Send $1,000 from dollars to euros and Wise takes about $3.44, while Western Union takes roughly $39.83. On a bank-style transfer the gap is wide, and it comes down to one thing: the exchange-rate markup. Wise hands you the real mid-market rate and adds a small, clearly shown fee on top. Western Union advertises a low fee but bakes a much larger markup into the rate, and that is where most of its cost hides.
Western Union still has real strengths, but they are cash pickup and global reach, not price. For a transfer that lands in a bank account, Wise is the clear winner.
- On pure cost, Wise wins by a wide margin. Wise runs about 0.47% all-in on a $1,000 transfer, against Western Union's roughly 3.5% markup plus a fee.
- The markup is the story. Western Union's advertised fee can be low, even $0 on some online sends, but the cost hidden inside its exchange rate is usually far bigger.
- Western Union's edge is reach, not price. Cash pickup and a huge agent network matter when the recipient has no bank account, or is somewhere Wise does not serve.
- For a bank-to-bank transfer, Wise is almost always the cheaper choice, and the gap only grows with the amount.
How Wise charges
Wise hands you the mid-market rate and adds a variable fee on top, around 0.33 to 0.5% on popular routes like US dollars to euros, plus a small fixed charge of roughly $0.61. No subscription, no monthly limit, no weekend surcharge. The number at checkout is the number you pay.
That predictability is the appeal. You never check the calendar or track a running total, and the percentage barely moves as the amount grows. On a $1,000 send the all-in cost sits around 0.34%, or about $3.44 in dollar terms. The trade-off is that Wise charges from the first dollar, so on a tiny transfer it is not free, but the cost stays small and easy to predict.
How Western Union charges
Western Union is one of the world's largest money-transfer operators, and its pricing is harder to pin down than Wise's. Two things drive what you pay: how you fund the transfer (bank account, card, or cash) and how the money arrives (bank deposit or cash pickup). The advertised fee can look small, sometimes $0 on an online bank-to-bank send, but that figure rarely tells the whole story. The advertised fee is what catches the eye. The markup is what people notice only after the money has arrived.
The real cost usually sits in the exchange-rate markup, which we model at about 3.5% on a route like US dollars to euros, on top of a roughly $5 fee. On a $1,000 send that works out to around $39.83 all-in, or about 3.98% of the amount. The markup varies a lot by route, so treat these as estimates and always confirm on Western Union's own site before you send.
Head to head, by amount
The gap is wide at every size, but it is worth seeing the numbers side by side. Here is the same US-dollar-to-euro transfer at two amounts, with the current estimates.
$1,000: the markup shows up fast
On a typical $1,000 send, Wise comes in around 0.34% all-in, while Western Union's markup alone pushes it past 3%. That is a difference of tens of dollars on a single transfer, the gap between a provider that charges a small visible fee and one that charges a large hidden one.
$10,000: the gap turns into real money
At $10,000 the percentage story barely changes, but the dollar story gets stark. Western Union's roughly 3.5% markup now costs a few hundred dollars, while Wise's flat percentage stays near 0.29%. Because Wise's fee scales gently and Western Union's markup scales with the whole amount, the bigger the transfer, the further ahead Wise pulls.
Who should pick what
Pick Wise if the recipient has a bank account and you want the cheapest, most predictable transfer. Wise gives you the real mid-market rate plus a small, clearly shown fee, and the cost barely moves from $500 to $50,000. For everyday international transfers this is the one to use; see our Wise provider page for the full breakdown.
Pick Western Union if the recipient needs cash in hand, has no bank account, or is in a country Wise does not serve. Western Union's agent network reaches places most digital providers cannot, and cash pickup can be the only option that works. You pay a premium for that reach, so it is a convenience choice rather than a cheap one. More detail is on our Western Union provider page.
Check Interactive Brokers for a large exchange tied to an investment, trade or hedge inside the brokerage. Its spot-currency commission can beat both by a wide margin at scale. It does not replace Western Union cash pickup or Wise's direct payment to another person. Our comparison tool shows the estimated costs.
Frequently asked questions
Is Wise cheaper than Western Union?
Almost always, for a transfer that arrives as a bank deposit. Wise charges a small, clearly shown fee on top of the real mid-market rate, so its all-in cost typically stays under half a percent. Western Union's advertised fee can look lower, but its exchange-rate markup is usually several percent, which makes the total cost far higher. The exception is when the recipient needs cash pickup, where Western Union may be the only practical option.
Why does Western Union cost so much more?
Most of the cost is hidden in the exchange rate rather than shown as a fee. Western Union gives you a rate that is worse than the mid-market rate, and keeps the difference. On a route like US dollars to euros that markup is typically around 3.5%, dwarfing the headline fee. Pricing also varies a lot by route, by how you pay, and by how the money arrives, so the figure you see at checkout can differ from the modelled estimate here.
Are these numbers exact?
They are worked out from each provider's published fee structure against the live mid-market rate, so they are current, but they are modelled estimates for typical routes. Western Union's pricing in particular varies widely by route, payment method and delivery method, and the figures here are representative rather than a live quote. Always confirm the final figure on the provider's own checkout before you send.
Cost figures are worked out from each provider's published fee structure applied to the current mid-market reference rate, modelled estimates for typical major-currency routes. Western Union's pricing varies widely by route, payment method and delivery method; the figures shown are representative. Always confirm the final quote on the provider's own site before you transfer. We may earn a commission from affiliate links at no extra cost to you; this never affects rankings. Nothing here is financial advice.
Sources: Wise pricing (opens in a new tab), Western Union fees (opens in a new tab), Interactive Brokers commissions (opens in a new tab), IBUK and IBLLC Client Agreement (opens in a new tab), Interactive Brokers third-party withdrawals (opens in a new tab). Accessed 22 August 2026.