Wise Business vs Trolley vs Interlinc (2026)
Wise Business: no subscription, ~0.35–1.5% per transfer, mid-market rate — best for <50 contractors. Trolley: $500/month minimum + 0.5–1% per transaction — best for 50+ contractors with tax automation. Interlinc: contractor-first design, retainers + milestone payments.
The core split is volume. Under 50 contractors: Wise Business — no monthly fee, lowest per-transfer cost, mid-market rate. 50+ contractors with compliance needs: Trolley — $500/month minimum justified by automated 1099 collection, batch processing, AML screening. Interlinc is an emerging contractor-first platform (retainers, milestones, instant payments) — pricing not yet publicly listed, worth evaluating if you manage ongoing contractor relationships.
- Wise Business — Best for small-to-mid volume contractor payments. No subscription fee. ~0.35–1.5% transfer fee + small fixed fee. Mid-market exchange rate with zero markup. $31 one-time for multi-currency account setup. 80+ currencies. Best if you pay <50 contractors and don’t need automated tax forms.
- Trolley — Best for high-volume platforms and enterprises (50+ recipients). ~$500/month minimum + 0.5–1% per transaction. Automated 1099/W-9/W-8BEN collection, AML screening, batch API, 210+ countries. Makes sense when compliance automation saves more than the platform fee.
- Interlinc — Best contractor-relationship design. Retainers, milestone releases, instant payments, automated invoicing and compliance. Early-stage — no public pricing yet. Worth evaluating if workflow (not just payment rails) is the priority.
| Your Situation | Best Fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You pay fewer than 50 contractors internationally | Wise Business | No monthly fee. Pay only per transfer. Cheapest at low volume. |
| You pay 50+ contractors and need 1099/W-8BEN automation | Trolley | Automated tax form collection justifies the $500/month minimum. |
| You set up retainers and pay on milestone delivery | Interlinc | Purpose-built for contractor relationship workflows, not just transfers. |
| You need the lowest FX cost on international payments | Wise Business | Mid-market rate, zero markup. Banks typically charge 2–4% more. |
| You need batch API payments to thousands of contractors | Trolley | Enterprise API, batch processing, recipient portal, AML screening. |
| Tax compliance is your biggest contractor payment headache | Trolley | Automated W-9, W-8BEN, 1099 collection and TIN validation. |
| You want invoices generated automatically | Interlinc | Handles invoices, payments, and compliance in one contractor-focused workflow. |
Monthly Cost Estimator
Adjust the sliders to your monthly payment volume. Wise Business charges per transfer with no base fee. Trolley has a $500/month minimum plus per-transaction fees. Interlinc pricing is not yet public — shown as “Contact”.
Key Stats (May 2026)
At a Glance
No monthly subscription. Pay only per transfer. Mid-market exchange rate with zero markup. Best for teams paying under 50 contractors internationally.
- No subscription — zero fixed monthly cost, only pay per transfer
- Mid-market exchange rate with zero markup — typically 2–4x cheaper than bank wires
- 80+ currencies — hold, convert, and send in one multi-currency account
- 15.6M+ users, $36B moved per quarter — proven reliability at scale
- Automatic discount on transfers over $25,000 in a month
- Xero and QuickBooks integrations for accounting reconciliation
- No tax form collection (1099, W-9, W-8BEN) — must handle compliance separately
- No contractor management portal — recipients receive payments, not a managed onboarding experience
- FX markup on some less common currency corridors
- $31 one-time fee to set up international bank account details
Enterprise contractor payout platform. ~$500/month + 0.5–1% per transaction. 210+ countries, 1099/W-8BEN automation, AML screening, batch API. Best for 50+ contractors.
