Accounting · head to head
Airwallex vs Basware
Airwallex
Accounting
Multi currency business accounts, international payments and card issuing from a licensed payments firm rather than a bank
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Basware
Accounting
Invoice automation and e-invoicing compliance across a large number of national mandates
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Airwallex has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Airwallex airwallex is a licensed payments firm rather than a bank, so balances sit in safeguarding accounts at partner banks and are not covered by deposit guarantee schemes, which means a treasury policy that requires insured deposits cannot hold operating cash there.; Basware the e-invoicing compliance breadth that justifies the price is worthless to a company operating in a single country, where cheaper AP automation tools will do the same work.
- They diverge on capability: Airwallex covers Multi currency balances, Basware covers Invoice capture.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Airwallex and Basware actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Airwallex
- Multi currency balances
- Local receiving accounts
- Foreign exchange conversion
- International payouts
- Card issuing
- Expense management
- Bill pay
- Payments gateway
Only in Basware
- Invoice capture
- Matching
- Approval workflow
- E-invoicing compliance
- Supplier network
- Payment execution
- Spend analytics
- ERP integration
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Airwallex
- An exporter invoicing customers in United States dollars and euros who wants to be paid into local details rather than receive wires with correspondent deductionsnot Basware
- An agency or software company paying contractors across several countries every month and losing money on bank foreign exchange spreadsnot Basware
- An e-commerce seller collecting on multiple marketplaces in different currencies who wants to hold rather than convert on every settlementnot Basware
- A startup that needs virtual cards with per subscription limits and cannot get a workable card programme from its local banknot Basware
Basware
- A multinational needing compliant electronic invoicing across Italy, Poland, France and Mexico without building each mandate itselfnot Airwallex
- A shared service centre processing hundreds of thousands of invoices a year that needs touchless processing rates measured and improvednot Airwallex
- A group standardising accounts payable across subsidiaries running different ERP systemsnot Airwallex
- A finance function trying to capture early payment discounts that are currently lost to slow approval cyclesnot Airwallex
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Airwallex
- Airwallex is a licensed payments firm rather than a bank, so balances sit in safeguarding accounts at partner banks and are not covered by deposit guarantee schemes, which means a treasury policy that requires insured deposits cannot hold operating cash there.
- Available currencies, local account details, card programmes and product features differ by the entity you contract with, so a feature demonstrated to a customer in Australia or Singapore may simply not exist for the same company registered in another country.
- Onboarding is subject to compliance review and whole categories of business are declined or later offboarded, and because the account may hold operating cash, a compliance freeze during a review is a business interruption rather than an inconvenience.
- Foreign exchange is quoted as interbank plus a markup, which is cheaper than a high street bank but is still a spread that widens on less liquid pairs and on smaller amounts, so the saving assumed in the business case should be checked against the pairs you actually trade.
- Support is largely ticket and chat based with account management reserved for larger customers, so when a payment is stuck the resolution path is a queue rather than a named person, which is a poor fit for time critical settlement.
Basware
- The e-invoicing compliance breadth that justifies the price is worthless to a company operating in a single country, where cheaper AP automation tools will do the same work.
- Implementation is a substantial integration project involving ERP connectors, supplier onboarding and country-by-country compliance configuration, and it is priced and timed accordingly.
- The user interface is dated next to newer accounts payable products, and approvers outside finance find it unintuitive, which slows the very cycle times the system is bought to improve.
- Supplier onboarding onto the network is the hidden effort: the touchless processing rate depends on how many suppliers actually send electronic invoices, and that is a change management programme, not a software setting.
- Growth by acquisition, including Glantus, has left overlapping analytics capability and integration work still in progress, so buyers should check which components share a data model today.
Pricing, plan by plan
Airwallex
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Airwallex review.
Basware
On request- Basware$undefined/year
- Invoice automation, matching and approval
- E-invoicing compliance across national mandates
- Supplier network connectivity
Which should you pick?
Choose Airwallex if
- You need multi currency balances.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want local receiving accounts.
Choose Basware if
- You need invoice capture.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want matching.
Questions people ask
- Is Airwallex or Basware better?
- Neither clearly leads. Airwallex starts at Free and Basware at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Airwallex or Basware?
- Airwallex has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Airwallex and On request for Basware.
- Does Airwallex or Basware run on more platforms?
- Airwallex runs on Web. Basware runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- Can I use Airwallex for free?
- Yes. Airwallex has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Basware starts at On request.
- What is Airwallex best used for?
- Airwallex is most often used for an exporter invoicing customers in united states dollars and euros who wants to be paid into local details rather than receive wires with correspondent deductions, an agency or software company paying contractors across several countries every month and losing money on bank foreign exchange spreads, an e-commerce seller collecting on multiple marketplaces in different currencies who wants to hold rather than convert on every settlement, a startup that needs virtual cards with per subscription limits and cannot get a workable card programme from its local bank. Of those, an exporter invoicing customers in united states dollars and euros who wants to be paid into local details rather than receive wires with correspondent deductions and an agency or software company paying contractors across several countries every month and losing money on bank foreign exchange spreads are not what Basware is typically brought in for.
- What can Airwallex do that Basware cannot?
- Airwallex covers Multi currency balances, Local receiving accounts, Foreign exchange conversion, International payouts. Basware covers Invoice capture, Matching, Approval workflow, E-invoicing compliance.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Airwallex: Is Airwallex a bank?
No. It holds payment institution, electronic money or equivalent licences in the markets it serves. Funds are safeguarded at partner banks rather than being deposits, and deposit insurance schemes do not apply.
Basware: Should we buy Basware if we only operate in one country?
Probably not. Its main advantage is multi-country e-invoicing compliance. In a single jurisdiction, cheaper AP automation gives you the same result.
Airwallex: Can it replace my business bank account?
For many operating flows it can, but consider what you lose: no deposit protection, no lending relationship, no cash or cheque handling, and some counterparties and government bodies still expect a conventional bank account. Most users run it alongside a bank rather than instead of one.
Basware: Does it handle mandatory e-invoicing regimes?
Yes, and that is the core reason to choose it. It covers a wide set of national mandates as a service rather than an integration project you run yourself.
Airwallex: Which countries can open an account?
It serves entities registered in a defined list of markets across Asia Pacific, Europe, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and North America, and the list changes. Check for your specific country of incorporation, because the answer determines both eligibility and feature set.
Basware: What drives the price?
Invoice volume, number of countries and modules. It is quoted, and implementation with ERP connectors and supplier onboarding is separate.
Airwallex: Does it connect to my accounting software?
It integrates with the mainstream cloud ledgers so transactions feed through rather than being imported by hand. Confirm the integration covers all the currencies you hold, since multi currency handling in the ledger is a separate question.
Basware: What determines the return?
The share of invoices arriving electronically. Touchless rates depend on supplier adoption, so budget for a supplier onboarding programme, not just the software.
Airwallex: How does the foreign exchange rate compare with a bank?
Materially better than a typical business bank's retail rate on major pairs, because it is quoted as interbank plus a stated markup. The gap narrows on thin currency pairs and small amounts, so test with your real volumes.
Airwallex: Are the cards accepted everywhere?
They are issued on the major networks and behave like ordinary company cards for most spend. Some merchants, particularly for deposits and car hire, treat prepaid style issuance differently, so do not assume parity with a bank credit card.
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