects or events.
- Receipt collection
- Custom rules and automatic reminders chase receipts, OCR reads them, and they are matched to the right card payment straight away.
- Expense claims
- Out-of-pocket expenses are submitted, reimbursed and tracked alongside card spending.
- Budgets
- Track spending against budgets in real time, with multi-entity workflows and reporting in the base package.
- Accounts payable add-on
- Manage supplier invoices and pay suppliers worldwide in the right currency, with procurement as a separate add-on.
- Integrations and API
- Connects to Xero, QuickBooks, DATEV and Slack, offers an open API, and links spend data to AI assistants through an MCP connector.
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.
Spendesk
Pricing could not be confirmed. See spendesk.com.