- Automated tax form collection — W-9, W-8BEN, 1099 with TIN validation
- AML/CTF compliance screening built in — automatic risk monitoring
- 210+ countries with multiple payout methods per recipient
- Batch payment API — trigger hundreds of payments programmatically
- Recipient self-service portal — contractors provide their own bank details
- $7B+ in payouts processed — proven at scale for platforms and marketplaces
- ~$500/month minimum makes it cost-prohibitive for small contractor volumes
- FX markup of 1.9–3.5% above wholesale rate — higher than Wise Business
- 1–5 day settlement times for most transfers — no real-time rails (UPI, PIX)
- Onboarding can take weeks — banking partner verification is lengthy
Contractor payment platform built around the contractor relationship — retainers, milestone releases, instant payments, automated invoicing. Early-stage, pricing not yet public.
- Purpose-built for contractor workflow — retainers, milestones, instant payments in one platform
- Automated invoicing — generates invoices automatically so contractors don’t need to send them
- Compliance handled — payments, invoices, and compliance in a single flow
- Zero admin for repeat contractor relationships — set up once, trigger automatically
- Designed for the full contractor lifecycle, not just the payment step
- No public pricing — requires direct contact to evaluate cost
- Early-stage platform — less proven at scale than Wise Business or Trolley
- Smaller integration ecosystem than established players
- Limited public information on coverage countries and currencies
At-a-Glance Scorecard
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Wise Business | Trolley | Interlinc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly subscription | ✓ None — pay per transfer only | ✗ ~$500/month minimum | ⚡ Not yet disclosed |
| FX rate | ✓ Mid-market, zero markup — best rate | ⚡ 1.9–3.5% above wholesale | ⚡ Not disclosed |
| Tax form automation (1099, W-9) | ✗ No — manual only | ✓ Automated — best in class | ✓ Included |
| Retainer / milestone payments | ✗ Manual transfers only | ⚡ Scheduled payments via API | ✓ Core feature — designed for this |
| Automated invoicing | ✗ No | ⚡ Invoice matching, not generation | ✓ Auto-generates invoices |
| Country coverage | 80+ currencies | ✓ 210+ countries | ⚡ Not yet fully disclosed |
| AML/compliance screening | ✗ No | ✓ Automated AML/CTF screening | ✓ Compliance included |
| Best for | <50 contractors, cost-efficiency | 50+ contractors, platforms, marketplaces | Contractor relationship management |
Verified Pricing (May 2026)
The pricing split is stark: Wise Business has zero fixed monthly cost (only per-transfer fees), Trolley has a ~$500/month minimum before any transaction fees, and Interlinc has not yet published pricing. The right choice depends almost entirely on your monthly contractor volume and whether tax form automation is a requirement.
| Category | Wise Business | Trolley | Interlinc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly base fee | ✓ $0 — no subscription | ~$500/month minimum (Standard) | Not yet published — contact for pricing |
| Per-transaction fee | ~0.35–1.5% + small fixed fee (varies by corridor) | 0.5–1% per transaction + FX markup of 1.9–3.5% | Not yet published |
| Account setup | $31 one-time (international account details) | 30-day free trial, no credit card required | Demo / contact sales |
| Example: paying $2,000 to a contractor in India | ~$8–15 total (fee + fixed fee, mid-market rate) | ~$10–20 transaction fee + $500/month base — only cost-effective at 50+ volume | Not yet calculable — pricing TBA |
| Watch out for | Wise Business does not collect or file tax forms. US businesses paying contractors over $600/year must collect W-9 (US contractors) or W-8BEN (international contractors) independently. This is the most common compliance oversight. Use Wise for the transfers, but set up a separate process for tax form collection. Gusto or an accountant can help with the 1099 filing at year-end. | Trolley’s $500/month minimum is a hard floor regardless of your payment volume. At 10 contractors/month, you’re paying $50/contractor just for the platform before any transaction fees. The math only works at 50+ contractors where the compliance automation (saving staff time on W-9 collection, TIN validation, and 1099 filing) exceeds the platform cost. Onboarding can also take weeks due to banking partner verification requirements — not suitable if you need to start immediately. | Interlinc is an early-stage company. No public pricing, limited documentation on coverage countries and currencies, and less proven scale than established alternatives. Worth evaluating via demo — the contractor-workflow design is genuinely differentiated — but conduct proper due diligence on reliability and support before migrating existing contractor payment flows. |
The Full Picture
Wise Business — Cheapest International Transfers, No Tax Automation
Wise Business (formerly TransferWise Business) is the default choice for companies that need to pay international contractors cheaply without a large monthly overhead. The core value proposition is simple: Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate — the same rate banks use when trading currencies with each other — and charges a transparent fee on top, typically 0.35–1.5% depending on the currency corridor. Banks typically add 2–4% markup to the exchange rate, hidden in the rate rather than shown as a fee. On a $5,000 contractor payment, the difference between Wise and a bank wire is often $100–200.
