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Remitly, Instarem or Xe: Are They Cheaper Than Wise for Getting Paid in India?

Author:: Editorial team, serviceexportguide.com
Verified by:: Editorial team
Published: 31 October 2026
Last modified: 31 October 2026
Fees checked on: 28 October 2026
Reading time: 12 min read

Short answer

Remitly's personal service is for personal, family or household transfers, and business use breaches its 2026 user agreement.¹ Instarem's India site describes transfers from India, and Xe does not list India as a country where senders can register.²³ Wise Payments India holds RBI PA-CB authorisation for inward payments.⁴

Applies to	Rules involved	Platforms compared	Last verified
Indian freelancers and businesses paid by foreign clients for services⁵	PA-CB Master Direction; FEMA 2026 Regulations; MTSS bars trade remittances⁶⁷⁸	Skydo, Razorpay, Karbon Business, Instarem, Remitly, Wise, Xe⁴	31 October 2026⁴

Invoice amountCurrencyHow the client pays

1,000 USD = ₹94,243 at the reference rate for 13 November 2026 (European Central Bank data).

Estimated rupees received, on published fees

Sorted by estimated rupees received, highest first. Only providers that publish both their fee and their conversion markup for this currency and method can be estimated.

#	Provider and route	Best for	Fee (+GST)	Markup	You receive	Cost
1	Karbon BusinessLowest estimated costBank transfer to a Karbon virtual USD account	US bank transfers and marketplace payouts	₹942plus GST, rate not stated	0%	₹93,131 to ₹93,301	1.00 to 1.18%
2	RazorpayMoneySaver Export Account: bank transfer to virtual account details (Standard plan)	Local transfers from the US, UK and eurozone	₹1,000plus GST, rate not stated	0%	₹93,063 to ₹93,243	1.06 to 1.25%
3	WinvestaGlobal Collections Account, standard plan (up to 2,000 a month per currency)	Local transfers with a published per-payment fee	₹1,435	0%	₹92,809	1.52%
4	SkydoPayment link (InstaLinks) paid by ACH debit	Local bank transfers from major markets	₹1,885plus GST, rate not stated	0%	₹92,019 to ₹92,358	2.00 to 2.36%
5	PayoneerLocal bank transfer to Payoneer receiving account details	Marketplace payouts such as Amazon or Upwork	₹0no GST stated	1 to 4%	₹90,473 to ₹93,301	1.00 to 4.00%
6	PayPalInternational commercial transaction received into a PayPal account (PayPal checkout or invoice)	Clients paying by card or PayPal balance	₹4,175no GST stated	3 to 4%	₹86,465 to ₹87,366	7.30 to 8.25%

Not estimated because pricing is not fully published: Cashfree Payments, Dodo Payments, PingPong, Stripe, Tazapay, TransFi, Wise.

Where a provider says GST applies to its fee but not at what rate, the range runs from no GST to 18%, the rate Skydo, Stripe and Winvesta state on their pages. Estimates use each provider's published fee, conversion markup, GST on fees and FIRA charge, checked 2026-10-28, against the reference rate. They exclude charges taken by intermediary banks and your own bank, and the rate a provider actually applies at the time of conversion. Check the provider's pricing page before you choose. The order is calculated only from these published numbers; no provider can pay to change its position, and there are no affiliate links.

People who search for something cheaper than Wise often mean two different things: sending money abroad, or getting paid from abroad. Remitly, Instarem and Xe are money transfer services built mainly for people sending money, while Indian freelancers and agencies need a way to receive export payments with proof of receipt. That is why this page's title asks whether they are cheaper than Wise for getting paid in India. If you are sending money out of India, read Remitly, Instarem or Western Union for sending money from India.

How do Remitly, Instarem, Xe and Wise compare for getting paid in India?

