Revolut vs N26: the better neobank account in the eurozone
Revolut and N26 are the two mobile banks most people in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Austria compare first. Both hold a European banking licence and protect deposits up to €100,000, and both offer a free plan plus paid upgrades. The difference is focus. N26 is a euro current account: card payments in other currencies carry no N26 fee, but the account itself is in euros. Revolut is a multi-currency app that lets you hold and exchange dozens of currencies, within monthly allowances on the free plan.
This comparison looks at the euro-area versions of both products, because N26 no longer serves the UK or the US. We use each bank’s official price lists and work through typical amounts: holiday spending, cash withdrawals and money sent outside the EU.
At a glance (eurozone customers)
| Revolut (EEA) | N26 | |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | Revolut Bank UAB, licensed by the ECB and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania | N26 Bank SE, Berlin, supervised by BaFin |
| Deposit protection | Up to €100,000 (Lithuanian deposit insurance) | Up to €100,000 (German statutory scheme) |
| Plans per month | Standard free · Plus €3.99 · Premium €9.99 · Metal €17.99 · Ultra €60 (€55 introductory offer on the plans page) | Standard free · Smart €4.90 · Go €9.90 · Metal €16.90 |
| Card payments in other currencies | No fee on weekdays within €1,000 a month (Standard); 1% above that and 1% extra at weekends | No N26 fee on any plan; Mastercard exchange rate |
| Free ATM withdrawals | Standard: 5 withdrawals or €200 a month, then 2% (min €1) | Euro: 2 to 8 a month depending on plan (more in some countries); foreign currency: 1.7% on Standard and Smart |
| Currencies in the account | Hold and exchange 38 currencies (Ireland site) | Euro account |
| Countries | EEA, UK, Switzerland, US and more | 21 European countries; not the UK or US |
Plans and what you actually pay each month
Both free plans are usable as a main account, but they ration different things. N26 Standard limits free euro cash withdrawals (two a month in Germany and France) and charges 1.7% on cash in other currencies. Revolut Standard limits how much you can exchange without a fee (€1,000 a month) and how much cash you can take out for free (€200 or five withdrawals).
Paying for a plan changes the picture. N26 Go (€9.90) and Metal (€16.90) make foreign-currency cash withdrawals free and raise the euro ATM quota to 5 and 8 a month. Revolut Premium (€9.99) removes the exchange limit and weekend fee and raises free cash to €400 a month; Metal (€17.99) raises it to €800.
Two N26 charges are easy to miss. The first physical card costs €10 on the free plan in Germany (premium plans are exempt). And German accounts opened after 19 October 2020 pay 0.5% a year on balances above €50,000. On Revolut’s Standard plan, a physical card is free but delivery costs €7.99 (standard) in Ireland.
Worked examples for a eurozone customer
1. Spending $1,500 on a US holiday by card
N26 (any plan): no N26 foreign-transaction fee. The payment is converted at Mastercard’s rate, which includes Mastercard’s own small markup over the ECB reference rate.
Revolut Standard: $1,500 is about €1,350 at the rate on our check date. The first €1,000 that month carries no Revolut fee on weekdays; the remaining €350 or so pays the 1% fair-usage fee, about €3.50. Anything paid between Friday 5pm and Sunday 6pm New York time pays 1% more. On Premium and above, there are no limits and no weekend fee.
2. Withdrawing $400 in cash abroad in one month
N26 Standard or Smart: 1.7% of the amount, so $6.80 (about €6.10). N26 Go or Metal: no N26 fee. ATM operators may still add their own charge.
Revolut Standard: $400 is roughly €360. The first €200 is free, then 2% on about €160, so about €3.20 (the minimum fee is €1 per withdrawal).
3. Five €50 cash withdrawals at home in a month
| Account | Free withdrawals | Cost of 5 × €50 |
|---|---|---|
| N26 Standard (Germany/France) | 2 a month, then €2 each | €6.00 |
| N26 Smart (Germany/France) | 3 a month, then €2 each | €4.00 |
| N26 Go / Metal | 5 / 8 a month | €0 |
| N26, any plan (Austria or Spain) | Unlimited | €0 |
| Revolut Standard | 5 withdrawals or €200, whichever comes first | €1.00 (2% on the last €50, €1 minimum) |
N26 euro ATM quotas depend on the country where you opened the account; Italy gives Standard 3 free withdrawals and other plans unlimited ones.
4. Sending €1,000 to a US dollar account
Revolut: since 15 October 2026 Revolut charges a fixed fee for payments outside the EEA. From a euro account to USD the listed fee is €0.85. On a weekday with your monthly allowance unused there is no exchange fee on top; intermediary banks may still deduct charges.
N26: international transfers run through Wise inside the N26 app, with the fee shown in the quote before you confirm. N26 does not publish a fixed figure. For reference, Wise’s own calculator charged €6.21 to send €1,000 to USD (paid by bank transfer) on our check date, at the mid-market rate.
5. Keeping €60,000 in the account
N26 (German account opened after 19 October 2020): 0.5% a year on the €10,000 above €50,000, or €50 a year. Keep in mind that deposit protection at both banks covers up to €100,000, so very large balances are better split across institutions anyway.
Where each bank is available
N26 opens accounts in 21 countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (not the overseas departments), Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. It left the UK in April 2020 and stopped serving US customers in January 2022.
Revolut covers the whole EEA plus the UK, Switzerland, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and Brazil. That matters if you might move: a Revolut account can follow you between many of these regions, though plans and fees change with the region.
