No signup · No backend · 100% in-browser

Compare money transfer fees across 14 services before you send

Type an amount, pick two currencies and how you want to pay — the calculator below prices every provider and shows the real cost plus the exact amount your recipient receives. What does this transfer actually cost?

Transfer fees calculator — what it costs and what they receive

Live mid-market rates

Fill in the boxes below and tick the services you want to compare. Everything updates automatically — no button pressing needed.

  1. Enter how much you want to send
  2. Choose both currencies and how you will pay
  3. Read the ranking — the cheapest service is on top
How much money leaves your pocket, e.g. 1000
Currency you are paying with
Currency your recipient gets paid in
How you pay
Fees differ for bank, debit and credit
Which services to compare
All 14 are selected — untick any you don't want in the ranking

About the figures: exchange rates are mid-market rates pulled from free public APIs and refreshed about every 30 minutes. Fees and margins come from each provider's published pricing and are comparison estimates — always confirm the live price with the provider before you send.

Popular routes — tap one to fill the boxes above:

How to read the table — six numbers per service:

  • Fixed fee — the flat charge for one transfer
  • % fee — a share of the amount you send
  • Rate you get — the exchange rate this service gives you
  • Hidden markup — extra margin taken from the rate — money you never see
  • Total cost — fixed fee + % fee + hidden markup, added together
  • They receive — what actually lands in your recipient's account

Every comparison row shows all six cost numbers, side by side:

  • Fixed fee
  • Percentage fee
  • Exchange rate offered
  • Markup vs mid-market
  • Total cost
  • Amount received
  • Fixed fee, percentage fee, exchange rate and true markup vs mid-market — for all 12 providers at once
  • Total cost and the exact amount landing in your recipient's account, in their currency
  • 156 currencies with flag emojis, priced with live mid-market rates (static fallback when you are offline)
  • Bank transfer, debit card or credit card — switch methods and the ranking reorders instantly
  • The best deal is highlighted automatically, including how much more the recipient gets versus the priciest option
  • 12 dedicated service calculators, a searchable hub and browser-stored rate alerts — no account, ever
14
Transfer services compared
156+
Currencies supported
0
Signups or accounts needed
3
Payment methods compared
How it works

Four steps to the cheapest way to send your money

No financial jargon, no hidden numbers — just the real cost of each provider.

Enter your transfer

Type the amount to send, choose the from and to currencies, and pick how you will pay: bank transfer, debit card or credit card.

We fetch the real rate

A free exchange-rate API supplies the live mid-market rate. If the network is unavailable, the static fallback rate keeps the calculator working.

Fees are broken down

Each service's fixed fee, percentage fee and exchange-rate markup (taken from assets/js/fees.js) are applied to your amount.

Pick the best deal

Results are ranked from cheapest to most expensive. The top card is highlighted as the Best Deal with the exact amount the recipient gets.

The real cost

Why the cheapest “fee” is not always the cheapest transfer

Every international transfer charges you twice. The first charge is the fee you are shown — fixed, itemised, easy to compare. The second is the exchange rate you are given, and that is where most providers quietly make their money: a margin of anywhere from 0% (rare, and usually promotional) to 4%+ embedded in the rate, invisible on every receipt.

That is why a “$0 fee” offer is not free. On a $1,000 transfer a 3% rate markup costs you $30 — five times what a transparent provider charges for a $6.23 all-in fee at the true mid-market rate. Traditional banks combine both worlds: a $25–$45 wire fee and a 2.5%–3.5% markup, so roughly $50–$60 disappears before your recipient’s bank ever sees the money.

The calculator collapses both charges into one honest number — total cost — and then shows the exact amount the recipient receives. Ranking by that figure is the only fair comparison, because it ignores the marketing and measures actual money.

