Revolut vs. Wise (UK): everything you need to know in 2025

Sending money abroad, travelling or living between two countries? You might need to get yourself an international account, to make it easier and cheaper to manage your money in multiple currencies.

But which is the best option available in the UK? Below, we’ll be comparing two popular international account providers, Revolut and Wise.

We’ll look at fees, exchange rates, security and transfer times, as well as comparing the Wise card vs. Revolut’s own debit card. This should help you make an informed choice on which solution to go for.

Learn more about the Wise account ➡️

Revolut vs. Wise - An overview of features and fees

Let’s start with a quick at-a-glance comparison of Revolut vs. Wise fees and main features:

	Revolut	Wise
Currencies	30+¹	40+
Debit card	Yes	Yes
Account fee	£0 to £45/month²	£0
Transfer fees	Varies	From 0.33%
ATM fees	Free up to £200/month²	Free up to £200/month
Exchange rate	1% fee at weekends³	Mid-market rate 24/7
Transfer times	3 to 5 days³	Up to 2 days

Revolut vs. Wise - Accounts

UK-based electronic money services provider Wise offers one personal account, the Wise account. There’s also a dedicated account for businesses, Wise Business, boasting lots of useful features for companies of all sizes.

The Wise account can be opened online for free, and lets you manage your money in 40+ currencies at once. You can send and receive international transfers, convert between currencies, spend on a linked Wise debit card and manage everything on the go in the Wise app.

Revolut, which is also based in the UK and is on the way to becoming a licenced UK bank, also has just one personal account.

However, you can choose from a number of plans, starting with a free plan. Then there’s a tier of paid monthly plans starting from £3.99, each increasing in cost in return for extra features, higher limits and lower costs.

Revolut accounts are similar to current accounts, offering features such as interest on savings. The provider also offers access to other financial services, such as investments and crypto exchange, as well as travel perks like insurance or discounted airport lounge access.

However, it depends which plan you sign up for, as most of these extras are only available on paid-for plans.

Revolut also has business accounts and options for under 18s.

💡 Read more: Wise Business vs Revolut Business: Comparison for the UK

How many currencies are supported?

With Revolut, you can hold and exchange money in 30+ currencies.¹

With Wise, you can send, receive and manage your money in 40+ currencies.

How much does it cost to sign up?

There’s no signup cost for either the Wise account or the Revolut Standard plan. You can open both of these accounts online for free. Wise also has no monthly subscription costs.

But if you want more features from your Revolut account, you can open an account on a paid plan with a monthly fee. Here are your options:²

Provider and account	Monthly fee
Revolut Standard	Free
Revolut Plus	£3.99 a month
Revolut Premium	£7.99
Revolut Metal	£14.99
Revolut Ultra	From £45
Wise account	Free

You can compare all Revolut plans and features here.

Revolut vs. Wise - International money transfer

Both Revolut and Wise offer convenient international money transfer services, usually at cheaper prices than a high-street bank. Setting up transfers is also very easy, as you can do everything online or via a mobile app.

When you send a money transfer with either provider, there are two key things to pay attention to. There’s the upfront transfer fee, and the exchange rate. These will determine the overall cost of your transfer.

You’ll be able to see this in advance with both Revolut and Wise. Each has a tool (online and via each respective mobile app) where you can enter the amount you want to send, and your currency pair.

So for example, you want to send £500 in GBP to a friend in New York (USD). Enter the amount and destination, and you’ll be able to see the transfer fee and the current exchange rate at the time. However, you should be aware that rates change all the time.

Transfer fees

Revolut and Wise both charge an upfront fee for most transfers. Both offer competitive fees, especially compared to using a bank.

Wise fees start from just 0.33%, while fees with Revolut vary depending on the amount, currency and destination. There are no Revolut fees for sending money in GBP to a UK bank account, or to send a SEPA payment in EUR to a destination in the EEA.

It’s important to note that with Revolut, the fees can change depending on when you make your transfer. It adds a 1% extra fee for converting currency at the weekend,³ which can make your transfer more expensive.

Revolut also charges an extra fee if you exchange currency (such as when sending or spending money in another currency) above your plan’s maximum monthly limit in a month. For Standard plans, this is £1,000. Go above this and an extra fair usage fee of 1% will be added.³

If you have a Revolut Premium, Metal or Ultra plan, you’ll get discounts of between 20% and 100% on international transfer fees.²

Wise offers the same fees all the time, and you can send up to £1 million in GBP per transfer (limits vary depending on currency) without any extra fees.

Revolut vs. Wise exchange rates

As well as checking the transfer fee, you’ll also want to look carefully at the exchange rates you’re offered by each provider.

Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate for all currency conversions, the one close to what you can see on Google. Also called the interbank rate, this is one of the fairest rates you can get. It means that the provider doing the conversion hasn’t added their own margin or mark-up on top, which is how banks and some transfer services make extra money out of the transaction.

Revolut uses this mid-market rate for currency exchanges carried out on weekdays (Monday to Friday). But on weekends, it adds a 1% fee for converting currency. You’ll also pay extra fees if you convert currency above your plan’s monthly limits.³

Transfer times

Both Revolut and Wise offer fast transfers, so there’s not much to choose between them.

Wise offers instant or same-day transfers on many popular routes, although currency conversion can potentially take up to 2 days.

With Revolut, SEPA transfers (payments in EUR to the EEA) can arrive in seconds, while other international transfers can take between 3 to 5 working days. Transfers to other Revolut accounts take around 20 seconds, while transfers to cards can take up to 30 minutes.³

Large transfers - Revolut vs. Wise

Wise has a special service for large transfers, where you’ll get dedicated support and volume discounts. You can send up to £1 million per transfer, with the backing of Wise’s security measures.

Revolut doesn’t have this kind of dedicated service, although it also uses sophisticated security systems. There may be a limit on the amount you can transfer but you’ll get a prompt about it in-app before you send money. Although bear in mind that you will pay extra fees for sending international transfers in amounts above your monthly plan limit (which for the Standard plan is just £1,000).

Revolut card vs. Wise card

With Revolut, you’ll get a debit card included in all plans. This includes the free Standard plan, although there is a delivery fee of £4.99 to pay.⁴ You can use your Revolut card for spending and ATM withdrawals worldwide, wherever Visa and Mastercard are accepted.

You can manage your card in the Revolut app, and use it with Apple Pay and Google Pay.

If you upgrade to a paid plan, you’ll have the option to get a personalised card. For Revolut Metal accounts, there’s the exclusive solid steel Metal card, while the Ultra plan comes with a personalised platinum card.²

The Wise account also has the option to add a linked debit card, for a one-time fee of just £7 (or get the virtual card for £0).

The Wise card can be used for spending and cash withdrawals in 150+ countries. It automatically converts your money to the local currency at the mid-market exchange rate whenever you spend, only adding a tiny, transparent currency conversion fee. Or it’s free if you already have the local currency in your Wise account. The Wise card is also compatible with mobile wallets, and can also be managed in the Wise app.

Both Revolut and Wise offer the option of creating digital/virtual cards in the app.

ATM withdrawal fees and limits

You can use your Wise and Revolut cards to withdraw cash abroad, but how much does it cost and are there any limits? Here’s what you need to know:

Provider	Free ATM withdrawal limit	Fee thereafter
Revolut (Standard)⁵	Up to £200 (max. 5 withdrawals)	2% (min £1)
Wise	Up to £200 (max. 2 withdrawals)	1.75% + £0.50

Where ATM withdrawals are listed as free, the issuer does not charge, but please be aware that some additional charges may occur from independent ATM networks.

Travelling abroad

Now, let’s look at Wise vs. Revolut for travel. Both Wise and Revolut are great options for spending abroad. Each provider’s debit card can be used abroad without the foreign transaction fees that some banks tend to charge.

Each offers limited fee-free ATM withdrawals overseas (up to £200 a month or the currency equivalent). With Wise, you can spend in 40+ and only pay a small fee (from 0.33%) to convert currency. If you already have the currency in your account, there’s no fee to pay.

Revolut has a few more restrictions on spending in other currencies. You can only spend up to your monthly plan limit before a fee will apply, and an extra 1% fee applies to currency conversions on weekends.

Revolut vs. Wise - Security

The last thing to consider is security - how safe is your money with both Revolut and Wise?

Wise protects your money with sophisticated security technology, a dedicated fraud team and two-factor authentication for extra secure transactions. You can also set up real-time notifications to keep an eye on spending.

Revolut has award-winning security features, and protects your money by keeping it with regulated banks. Read more about security with Revolut here.

Neither service is a bank (although Revolut will soon be a licensed UK bank), so you won’t get protection under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). However, both use what’s called safeguarding where the customers’ money is kept separate from the provider’s money.

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Sources used:

1. Revolut - Personal Account
2. Revolut - Our pricing plans
3. Revolut - Money transfer
4. Revolut - Help - What are the fees for ordering a card?
5. Revolut - Standard Fees

Sources last checked on date: 21-Apr-2025