The short answer
ExpatMoneyEU verdict: Open Revolut first for the best free everyday account — full English support, multi-currency balances and instant notifications. Add bunq second when you want the best budgeting system in European neobanking and a savings rate worth keeping money in. For sending money home, pair either with Wise.
bunq (Amsterdam, full Dutch banking licence) and Revolut (London-born, now a European banking group) are the two names every new expat hears first — and they are built for different jobs. Revolut is the spending and travel champion: a huge product range, free multi-currency exchange up to a monthly limit, and an app that does almost everything. bunq is the organisation champion: sub-accounts with their own IBANs, automatic budgeting rules, and savings interest that actually rewards keeping money parked. This guide compares them round by round on the criteria that actually decide for expats.
Key fact: bunq reached 22 million users in 2025 (Euromoney, 2026), while Revolut served more than 60 million customers in 2025 (Finance Magnates, September 2025). Both are genuine banking giants now — not startups — and both protect deposits up to €100,000 under European schemes. Scale is not the deciding factor here; fit is.
→ bunq vs N26 for Expats — October 2026 Guide
Shared-criteria comparison table
| Criterion | bunq | Revolut | Winner for expats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | €0 (Free; limited: no free ATM, €1,000/yr FX cap) | €0 (Standard; full account) | Revolut |
| Cheapest full paid plan | €3.99/mo (Easy Money) | €8.99/mo approx. (Plus, varies) | bunq |
| IBAN country | NL; FR/DE/ES/IE on Pro+ | European (varies by residence) | bunq |
| Opens without local address | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| English support | Full | Full | Tie |
| FX fee | 0.5% (ZeroFX on Pro) | Free up to €1,000/mo, then 1% (+~1% weekends) | Revolut |
| Free EUR ATM | 0 on Free; 6/mo on Pro | €200/mo free, then 2% | Revolut |
| Home-country transfers | Built-in, middling rates | Built-in, competitive; Wise cheaper for many corridors | Revolut |
| Budgeting | Up to 25 sub-accounts, each with own IBAN | Pockets / Vaults (shared IBAN) | bunq |
| Savings interest | Up to ~2% (paid plans) | Available on paid plans, varies | bunq |
| Deposit protection | €100,000 (Dutch) | €100,000 (European scheme) | Tie |
| Overall first-account score | 8.4/10 | 9.0/10 | Revolut |
Fees and limits checked against provider price lists in October 2026. Plans, names and exact figures vary slightly by country — verify on the provider's site before applying. Any worked examples on this page are illustrative figures.
Affiliate disclosure: Some links below may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you — see our affiliate disclosure. Scores are editorial, never ranked by commission.
Ready to open an account? Both are free to open on their standard plans:
Open Revolut Account →Open bunq Account →→ N26 vs Revolut for Expats — October 2026 Guide
bunq deep-dive: the organiser's bank
bunq
bunq's case rests on one idea: your bank should organise your money for you. Up to 25 sub-accounts ("Pockets"), each with its own IBAN, let you split rent, savings, tax and your monthly home transfer into separate pots that never mix. Automatic rules can sweep money into savings the moment salary lands, and the app shows every pocket's balance at a glance. No other European neobank organises money this well.
The second pillar is savings: on paid plans bunq pays interest that is genuinely competitive with online savings accounts, so money parked for a deposit or a flight home actually earns something. The third pillar is the local-IBAN option: on Pro plans you can hold a French, German, Spanish or Irish IBAN alongside your Dutch one — a real advantage if an employer or landlord insists on a local account number.
The weaknesses are the free plan and cash. bunq Free has no free ATM withdrawals and caps foreign-currency card spending at about €1,000 a year before a fee kicks in, so it is a poor only-account for cash users and heavy travellers. bunq is also app-first to a fault: if you want a branch, you will not find one. Open bunq as your organiser and saver, not as your only account.
Where bunq quietly earns its keep is automation. Rules can move a fixed sum to savings on payday, round up card payments into a savings pocket, and separate shared household spending from personal spending without a spreadsheet. For couples and flat-sharers, joint sub-accounts with their own IBANs mean rent and bills can be split without one person chasing the other every month. And because bunq is a fully licensed bank rather than an e-money account, your balance sits under the Dutch deposit guarantee up to €100,000 — the same protection a traditional bank gives. That combination — organisation plus real banking protection — is why bunq survives as a second account long after the novelty of a new app fades.
→ bunq vs N26 for Expats — October 2026 Guide
Revolut deep-dive: the everyday super-app
Revolut
Revolut's case rests on breadth. One app covers spending, multi-currency balances, exchange, budgeting, savings vaults, cards (virtual and physical), and — depending on your country — investments and insurance. For a new arrival, that breadth is practical: you land, open one account in English in ten minutes, and you can pay rent, buy a SIM, book travel and exchange currency without a second app.
