Mercury vs Airwallex: US account or global account?

Airwallex is a global account with local payouts and FX built in. Mercury is a US account with free USD wires. The cost gap is in conversion and per-user pricing.

Alexia M.Comparisons and market guides editor

Published: 6 June 2026
Updated: 4 November 2026
Reading time: 2 min read

Mercury and Airwallex are both popular with US startups, and Google suggests "airwallex vs mercury" right after "airwallex vs stripe". They overlap on cards and USD accounts and split on almost everything international. Prices below were read on each US pricing page on 4 November 2026.

How they compare

	Mercury	Airwallex (US)
Plans	$0 base; Plus $29.90; Pro $299	Explore $0 (up to 10 spend users); Grow $12 per user plus platform fee; Accelerate custom
FX	1% on converted wires; 3% on card spend abroad	0.5% above interbank on majors; 1% on others
USD wires	$0 domestic and international	Free domestic USD; SWIFT $15 to $25
Local payouts	Through converted wires	Local transfers to 120+ countries
Yield	Up to 4.25% with $250K	3.50% to 3.77% by plan

What the numbers mean for a real month

A US e-commerce brand pays $50,000 a month to suppliers in Europe, the UK and China.

On Mercury, converted wires at 1% cost about $500.
On Airwallex, conversion at 0.5% on major pairs costs about $250, and local payouts avoid SWIFT fees.

A US consulting firm that pays $50,000 a month to US contractors and rarely converts pays almost nothing on Mercury and gains little from Airwallex.

Per-user pricing

Mercury does not charge per user. Airwallex Explore is free up to 10 spend users, and Grow charges $12 for each. A 25-person team with cards on Grow pays $300 a month before the platform fee.

The eligibility question

Both products target US companies first. Founders who formed a US LLC from abroad often find the hard part is approval, not price. Ask before you apply and keep your formation documents, EIN letter and owner IDs ready.

Paying into the United States: the local rail

What	Detail
Local rail	ACH for batch payments; RTP and FedNow for instant transfers
Run by	Nacha for ACH; The Clearing House for RTP; the Federal Reserve for FedNow
Settlement	Same-day ACH within the business day, standard ACH the next; RTP and FedNow in seconds, 24/7, where both banks take part

Source: Nacha: Same Day ACH. Checked when this guide was last updated; the scheme's own page has the current figures.

Where Rivet fits

Rivet opens accounts for registered companies in the countries we support, including US LLCs whose owners live abroad. Starter is free with USD details. Growth ($200 a month, flat, not per user) adds EUR and GBP details, local payouts in 120+ countries and FX from 0.50%; Scale lowers FX to 0.30%. Rivet is not a bank; regulated partner institutions hold the funds. See Airwallex alternatives and Pricing.

Questions people ask

Is Airwallex cheaper than Mercury?

For conversion, usually yes: 0.5% on major pairs against Mercury's 1%. For sending US dollars by wire, Mercury is cheaper at $0. A company's mix of USD wires and conversions decides it.

Does Airwallex charge per user?

On Grow, yes: $12 per user a month plus a platform fee. Airwallex counts anyone who holds a card or approves, submits or pays an expense as a user.

Can a US LLC open Airwallex?

Airwallex has a US offering for US businesses. Eligibility for companies whose owners live abroad varies; check with Airwallex before you apply.

What else should I compare?

Check which currencies you get local account details in, the payout fee to the countries you pay most, and how each provider handles account reviews.

Sources

Written by

Alexia M.

Comparisons and market guides editor

Alexia compares the accounts, cards and payment tools companies weigh before they switch, and writes Rivet's market guides for founders in a specific country. Prices in Alexia's comparisons come from each provider's own pricing page on the date given in the article, rules come from the regulator or tax authority that sets them, and every source is listed at the end.