Remitly, Instarem and Xe are sender-side transfer services, while Wise Business is authorised by RBI to handle inward payments for Indian businesses.¹²³⁴ Rows are ordered by estimated cost on a $5,000 USD receipt from published fees, cheapest first, with providers that do not publish enough pricing to estimate listed after, A to Z.⁹¹⁰¹¹

Platform	Best for	Fee	FX markup	Settlement	FIRA	RBI PA-CB status	Source
Skydo	Local bank transfers from major markets¹²	Skydo says it charges USD 19 plus GST for transactions up to USD 2,000, USD 29 plus GST from USD 2,001 to USD 10,000, and 0.3% plus GST above USD 10,000; payments above USD 100K a month are priced on request.⁹¹³	Skydo's product page says conversion is at a live mid-market rate with 0% markup. Its terms say conversion uses a retail foreign exchange rate determined by Skydo or its partner banks and do not guarantee the most favourable rate.¹⁴¹⁵	Skydo's product page says funds settle to the Indian bank within 24 hours. Its terms commit to commercially reasonable efforts to credit within T+1 to T+3 business days, depending on currency and corridor. ACH Debit via InstaLinks typically settles within 6 business days.¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶	Skydo says it issues a free FIRA on every payment received, and that its FIRA and FIRC are accepted for GST filing and by banks.¹⁴¹⁷	Skydo Technologies Private Limited is on the RBI list as a PA-CB-I & O (Payment Aggregator, Cross Border, facilitating inward and outward transactions), authorised on 8 January 2026. Its terms say it uses partner banks to provide the service.⁴¹⁵	Skydo pages and RBI list¹³⁴
Razorpay	Local transfers from the US, UK and eurozone¹⁸	MoneySaver bank transfers: 1% per transaction, GST applicable, with a flat fee of ₹1,000 on transactions below ₹1,00,000. Flash Links (US ACH debit): 2%. International cards: up to 3% per successful transaction plus 18% GST on the pricing page (the international payments page says 3% plus taxes). Enterprise pricing is custom.¹⁰¹⁹²⁰	MoneySaver bank transfers: Razorpay says 0% FX markup, converting at the live exchange rate. Card payments: converted at the rate on the date of payment (the processing bank's rate, per Razorpay's docs); any markup on card conversions is not published.¹⁰¹⁹²¹	Push bank transfers (ACH, FPS, SEPA, SWIFT): T+1 from capture or from when invoice details are shared, whichever is later. Flash Links (ACH debit): around T+5 business days. International cards: Razorpay's FAQ refers to a T+7 working day settlement period, with early settlement at an additional, unpublished charge.¹⁸²²¹⁰²³	Razorpay provides a Foreign Inward Remittance Statement (FIRS), sent to the contact email within 24 hours after settlement for bank transfers, and downloadable from the dashboard, which shows bank-provided certificates and Razorpay-generated statements. The pricing page lists FIRC or eFIRC as included and auto-generated for international cards. No separate charge is published.¹⁸²⁴¹⁹	Razorpay Payments Private Limited (formerly Razorpay Software Private Limited) appears on the RBI list of authorised payment system operators as a Payment Aggregator: Online, Physical, and Cross Border facilitating Inward and Outward transactions (PA-CB I and O).⁴	Razorpay pages and RBI list¹⁹⁴
Karbon Business	US bank transfers and marketplace payouts²⁵	Karbon's PayPal alternative page lists a 1% transaction fee in its feature list; its freelancer page gives no fee amount.¹¹²⁵	Karbon's freelancer page says 0% markup on inward remittance; its PayPal comparison page gives a forex markup of 0.5% to 1.0%. The home page says displayed amounts are indicative and depend on the rate booking date.²⁵¹¹²⁶	Karbon says international payments reach India within 24 to 48 hours.²⁵	Karbon says it provides a FIRA for every transaction, issued by its licensed banking partner, which it does not name. Cost not published.²⁵	Not on the RBI list itself; its terms run export receipts under a partner the RBI lists as a PA-CB²⁷⁴²⁶	Karbon pages and RBI list²⁵⁴
Instarem	Not rated in this site's data; its India site describes transfers from India²	Instarem says fees and exchange rates vary by sending amount, currency, payment method and receiving country.²	Instarem describes rates close to mid-market; no percentage published.²	Not published	Not published	Not on RBI's payment aggregator list.⁴	Instarem India and RBI list²⁴
Remitly	US business clients already using Remitly²⁸²⁹	Remitly says there are no fees for the receiver in India. The sender pays the transfer fee: on its USD to INR page, $3.99 below $1,000 and $0 at $1,000 or more for personal transfers, with no fee on a new customer's first transfer.³⁰³¹	Remitly says it may earn from the difference between the rate at which it buys currency and the rate given to the sender. The rate is shown before the sender confirms; no markup percentage is published.¹³¹	Remitly says business transfers to India are typically delivered within the hour, and that a delivery time is shown before the sender confirms.²⁹	Not published. Remitly's pages do not mention a FIRA or FIRC for the Indian recipient.²⁹³⁰	Remitly does not appear on the RBI list of authorised PA-CB entities as on 16 October 2026. Its US User Agreement says it processes transactions to India under the Rupee Drawing Arrangements established by the RBI.⁴¹	Remitly pages and RBI list¹⁴
Wise	Bank transfers to local account details³²	Wise's India help article says it charges an equivalent of 2 USD in the received currency for the transfer to the INR bank account that issues the e-FIRC. Wise's India receive pricing page describes a free eFIRC for every transfer. The general Wise Business fee table on Wise's India site lists 6.11 USD per USD wire or Swift payment, 2.16 GBP per GBP Swift payment and 2.39 EUR per EUR Swift payment, with domestic (non-Swift, non-wire) payments free; Wise's India-specific receive pages do not repeat these Swift fees. 18% GST applies to Wise fees.³²³³³⁴	Mid-market exchange rate plus a conversion fee that Wise says depends on the currency. No percentage is published for conversion to INR; the amount is shown in Wise's calculator.³³³⁵	Wise says the INR payment reaches the Indian bank account within 1 to 2 days and that more than 50% of transfers settle within 2 hours of pay-in. The client's payment takes 0 to 3 working days to reach Wise by local methods and 2 to 6 working days by SWIFT.³²	An e-FIRC for each transfer, emailed to the registered address within 3 working days and downloadable from the transfer page. The help article links it to the 2 USD equivalent fee; the pricing page calls it free.³²³³	RBI's list of authorised payment aggregators dated 16 October 2026 includes Wise Payments India Private Limited as a Payment Aggregator, Cross Border, facilitating inward transactions (PA-CB-I), authorised on 12 March 2026. Wise's India receiving pages do not name the Wise entity that handles inward payments.⁴³²	Wise pages and RBI list³²⁴
Xe	Not rated in this site's data; India is not a location where senders can register³	Not verified	Not verified	Not verified	Not published	Not on RBI's payment aggregator list.⁴	Xe FAQ and RBI list³⁴

