Adyen vs Airwallex (2026): Pricing, Features & Verdict
Adyen is our pick, scoring 7.1/10 against 6.9/10 for Airwallex on our Finance Software criteria. Its biggest advantage: higher Compliance score (9/10 vs 6/10). Only Airwallex has a free plan.
Last updated: November 2026
Adyen
7.1/10
Adyen is a global payments platform that lets large and mid-market merchants accept online, mobile and in-store payments, with issuing, capital and business account products built in.
Airwallex
6.9/10
Airwallex is a global business finance platform that combines multi-currency accounts, FX, corporate cards, spend and bill pay, payment acceptance and billing for internationally active companies.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 7.1/10 | 6.9/10 |
| Scalability | 10/10 | 8/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Compliance | 9/10 | 6/10 |
| Integration | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 9/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 4/10 |
| Cost | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | $12/user/mo Grow |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Contact for pricing | Free Explore |
| Features | ||
| Corporate Cards | ||
| Multi-currency | ||
| Online Payments | ||
| Accounts Payable | Not listed | |
| Expense Management | Not listed | |
| Invoicing | Not listed | |
| Tax Compliance | Not listed | |
Adyen vs Airwallex cost by team size
| Team size | Adyen | Airwallex |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | Contact for pricing | FreeExplore |
| 5 users | Contact for pricing | FreeExplore |
| 10 users | Contact for pricing | FreeExplore |
| 25 users | Contact for pricing | $300/moGrow |
| 50 users | Contact for pricing | $600/moGrow |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Who Adyen and Airwallex suit
| Audience | Adyen | Airwallex |
|---|---|---|
| Developers | 8/10Reviewers praise its API, sandbox and documentation, but say setup needs developer skills. | 7/10Platform APIs cover payments, issuing, payouts and embedded finance, with a sandbox and webhooks. |
| Mid-Market | 6/10Mid-sized merchants can fit if they process enough volume to clear the industry-dependent minimum invoice. | 7/10Grow and Accelerate add NetSuite and Business Central sync, SSO and multiple entities, and Grow allows up to 250 spend users. |
| E-commerce | 8/10It supports broad card, wallet and local payment methods, with unified online and in-store commerce. | 8/10It integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, Shopee and other marketplaces, and supports local payment methods and multi-currency settlement. |
| Enterprise | 9/10The platform is built for high-volume global merchants, and reviewers say it suits large businesses with technical resources. | Not rated |
| Finance Teams | Not rated | 7/10It offers approval workflows, purchase orders, 3-way matching and ERP sync, but finance teams still need a separate general ledger. |
| Freelancers | Not rated | 4/10It is built around business entities and team spend, and transaction costs can be high on small transfers. |
| Remote Teams | Not rated | 7/10Multi-currency cards and payouts to over 120 countries make it practical to pay and equip distributed staff. |
| SaaS Companies | Not rated | 8/10The Billing module handles subscriptions, usage-based billing, automatic tax and dunning, so it works for recurring-revenue businesses. |
| Small Business | 2/10Reviewers cite the monthly minimum, complex setup and a hard-to-navigate dashboard as barriers for small or new businesses. | Not rated |
| Startups | Not rated | 9/10The free Explore tier, multi-currency accounts, cards and the T:0 accounting add-on for US startups are aimed squarely at young companies. |
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Adyen
- Higher Compliance score (9/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Scalability score (10/10 vs 8/10)
Why choose Airwallex
- Has a free plan (Adyen does not)
- Higher Ease of Use score (7/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Cost score (7/10 vs 5/10)
Pros & Cons
Adyen
Pros
- There are no monthly, setup, integration or closure fees, and card pricing is interchange++, which keeps the markup visible.
- A single platform handles online, mobile and in-store payments with local acquiring in many countries.
- Payment method coverage is broad and includes Alipay, WeChat Pay, Klarna, Pix and Boleto.
- It is certified as a PCI DSS Level 1 service provider and audited each year by an external assessor.
- The contract has an indefinite term with no early termination fee, and either side can cancel with 60 days' notice.
Cons
- A minimum invoice applies, reported at $120 a month or 1,000 transactions, which is a hurdle for small merchants.
- Integration and onboarding are technical and slow, and the strict KYC paperwork adds to the effort.
- Reviewers find the merchant dashboard powerful but hard to navigate.
- Trustpilot reviews are poor, with complaints about slow support, slow deposits and hidden fees.
- It is not accounting software, so there is no general ledger, bookkeeping or payroll.
Airwallex
Pros
- FX markups of 0.5% for major currencies and 1% for others are well below typical bank spreads, and domestic USD and CAD transfers are free.
- The free Explore tier already covers unlimited multi-currency cards, expense management, bill pay, invoicing and Xero or QuickBooks sync.
- The integration catalog is broad, covering NetSuite, Business Central, Sage, Odoo, Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, HubSpot, BambooHR and Workday.
- One platform handles collecting payments, billing subscriptions and paying suppliers, so cross-border businesses can avoid stitching several vendors together.
- The developer documentation covers payments, issuing, payouts and embedded finance APIs, with a sandbox and webhooks.
- Airwallex reports SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS Level 1 compliance and says it holds around 80 licenses worldwide.
Cons
- Many reviewers on Trustpilot, G2 and Reddit say accounts and funds were frozen during compliance reviews, sometimes for weeks.
- Support gets the lowest marks. Capterra rates customer service 3.4 out of 5, and users describe slow, templated replies.
- There is no built-in general ledger or financial statements, and the accounting hub and budget tracking are still listed as coming soon.
- The Grow plan's platform fee is not published, so total cost is hard to estimate before talking to sales.
- It offers no cash deposits, no ATM access and no branches.
- Regulatory scrutiny in 2025 and 2026 included US congressional letters about data handling and an AUSTRAC-ordered anti-money laundering audit.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Adyen scores higher on our Finance Software criteria: 7.1/10 against 6.9/10 for Airwallex. The largest gap is in Compliance: 9/10 for Adyen and 6/10 for Airwallex.
Airwallex has a free plan; Adyen does not list one.