Multi-currency features
If you get paid in several currencies or keep money aside for trips, Revolut has the clear edge. You can hold and exchange 38 currencies in-app (per the Irish site) and send instant transfers to other Revolut users for free.
N26 is built around a single euro account. The N26 pages we checked do not offer balances in other currencies; instead, spending abroad is converted at the Mastercard rate with no N26 surcharge, and money sent abroad is handled by Wise. For many eurozone users that is enough, and it avoids watching an allowance.
Safety and regulation
Both are fully licensed banks in the EU. N26 Bank SE is supervised by the German regulator BaFin, and deposits are covered up to €100,000 by the German statutory scheme. Revolut Bank UAB is licensed by the European Central Bank and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania, and deposits are guaranteed up to €100,000 per depositor by the Lithuanian deposit insurance scheme. In Ireland, Revolut is also regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for consumer-protection rules.
When a paid plan pays for itself
Looking only at the fees covered here (paid plans also add insurance and other extras), the break-even points are easy to work out.
- N26 Go (€9.90 a month) removes the 1.7% fee on foreign-currency cash. It pays for itself from about €580 of foreign cash a month, sooner if you also use the extra free euro withdrawals (worth €2 each in Germany and France).
- N26 Smart (€4.90) adds one free euro withdrawal in Germany and France, worth €2, so on ATM fees alone it does not cover its price.
- Revolut Plus (€3.99) cuts the fair-usage fee to 0.5% and lifts the allowance to €3,000. If you exchange on weekdays, it covers its price once you exchange about €400 above the Standard €1,000 allowance in a month.
- Revolut Premium (€9.99) removes the allowance and the weekend fee. Against Standard, it pays off at roughly €2,000 of monthly exchanges on weekdays, or earlier if you often pay at weekends, when every euro exchanged on Standard costs 1% extra.
If your foreign spending is mostly card payments, the free N26 account already gives you no-surcharge spending with no cap, which is hard to beat without paying for Revolut Premium.
Verdict by use case
| If you… | Better choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Want a simple free euro current account | N26 Standard | No foreign-transaction fee on card payments and no exchange allowance to track. |
| Spend more than €1,000 a month in other currencies on the free plan | N26 | Revolut Standard charges 1% above its €1,000 allowance and 1% at weekends. |
| Hold savings or income in several currencies | Revolut | 38 currencies in the app, versus a euro-only account at N26. |
| Withdraw foreign cash often | Revolut Standard or N26 Go/Metal | N26 Standard and Smart charge 1.7% on foreign-currency ATM withdrawals; Revolut gives €200 free a month. |
| Live in Austria or Spain | N26 | Unlimited free euro ATM withdrawals on every N26 plan there. |
| Might move to the UK or US | Revolut | N26 is not available in either country. |
Our view: N26 is the calmer choice for a euro salary account, especially on the free plan. Revolut is the stronger tool if you juggle currencies or send money outside the EU, as long as you stay within its allowances or pay for Premium.
Frequently asked questions
Is N26 or Revolut better for travel?
On the free plans, N26 is simpler for card payments abroad because it adds no fee of its own, with no monthly cap. Revolut Standard is free only within €1,000 a month on weekdays. For cash, Revolut Standard is cheaper: €200 a month free versus 1.7% on foreign-currency withdrawals at N26 Standard.
Can I use N26 in the UK or the US?
No. N26 closed its UK accounts in April 2020 and ended its US service in January 2022. It now serves 21 European countries.
Are my deposits protected at both banks?
Yes. N26 deposits are covered up to €100,000 by the German statutory scheme, and Revolut Bank UAB deposits up to €100,000 by the Lithuanian deposit insurance scheme.
Does N26 charge for a debit card?
In Germany, the first physical card and its delivery cost €10 on the free plan; premium plans are not charged. Virtual cards are part of every plan.
How much does Revolut charge at weekends?
On Standard, 1% extra on currency exchanges, card payments included, between Friday 5pm and Sunday 6pm New York time. Plus pays 0.5%. Premium, Metal and Ultra pay nothing extra.
Which is cheaper for sending money to the US?
Revolut lists a €0.85 fixed fee for a euro-to-USD transfer, plus an exchange fee only if you are over your allowance or it is the weekend. N26 uses Wise and shows the fee in the app; Wise’s own price for €1,000 was €6.21 on our check date.
Sources
Every fee on this page was checked against these official provider pages on .
- Revolut — Standard plan fees (Ireland/EEA)
- Revolut — Standard plan fees (Lithuania)
- Revolut — Plus, Premium, Metal, Ultra fees (Ireland)
- Revolut — pricing plans (Ireland/EEA)
- Revolut — international payment fees (Ireland/EEA)
- Revolut — currency converter (Ireland)
- Revolut — deposit insurance information (EEA)
- Revolut Help — supported countries
- Revolut Help — paying in a foreign currency and weekend fees
- N26 — plans (EU)
- N26 — price list, Germany (v4.4, 26.06.2026)
- N26 Support — free cash withdrawals by country and plan
- N26 Support — paying abroad with your card
- N26 Support — countries where you can open an account
- N26 — international money transfers (with Wise)
- N26 — press release: exit from the UK market
- N26 — press release: US operations discontinued
- Wise — price calculator quote (EUR to USD, 1,000)
Fees, limits and availability change and can differ by country and account type. Worked examples apply each provider's published fee rules to round amounts; exchange rates move constantly, so confirm the final price in the provider's app before you pay. How we check fees is explained on our methodology page.