A low sender fee does not help an exporter if the route cannot carry a business payment or give proof of receipt.

Which platforms are named as cheaper Wise alternatives, and can Indian exporters use them?

Remitly, Instarem, Xe and Western Union are named as cheaper Wise alternatives, but their own terms and RBI's rules limit how Indian exporters can use them.¹²³⁸

Service	Best for	What it is	Can it carry an export payment to India?
Remitly	US business clients already using Remitly²⁸²⁹	Senders only. The personal service is for individuals sending for personal, family or household purposes, and business use is a breach. Remitly Business is for US-registered businesses with a US-resident account holder, and Remitly's Canada site says it is also available to businesses in Canada. Recipients in India do not need a Remitly account to be paid; Remitly's India page offers recipients a free profile to request money.¹²⁸²⁹³⁰⁴⁰	Only from a US or Canadian business using Remitly Business; the personal service bars business use.²⁸⁴⁰¹
Instarem	Sending money from India, per its India site²	Instarem's India site covers education payments and transfers to family, friends or your own account abroad.²	Not described on the pages checked.²
Xe	Senders in the listed countries³	Xe lets customers register to send from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and a list of European countries.³	Not described for Indian recipients of business payments.
Western Union	Personal remittances to India⁸	RBI lists Western Union under the cross-border Money Transfer Service Scheme, inbound only.⁴	No: the MTSS excludes trade-related remittances and caps each remittance at USD 2,500.⁸
Wise	Bank transfers to local account details³²	Wise Business only: sole traders or freelancers (personal PAN and an INR bank account in their own name), sole proprietorships, private limited companies, LLPs and general partnerships. Other business types are not currently onboarded. Wise personal accounts in India cannot receive money.³⁶³⁷	Yes, through Wise Business; RBI lists Wise Payments India as PA-CB-I.⁴

For export receipts the useful test is RBI authorisation plus proof of receipt, which how to check an RBI-authorised payment aggregator explains.

What does each option charge?

