Wise vs Remitly: Full Comparison

Remitly is for personal remittances. Wise is for transfers. Xflow is for Indian businesses receiving invoices.

0%

FX markup

0.6%

flat fee or min US 12.00

1 day

INR settlement

Calculate your extra earning

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INR 95,764.20

FX rate

INR 95.7642

FX rate comparison

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INR 95,179.70

FX rate

INR 95.1797

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INR 95,930.00

FX rate

INR 95.9300

Banks

INR 92,719.20

FX rate

INR 92.7192

Disclaimer: Last updated at July 29, 2026, 23:10 IST

Wise vs Remitly vs Xflow: Complete breakdown

Wise

Good for small transfers only

$10K cap and sole-proprietor-only restriction makes it unsuitable for growing Indian businesses.

$10K cap · Pvt Ltd not supported

Remitly

Personal remittances only

A strong personal remittance platform for individuals sending money to family in India, with competitive rates and a fast Express tier. Commercial and export-related receiving is prohibited under both Remitly's terms and RBI's LRS framework, making it unsuitable for any B2B use case.

Commercial receiving prohibited

Xflow

Best for Indian exporters

Built for Indian businesses receiving international B2B invoice payments. Zero FX markup, 0.6% flat fee, free eFIRA within 24 hours, no invoice cap, EEFC support, and India-native compliance from the first payment received.

Compare Wise, Remitly and Xflow on fees, exchange-rate markup, transfer speed, limits and India support. Wise and Remitly are built to send money abroad; Xflow is built for Indian businesses receiving international payments.

Feature

Wise

Remitly

Xflow

FX Markup

0%, mid-market rate

~0.4 to 1.4% above mid-market

0%, mid-market rate

Transaction / Receiving fee

1.6% to 1.9% + $2 per FIRA

Variable; Express higher, Economy lower

0.6% flat (min $12)

Per-Invoice Limit

Up to ₹25 lakh per transaction

~$30,000 per transfer; personal use only

No limit, enterprise-ready

Settlement Speed

Same day to 48 hours

Personal use only; not applicable for B2B

1 business day, often same day

Guaranteed FX Rate

No; auto-converts at receipt

~Rate locked at send time only

Yes, 3-hour lock at withdrawal

Currencies Supported

40+; receive in 8 currencies (India accounts)

~Many send corridors; limited receive currencies

25+ incl. AED, SGD, HKD, CHF

Local Payment Rails

ACH, SEPA, Faster Payments

~No; one-way send model

ACH (US), SEPA (EU), CHAPS/BACS (UK)

Zoho Books Integration

~Third-party only

No

Native integration (launched 2025)

FX AI Analyst

Not available

Not available

Yes, rate-lock up to 45 days

RBI / FEMA Compliance

RBI PA-CB in-principle approval, June 2025; FCA UK

~Operates under LRS for personal remittances only

RBI-authorised bank partner, eFIRA auto

FIRA / eFIRC

~$2 per FIRA; up to 3 business days

~Not issued; outside permitted use

Free, auto-issued within 24 hrs

India-Based Support

~Global; Hyderabad office opened 2025

~India receive market only

Dedicated India onboarding team

Choose the plan that fits your business

See the real cost of receiving across different invoice sizes. Wise charges the mid-market rate plus an upfront fee and Remitly earns on FX margin, while Xflow is a flat 0.6% with 0% FX markup.

Wise

Percentage-Based

Ideal for invoices from

Under $1,000

Freelancers & sole proprietors only — Pvt Ltd and invoices above $10K not supported

Invoice valueFees
Upto $10,0001.6–1.9%
Above $10,000Not supported
Per FIRA + $2.50
Remitly

Remitly

Variable; Express higher, Economy lower

Variable fees; 0.4–1.4% FX markup by tier. Express delivery in minutes, Economy in 3–5 days. Send-only - commercial receiving prohibited, no FIRA issued, and transfers to India capped at $30,000. Best for personal remittances.

Invoice valueFees
Express transferHigher flat fee + 0.4-1.4% FX markup
Economy transferLower flat fee + 0.4-1.4% FX markup
Per-transfer cap$30,000 (personal remittances)
Wise

Flat-Tier + Percentage Model

Ideal for invoices from

$500 – $500,000+

Mid-market rate locked for 3 hours, free eFIRA within 24 hours, EEFC account support, no invoice limits, Zoho Books integration, white-label API, ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certified, JP Morgan-backed infrastructure.

Invoice valueFees
Upto $2000$12 flat + Free eFIRA
Above $2,0000.6% + Free eFIRA
Above $100,000Custom rate + Free eFIRA

Who Is Xflow Built For?

Built for how Indian exporters get paid: IT and ITES exporters, SaaS companies and startups, freelancers and agencies, and platforms and marketplaces receiving international payments into India.

Feature

Other Platforms

Xflow

IT / IT Service Exporters

Wise's forced INR conversion prevents IT firms from holding USD between billing cycles to manage currency exposure.

0.6% flat fee on every invoice with no size ceiling.

FIRA documentation across five or more monthly client payments means up to 15 business days of waiting and $10 in certificate fees.

EEFC account support to hold USD, GBP, or EUR and convert on your treasury timeline.

Transfer pricing compliance for intercompany flows between a global HQ and an Indian subsidiary is absent on both platforms.

Transfer pricing compliance built in, reducing CA overhead on every intercompany payment.

Remitly is a personal remittance service with no infrastructure for B2B invoice collection of any kind.

Free eFIRA within 24 hours + ISO 27001 + SOC 2 + JP Morgan infrastructure + dedicated India team with FEMA knowledge.

SaaS & Startups

Wise's sole-proprietor restriction excludes most registered SaaS companies from onboarding as Indian business accounts.

0.6% flat fee per invoice that stays predictable as ARR scales.

All Wise inward payments convert to INR immediately, making it impossible to hold multi-currency receivables across billing cycles.

EEFC account support to hold USD or EUR receivables across billing cycles.

Neither platform supports transfer pricing for funded startups moving capital between a global HQ and an Indian subsidiary.

Transfer pricing compliance built in for funded entities with intercompany structures.

Remitly has no subscription or recurring payment receiving capability for Indian businesses under any account type.

ACH, SEPA, CHAPS/BACS rails + native Zoho Books integration + free per-transaction eFIRA within 24 hours.

Freelancers & Agencies

Wise auto-converts all inward payments to INR at receipt, removing any ability to hold foreign currency and time a better conversion.

0.6% flat fee with 0% FX markup on every invoice received.

Wise's $2 per-FIRA with a 3-business-day wait creates a documentation lag across multiple client payments each month.

1-day INR settlement to your registered Indian bank account.

Wise restricts Indian accounts to freelancers and sole proprietors, so incorporating your business means losing access.

Free per-transaction eFIRA within 24 hours, automatically on every payment.

Remitly prohibits commercial receiving under its own terms and RBI's LRS framework, making any invoice payment through it a regulatory risk.

EEFC account support + no invoice limits + open to freelancers, sole proprietors, Pvt Ltd, and LLP entities.

Platforms & Marketplaces

Wise's invoice restrictions and entity limits make it unworkable as a receiving layer for platforms with diverse Indian vendor bases.

Full white-label API with webhooks and programmatic onboarding for vendor-level compliance.

Remitly is a send-only service with no API infrastructure for embedding into a platform product as a receiving channel.

Per-vendor eFIRA auto-generated within 24 hours at the infrastructure level.

Why neither is the right tool if you're receiving B2B invoices in India ?

Wise and Remitly are designed to send personal transfers, not to receive business invoices. Neither auto-issues FIRA or handles RBI purpose-code compliance, so Indian exporters are left with manual paperwork and no audit-ready documentation.

Cost stack on Wise

Wise received RBI PA-CB in-principle approval in June 2025, raising inbound limits to ₹25 lakh per transaction. Despite that, the 1.6 to 1.9% receiving fee still applies, FIRA costs $2 and takes up to 3 business days, and all inward payments auto-convert to INR with no option to hold foreign currency.

