Wise vs Revolut for expats living in two countries: fees compared

For an expat paid in US dollars and living on euros, Wise vs Revolut comes down to how much you convert each month. On the published Irish fee pages, Revolut’s Standard plan converts the first €1,000 a month for free and charges 1% after that, while Wise charges a per-conversion fee starting at 0.2%. Our worked example puts Revolut near €27 and Wise between about €8 and €17 for the same month.

How we checked this

We read Wise’s Ireland pricing, receiving and card-fee pages, one Wise US USD-to-EUR quote, Revolut Ireland’s Standard fee schedule (effective November 10, 2025) and two Revolut Ireland help pages. We then priced one month of transactions for a person who earns in USD, pays rent in EUR and spends part of the month in a country outside the euro area, using only those published fees. Dollar amounts are converted at the European Central Bank’s EUR/USD reference rate for September 23, 2026 (1.1411), which is only a reference rate, not the rate either app will give you. The guide also summarizes published hands-on reviews and user reports by other people, each linked where it is used. Facts checked on September 25, 2026.

Which fee pages we used, and why the country matters

Both companies run separate legal entities and price lists for different regions, so the country in the URL changes the fees you get. This guide uses the Ireland versions of both, because the scenario is someone whose home base uses the euro. A reader in the UK, the US or Australia will see different numbers and should open their own country’s pages.

For Revolut, the main document is Personal Fees (Standard) — Revolut Ireland. It says it applies “from 10 November 2025” and covers customers served by Revolut Bank UAB’s Irish branch. We also read Revolut Ireland’s help pages on foreign-currency card payments and on which account details you get.

For Wise, we used the Ireland pricing overview, receiving fees and card fees pages. None of the three showed an effective date, so we give the date we read them: September 24, 2026. The Irish pages list Wise’s conversion fee only as “from 0.2%”. For one concrete figure we used Wise’s USD to EUR comparison page, which is the US version of the site. We say so each time we use it.

If you want to try other amounts, our transfer fee calculator compares the same providers side by side.

Getting paid in USD: where the two differ most

Here the two accounts work differently. Wise’s Ireland receiving page lists account details in 22 currencies at no cost. Receiving “domestic payments (non-Swift / non-wire)” in USD, EUR, GBP and six other currencies is free. A USD wire or Swift payment costs a fixed 6.11 USD per payment, and an incoming EUR Swift payment costs 2.39 EUR, according to Wise’s receive pricing. In practice, a US client who pays by ACH costs you nothing on the Wise side, and one who sends a wire costs you $6.11 per payment.

Revolut Ireland’s help page lists an Irish IBAN for EUR, local GBP details (sort code and account number), and “SWIFT account for international transfers in all supported currencies.” It says that if local details aren’t available for a currency you should use your SWIFT details (Revolut Ireland help). So a US client paying an Irish Revolut customer in dollars would be sending a SWIFT payment. Banks between the sender and Revolut may also take a fee of their own on a SWIFT payment.

If most of your income arrives in dollars from US clients, this difference may matter more than any conversion rate. Our guide to invoicing clients in USD and EUR covers how to set up payment details that clients will actually use.

Converting USD to EUR: flat allowance vs per-conversion fee

Revolut Standard (Ireland) gives you an “exchange limit of EUR 1,000 per month” with no fee on weekdays. After that, “a fair usage fee of 1% applies to any additional exchange” (fee schedule). The card-payments help page lists the same allowances by plan: Standard pays 1% over €1,000, Plus pays 0.5% over €3,000, and Premium, Metal and Ultra pay no extra exchange fees (Revolut Ireland help). The same page says the allowance covers spending, withdrawing and exchanging, so card payments and ATM withdrawals in a foreign currency count toward the same €1,000.

Wise has no plans and no monthly allowance. Its Ireland pricing page describes conversions as costing “from 0.2%”, says the fee varies by currency, and says holding balances is free (Wise pricing). The US comparison page quoted a fee of 5.47 USD on 1,000 USD, at a rate it labeled mid-market (0.879353), with 874.54 EUR received (Wise US comparison). That is about 0.55% of the amount. It is a quote for sending money from the US, not for converting a balance in an Irish account, so we use it only as an upper illustration.

The practical difference: with Revolut, the fee is zero until you pass €1,000 and then climbs at 1%. With Wise, you pay on every conversion from the first dollar, but at a lower rate. Which is cheaper depends on how much you convert each month.

Weekend conversions and allowance thresholds

Revolut’s Irish fee schedule adds a 1% fee on Standard for exchanges made between 5pm New York time on Friday and 6pm on Sunday. The help page gives the same window in Eastern Time and sets the weekend fee at 0.5% on Plus and zero on Premium, Metal and Ultra (fee schedule; help page). Our worked example assumes the weekend fee and the 1% fair-usage fee stack when both apply to one transaction.

Wise’s card-fee page says card spending uses the mid-market rate with “no markups or margins,” plus a conversion fee (Wise card fees).

Revolut’s Standard plan has a second threshold for ATMs. Withdrawals are free “up to 5 ATM Withdrawals or €200 per rolling month (whichever comes first)”. After that the fee is “2% of the withdrawal, subject to a minimum fee of €1.” Wise’s Ireland card page allows 250 EUR a month in free ATM withdrawals and then charges “2.69% of amount over 250 EUR” (Wise card fees). The Revolut wording doesn’t make clear whether the 2% applies only to the amount over €200 or to the whole withdrawal that crosses the limit, so the table below shows both.

