N26 vs Revolut vs Bunq vs Wise (2026): The Definitive EU Neobank Comparison

Quick Answer

If you only need one neobank in 2026, choose by use case rather than brand. N26 wins as a primary EUR account for residents of Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands who want a clean app and full BaFin-protected deposits. Revolut wins for travellers and multi-currency users who want investing, crypto and FX in one place. Bunq wins for sustainability-focused users, expats and anyone who needs many sub-IBANs. Wise wins for freelancers, international payments and people who want local account details in 10+ countries — but remember Wise is an e-money institution in most jurisdictions, not a deposit-protected bank.

This guide cuts through marketing pages and compares all four head-to-head: fees in EUR, FX rates in basis points, deposit guarantees per jurisdiction (DGS €100,000, FSCS £85,000) and the business tier features that actually matter.

The Four Contenders At a Glance

The fundamental difference: N26, Revolut and Bunq are licensed credit institutions. Wise — outside its new Belgian bank product — is an authorised electronic money institution. That distinction drives the deposit-guarantee picture, which we will return to below.

Fees: The Numbers That Actually Hit Your Account

Monthly Subscriptions

ATM Withdrawals (Euro Area)

FX Conversion (Real Cost)

The marketing claim "interbank rate" rarely matches the bill. Real spreads in 2026:

Real-world test: sending EUR 1,000 → GBP on a Saturday. N26 ~£8.50 markup baked into the rate. Revolut ~£7 fee. Bunq Easy Bank Pro ~£0 if within free FX. Wise about £4.30 stated upfront. Wise wins on transparency; Revolut wins on raw cost within plan limits.

International Wire Transfers (Outgoing)

Deposit Guarantees: The Number Everyone Should Know

EU credit institutions are required to cover customer deposits up to €100,000 per depositor per institution under the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive (DGSD). The UK equivalent (FSCS) covers £85,000. This is where the four diverge sharply.

Concrete implication: if you keep €80,000 sitting in your Wise EUR balance, you are not deposit-protected the same way as €80,000 in N26, Revolut or Bunq. The funds are segregated and ringfenced, which historically has resulted in customers being made whole, but the legal mechanism is different and not guaranteed by a state-backed scheme. For salary-level balances under €10k, the distinction is minor; for emergency funds approaching €100k, it matters.

Business Accounts: Where N26 and Revolut Diverge

If you need DATEV export for a German accountant, N26 Business is the path of least resistance. If you bill in multiple currencies and want pull-payment links, Revolut Business or Wise Business will serve better. Bunq Business is strongest for Dutch and German freelancers who already use Bunq personally.

Where Each One Actually Wins

Where N26 Wins

• Daily EUR account in DACH/France/Italy/Spain/Netherlands — German IBAN is accepted everywhere, BaFin supervision, mature mobile app.
• Clean budgeting via Spaces — set rules, share access, automate transfers between sub-accounts.
• Travel insurance bundled in N26 You/Metal — competitive with standalone travel insurance.

Where Revolut Wins

• One-app investing — stocks (fractional), ETFs, bonds, commodities and 200+ crypto assets behind a single login.
• High in-app FX limits — Standard tier gets €1,000/month at interbank weekday rates, Premium gets unlimited.
• Junior accounts for under-18s — Revolut <18 is broadly available across the EEA.
• Largest user base — Revolut Pay merchant network is the deepest of the four.

Where Bunq Wins

• Up to 25 sub-accounts, each with its own IBAN — unbeatable for envelope budgeting or freelancers separating tax pots.
• Sustainability angle — tree planting, CO2 transaction insights.
• Dual NL + DE IBAN — useful if you receive payments in both jurisdictions.

Where Wise Wins

• Local account details in 10+ countries — USD ACH, GBP sort code, EUR IBAN, AUD BSB, all under one login.
• Mid-market FX with upfront fee disclosure — no hidden spread, fee shown to the cent before confirming.
• Wise Business is the freelancer standard for cross-border invoicing.

Real-Life Use Cases

Case 1: Berlin-based salaried employee, salary €4,200/month

Pick: N26 You + Wise for occasional cross-border family transfers. Reasoning: salary lands cleanly on German IBAN (no employer pushback), Spaces for rent/savings/holidays, Wise covers the once-a-quarter EUR→GBP transfer to a UK landlord at a transparent fee.

Case 2: Lisbon-based freelancer, invoices clients in EUR, USD and GBP

Pick: Wise Business + Revolut Standard. Wise gives local USD/GBP receiving details so US and UK clients pay locally; Revolut gives a debit card for daily spend with high FX limits.

Case 3: Amsterdam-based couple with shared expenses

Pick: Bunq Easy Bank Pro joint account. Reasoning: 25 sub-IBANs for rent, groceries, holidays, kid; shared cards; competitive interest on Easy Savings.

