Monzo vs Revolut (UK, 2026): Fees, Travel, Savings and Which to Keep

In the Monzo vs Revolut choice for UK users in 2026, Revolut is the stronger tool for holding and exchanging foreign currencies, while Monzo is the simpler everyday bank with more generous free cash withdrawals in Europe if you use it as your main account. Many people keep both, and Starling is the plain alternative that charges nothing for cash withdrawals abroad.

The details below come from each provider’s own fee pages, checked on September 25, 2026. Fees change often, so check the live page before a big trip or transfer.

Monzo vs Revolut at a glance

ATM operators can add their own charge on top of any of these, and none of the three banks controls that.

Fees on the free plans

Both apps are free to open and run. The costs show up in three places: currency exchange, cash, and international transfers.

Revolut is generous on weekdays and strict at the edges. On the Standard plan you can exchange up to £1,000 a month without a fee; above that Revolut adds a 1% fair usage fee (Revolut Standard fees). Outside currency market hours, from 17:00 Friday to 18:00 Sunday Eastern Time, Standard users pay a further 1% and Plus users 0.5%; Premium, Metal and Ultra users pay no weekend markup (Revolut Help).

Monzo has no exchange allowance to track. It passes on Mastercard’s rate with no markup for card payments in any currency (Monzo Help). Where Monzo charges is sending money abroad: most currencies cost a percentage of the amount, up to 1.8%, and money arriving from abroad in a foreign currency carries a 1% conversion fee (Monzo). Monzo supports sending in 40+ currencies from the app.

If you move larger sums abroad regularly, a specialist service may beat both. Our Wise vs Revolut comparison sets out how the transfer costs differ.

Travel: spending and cash abroad

For card spending, Monzo and Starling behave the same way: Mastercard’s rate, no bank fee, seven days a week (Monzo, Starling). Revolut matches them on weekdays within the allowance and costs a little more on weekends or above £1,000 a month on the free plan.

Cash is where the three split:

• Monzo gives unlimited free withdrawals in the UK and EEA if it counts as your main bank. That means at least £500 paid in over the last 35 days plus an active Direct Debit, or a qualifying benefits or student loan payment (Monzo Help). Otherwise the free limit is £400 every 30 days, then 3%. Outside the EEA, the free account allows £200 every 30 days; Plus raises that to £400 and Premium, Perks and Max to £600 (Monzo Help).
• Revolut Standard allows 5 withdrawals or £200 per rolling month, whichever comes first, then charges 2% with a £1 minimum (Revolut Standard fees). Paid plans raise the cap: £400 on Premium, £800 on Metal and £2,000 on Ultra (Revolut plans).
• Starling charges no fee of its own for withdrawals abroad, within a daily limit of £300 (Starling). MoneySavingExpert also notes a cap of six withdrawals a day (MoneySavingExpert).

For a cash-heavy trip outside Europe, Starling’s daily limit is usually more useful than a monthly allowance. For a card-only city break in the euro area, all three work.

Savings and interest

None of the three pays interest on the main current account balance (Finder), so interest comes from savings pots.

Protection differs in structure. Monzo says eligible deposits, including Savings Pots and Cash ISA Pots, are protected by the FSCS up to £120,000 per person (Monzo). Revolut says its current accounts and Pockets are covered through Revolut Bank UK Ltd, while its savings accounts carry their own FSCS coverage through partner banks such as ClearBank (Revolut). Crypto, shares and commodities on Revolut are not covered by the FSCS at all.

All of these rates are variable. A higher paid-plan rate only pays off if your balance is large enough to cover the monthly fee; if you are deciding where to keep a large sum, an independent financial adviser can look at your whole position.

Starling vs Revolut: the short version

Starling does less than Revolut but charges less for cash. It has no fee for spending or withdrawing abroad, the Mastercard rate every day of the week, and a free euro account with its own IBAN for existing personal customers, with a 0.4% fee to convert between pounds and euros (Starling). That euro account is its only foreign currency option, so it cannot hold dozens of currency balances the way Revolut does.

Revolut suits people who hold money in several currencies, pay in US dollars or want trading and paid-plan perks in one app. Starling suits people who want a quiet UK current account that also works abroad. Finder’s comparison picked Starling as the best of the three for travel because of its fee-free cash abroad (Finder).

Revolut vs Monzo: is Revolut a real bank now?

Yes, with a caveat. Revolut Bank UK Ltd left its mobilization phase and launched as a fully licensed UK bank on March 11, 2026 (Revolut). Existing customers are being moved across in batches with at least two months’ notice, and people who signed up after that date may still start on an e-money account with Revolut Ltd.

You can check your own status in the app under profile, then account details: “Revolut Bank UK Ltd” means a bank account with FSCS protection up to £120,000, and “Revolut Ltd” means your move has not happened yet (Revolut). Money in an e-money account is safeguarded rather than FSCS-protected; the FCA says that if such a firm fails you should get most of your money back, but it may take time and may not be the full amount (FCA).

Monzo says its eligible deposits have the same £120,000 FSCS protection (Monzo).

Paid plans compared

Sources: Monzo, Revolut.

The travel extras differ. Monzo Max includes travel insurance, with trip cancellation up to £5,000 and medical cover up to £10 million, a £50 excess, and family cover for £4 a month more (Monzo). Revolut’s plans add exchange without fair usage limits from Premium upward, bigger ATM allowances and, on Metal and Ultra, insurance and lounge access (Revolut plans). A plan is worth its fee only if you would use those features; read the insurance terms before relying on them.

What people who used it found

The largest independent data point is the independent service quality survey that the banks publish. In the Ipsos survey covering July 2025 to June 2026, Monzo ranked first in Great Britain, with 79% of customers saying they were extremely or very likely to recommend it, and Starling second at 76% (Monzo, Starling). Revolut was not one of the providers included in that survey (Ipsos).

Travel blogger Monica of The Travel Hack, writing in 2026 after five years of travel with Monzo, found fee-free card payments and instant notifications in both local currency and pounds worked well, and that some places, such as Albania and Croatia, still required cash. After using Starling on a few trips, she preferred Monzo’s app and budgeting tools (The Travel Hack).

What to watch out for

• Revolut weekends. On the free plan, a 1% markup applies to exchanges from Friday evening to Sunday evening US Eastern Time, which is Friday night to Sunday night in the UK.
• The Revolut fair usage cap. £1,000 a month on Standard goes quickly on a longer trip; exchanges above it cost 1%.
• Monzo’s main-bank test. If you keep Monzo as a travel-only card with no salary or Direct Debit going in, the £400 UK and EEA cash cap applies, then 3%.
• ATM operator fees. Machines abroad can charge their own fee, which your bank does not receive or refund (Monzo Help).
• Which Revolut entity holds your money. Until your account moves to Revolut Bank UK Ltd, it is e-money rather than an FSCS-protected deposit.

So which should you keep?

It depends on how you use money abroad, not on which brand is “best”. A common setup is to keep the main current account where your salary lands and add a second card as a backup, since a single lost or blocked card can strand you on a trip.

• If you mostly spend by card in Europe and want one simple bank, Monzo as a main account covers it.
• If you hold or exchange several currencies, or receive dollars, Revolut does more.
• If you need a lot of cash abroad, Starling’s no-fee daily withdrawals are the easiest to plan around.

For more on managing accounts across countries, see our money tools hub for expats and freelancers.

How we checked this

We read each provider’s current fee documents, pricing pages and help-center articles, Revolut’s announcements about its UK banking license, the FCA’s consumer guidance on e-money protection, and the published service quality survey results. Facts checked on September 25, 2026.

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