The free Standard plan is also genuinely complete: no monthly fee, a virtual card, Apple Pay and Google Pay, instant notifications, and €1,000 a month of fee-free exchange. Where Revolut falls short is organisation and savings depth: its Pockets and Vaults share your main IBAN, so they cannot receive salary or direct debits separately the way bunq's pockets can, and its savings rates on free plans are modest.
The other caveat is transfers home. Revolut's built-in transfers are competitive for many corridors, but for the cheapest total-received on regular remittances, a specialist like Wise usually wins — open Wise alongside Revolut if you send money home monthly. Treat Revolut as your everyday account and Wise as your transfer engine.
Revolut's other strength is how fast it becomes your default. Instant notifications for every payment, spending analytics that actually categorise correctly, virtual cards you can freeze in one tap, and disposable card numbers for online shopping all make it the account you reach for daily. For expats, the practical test is simple: in your first month abroad, which app answers every money question without a branch visit or a phone call in a language you do not speak yet? For most newcomers, that app is Revolut — which is why it wins the first-account verdict even though bunq wins the organisation one.
→ Revolut vs Wise for Expats — October 2026 Guide
Head-to-head on expat criteria
IBAN country. bunq wins this round: a Dutch IBAN by default, plus local French, German, Spanish or Irish IBANs on Pro plans. Revolut gives you a European IBAN whose country varies by residence — fine for SEPA, but it will not always be your host country's IBAN. If your employer insists on a local IBAN, bunq Pro is the only one of the two that can fix it.
English support. A tie. Both apps and support run fully in English, and both onboard non-EU passports by video ID. Neither requires you to speak Dutch, German or French to open or run an account — a decisive advantage over branch banks in most host countries.
No-local-address signup. A tie. Both open fully online without a local address at signup; you need an address in a supported country for card delivery, but the account itself can be opened in your first days after landing. Neither asks for a Meldezettel, Anmeldung or equivalent registration slip.
Fees. Revolut wins on free plans: its Standard plan is a complete account at €0, while bunq Free is deliberately limited. bunq wins on cheap paid plans: Easy Money at €3.99 a month undercuts Revolut's paid tiers, and bunq Pro's ZeroFX removes exchange fees entirely for heavy travellers.
Transfers. Revolut wins narrowly: its built-in transfers cover more corridors at competitive rates, and its exchange engine is stronger. But neither beats a specialist for regular remittances — for the cheapest total received on routes like EUR→BDT or EUR→PKR, open Wise itself alongside either bank and compare the total received every time.
Savings and everyday tools. bunq wins clearly: real savings interest on paid plans, automatic savings rules, and sub-accounts that can each receive money directly. Revolut's Vaults and Pockets are useful for rounding up spare change, but they cannot replace a savings account or receive a salary split. If your goal is to build a deposit while living abroad, bunq's tools do more of the work for you; if your goal is simply to spend well and track it, Revolut's analytics are enough.
→ Best Bank Account for Bangladeshis in Austria — October 2026 Guide
Who should pick which
The honest answer is that most expats do not need to choose forever — they need to choose first. Open the account that solves this month's problem, then add the other when a different problem appears. The list below is the shortcut version of that logic.
- New arrival, no local address yet: Revolut Standard — fastest, fully free, fully English.
- Settled expat who budgets hard: bunq — sub-accounts with own IBANs, automatic savings rules, real savings interest.
- Frequent traveller: Revolut Standard for free exchange up to €1,000 a month; bunq Pro (ZeroFX) if you travel constantly.
- Frequent remitter: Revolut + Wise — the everyday account plus the transfer specialist.
- Best combined setup: both, free plans. Revolut for spending and travel, bunq for organisation and savings.
One last rule of thumb: if you only open one account this week, make it Revolut — it covers the most ground for a new arrival. If you already have a working everyday account and your money feels disorganised, bunq is the upgrade that changes how you save. Either way, keep Wise beside them for transfers home, and re-check fees every January.
→ Best Bank Account for Bangladeshis in Austria — October 2026 Guide
How we compared: the methodology
How we compared
Fees and features checked: provider price lists and fee-information documents as published in October 2026, plus the 2026 neobank comparisons from independent reviewers. Criteria: monthly cost, local-IBAN availability, no-address onboarding, English support, FX costs, ATM rules, home-country transfer integration, budgeting tools and deposit protection. Scores are the editorial judgment of the ExpatMoneyEU Research Team — not financial advice. Any worked fee examples are illustrative figures; always verify current terms on the provider's site.
→ bunq vs N26 for Expats — October 2026 Guide
What changes in 2027
Both banks typically publish revised price lists each January — re-check your plan's fee schedule at the new year. Revolut keeps expanding its banking footprint across Europe, which may bring more local IBANs over time, and bunq keeps adding currencies and savings features. SEPA instant transfers becoming free-by-default across the eurozone erodes some of the speed premium neobanks used to charge for. We update scores whenever a provider changes pricing — but the free plans above cost nothing to open now, so there is no reason to wait.
→ N26 vs Revolut for Expats — October 2026 Guide
Ready to open an account? Start free with Revolut for week one — add bunq when you're settled:
Open Revolut Account →Open bunq Account →