Case 4: Polish founder running an EU-wide e-commerce business

Pick: Revolut Business + Wise Business. Revolut handles supplier payments in EUR/PLN with high FX limits and corporate cards; Wise handles outbound USD payouts to US contractors.

Open Banking and the Fragmentation Problem

The moment you hold accounts at two or more neobanks, you stop having a single view of your money. PSD2 open banking solves this technically — every EU credit institution must expose a read API — but you still need a place to see it. Aggregators that pull balances and transactions across N26, Revolut, Bunq and (via API) Wise let you treat your scattered wallet as a single account. Freenance is one such tool: it connects via PSD2 to your EU bank accounts and surfaces unified balances, categorised spending and a Financial Freedom Runway across providers. It will not move money for you, but it removes the "which app did I pay that from" tax that multi-neobank users pay every month.

Hidden Costs Most Comparisons Miss

The advertised fee table is rarely what hits your statement. Look out for these line-items that all four neobanks bury below the fold:

• Card delivery fee. Free in most markets, but premium tiers sometimes charge €5–€10 for the metal or premium plastic card. Replacement of a lost card runs €5–€15 across all four.
• Inactivity fees. N26 historically charged inactivity fees on dormant accounts after 12 months; check current T&Cs. Revolut and Bunq do not currently charge inactivity fees but may close dormant accounts.
• High-volume FX surcharge. Revolut Standard caps free FX at €1,000/month — above that limit a 0.5% fee applies. Premium uncaps it. Bunq Easy Bank Pro removes FX markup; Easy Bank does not.
• Cash deposit fees. All four are bad at handling physical cash. Revolut allows cash top-up via partner networks (often €5+ per deposit). N26 CASH26 lets you deposit at participating retailers in DE/AT/IT for around 1.5%.
• Outbound SWIFT fees. SEPA is uniformly free or near-free. SWIFT to a non-SEPA destination (USD to a US account that does not accept SEPA) costs €5–€20 plus correspondent-bank fees that may be deducted en route.
• Statement requests. A certified PDF statement for a visa application or notary is sometimes a paid service — €5–€15 each at Revolut and N26.

Run a back-of-envelope check before signing: total monthly fee + 12 × any annual extras + projected FX cost for your travel pattern. If the result exceeds €120/year, the neobank is no longer a clear cost win versus a free domestic account at, say, Boursorama Banque or ING.

How to Stress-Test Your Pick Before Committing

1. Open the free tier of two candidates. None of these neobanks require closing an existing bank.
2. Run a parallel month: route a small recurring direct debit (a SaaS subscription, a gym membership) through each.
3. Trigger one FX transaction in each — note the rate vs your treasury comparison site.
4. Try customer support once with a real question. Note response time.
5. Check the deposit guarantee paperwork in the in-app legal documents. If you cannot find the DGS information in under three minutes, that is a signal.
6. Test ATM withdrawal at a local non-bank ATM (Euronet etc.) — Euronet often imposes its own surcharge regardless of your neobank tier.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Wise a real bank?

Wise operates under different licences in different jurisdictions. In most countries it is an authorised electronic money institution (in the EU under EMI authorisation from the National Bank of Belgium). It launched a Belgian bank product (Wise Bank) in 2025 with €100,000 DGS coverage on deposits. The standard Wise Account remains an e-money product with safeguarded funds rather than DGS-covered deposits.

Which neobank has the best deposit protection in 2026?

N26 (BaFin), Revolut (Bank of Lithuania) and Bunq (DNB) all offer the standard EU DGS coverage of €100,000 per depositor per institution. There is no meaningful difference in the legal protection between them; the strength of the underlying scheme is what differs slightly. The German EdB and Dutch DGS have long track records; Lithuania's scheme has paid out in past failures of other banks.

Can I have all four neobanks at the same time?

Yes — there is no regulatory or technical barrier. Many EU residents in 2026 use a primary credit institution (N26/Revolut/Bunq), a transfer specialist (Wise), and one of the others for a secondary purpose like investing or sub-accounts. Watch for the cumulative monthly subscription cost: four mid-tier plans add up to ~€35/month.

Does my employer care which neobank I use for my salary?

Most EU employers accept any SEPA IBAN. Some German employers in old-school sectors prefer a domestic DE IBAN (N26 or Bunq's DE IBAN solve this). Some payroll systems still flag non-domestic IBANs as "foreign" for HR paperwork even though SEPA forbids discrimination.

Are crypto balances on Revolut deposit-protected?

No. The €100,000 DGS covers EUR deposits only. Crypto is held under a different legal structure (Revolut typically holds it via a partner custodian) and is not part of the deposit guarantee. The same applies to investment balances (stocks, ETFs) — these are covered by investor compensation schemes with their own (much lower) limits, typically €22,000.

Further Reading

• Neobanks in Europe Compared: Revolut vs N26 vs Wise vs Bunq — the wider six-way comparison
• Open Banking and PSD2 Explained — how aggregators connect to your neobank
• Best Fintech Apps Poland 2026 — the Polish view of the same market