GoCardless vs Airwallex: Compare fees, features, and solutions

With more small businesses pushing for international expansion and selling online to customers overseas, getting paid on time and managing multiple currencies are top priorities. Two top platforms in 2026 for collecting payments efficiently are Airwallex and GoCardless, both of which offer feature-rich services in Australia.

This blog will compare GoCardless vs Airwallex, outlining what exactly they do and the features they offer, before diving into a head-to-head comparison across core products and common fees. We’ll also introduce Wise Business - a multi-currency account you can use for sending money overseas and settling global finances.

What is GoCardless

GoCardless is a bank payment network used by 100,000+ businesses globally to collect payments directly from customers’ bank accounts¹. Its main focus is making one-off and recurring payments (via direct debit) easier to manage, so there’s less need to chase invoices while also helping SMEs to automate payment collection.

It’s ideal for any business that relies heavily on subscriptions, memberships, instalment plans, or recurring invoices, whether they’re collecting locally in Australia or from customers overseas. To support healthy cash flow, GoCardless also has add-ons like Success+, which uses payment intelligence to recover up to 70% of failed payments².

With GoCardless, you can:

• Collect one-off payments and recurring bank payments¹
• Automate direct debit collection using local payment schemes such as BECS Direct Debit³
• Use PayTo for instant bank payments in Australia⁴
• Collect international payments from 30+ countries¹
• Connect 350+ apps, including Xero and other accounting platforms⁵

What is Airwallex

Airwallex is a global financial platform that processes over $287 billion in payments every year⁶. It’s more enterprise-oriented, although it serves SMEs, with a well-rounded feature set designed for all aspects of making and receiving payments. Airwallex combines business accounts, global transfers, payment acceptance, corporate cards (and more) into a single platform.

Overall, it positions itself as a ‘financial infrastructure,’ targeted at businesses that already operate across borders, or plan to expand internationally⁶. So it can sort standard billing and subscriptions in Australia, while also providing tools to hold multiple currencies, pay suppliers worldwide, and manage all your expenses more efficiently within one workflow and hub.

With Airwallex, you can:

• Use multi-currency business accounts with local account details in 20+ currencies⁷
• Complete international transfers to 200+ countries and regions and 60+ currencies⁸
• Take online payments using 160+ local payment methods across 180+ countries⁹
• Airwallex offers corporate cards for business spending with limits and other controls¹⁰
• Integrate other software platforms and use APIs to embed financial products into websites and apps ¹¹

GoCardless vs Airwallex: Feature comparison

GoCardless and Airwallex are targeted at different business types in Australia, but there’s still some overlap in what they offer – especially around payments, integrations and tools for reducing financial admin. Below is a table outlining the core features and how they compare side-by-side.

Now, let’s compare Airwallex vs GoCardless across five specific categories, starting with the process for creating an account on both platforms.

Ease of setup

GoCardless has a fast sign-up process – you can get started “in minutes”¹. All you have to do is click ‘sign up’ from the home page and then enter your business name and location, and business type (from a drop-down menu)¹². You’ll then be able to start collecting payments by adding GoCardless to your website and invoices.

Airwallex’s setup is a bit more exhaustive, requiring more details upfront to meet its eligibility criteria. To open an account, you’ll need an active Australian Business Number (ABN), and anyone connected to the account must verify their identity using valid documents¹³. Airwallex also requests bank statements and other records to get a better understanding of your business activities.

Global coverage

GoCardless is built for global payment acceptance with support for 30 countries and 30 currencies¹⁴. After signing up, you’ll be able to take payments from multiple markets in the Eurozone, as well as the US, UK, New Zealand, and Canada. GoCardless partners with Wise Business to power its overseas payment collection, so you’ll get the real exchange rate with no markups when converting to AUD¹⁵.

Airwallex has extensive coverage, too, through its multi-currency Global Accounts, which let you create local account details in 20+ currencies and get paid from 70+ countries⁷. You can also hold funds in these currencies, unlike GoCardless, which automatically converts funds to an account’s main currency¹⁵. When sending payments, Airwallex supports transfers to 200+ countries⁶.

Expense management

GoCardless doesn’t manage employee expenses directly. It recommends integrating the platform with one of its 350+ partner tools to keep expenses, receipts, and important financial records in place¹⁶. Pairing GoCardless with an accounting platform, for example, simplifies reconciliation and cuts down manual work.

Airwallex has advanced first-party tools for tracking employee spend in one place. You can handle cards, receipts, approvals, and reimbursements in a single workflow, with an AI agent checking each submission against your policy and flagging anything that needs reviewing¹⁷. Approved expenses then sync straight to your accounting software, again for easy reconciliation. There are also granular controls for team spending.