  • Fee-only comparisons favour providers that hide costs in the rate
  • The markup loss is calculated in your send currency, so it stays comparable
  • Change the amount or payment method and the whole ranking can flip

Worked example — sending $1,000 abroad

Provider styleUpfront feeRate markupTotal cost
True mid-market, no fee$0.000.00%≈ $0
Transparent digital provider$0.43 + 0.58%0.00%≈ $6.23
Flat-fee remittance app$3.99 flat0.60%≈ $9.97
Cash pickup network$2.99 + 1.00%1.50%≈ $27.80
Traditional bank wire$25.002.50%≈ $49.37

Illustrative figures taken from our editable fee config (assets/js/fees.js). The spread between best and worst is close to $50 on a single $1,000 transfer — run your own numbers in the calculator above.

Services compared

Every provider, one shared formula

Wise, Remitly, Western Union, MoneyGram, OFX, Revolut, Xoom, Ria, WorldRemit, Instarem, PayPal and a traditional bank wire — each with its own calculator page.

Browse the send money hub →

Methodology

What the calculator checks for every one of the 14 services

The same eight data points are applied to every provider with the same formula, so a remittance app, a fintech account and a high-street bank wire can finally be compared like for like.

1 · Fixed fee

The flat charge per transfer, taken in the currency you send. Across these 14 services it ranges from $0 to $35 — and it changes with how you choose to pay.

2 · Percentage fee

A share of the amount sent, between 0% and 3.5%. It scales with your transfer, so on larger amounts even a 1% difference outweighs any fixed fee.

3 · Exchange rate offered

The rate the provider actually gives you, derived live from the mid-market rate minus its own margin — not a retail rate shown on a marketing page.

4 · Markup vs mid-market

The hidden margin as a percentage, plus the exact amount of money it costs you in the send currency, so the “invisible” charge becomes visible.

5 · Total cost

Fixed fee + percentage fee + markup loss, added together into a single figure in your send currency. This is the number every ranking on the site is sorted by.

6 · Amount received

What actually lands in your recipient’s account after every deduction, shown in their currency with its name — the number that truly matters.

7 · Payment method effect

Bank transfer, debit card and credit card each have their own fee table. Switch methods and the calculator re-ranks all 14 services instantly.

8 · Rate source & freshness

Mid-market rates come from a free API with a 30-minute cache. If the network fails, built-in static rates keep every provider on the same fair footing.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How is the total cost of a transfer calculated?

Total cost combines two things: the fees charged by the provider (fixed fee + percentage fee) and the exchange-rate markup over the mid-market rate. The calculator adds both and expresses the result in the send currency, then shows exactly how much the recipient receives.

What is the mid-market rate?

The mid-market rate (also called the interbank rate) is the midpoint between the buy and sell prices of two currencies on the global market. It is the rate you see on Google or Reuters before any bank or provider adds a margin.

Do I need to create an account to use this calculator?

No. Everything runs in your browser — there is no signup, no login and no backend. Your rate-alert preferences are stored locally in your own browser using localStorage.

Are the fees shown here exact?

The fee structures live in one editable config file (assets/js/fees.js) and are illustrative estimates designed for comparison. Providers adjust pricing by corridor and promotion, so always confirm the live price with the provider before sending.

Where do the exchange rates come from?

The calculator first requests live mid-market rates from a free, keyless exchange-rate API. If the request fails (offline or blocked network), it falls back to a built-in static rate table so the comparison still works instantly.

Which of the 12 transfer services is the cheapest?

It depends on the amount, the currency pair and the payment method — which is exactly why the ranking recalculates on every input. Bank wires are rarely cheapest on small or medium sends, while zero-markup digital providers usually win when you fund by bank transfer. The calculator marks the winner as Best Deal and tells you how much more the recipient gets versus the priciest option.

Is a low fee or a good exchange rate more important?

They are the same question. A $0 fee with a 3% markup costs more than a $6 fee at the true mid-market rate. The calculator adds both into one total cost so you never have to decide which number to trust.

Do you collect or store my data?

No. There is no account, no server and no tracking backend. Your theme choice and any rate alerts live only in this browser's localStorage and disappear the moment you clear your site data.

Set a target rate and we'll watch it for you

Pick a currency pair and a target rate — the alert is saved right in your browser, no email account required to start.

Create a rate alert