Cost stack on Remitly

Remitly's own terms prohibit commercial transactions including freelance payments and service exports. Under the RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme through which it operates, Remitly is designated for personal remittances only and Indian exporters are outside both its regulatory framework.

Slow Settlement to Indian Banks

Wise settles to INR in same day to 48 hours depending on the corridor. Remitly's Express tier moves funds in minutes for personal transfers, but its Economy option takes 3 to 5 days. Neither timeline is built around a business owner's billing cycle, vendor payment schedule, or payroll deadline.

FIRA and Compliance Friction

Wise issues FIRA per transaction but charges $2 per certificate and delivers it within up to 3 business days, not instantly. Remitly does not issue FIRA for payments received through its platform because such payments are not classified as export remittances under Indian regulations, leaving exporters to approach their AD bank separately.

Invoice Limits and Business-Type Restrictions

Despite Wise's post-approval limit of ₹25 lakh per transaction, Indian accounts are still restricted to freelancers and sole proprietors. Pvt Ltd companies, LLPs, and OPCs have no supported onboarding path. Remitly's $30,000 per-transfer cap is irrelevant since commercial receiving is not permitted on the platform at all.

Xflow is built for India and engineered for growth

Auto-issued FIRA on every payment, RBI-compliant purpose codes, foreign-currency holding and one-day INR settlement, built for how Indian freelancers, agencies, exporters and platforms actually receive and scale.

Guaranteed Live FX Rate

Unique to Xflow Your rate is locked for 3 hours after your client pays. You know the exact INR before you convert.

FX AI Analyst

Unique to Xflow, An AI-powered assistant that helps you decide when to convert based on market conditions.

EEFC Account Support

Hold foreign currency and convert when market timing suits your business. Wise auto-converts all inward payments to INR for Indian accounts, and Remitly has no receiving account for Indian businesses at all.

Local payment rails

Your overseas clients pay like a local bank transfer, ACH in the US, SEPA in Europe, CHAPS/BACS in the UK. Faster, cheaper, without the SWIFT friction.

Fully compliant infrastructure

ISO 27001 + SOC 2 certified. Zero upper limit on transfer size. Enterprise-grade security without enterprise complexity.

Free FIRA

Auto-generated within 24 hours for every transaction. No follow-up calls, no extra charges, no delays before your audit.

Wise vs Remitly: Key Differences That Matter

Wise gives you the mid-market exchange rate with a low upfront fee and suits multi-currency transfers and holding, while Remitly focuses on fast consumer remittances with fees and FX margin that vary by delivery speed. Neither is designed for Indian businesses receiving B2B payments, where Xflow offers 0% FX markup, a 0.6% flat fee and auto-issued FIRA.

  • 01
    Exchange rate markups Banks add a 2-4% markup over the mid-market rate; fintech platforms typically charge 0.5-1%. On large or recurring transfers, this gap has a real impact on how much the recipient receives. Look beyond the advertised fee and compare the actual exchange rate on offer.
  • 02
    Transfer fees Per-transfer fees vary widely across providers, from nothing to $30 or more. A zero-fee provider isn't always cheaper as the cost is often built into a less competitive exchange rate. Compare the full picture: fee and FX spread combined.
  • 03
    Processing time Bank wires take 2-5 business days. Fintech platforms usually settle within 1-2 business days, and some offer same-day delivery for Canada to India transfers. Check the estimated delivery window before you send.
  • 04
    Tax rules for senders and receivers Tax rules vary on both ends of a transfer. Canada does not tax outward transfers at source, but cross-border payments may have GST/HST implications depending on the nature of the transaction. On the receiving end, inward remittances into India are not taxable as income and recipients are not subject to TCS.
  • 05
    Sending limits and KYC Canada has no hard cap on outward international transfers, but transactions above CAD 10,000 must be reported to FINTRAC under Canada's anti-money laundering rules. All regulated platforms require identity verification before processing. Have a government-issued ID and proof of address ready.
  • 06
    Banks vs fintech platforms Canadian banks charge high FX markups on top of wire fees, and additional deductions from correspondent banks can further reduce what arrives in India. Fintech platforms offer tighter spreads and transparent fees, so more money reaches the recipient.

