Pick Wise if you invoice clients yourself and want conversion close to the real exchange rate. Pick Payoneer if marketplaces already pay into it. Pick Deel if a company hires you as a contractor and runs the contract and payout in one place. All three charge in different spots, and on the same income the gap can reach hundreds of dollars a year.
What each one is
Wise is a multi-currency account. You get local bank details in several currencies, give them to a client, and the client pays like it is a domestic transfer. Wise converts at the mid-market rate and adds a fee on top. Its pricing page describes the rate as the live mid-market rate plus a small upfront fee.
Payoneer is built for getting paid by platforms and businesses. Marketplaces pay into it directly, and you can open receiving accounts to collect from your own clients too. The pricing follows from that marketplace-first design.
Deel is a contractor and payroll platform. A company hires you through it, Deel handles the contract and compliance, and you pick how to withdraw. You cannot sign up to Deel and invoice any random client. The client has to be on Deel as well.
That last point matters more than any single fee. Wise and Payoneer are tools you pick. Deel is usually a tool your client picks.
Laptop showing a financial dashboard with charts and figures
Receiving fees are three separate charges
Getting money in, converting it and getting it out are three different charges, and a comparison that looks at only one of them misleads you.
Wise charges nothing to receive domestic-style payments into local details in currencies such as USD, GBP, EUR, AUD and CAD. A USD wire over Swift costs a fixed 6.11 USD per payment, according to Wise's receiving fees. Opening and holding the account is free.
Payoneer has a 29.95 USD annual account fee that is waived if you receive at least 6,000 USD in any 12 consecutive months. Receiving into an account in a non-local currency costs 1%, with a 1 USD minimum. When your client pays by card, the fee rises to as much as 3.99% plus 0.49 USD. All of this is on .
Written by
The Delivvo team
Delivvo runs the client cycle for service businesses: inquiry, quote, contract, deposit and delivery. Payments go straight to your own account.
Egyptian freelancers can get paid by clients abroad, but the options are narrower than in some countries and the pound's recent history makes currency a real decision. This guide covers what Payoneer, Wise, PayPal and bank transfer can and cannot do, and how to set up a cheap, steady way to receive money.
A UAE business can take card payments through Stripe, Telr, PayTabs, Tap or Checkout.com. This post compares what each one publishes, what international clients add to the bill, and which rail suits local or overseas customers.
For 2026 the IRS kept seven brackets from 10% to 37% and raised the standard deduction to $16,100 for single filers. This post gives the thresholds, explains self-employment tax and the permanent 20% QBI deduction, and shows how to set tax money aside from each payment.
8 min read
Your inquiry link is free.
Free plan. No card needed.
Blog
Guides for service businesses, from the first inquiry to the final payment. Written by the team behind Delivvo.
With Deel, the client pays Deel, so you have no receiving fee as a contractor. The hiring company pays from 49 USD per contractor per month on the contractor plan, or from 325 USD for a contractor of record, according to Deel's pricing.
Conversion is where the money leaks
Conversion hits every payment, so the percentage decides who wins over a year.
Wise is the cleanest. It converts at the mid-market rate and charges a fee that starts at 0.23% and rises for less common currency pairs. You can see the fee before you send.
Payoneer is the most expensive of the three when a card payment is converted. Its pricing page lists up to 3.5% for card transactions with currency conversion, and moving funds between your own Payoneer balances costs 0.50%. Take 5,000 USD converted to euros. A fee near 0.5% costs about 25 USD. A fee of 3.5% on the same payment costs 175 USD.
Deel sits in the middle and depends on your route. It does not add its own fee on the Wise payout route, but it takes a margin when it converts your pay into another currency, so check the rate shown before you confirm.
Withdrawal speed and cost
Wise transfers often arrive within a day, and many land in minutes once the money clears. Payoneer moves money between Payoneer accounts instantly and free, then takes a few business days to reach your bank. Its withdrawal to a local bank account in some countries is a flat 1.50 USD, and otherwise it runs from 1.2% to 4% depending on the country and currency.
Local bank transfer: no cost, 1 to 5 business days
SWIFT international transfer: variable intermediary-bank fees, 5 to 7 business days
Payoneer: 1%, up to 1 business day
PayPal: 2.5% with a 0.25 USD minimum, up to 1 business day
Wise: no Deel fee, up to 1 business day
Instant card transfer: 0.75% in the US (capped at 25 USD), 2% elsewhere (capped at 15 USD)
On Deel your effective cost is set by the method you choose. Local bank or Wise keeps it near zero. PayPal costs the most unless you need the speed.