Each option charges a different party: Remitly and Instarem charge the sender, while Wise, Skydo, Razorpay and Karbon charge the Indian business receiving the money.³¹²³²⁹

Platform	Best for	Who pays	Published fee
Skydo	Local bank transfers from major markets¹²	The Indian exporter	Skydo says it charges USD 19 plus GST for transactions up to USD 2,000, USD 29 plus GST from USD 2,001 to USD 10,000, and 0.3% plus GST above USD 10,000; payments above USD 100K a month are priced on request.⁹¹³
Razorpay	Local transfers from the US, UK and eurozone¹⁸	The Indian exporter	MoneySaver bank transfers: 1% per transaction, GST applicable, with a flat fee of ₹1,000 on transactions below ₹1,00,000. Flash Links (US ACH debit): 2%. International cards: up to 3% per successful transaction plus 18% GST on the pricing page (the international payments page says 3% plus taxes). Enterprise pricing is custom.¹⁰¹⁹²⁰
Karbon Business	US bank transfers and marketplace payouts²⁵	The Indian exporter	Karbon's PayPal alternative page lists a 1% transaction fee in its feature list; its freelancer page gives no fee amount.¹¹²⁵
Remitly	US business clients already using Remitly²⁸²⁹	The sender	Remitly says there are no fees for the receiver in India. The sender pays the transfer fee: on its USD to INR page, $3.99 below $1,000 and $0 at $1,000 or more for personal transfers, with no fee on a new customer's first transfer.³⁰³¹
Instarem	Sending money from India, per its India site²	The sender	Varies by amount, currency, payment method and receiving country.²
Wise	Bank transfers to local account details³²	The Indian business	Wise's India help article says it charges an equivalent of 2 USD in the received currency for the transfer to the INR bank account that issues the e-FIRC. Wise's India receive pricing page describes a free eFIRC for every transfer. The general Wise Business fee table on Wise's India site lists 6.11 USD per USD wire or Swift payment, 2.16 GBP per GBP Swift payment and 2.39 EUR per EUR Swift payment, with domestic (non-Swift, non-wire) payments free; Wise's India-specific receive pages do not repeat these Swift fees. 18% GST applies to Wise fees.³²³³³⁴
Xe	Senders in the listed countries³	The sender	Not verified

Compare the INR that reaches your account, since FX margins are not published as percentages by Remitly, Instarem or Wise for INR.¹²³³

Which option is cheapest at $500, $2,000 and $5,000?

On this site's ranking of published fees, Skydo, Razorpay and Karbon Business cost least on a $5,000 USD receipt, and Razorpay, Karbon Business and Skydo on a $2,000 one.⁹¹⁰¹¹ Wise is not ranked because it does not publish a conversion percentage for INR.³³

Platform	Best for	INR on USD 2,000	INR on USD 5,000	INR on USD 10,000	Cost on USD 5,000
SkydoMost INRTransfer to Skydo local account details or international SWIFT account	Local bank transfers from major markets	₹1,86,373	₹4,67,991	₹9,39,206	0.68%
Karbon BusinessBank transfer to a Karbon virtual USD account	US bank transfers and marketplace payouts	₹1,86,262 to ₹1,86,601	₹4,65,655 to ₹4,66,503	₹9,31,311 to ₹9,33,007	1.00 to 1.18%
RazorpayMoneySaver Export Account: bank transfer to virtual account details (Standard plan)	Local transfers from the US, UK and eurozone	₹1,86,262 to ₹1,86,601	₹4,65,655 to ₹4,66,503	₹9,31,311 to ₹9,33,007	1.00 to 1.18%

Ranked by INR received on USD 5,000. Reference rate: European Central Bank data for 13 November 2026. Fees, conversion markup, GST on fees and FIRA charges as published by each provider, checked 28 October 2026. Ranges appear where a provider publishes a range or does not state its GST rate. Intermediary bank charges are excluded. See the methodology.

For example, Skydo's $19 fee is 3.8% of a $500 invoice and 0.95% of a $2,000 invoice before GST, while Razorpay's MoneySaver fee is 1% plus GST once a transaction reaches ₹1,00,000.⁹¹⁰ Remitly's $0 sender fee at $1,000 or more applies to personal transfers paid by the sender, so it is not a cost an exporter can choose.³¹¹

What documents do you get from each option?

