Wise vs Revolut for travel money in 2026, which one costs less abroad

For a short trip with modest spending, Revolut’s free Standard plan usually costs less than Wise, because it adds no exchange fee on the first £1,000 a month exchanged on weekdays; on a bigger trip, or one where you spend at weekends, Wise’s small, flat conversion fee and larger free ATM allowance tend to win. Wise charges a conversion fee that varies by currency — 0.33% from pounds to euros in the quote we took — and lets you withdraw £250 a month from ATMs free. Revolut Standard adds 1% above its fair-usage limit and 1% at weekends, and allows £200 or five withdrawals a month. These are the UK terms, read on each provider’s own site on 27 September 2026; both companies price differently in other countries, so check your own market before you choose.

The fees that matter, side by side

The two companies charge in different places: Wise on every conversion, Revolut only above a limit and at weekends. That single difference explains almost every “which is cheaper” answer you will read.

Both warn that some ATM operators add their own charge, which neither company controls. Wise’s fee can also differ slightly with the amount and currency, so the percentages above are Wise’s own quotes for a £1,000 conversion on the day we checked.

What a real trip costs on each

On a small euro trip Revolut Standard is cheaper; on a larger one Wise is, unless you pay for a Revolut plan. Here are two trips worked through with the fees above, treating cash withdrawals as money converted from pounds.

The Wise figures leave out the one-off £7 card, and the Premium figure is one month of the subscription with nothing else to pay in these examples, since Premium has no fair-usage limit, no weekend fee and £400 of free ATM withdrawals. The pattern holds beyond these numbers: Revolut Standard is cheapest while you stay under £1,000 a month and avoid weekends; Wise is cheapest once you do not. Weekends matter more than people expect, because a trip that starts on a Saturday often means changing your first cash at the weekend.

Revolut’s plans, and when paying makes sense

Paying for Revolut only makes sense if you would otherwise hit the Standard limits every month. Revolut lists five UK plans.

One inconsistency to know about: Revolut’s plan table gives Plus a £3,000 limit, while a footnote on the same page describes a combined £1,000 limit with a 0.5% fee for Plus customers. If you are choosing Plus for its limit, confirm the figure in the app first. The dearer plans bundle other things — insurance, lounge access, subscriptions — that may or may not be worth money to you; judge them on those, not on exchange fees alone.

Using Wise or Revolut in Nepal

In Nepal either card is mainly an ATM card, because few places take cards at all, and the Nepali bank’s own withdrawal fee of about NPR 500 applies whichever you use. Our field reporting is that cards work at a small number of upmarket hotels, large agencies and perhaps one or two restaurants per city, usually with a 3–4% surcharge, and that teahouses on the trail take cash only.

Two things change the maths. First, Wise quoted 1.12% to convert pounds to Nepali rupees on 27 September 2026, roughly three times its euro rate. Revolut’s plans page lists no separate rupee fee, so within its limits it may well be cheaper for a Nepal trip — check the rate in the app before you rely on it. Second, the NPR 500 local fee is charged per withdrawal, which rewards fewer, larger withdrawals — but both providers’ free ATM allowances are small, so a big withdrawal quickly runs into Wise’s 2.69% or Revolut’s 2% on the excess. Work out your trek cash, then decide. Our guides to Namche Bazaar, which has the last ATMs on the Everest trail, and to what a day in Nepal costs will help you size it.

The verdict

If you take one or two short trips a year and spend under £1,000 a month abroad, Revolut’s free Standard plan is the cheaper choice — as long as you exchange on weekdays. If you travel for longer, spend more, or cannot control when you pay, Wise’s predictable fee and bigger free ATM allowance make it the safer pick. Heavy travellers who would hit Revolut’s limits every month can do better on Premium, but only if they use it enough to cover £7.99 a month. Many travellers simply carry both, which costs nothing extra beyond Wise’s £7 card and gives you a spare on a separate account. And whichever you use, pay in the local currency — our guide to dynamic currency conversion explains why.

Keep reading

Sources: Wise, UK pricing page and UK card fees page, plus Wise’s public price quote for £1,000 conversions on 27 September 2026; Revolut, UK plans comparison page, read the same day. Card use and ATM fees in Nepal are Travel Himalaya Nepal field reporting. The trip examples are our own arithmetic on those published fees. This is general information, not financial advice; card offers change, so confirm the current terms with the issuer before you apply. No provider pays us for placement on this page.