A worked example on 60,000 USD of income
Say you bill 60,000 USD a year. Half comes from US clients in dollars, so nothing is converted. The other half comes from EU clients in euros that you convert to dollars.
With Wise, the euros land free in your EUR details. Converting the equivalent of 30,000 USD at about 0.5% costs roughly 150 USD for the year, with no account fee.
With Payoneer, if those card payments are converted at up to 3.5%, the same 30,000 USD costs as much as 1,050 USD. The annual fee is waived at this volume. That is about 900 USD more for identical work, and it comes from one line of the fee table.
Deel only enters if the EU client hires you through it. Then a local bank or Wise withdrawal keeps your direct fees low, while Deel's margin applies to the conversion.
These are illustrations, not quotes. Rates change, and your own corridor may price differently. Still, the lesson holds: the conversion percentage matters more than the "free transfer" banner.
Hidden costs to check before you commit
A few charges sit in the corners. Card payments into Payoneer can reach 3.99% plus 0.49 USD, so steer clients to bank transfer where you can. Less common currency pairs cost more than Wise's 0.23% floor. Deel's SWIFT option carries intermediary-bank fees nobody can predict up front. And Payoneer's annual fee bites if your yearly volume stays under 6,000 USD.
Who each one is for
Wise suits you when you invoice clients directly and convert currencies often. It is the cheapest way to hold several currencies, which is why it keeps showing up as the benchmark in any honest cross-border cost breakdown.
Payoneer suits you when most of your income comes from marketplaces that pay into it, or when you want US and EU receiving details that look local to clients and you do not convert large sums.
Deel suits you when a company wants you as an ongoing contractor and wants contracts, compliance and payments in one place. You rarely choose it. You accept it because a client already runs on it, then you pick a cheap withdrawal route.
Plenty of people use all three. A common setup is Wise for direct clients, Payoneer for one marketplace, and Deel for the one client that insists. If you want to compare gateways your own clients can pay through, the Stripe vs PayPal vs Wise comparison covers that side.
How Delivvo fits around your payout account
Wise, Payoneer and Deel answer where the money lands. They do not run the work that comes before it: the quote, the signed contract, the deposit and the invoice. That is the part Delivvo handles, and it keeps the payout choice yours.
Here is the flow for a client who pays you directly rather than through Deel or a marketplace:
The client fills in your inquiry form and lands on your lead board.
You build a quote from your packages and add-ons in Proposals.
The client opens one link, picks a package, signs the contract with a typed or drawn signature, and pays the deposit.
Delivvo creates the client, project, contract, invoice and payment schedule for you.
Later invoices go out with sequential numbers, your tax details and a Pay button.
The client pays through the gateway you connected, such as Stripe, PayPal or Checkout.com, and Delivvo never touches the money.
Delivvo takes 0% of every payment, and it is never the merchant of record. The gateway pays out to the bank account you chose. If you want those payouts to arrive in a currency account with local details, set that up on the gateway side and check its rules first.
Every invoice and contract carries a verification code, and you can issue them in English and Arabic, which helps when a client's finance team wants to confirm a document is real. For the money side, read about how payments work in Delivvo and what Delivvo charges.
FAQ
Which is cheapest for receiving international payments?
For direct client invoices, Wise is usually cheapest. It receives into local details for free in currencies like USD, GBP and EUR and converts from 0.23%. Payoneer can match it when the client pays in the same currency as your receiving account, because nothing is converted.
Can I use more than one of these at once?
Yes. Many people run Wise for direct clients, Payoneer for marketplace payouts, and Deel only when one client requires it. Holding all three costs nothing beyond the fees each one charges when you use it.
Does Deel take a cut of my pay?
Not directly from you as the contractor. The hiring company pays Deel's monthly fee, from 49 USD or 325 USD per contractor. Your cost shows up in the currency margin and the withdrawal method you pick.
Are these fees the same in every country?
No. Wise and Payoneer both price by currency pair and by country, and the numbers above are the US pages in 2026. Check the fee calculator in your own account before you send an invoice, and ask your accountant how the income is taxed where you live.
Delivvo runs the whole client cycle for service businesses, from the first inquiry to the quote, contract, deposit, invoice and delivery, so getting paid by international clients stops depending on three different apps. Clients pay you directly through your own gateway, and Delivvo takes 0%. Start free