The documents differ sharply: export-focused providers issue a FIRA or e-FIRC per payment, while Remitly's pages do not mention one.¹⁴³²²⁹

Platform	Best for	Proof of receipt
Skydo	Local bank transfers from major markets¹²	Skydo says it issues a free FIRA on every payment received, and that its FIRA and FIRC are accepted for GST filing and by banks.¹⁴¹⁷
Razorpay	Local transfers from the US, UK and eurozone¹⁸	Razorpay provides a Foreign Inward Remittance Statement (FIRS), sent to the contact email within 24 hours after settlement for bank transfers, and downloadable from the dashboard, which shows bank-provided certificates and Razorpay-generated statements. The pricing page lists FIRC or eFIRC as included and auto-generated for international cards. No separate charge is published.¹⁸²⁴¹⁹
Karbon Business	US bank transfers and marketplace payouts²⁵	Karbon says it provides a FIRA for every transaction, issued by its licensed banking partner, which it does not name. Cost not published.²⁵
Remitly	US business clients already using Remitly²⁸²⁹	Not published. Remitly's pages do not mention a FIRA or FIRC for the Indian recipient.²⁹³⁰
Wise	Bank transfers to local account details³²	An e-FIRC for each transfer, emailed to the registered address within 3 working days and downloadable from the transfer page. The help article links it to the 2 USD equivalent fee; the pricing page calls it free.³²³³
Instarem and Xe	Senders	Not published for Indian recipients

The exporter then self-certifies an e-BRC on the DGFT portal from the bank's IRM data.³⁸ See do I get a FIRA from Wise for Wise specifically.

What changes in 2026 for exporters comparing Wise with cheaper alternatives?

Exporters comparing Wise with cheaper alternatives in 2026 have a newly authorised Wise entity and new FEMA paperwork.⁴⁷

Wise authorisation: RBI's list dates Wise Payments India's PA-CB-I authorisation 12 March 2026.⁴
MTSS: RBI updated the Money Transfer Service Scheme Master Direction on 29 September 2026; it still permits only inward personal remittances.⁸
EDF: From 1 October 2026 every service exporter files an EDF within 30 days from the end of the month of invoicing.⁷
Realisation: Payment is due within nine months of the invoice date, or twelve months if invoiced in rupees.³⁹
Transaction cap: Each PA-CB payment is capped at ₹25 lakh.⁶

See Wise alternatives for every provider in this site's data.

How did we verify this?

We checked this page against the sources below on 31 October 2026. Provider fees, conversion markups and RBI payment aggregator (PA-CB) status were checked on 28 October 2026. Rupee amounts use European Central Bank reference rates for 13 November 2026. Read our methodology or report an error.

Frequently asked questions

Is Remitly cheaper than Wise for receiving money in India?+

Remitly says the receiver in India pays no fee, and the sender pays $3.99 below $1,000 and $0 at $1,000 or more on personal USD to INR transfers. The personal service is for personal, family or household purposes only, so it does not suit invoice payments from clients.³⁰³¹¹

Can my US client pay my invoice through Remitly?+

A US-registered business with a US-resident account holder can use Remitly Business to pay recipients in India. Remitly says business transfers to India are typically delivered within the hour. Remitly's Canada site says Remitly Business is also available to businesses in Canada. Remitly's pages do not mention a FIRA or FIRC for the Indian recipient, so ask your bank how it will report the receipt.²⁸²⁹⁴⁰

Can I use Instarem to receive international payments in India?+

Instarem's India site describes money transfers from India, including payments for overseas education and transfers to family, friends or your own account abroad. The pages checked do not describe a way for Indian freelancers to receive export payments, and Instarem is not on RBI's payment aggregator list.²⁴

Can I send money with Xe from India?+

Xe's FAQ lists the locations where customers can register to send money, including the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and several European countries. India is not on that list, though India appears as a destination. Xe says customers outside the listed locations can contact it.³

Which Wise alternative is cheapest for a $2,000 USD invoice?+

On this site's ranking of published fees for a $2,000 USD bank transfer, Razorpay, Karbon Business and Skydo cost least, at 1.00% to 1.18% for the first two and 1.12% for Skydo. The calculator above shows the INR each would pay at today's rate.¹⁰¹¹⁹

Does Western Union or Remitly count as export proceeds for GST?+

Export of services needs payment in convertible foreign exchange, or in INR where RBI permits, under section 2(6) of the IGST Act. RBI's Money Transfer Service Scheme bars trade-related remittances, and Remitly's personal service bars business use, so these routes are hard to match to an export invoice.⁵⁸¹

This page is general information for Indian service exporters, not tax or legal advice. Rules change and outcomes depend on your facts, so confirm with a chartered accountant before acting.

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