The multi-currency account ($31 one-time setup) lets your business hold local account details in USD, GBP, EUR, and other major currencies, enabling contractors to pay you or you to pay them as if you have a local bank account in their country. Xero and QuickBooks integrations make reconciliation straightforward. The discount system automatically reduces fees once you exceed $25,000 in monthly transfers.
The critical limitation: Wise Business is a payment tool, not a contractor management platform. It moves money efficiently but does not collect W-9 or W-8BEN forms from contractors, validate TINs, generate 1099s, or perform AML screening. US businesses paying contractors over $600/year are responsible for this compliance independently. This is manageable for small contractor volumes (under 20–30 per year) but becomes a significant operational burden as contractor count grows.
Trolley — Enterprise Payout Infrastructure for High-Volume Operations
Trolley (formerly Payment Rails) was built for a specific use case: paying large numbers of recipients across many countries with compliance and tax automation handled automatically. Marketplaces, creator platforms, music companies, and gig economy operators use Trolley to pay thousands of contractors, affiliates, and suppliers without drowning in spreadsheets and manual compliance work. The platform has processed over $7 billion in payouts across 210+ countries.
The tax automation is Trolley’s primary differentiator. When you pay a contractor, Trolley automatically requests the appropriate tax form (W-9 for US contractors, W-8BEN for international), validates TINs against IRS records, and generates 1099s at year-end. Recipients fill out forms digitally through a branded self-service portal. For a company paying 200 contractors in 30 countries, manually managing this compliance without Trolley would require significant dedicated staff time — potentially $2,000–$5,000/month in internal labor costs that Trolley eliminates.
The economic case breaks down at low volumes. Trolley’s ~$500/month standard minimum is a fixed cost regardless of how many transfers you send. At 10 contractors per month, you’re paying $50 per contractor just for the platform — before transaction fees. Wise Business at equivalent volume would cost $8–15 per transfer with no base fee. The Trolley breakeven is roughly 50+ contractors per month where compliance automation savings justify the platform cost.
Interlinc — Contractor-First Platform, Early Stage
Interlinc.co approaches contractor payments from a different angle than Wise or Trolley. Where Wise is optimized for cheap international money transfers and Trolley is optimized for high-volume payout infrastructure, Interlinc is optimized for the contractor relationship workflow itself. The platform supports rolling retainers (ongoing monthly payments), milestone-based releases (pay when deliverables are approved), and instant payments — all with automated invoice generation and compliance handling baked in.
The practical difference: with Wise Business, you manually initiate each transfer and separately manage the invoice workflow. With Trolley, you trigger batch API payments and the platform handles compliance. With Interlinc, you set up the contractor relationship once — retainer amount, payment schedule, milestone conditions — and the platform handles payments, invoices, and compliance automatically going forward. For companies with ongoing contractor relationships (monthly retainers rather than one-off project payments), this workflow design reduces admin to near zero.
Interlinc is early-stage as of May 2026, with no public pricing and limited documentation on international coverage and currency support. The contractor workflow design is genuinely differentiated from both Wise and Trolley, and worth evaluating via demo for companies where the relationship management overhead (not just the payment cost) is the primary pain point. Conduct proper due diligence on reliability, support quality, and coverage before migrating existing contractor payment flows to any early-stage platform.