Business debit cards

Because GoCardless focuses on processing direct debit payments and automated account transfers, rather than card transactions, it doesn’t provide debit cards. If you’re looking for a provider to make payments and issue and set card limits for teams, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

Airwallex lets you issue borderless Visa debit cards for employees to use worldwide “in minutes”, with full visibility of every transaction thanks to real-time updates via the main dashboard¹⁰. You can also set spending limits, freeze cards, and even set your own expiry dates. And because every card draws from multi-currency balances, you get competitive rates and fewer surprise FX fees.

Integrations

Integrations is one of GoCardless’ core services. You can connect hundreds of apps across 9 categories, including Accounting and Invoicing, CRM, E-commerce, and Subscription billing¹⁸. This lets you plug in Xero or QuickBooks, for example, to easily reconcile invoices. There’s also an API for developers to create custom integrations for collecting payments¹⁹.

Airwallex has a similar set of integrations across 4 categories, though its ecommerce options include Amazon and Shopify, which might be more useful for online stores²⁰. There’s also a very extensive Platform and API suite for creating all sorts of financial products, including your own card-issuing services¹¹. These are targeted more at an enterprise-level audience.

GoCardless vs Airwallex: Fee comparison

The two platforms take different approaches to pricing. GoCardless doesn’t have any setup costs or monthly fees; instead using a straightforward percentage-based charge on each transaction, while Airwallex offers subscription plans plus separate fees for cards, FX, and other services

Here’s an overview of the key costs side-by-side so you can get a better idea of how each model might fit your business:

Considerations when choosing a solution for global finances

Before selecting a payment provider to manage international finances, you should consider:

• What you need the platform to do, i.e., is simply collecting online payments enough, or do you need to pay overseas suppliers and freelancers, and manage multiple currencies?
• The overall cost of using a platform. Look beyond the headline transaction fees, and factor in FX markups, monthly plans, and other service add-ons to get a ballpark figure for how much you’ll pay.
• How easily the platform fits into your workflow. If it integrates with existing software and offers multi-user access and automated reconciliation, for example, this can be a big time saver.
• Where your customers are and their payment preferences. The countries and currencies supported vary by provider, and the local methods they offer can differ, too – make sure you get the right mix.
• How you intend to manage your currency exposure if you regularly earn or spend in different currencies and want to hold, convert, and settle everything in one place.
• How quickly you expect to grow. If you plan to expand into new markets, you’ll likely need tools like local account details or global payout rails.

Wise Business: Alternative solution for global finances

Wise Business is an all-in-one alternative for cross-border finances, with no monthly fees and upfront and transparent pricing. Currency conversions also occur at the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden markups.

This allows businesses to make international payments and hold and settle money in 22+ currencies, giving you full control over the flow of funds coming in and out of your business.

A Wise Business account allows users to send, receive, and hold in multiple currencies. Experience hassle-free global transactions by transacting like a local business. Here's what you get with a Wise Business account:

• Free to register — Hold and convert between 40+ currencies. Send to 140+ countries
• Debit cards for you and your team, which you can use in 150+ countries
• Multi-user access for team members, with ways to control and manage permissions
• Pay up to 1,000 recipients at once with the Wise batch payments feature
• Integrate with your favourite cloud accounting solutions like Xero, QuickBooks, and more
• Get account details to receive in 8+ currencies for a one-time fee of 65 AUD
• Earn potential returns** on your everyday money through Wise Interest

Sign up for the Wise Business account! 🚀

This general advice does not take into account your objectives, financial circumstances or needs and you should consider if it is appropriate for you.
**Capital at risk, growth not guaranteed. Interest is the name of a custody and nominee service provided by Wise Australia Investments Pty Ltd in partnership with Franklin Templeton.

Sources:

1. GoCardless - Home page
2. GoCardless - Success plus
3. GoCardless AU - BECs direct debit payments
4. GoCardless AU - PayTo
5. GoCardless AU - Partners
6. Airwallex - Home page
7. Airwallex - Global accounts
8. Airwallex - Business account transfers
9. Airwallex - Checkout
10. Airwallex - Corporate cards
11. Airwallex AU - Platform api and embedded finance
12. GoCardless - Sign up
13. Airwallex - Documents required for companies in Australia
14. GoCardless - Countries you can collect from
15. GoCardless AU - International payments with FX FAQs
16. GoCardless - Solving the issue of expense management
17. Airwallex - Expense management
18. GoCardless AU - Partners
19. GoCardless AU - Developers
20. Airwallex AU - Integrations
21. GoCardless AU - Pricing
22. Airwallex - Pricing
23. Airwallex - Payment links
24. Airwallex - Subscription management