We're making the headlines

Xflow payments

"Xflow, an Indian fintech startup, has secured backing from both Stripe and PayPal Ventures in a $16.6 million funding round. The investment comes as the company works to carve out a position in cross-border B2B payments, a market still dominated by banks and manual processes.

Xflow payments

"Xflow, a leading cross-border payments fintech, today announced the launch of its new flexible, flat-fee pricing plans designed specifically for India's small and mid-sized exporters. "

Xflow payments

"Indian exporters can now focus on growth while Xflow handles complex payment documentation Bengaluru, Karnataka, India (NewsVoir) Xflow today announced the launch of Compliance Desk, a managed service that allows Indian exporters to outsource the complex compliance requirements tied to cross-border payments.

Xflow payments

“Xflow, a Bangalore-based fintech specialising in cross-border payments, has received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an online Payment Aggregator for Cross-Border transactions. ”

Xflow payments

"Xflow, a financial services and infrastructure company, simplifies the cross-border payments experience for businesses.

Xflow payments

"Xflow has made it super simple for us, it handled our needs, volumes and edge cases quickly, seamlessly and compliantly," said Anand Krishna, CEO and Founder of Inkle

Xflow payments

"Xflow is designed to help businesses send and receive cross-border payments in a compliant and regulatory manner - from freelancers to small and medium enterprises all the way

What our users say

Drip Capital

Xflow’s product has added tremendous value to our customers by simplifying cross border payments and helping save costs. The integ

Tej Mulgaonkar

Tej Mulgaonkar

Director

Tealbox

Xflow helps me collect payments from customers across multiple countries. With Xflow, global payments are simplified and reconcile

Varun

Varun

Co-founder

Wework

Xflow has helped us improve collections by making it easy for my customers to pay using their local payment methods

Hemant Kumar

Hemant Kumar

WeWork India

Icliniq

I manage my forex operations and hence it was important for me to find a payments partner who could settle into my EEFC account. X

Dhruv

Dhruv

Founder

Inkle

Xflow has made it super simple for us to go live with Inkle’s specific cross-border payment use case (intercompany transfer pricin

Anand Krishna

Anand Krishna

CEO & Founder

Karbon

Xflowpay has built very powerful, robust, and flexible APIs that any organisation can easily consume to launch cross border paymen

Pranav

Pranav

Head of Forex

Mobiux

I am able to collect payments for invoices to overseas customers seamlessly using Xflow. My customers in US are also able to pay m

Binu

Binu

Founder

Bulkpe

Xflow's cross-border payment solution complements our core neobank offering. We love the white-labelled nature of the product. We

Saurabh

Saurabh

Founder

Pixelmattic

Getting started on Xflow was easy - KYC was simple and I could start transacting in less than 24 hours. Now that we have used Xflo

Sandeep

Sandeep

Founder

Mulya

We leverage Xflow to help our customers collect >$10,000 invoices. We draw a lot of comfort from the fact that Xflow has partnered

Saurabh

Saurabh

Founder

Distilinfo

With Xflow, we found a convenient, compliant, cost-effective payment provider to bring funds into India under transfer pricing. Th

Sunil

Sunil

Founder

Drip Capital

Xflow’s product has added tremendous value to our customers by simplifying cross border payments and helping save costs. The integ

Tej Mulgaonkar

Tej Mulgaonkar

Director

Tealbox

Xflow helps me collect payments from customers across multiple countries. With Xflow, global payments are simplified and reconcile

Varun

Varun

Co-founder

Wework

Xflow has helped us improve collections by making it easy for my customers to pay using their local payment methods

Hemant Kumar

Hemant Kumar

WeWork India

Icliniq

I manage my forex operations and hence it was important for me to find a payments partner who could settle into my EEFC account. X

Dhruv

Dhruv

Founder

Inkle

Xflow has made it super simple for us to go live with Inkle’s specific cross-border payment use case (intercompany transfer pricin

Anand Krishna

Anand Krishna

CEO & Founder

Karbon

Xflowpay has built very powerful, robust, and flexible APIs that any organisation can easily consume to launch cross border paymen

Pranav

Pranav

Head of Forex

Mobiux

I am able to collect payments for invoices to overseas customers seamlessly using Xflow. My customers in US are also able to pay m

Binu

Binu

Founder

Bulkpe

Xflow's cross-border payment solution complements our core neobank offering. We love the white-labelled nature of the product. We

Saurabh

Saurabh

Founder

Pixelmattic

Getting started on Xflow was easy - KYC was simple and I could start transacting in less than 24 hours. Now that we have used Xflo

Sandeep

Sandeep

Founder

Mulya

We leverage Xflow to help our customers collect >$10,000 invoices. We draw a lot of comfort from the fact that Xflow has partnered

Saurabh

Saurabh

Founder

Distilinfo

With Xflow, we found a convenient, compliant, cost-effective payment provider to bring funds into India under transfer pricing. Th

Sunil

Sunil

Founder

Frequently asked questions

Wise is a money transfer platform offering multi-currency accounts and mid-market FX rates, used by freelancers and businesses for receiving international payments. Remitly is a personal remittance service designed for individuals sending money to family abroad. Commercial receiving through Remitly is prohibited under both its own terms and RBI's LRS guidelines.

On comparable corridors, costs are similar for small amounts. Wise charges 1.6 to 1.9% plus $2 per FIRA, while Remitly's Economy tier is often marginally cheaper on the transfer fee with a 0.4 to 1.4% FX markup. For Indian businesses, the comparison is largely irrelevant since Remitly cannot be used for commercial invoice receiving.

Wise is the practical option for Indian freelancers invoicing clients directly, since Remitly prohibits commercial receiving entirely. However, Wise's $2 per-FIRA charge, 3-business-day documentation wait, forced INR conversion, and sole-proprietor-only eligibility make purpose-built India platforms a stronger choice for anyone billing regularly.

Wise received RBI PA-CB in-principle approval in June 2025, raising inbound limits to ₹25 lakh per transaction and broadening its regulatory standing. However, Indian accounts remain restricted to freelancers and sole proprietors, excluding Pvt Ltd, LLP, and OPC entities. All inward foreign currency still converts to INR automatically with no holding option.

Wise issues a digital FIRA per transaction but charges $2 per certificate and takes up to 3 business days to deliver it. Remitly does not issue FIRA for payments received through its platform, since such payments are not classified as export remittances under Indian regulations. Neither provides a same-day, free, per-transaction eFIRA.

Wise settles to Indian accounts same day to 48 hours depending on the currency corridor. Remitly's Express tier delivers personal remittances in minutes, and Economy takes 3 to 5 days, but neither timeline applies to business invoice receiving since Remitly does not support that use case for Indian recipients.

Wise charges 1.6 to 1.9% of the received amount with zero FX markup, plus $2 per FIRA certificate. Remitly's fees vary by tier and corridor, with a flat fee of around $3.99 for Express transfers from the US and an FX markup of 0.4 to 1.4%. Both apply additional charges on top of the headline fee.

Using both is possible for different purposes, with Wise for receiving client payments and Remitly for personal transfers. Managing two platforms, two fee structures, and two documentation workflows adds operational overhead that a single purpose-built platform for Indian B2B receiving removes entirely.

Wise applies zero FX markup, using the genuine mid-market rate on all transfers, which is its clearest advantage over most alternatives. Remitly applies an FX markup of 0.4 to 1.4% depending on the transfer speed and corridor, with Economy transfers typically carrying a lower markup than Express. Neither locks in a rate at the time of payment confirmation.

For Indian businesses collecting international B2B invoice payments, Xflow addresses limitations that neither platform resolves: Wise's forced INR conversion, 3-day FIRA wait, and entity restrictions, and Remitly's prohibition on commercial receiving altogether. The 0.6% flat fee, free same-day eFIRA, EEFC support, and 1-day settlement make the advantage measurable from the first invoice.