Who Should Use Each Platform?
Choose Wise Business if…
- You pay fewer than 50 contractors internationally per month
- Minimizing transfer fees is the primary goal
- You can handle tax form collection (W-9, W-8BEN) through a separate process
- You need 80+ currencies with a no-subscription cost structure
- Xero or QuickBooks integration for reconciliation is important
Choose Trolley if…
- You pay 50+ contractors regularly and compliance overhead is a bottleneck
- Automated 1099, W-9, and W-8BEN collection is a hard requirement
- You need batch payment API for programmatic contractor payments
- You operate a marketplace or platform paying large numbers of recipients
- AML/CTF compliance screening is required by your legal or finance team
Consider Interlinc if…
- Ongoing contractor retainers and milestone-based payments are your primary use case
- Automated invoicing (you don’t want contractors to send invoices manually) is a priority
- You want the full contractor workflow in one tool, not just payment rails
- You are willing to evaluate an early-stage platform and accept the associated risk
- You want to contact the team for a custom pricing conversation
Best Platform by Use Case
Hidden Costs & Gotchas
Wise Business — no tax compliance; your responsibility
Wise Business does not collect W-9, W-8BEN, or other tax forms. US businesses paying contractors over $600/year must collect these independently and file 1099-NEC/1099-MISC at year-end. Failing to do this results in IRS penalties. For 5–10 contractors, this is manageable manually. For 20+ contractors in multiple countries, the compliance burden becomes significant. Use Trolley or a service like Track1099 alongside Wise Business if tax automation matters.
Trolley — $500/month minimum breaks the math at low volume
Trolley’s Standard plan has a ~$500/month minimum floor before transaction fees. At 10 contractors/month, you pay $50/contractor in platform fees alone — before Wise Business charges $8–15/transfer with no base fee. The economics only flip when compliance automation savings at 50+ contractors outweigh the monthly platform cost. Don’t sign up for Trolley until you have at least 30–50 regular contractors and documented compliance overhead.
Trolley — onboarding can take weeks
Trolley’s banking partner verification process can take 4–6 weeks for some businesses. Reviews report requesting business documentation that isn’t standard in other contexts. If you need contractor payment infrastructure running within days, Wise Business is operational immediately after account setup. Trolley is not the right choice for urgent deployment timelines.
Interlinc — no public pricing and early-stage risk
Interlinc has no published pricing as of May 2026. You need a direct conversation with their team to get any cost information. For early-stage platforms, this opacity can indicate pricing flexibility or uncertainty — either can work in your favor or against you depending on your negotiating position. Treat any early-stage contractor payment platform with appropriate due diligence: verify uptime history, payment success rates, and support response times before migrating existing workflows.
Wise Business — FX costs on less common corridors
Wise Business’s fee advantage is strongest on major currency pairs (USD↔EUR, GBP↔USD, USD↔INR). For less common corridors — sending USD to Nigerian contractors in local currency, for example — the percentage fee may be higher and settlement may involve correspondent banking with additional delays. Check the Wise calculator for your specific currency pair before assuming the low-fee model applies equally across all corridors.
All three — contractor misclassification is the bigger risk
The payment platform you choose doesn’t protect you from contractor misclassification. Countries like Germany, France, and the UK have strict rules about what constitutes an employee vs contractor relationship — and getting it wrong can result in back taxes, benefits owed, and legal claims regardless of which platform you used to make the payment. Consult a local employment lawyer before expanding contractor relationships into new jurisdictions. The payment platform is the last step; classification is the first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest way to pay international contractors?
When does Trolley make more sense than Wise Business?
What is Interlinc?
Does Wise Business handle tax compliance for contractors?
Can I use Wise Business for batch payments to many contractors?
Ready to Simplify Contractor Payments?
Wise Business starts immediately with no monthly fee. Trolley offers a 30-day free trial. Interlinc is available via demo for a custom conversation.