Brex vs Airwallex
Quick verdict: Brex is our overall pick for Brex vs Airwallex.
Brex issues cards and credit to a single entity; Airwallex runs multi-currency accounts and payments across entities and layers a card program on top.
| Tool | Rating | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brex Best overall Best free | 4.3/5 | Free $12/user/mo (Premium) | Brex runs a two-step public price list: Essentials is $0 per user per month and Premium is… |
| Airwallex Best for teams | 4.1/5 | Free $12/user/mo (Grow) plus platform fee | Airwallex is the multi-currency account layer that also does spend: Explore is $0 per user… |
Bottom line: Airwallex for cross-border payment economics you can actually forecast from a published table, Brex for the cash-advance product. Multi-entity and multi-country is the deciding variable, not seat price. Brex is $0 Essentials and $12/user Premium with card and wire fees quoted case by case. Airwallex Explore is $0 and Grow is $12/user plus a team-size platform fee, with 2.80% + $0.30 domestic, 4.30% + $0.30 international and $15-$25 wires published as numbers. Airwallex if you need multi-currency accounts, because Brex has no comparable payments product. Brex if you want the credit line.
Pricing and details
Brex · 4.3/5
Free plan available · $12/user/mo (Premium)
Billed per user per month on top of card spend; the page also lists per-transaction card and wire fees ($15-$25 per wire in the comparative table) and the premium/enterprise tiers add credit and control features rather than metered units
No published annual rate on the Brex pricing page
Brex runs a two-step public price list: Essentials is $0 per user per month and Premium is $12 per user per month, with the card, the expense tooling and the credit line all sitting on top of that seat fee.
Score breakdown
Pros
- A genuine $0 Essentials tier rather than a trial, which makes Brex the easiest way to test a card program with real employees
- Premium at $12/user/month is the smallest step between the two published tiers in the cluster
- Revenue-based rewards on card spend are part of the product rather than a negotiation, which matters at real spend volume
- The clearest documentation of card and wire fee categories of the card-led tools, even where the numbers themselves are not published
Cons
- The parts that usually decide the invoice - interchange, cash-advance fees, wire fees - are not published as numbers on the pricing page
- No annual rate is published, so budgeting is monthly
- Expense reporting is good but is not the reason to buy it; the product was built around the card and the credit line
Pricing verified 2026-10-03
Airwallex · 4.1/5
Free plan available · $12/user/mo (Grow) plus platform fee
Subscription per user plus a team-size platform fee, with payment and card rails charged separately: 2.80% + $0.30 domestic, 4.30% + $0.30 on international cards, 0.50% per successful subscription transaction, $15-$25 per wire, and $12 per active Spend user/month above the 10 free Spend users up to 250
No published annual rate; monthly prices are stated in USD and the page notes that terms and additional fees may apply
Airwallex is the multi-currency account layer that also does spend: Explore is $0 per user per month, Grow is $12 per user per month plus a platform fee, and Accelerate is custom - with up to 10 free Spend users.
Score breakdown
Pros
- The only vendor here that publishes its transaction economics as actual numbers: domestic cards 2.80% + $0.30, international 4.30% + $0.30, subscriptions 0.50% per successful transaction, wires $15-$25
- Business accounts in 20+ currencies, local collection accounts and like-for-like settlement in the same product as the cards
- A free tier that includes unlimited multi-currency corporate cards with zero international fees, not a stripped trial
- Up to 10 free Spend users above the subscription fee, so a rollout does not start billing on day one
Cons
- Expense reporting is the junior product here - the roadmap even lists several expense and accounting features as coming soon
- Grow is $12/user/month plus a team-size platform fee, and the fee is not published as a number
- Single-platform concentration: if you need deep accounting integration, the NetSuite and Dynamics connectors sit on Grow and above
Pricing verified 2026-10-03
Frequently asked questions
Which is better overall, Brex or Airwallex?
Brex is our overall pick (4.3/5 vs 4.1/5). Brex issues cards and credit to a single entity; Airwallex runs multi-currency accounts and payments across entities and layers a card program on top.
Do Brex and Airwallex offer free plans?
Brex and Airwallex have a free tier. Brex paid plans start at $12/user/mo (Premium); Airwallex paid plans start at $12/user/mo (Grow) plus platform fee.
What does Brex cost?
$12/user/mo (Premium) — Billed per user per month on top of card spend; the page also lists per-transaction card and wire fees ($15-$25 per wire in the comparative table) and the premium/enterprise tiers add credit and control features rather than metered units. Prices were last verified on 2026-10-03.