Airwallex vs Brex (2026): Pricing, Features & Verdict
Brex is our pick, scoring 7.5/10 against 6.9/10 for Airwallex on our Finance Software criteria. Its biggest advantage: higher Support score (6/10 vs 4/10). For 10 users, Airwallex and Brex are both free; both Airwallex and Brex have a free plan.
Last updated: November 2026
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.
Brex
7.5/10
Brex is a corporate card, expense management, bill pay and business banking platform for startups, mid-sized companies and global enterprises, and is now owned by Capital One.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.9/10 | 7.5/10 |
| Scalability | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Compliance | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $12/user/mo Grow | $12/user/mo Premium |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Explore | Free Essentials |
| Features | ||
| Accounts Payable | ||
| Corporate Cards | ||
| Expense Management | ||
| Multi-currency | ||
| Accountant Access | Not listed | |
| Audit Trail | Not listed | |
| General Ledger | Not listed | |
| Invoicing | Not listed | |
| Multi-entity Consolidation | Not listed | |
| Online Payments | Not listed | |
| Tax Compliance | Not listed | |
Airwallex vs Brex cost by team size
Airwallex and Brex cost the same up to 10 users; Brex costs less from 25 users.
| Team size | Airwallex | Brex |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeExplore | FreeEssentials |
| 5 users | FreeExplore | FreeEssentials |
| 10 users | FreeExplore | FreeEssentials |
| 25 users | $300/moGrow | FreeEssentials |
| 50 users | $600/moGrow | FreeEssentials |
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 Airwallex and Brex suit
| Audience | Airwallex | Brex |
|---|---|---|
| Finance Teams | 7/10It offers approval workflows, purchase orders, 3-way matching and ERP sync, but finance teams still need a separate general ledger. | 8/10AI expense coding, ERP validation rules and journal export features are built to cut month-end close work. |
| Mid-Market | 7/10Grow and Accelerate add NetSuite and Business Central sync, SSO and multiple entities, and Grow allows up to 250 spend users. | 8/10Premium adds multi-entity support, custom ERP and HRIS integrations, advanced approvals and live budgets for mid-sized companies. |
| SaaS Companies | 8/10The Billing module handles subscriptions, usage-based billing, automatic tax and dunning, so it works for recurring-revenue businesses. | 8/10Card rewards multipliers on software and ads spend, plus the startup-focused underwriting, fit tech companies. |
| Startups | 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. | 9/10The free Essentials tier and card underwriting based on cash balance, with no personal guarantee, are aimed at venture-backed startups. |
| Developers | 7/10Platform APIs cover payments, issuing, payouts and embedded finance, with a sandbox and webhooks. | Not rated |
| E-commerce | 8/10It integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, Shopee and other marketplaces, and supports local payment methods and multi-currency settlement. | Not rated |
| Enterprise | Not rated | 7/10Enterprise offers unlimited global entities, local card issuance and a named account manager, and Brex has focused on enterprise customers since 2022. |
| Freelancers | 4/10It is built around business entities and team spend, and transaction costs can be high on small transfers. | Not rated |
| Remote Teams | 7/10Multi-currency cards and payouts to over 120 countries make it practical to pay and equip distributed staff. | Not rated |
| Small Business | Not rated | 4/10Brex exited the small-business market in 2022, and reviewers report account closures for businesses below revenue thresholds. |
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Airwallex
Our data shows no clear advantage over Brex.
Why choose Brex
- Higher Support score (6/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Analytics score (6/10 vs 5/10)
Pros & Cons
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.
Brex
Pros
- The Essentials tier is free and includes cards, bill pay, reimbursements, travel booking, API access and accounting integrations.
- Card limits are underwritten on cash balance and revenue rather than a founder's personal guarantee, which helps startups without a credit history.
- Direct ERP syncs cover NetSuite, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Sage Intacct, Business Central and newer AI-native ERPs such as Rillet and Campfire, and a two-way Accounting API launched in January 2026.
- Brex holds SOC 1 Type II and SOC 2 Type II attestations, is PCI-DSS compliant and supports SAML or OIDC single sign-on.
- Brex releases updates often. The September 2026 release alone added more than 30 features, including passkeys, p-card policy rules and access to Brex data from ChatGPT, Claude and Slack.
- Pricing is published at 12 USD per user per month for Premium, and G2 reviewers rate the product highly, at about 4.8 out of 5.
Cons
- Brex has a history of abrupt account closures and eligibility changes, and it left the small-business market in 2022.
- Credit limits move with the company's cash balance, which some reviewers find unpredictable.
- Card purchases that need currency conversion carry an FX markup of up to 3 percent, built into the exchange rate.
- It is not a general ledger. Bookkeeping and financial statements still need a separate ERP or accounting system.
- Some support and setup experiences are poor, including a clunky HRIS integration setup reported on Gartner Peer Insights.
- The Capital One acquisition could slow feature shipping during integration, according to industry commentary.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Brex scores higher on our Finance Software criteria: 7.5/10 against 6.9/10 for Airwallex. The largest gap is in Support: 4/10 for Airwallex and 6/10 for Brex.
Both are free for 10 users.
Yes, both Airwallex and Brex have a free plan.
