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Contractor payment fee calculator

See what it really costs a US company to pay an international contractor. Compare a bank wire, Wise, PayPal, and Payoneer side by side, including the FX markup that hides in the exchange rate, then see it against Omnivoo's flat $49 per contractor per month. The cost is bigger than most teams assume: the global average cost to send money across borders was 6.36% in Q3 2025 per the World Bank, more than double the UN target of under 3%. Built for US founders and finance teams.

Last updated: June 2026

✓ Free tool ✓ No data stored ✓ Cited fee data

Compare the cost to pay a contractor

Enter the payment, the frequency, and how many contractors you pay to see the monthly total by method.

What you send each contractor per payment.

1 for monthly, 2 for twice a month, 4 for weekly.

How many contractors you pay each month.

Estimated total cost per month

Paying 3 contractors $5,000 each, once a month. The FX-markup column is where the hidden cost lives.

MethodFX markupTotal / month
Bank / international wire
A SWIFT wire from your US bank account to the contractor's bank abroad.
$300$255 to $600
Wise
A Wise transfer at the mid-market rate with an upfront percentage fee.
None$60 to $156
PayPal
A cross-border PayPal payment with currency conversion to the contractor.
$525$676 to $826
Payoneer
A Payoneer payout from your balance to the contractor in another country.
$300$225 to $687
Omnivoo
$49 per contractor per month, transaction fees passed through at cost, no FX markup.
None$147
The takeaway

At 3 contractors paid $5,000 each, PayPal costs about $751 a month while Omnivoo is $147 flat. That is about $604 a month you keep, most of it the FX markup you stop paying.

Pay your contractors compliantly

Omnivoo sends the contract, collects tax forms, and pays your contractors in 120+ countries for $49 per contractor per month, with transaction fees passed through at cost and no FX markup.

These are fee estimates, not a quote

The figures are drawn from each provider's published 2026 fee schedules and cited rate analyses, with the source shown for each method in the result. Actual fees vary by route, funding method, currency, transfer size, and the individual bank in the chain. These are representative ranges, not guarantees, and not a quote. Confirm current pricing with the provider before you decide.

Where the cost of paying a contractor hides

1

The fixed fee per payment

The visible charge for sending money: a flat wire fee of $35 to $50, a small per-payment charge on Wise or Payoneer, or PayPal's $0.49. It is the cost people notice, but it is rarely the largest part of what you pay.

2

The percentage transfer fee

A share of the amount you send, from about 0.4% to 0.9% on Wise, 1.50% on a cross-border PayPal payment, and up to 1% on Payoneer. Because it scales with the payment, it grows every time you pay more or pay more often.

3

The FX markup that hides in the rate

The spread a provider adds on top of the real mid-market exchange rate. It is not shown as a fee, it is baked into a worse rate, so the contractor simply receives less. On a $5,000 payment a 3% spread is $150 gone. This is where the real cost usually lives, and it is the column the calculator flags.

4

A flat fee, fees at cost, no markup

Omnivoo charges $49 per contractor per month. Transaction fees are passed through at cost and no FX markup is added, so the larger and more frequent your payments, the more a percentage-based method costs relative to the flat fee. See how to pay contractors or our Contract Management platform.

Read more

Go deeper on what it costs to pay an international contractor.

Common questions

How much does it cost to pay an international contractor? +
It depends on the method, and the channel you pick drives most of the cost. Banks averaged 14.99% to send money across borders in Q3 2025, roughly three times the 4.59% average for digital methods (https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/2026-04/RPW_main_report_and_annex_Q325.pdf). In practice a bank wire is a flat $35 to $50 but banks bury a 1% to 3% spread in the exchange rate. Wise charges an upfront percentage from about 0.4% to 0.9% at the mid-market rate. PayPal adds a 1.50% international fee plus a 3% to 4% conversion spread. Payoneer runs up to 1% plus up to $4 plus a conversion fee. Use the calculator above to see your monthly total side by side against Omnivoo's flat $49 per contractor per month.
What is an FX markup and why does it matter? +
An FX markup is the spread a provider adds on top of the real mid-market exchange rate before converting your dollars. It is the cost most people miss because it is not shown as a fee, it is baked into a worse rate so the contractor simply receives less. The scale is large: Americans lost an estimated $5.8 billion to hidden exchange-rate markups in 2023 alone, costs baked into the rate rather than shown as a fee (https://wise.com/us/blog/hidden-costs-in-international-payments-the-overlooked-junk-fee). On a $5,000 payment a 3% spread is $150 that disappears into the rate. The FX-markup column in the calculator is where that hidden cost shows up.
Where do these fee figures come from? +
Each method links to its own cited source: Wise pricing, PayPal merchant fees, Payoneer pricing, and published bank wire and FX-margin schedules. Figures are 2026 estimates drawn from those published fee schedules. Actual fees vary by route, funding method, currency, and transfer size, so the calculator shows a low-to-high range, not a quote.
How is Omnivoo's cost different? +
Omnivoo is a flat $49 per contractor per month. Transaction fees are passed through at cost and there is no FX markup added. The platform fee does not grow with how large the payment is or how many times you pay in a month, so the larger and more frequent your payments, the more the percentage-based methods cost relative to the flat fee.
Does a bigger payment cost more on these methods? +
Yes, on every percentage-based method. The transfer fee and the FX markup are both a share of the amount, so a $10,000 payment carries roughly double the percentage and FX cost of a $5,000 payment. A flat bank wire fee does not scale, but its FX spread still does. Omnivoo's $49 per contractor per month does not scale with the payment amount at all.

Pay your contractors without the hidden fees

Omnivoo sends the agreement, collects the tax forms, and pays your contractors in 120+ countries for $49 per contractor per month, with transaction fees passed through at cost and no FX markup. See how to pay contractors or our Contract Management platform.

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