One month, priced from published fees only

The assumptions: an Ireland resident on Revolut Standard or a Wise account. You receive $3,000 and convert all of it to EUR on a weekday, which comes to €2,629.04 at the ECB rate of 1.1411 (ECB reference rates). Then €1,200 rent by SEPA, €400 of weekday card spending in a non-euro currency, €100 of weekend card spending in that currency, and one ATM withdrawal worth €300 in that currency. On Revolut, the conversion and all non-euro spending together come to €3,429.04 of exchange, which is €2,429.04 over the allowance. All figures are fees only. Neither app’s exchange-rate spread is included.

How to read the table: on these assumptions, the part both pages price is cheaper on Wise. The reason is Revolut Standard’s allowance. A month with $3,000 of income uses it up on the first conversion, and every euro after that pays 1%. Someone converting under €1,000 a month and staying out of weekend hours would pay no Revolut exchange fees, while Wise would still charge its per-conversion fee. The table leaves out the rate spread, which is often the biggest hidden cost.

What people who used it found

The fee pages above say what each company charges. The reviews and reports below describe what happened when other people used the accounts. Some predate Revolut Ireland’s current fee schedule, so treat their numbers as dated.

• Runaway Traveller (Naomi Lai, February 2026, updated May 2026). Lai, who has traveled for 13 years, signed up for both apps “to see for myself” and used them to manage NZD, CAD, EUR, ZAR and IDR while moving between countries, including Revolut in Thailand. She says she compares Wise’s rate against live rates on XE, and that she dislikes paying an ongoing fee for any bank card. She does not report weekend markups or account freezes (Revolut vs Wise).
• Monito’s Revolut transfer review (Byron Mühlberg, May 2023). Monito’s reviewers opened a Revolut account to test registration and how fast transfers arrived. They report weekday conversions at the mid-market rate with no markup, but list higher conversion costs on weekends among the drawbacks. Their summary of customer feedback also mentions accounts blocked when expired cards were not replaced, and trouble reaching support (Monito).
• Monito’s Wise review (Byron Mühlberg and Monika Macur, 2023). The authors say many of Monito’s team have used Wise for their own international payments. They rate it highly on price and transparency, citing conversion at the mid-market rate with no margin and a GBP-to-EUR example costing about 0.35% of the amount. Their main complaint is the paperwork needed to verify your identity (Monito).
• Digital Émigré (Samantha North, updated December 2023). North, who had lived abroad for 10 years and was based in Madeira, Portugal, writes that she had used both apps for many years. Her concrete example is Revolut: she used it to set up several Portuguese direct debits before she had a local bank account. The rest of the comparison is general (Digital Émigré).

User reports, not tests:

• Askaboutmoney.com (March 2023). On this Irish consumer forum, a user who relied on Revolut as her main bank described the account being frozen for identity checks after her first salary arrived, with repeated selfie requests and a chat that stopped responding. Replies advised opening another bank account quickly and telling her employer. It is one thread, not a measure of how often this happens (Askaboutmoney thread).
• Wise on Trustpilot (read September 25, 2026). Wise had a TrustScore of 4.3 from about 301,000 reviews. Most praise fast transfers and rates, but a recurring complaint is accounts frozen or closed without explanation, including reviews from August and September 2026. Trustpilot reviewers choose themselves, so the mix is not a representative sample (Trustpilot).

These first-hand accounts agree with the official pages on the main points: Revolut costs more for weekend conversions, and Wise converts at the mid-market rate and charges a separate fee.

Which is easier to open from where

Residency rules, supported countries and the documents each provider asks for at signup depend on the provider and your country of residence. Check both providers’ own signup requirements for where you live before you rely on either account.

This matters most for people who move often. If you are working through that for specific countries, our guide to banking as a digital nomad in Japan and Vietnam covers the local side. For the wider picture of accounts, cards and bookkeeping for people living across borders, start with the money tools hub for expats and freelancers.

Holding limits, freezes and the automation features

The Wise pricing page says holding balances is free. Published user reports of freezes on both services are summarized in the section on what people who used them found, above.

This comparison covers fees only, not the apps’ automation and AI features, such as scheduled conversions, rate alerts, spending analytics and in-app assistants.

Where it goes wrong

• Using the wrong country’s fee page. The Wise and Revolut pages for Ireland, the UK and the US list different fees. Check the country code in the URL before comparing.
• Forgetting that card spending uses up Revolut’s allowance. Revolut’s help page says spending, withdrawals and exchanges all count toward the same €1,000. A few days abroad on top of a salary conversion can push you over it.
• Converting on a weekend. On Revolut Standard, a conversion made between Friday 5pm and Sunday 6pm New York time adds 1%. Converting your paycheck before Friday afternoon avoids it.
• Asking a US client for a wire when ACH would do. On Wise Ireland, an incoming USD wire costs $6.11 and a non-wire domestic USD payment costs nothing. With Revolut Ireland’s listed details, USD arrives by SWIFT.
• Comparing fees and ignoring the rate. Neither worked example includes the gap between the rate you get and the mid-market rate. Compare the amount that lands in your account, not just the fee line.
• Relying on one account. Neither page promises you won’t be frozen or asked for more verification. Keeping a second way to get paid is a sensible precaution. For tax or residency questions about holding money in two countries, talk to a qualified adviser.

Go deeper

• Money tools for expats and freelancers (2026): accounts, cards, invoicing, AI bookkeeping — the hub for this cluster
• Transfer fee calculator: Wise, Revolut, bank wire, USDC side by side
• Invoicing clients in USD and EUR as a freelancer: a setup that survives moving countries
• Banking as a digital nomad in Japan and Vietnam: what works in 2026
• Stablecoin cards (USDC): how they work, fees, and where they fail
• All guides in Money without borders