Revolut vs Wise
Two virtual cards people weigh up side by side. We put Revolut and Wise on the same rows so the difference is easy to see.
Both issue on Visa · Mastercard; verification is ID only at Revolut versus ID + proof at Wise; only Revolut takes crypto top-ups.
Revolut is the more cost-effective option for everyday spending and travel thanks to its free virtual cards, no monthly fee. Wise still clears the same checkouts in our tests, so match the table to the services you actually pay for.
The head to head
| Field | Revolut | Wise |
|---|---|---|
| Card network | Visa, Mastercard | Visa / Mastercard |
| Card type | Digital Bank / Neobank | Remittance / Cross-border |
| KYC | ID only | ID + proof |
| Card issuance fee | Free | Free (virtual); physical card one-time fee |
| Monthly fee | Free (Standard); Plus £3.99; Premium £7.99; Metal £14.99; Ultra £55 per mo | Free (no monthly fee) |
| Top-up fee | Not disclosed by issuer | Not disclosed by issuer |
| FX fee | 0.5% | 0.33%–0.7% (mid-market) |
| Crypto funding | Yes | — |
| AI tool support | ChatGPT / Claude / Midjourney | — |
| Risk level | Low-Medium | Medium |
| Our rating | 8.6 | 7.3 |
| User reviews | 80 | 872 |
| Best for | All-rounder · Ad spend | Streaming · App Store / Play |
A green left edge marks the side that holds the advantage on that row, where the data gives one.
Where they split
- If you wear several hats, Revolut is the more flexible of the pair.
- Revolut asks for less verification up front, which matters if you want a card live the same day.
- Only Revolut takes crypto top-ups, which settles the call if you fund with crypto.
- In our scoring, Revolut finished ahead of Wise — not by a mile, but enough to tilt a tiebreak.
- If risk rating weights your choice, Revolut is the calmer of the two.
What sets them apart
Run the numbers against your own usage. Revolut runs free to create plus no top-up fee per top-up; Wise runs free plus no top-up fee. For one or two subscriptions the first column wins; for the rows where it leads in the table, the second does.
Questions people ask
That depends on what you spend on. Revolut scores 8.6/10 against Wise's 7.3/10 in our tests, but the two split on fees, KYC and crypto funding. Read the table above, then match it to the checkouts you actually run.
Revolut works out cheaper: no virtual card issuance fee, free account maintenance. Wise adds a 0.33% FX fee.
Revolut asks for ID only at signup; Wise asks for ID + proof. If a light sign-up is the priority, the one with the lower KYC label is the faster route.
Both show up in 75 of the same test scenarios, including Netflix, Spotify Premium, YouTube Premium. They overlap on a good share of checkouts, so the choice between them matters most on those pages. Where one is accepted and the other is not usually comes down to the billing country and 3-D Secure handling.
Where both show up
Revolut and Wise both landed in our top picks for 75 checkouts. Grouped by category so you can jump straight to the one you actually pay for:
📺 Streaming & Entertainment 20
🛍️ Cross-border Shopping 15
🌐 Cloud & VPS 15
🎮 Gaming 15
🧳 Travel & Productivity 10
Their BIN ranges
Cards issued in 🇬🇧 UK · 🇸🇬 Singapore — the country guides group every range we track from there.
What our charge log shows
Every count here is a real charge attempt we placed on that range, renewals included, with the gateway response recorded. Weeks tracked is how long the range has been in the programme: