For a direct client paying you USD 500, Wise is the cheapest of the three by a wide margin. Using the published fees and the mid-market rate on September 30, 2026 (PHP 62.75 per USD), USD 500 lands in a Philippine bank account as about PHP 31,187 through Wise, PHP 30,440 through Payoneer, and PHP 29,076 through PayPal. That is a PHP 2,100 difference on a single invoice, or roughly PHP 25,000 a year if you invoice USD 500 every month.

Upwork earnings are a different case. There, all the routes cost more than you would expect from the headline fees, and the gap between them shrinks to a few hundred pesos.

The rest of this guide shows where each number comes from, so you can redo the calculation with your own invoice amount.

The comparison at a glance

Assumptions for every row: a USD 500 invoice, a US client, the mid-market rate of PHP 62.75 per USD (Wise’s live rate on September 30, 2026, rounded), and a final transfer into a peso account at a Philippine bank.

Route Fees taken in USD USD left to convert Conversion cost PHP in your bank
Wise, client pays by ACH 0 to receive, USD 3.00 to convert and send 497.00 Included in the USD 3.00 31,186.75
Wise, client pays by wire USD 6.11 to receive, USD 2.97 to convert and send 490.92 Included 30,805.23
Payoneer, client pays by ACH or to your USD receiving account 1% (USD 5.00) 495.00 Up to 2% 30,440.02
Payoneer, client pays by card 3.99% + USD 0.49 (USD 20.44) 479.56 Up to 2% 29,490.54
PayPal, commercial payment from abroad 4.40% + USD 0.30 (USD 22.30) 477.70 3.00% 29,076.40

If the client pays a bank wire instead of ACH, Wise still comes out ahead, but the wire fee eats about PHP 380 of the advantage. Ask US clients to use ACH (sometimes called a “domestic transfer” in their banking app) whenever their bank allows it.

How each number is calculated

Wise: PHP 31,186.75

Wise publishes three fees that matter here on its Philippines pricing page:

  • Receiving USD by ACH or other non-wire domestic transfer: free.
  • Receiving a USD wire or SWIFT payment: USD 6.11 per payment.
  • Converting and sending to a Philippine bank: on September 30, 2026, the Wise calculator quoted USD 3.00 to convert USD 500 and send it to a bank account in pesos. That is a USD 0.56 fixed part plus about 0.49% of the rest.

Wise converts at the mid-market rate and shows its fee separately, so the arithmetic is simple:

(500.00 - 3.00) x 62.75 = PHP 31,186.75

For the wire version: 500.00 - 6.11 = 493.89 received. Wise’s fee on 493.89 was USD 2.97, so (493.89 - 2.97) x 62.75 = PHP 30,805.23.

One trap: Wise charges 2% to top up external e-wallets from some currencies, according to the same pricing page. On September 30, 2026, sending USD 500 from Wise directly to a GCash-type wallet quoted about USD 10.72 in fees, against USD 3.00 to a bank. Send to your bank via InstaPay first, then move pesos to GCash if you need them there.

Payoneer: PHP 30,440.02

Payoneer’s pricing page (last updated January 1, 2026) lists:

  • Receiving through a receiving account in a currency that is not your local currency: 1%, minimum USD 1. For someone in the Philippines, a USD receiving account counts as non-local.
  • A payer using ACH bank debit (US only): 1%.
  • A payer using a credit card: up to 3.99% + USD 0.49.
  • Payoneer’s own withdrawal-fee explainer, updated September 23, 2026, says withdrawing to a local bank account in a different currency costs up to 2%.

So for an ACH payment:

500.00 x (1 - 0.01) = 495.00, then 495.00 x 62.75 x (1 - 0.02) = PHP 30,440.02

The 2% is a ceiling. If your withdrawal screen shows a better rate, your result will be higher. Check the rate Payoneer shows against the mid-market rate on Google or Wise before you confirm.

Payoneer also charges a USD 29.95 annual account fee if the account receives less than USD 6,000 in any 12 consecutive months. At USD 500 a month you clear that threshold. At USD 300 a month you do not, and the fee works out to about PHP 157 per monthly payment.

PayPal: PHP 29,076.40

PayPal’s Philippines merchant fee page, last updated September 28, 2026, sets these rates for a Philippine account:

  • Receiving an international commercial transaction: 4.40% + a fixed fee of USD 0.30.
  • Currency conversion when you transfer a balance to your bank: 3.00% above PayPal’s base exchange rate.
  • Withdrawing to a Philippine bank: free when the amount is PHP 7,000 or more, PHP 50 below that.

500.00 - (500.00 x 0.044) - 0.30 = 477.70, then 477.70 x 62.75 x (1 - 0.03) = PHP 29,076.40

PayPal’s base rate may differ slightly from the mid-market rate, which can move the result by a few pesos either way. The receiving fee is the real problem: 4.4% disappears before any conversion happens.

Upwork earnings: a closer race

Upwork pays out from your Upwork balance, so the client’s payment method no longer matters. What matters is Upwork’s withdrawal fee and how the money is converted.

Assumptions: a USD 500 contract, Upwork’s variable freelancer service fee at 10% (Upwork’s fee is 0% to 15% and is shown before you submit a proposal), so USD 450 is available. Same PHP 62.75 mid-market rate.

Withdrawal method Upwork fee Next step PHP in your bank
Direct to Local Bank (PHP) USD 0.99 Upwork’s payment partner converts with an unpublished markup 27,894 if the markup is 1%; 27,612 at 2%
Payoneer Not published; USD 2 assumed Payoneer converts at up to 2% 27,549.76
PayPal Not published; USD 2 assumed PayPal converts at 3.00% 27,268.64
Direct to U.S. Bank (ACH) into Wise USD details, if offered to you USD 2.99 Wise fee USD 2.74 27,877.94

Where the figures come from:

  • Upwork’s How to get paid page lists Direct to Local Bank at USD 0.99 per transfer and, from September 1, 2026, Direct to U.S. Bank (ACH) at USD 2.99 for freelancers with an international tax address.
  • Upwork’s Payoneer and PayPal help pages only say “a small fee per transfer” and tell you to check Settings > Withdrawals. We assumed USD 2. Replace it with the number your account shows.
  • PayPal charges its Payouts fee to the sender, per its fee page, so on an Upwork withdrawal the main PayPal cost is the 3.00% conversion.
  • Upwork’s currency conversion article confirms its payment partners add a markup but does not state it.

The practical answer for Upwork: start with Direct to Local Bank. It has the lowest fixed fee, and it beats Payoneer unless Upwork’s markup is above about 2.2%. You can check this yourself on your first withdrawal: divide the pesos you receive by the USD withdrawn, and compare that rate with the mid-market rate at the same time. Add Payoneer as a backup method, since Upwork recommends keeping a second method active.

The Wise-via-ACH row only applies if your Upwork account offers Direct to U.S. Bank with a Philippine tax address and accepts Wise USD details in your exact legal name. Upwork’s own help pages do not say this works for every country, so treat it as a bonus if it appears, not a plan.

Which one to use

Your situation Best first choice Why
Direct US client who can pay by ACH Wise Free to receive, mid-market rate, about PHP 750 more than Payoneer per USD 500
Direct client who will only pay by card Payoneer payment request 3.99% + USD 0.49 still beats PayPal’s 4.40% + 3.00% conversion
Client insists on PayPal PayPal, priced into your rate Add about 7% to your quote or agree that the client covers fees
Upwork Direct to Local Bank, with Payoneer as backup Lowest Upwork fee; check the effective rate on the first payout
OnlineJobs.ph employer Ask what they already use; suggest Wise OnlineJobs.ph does not process pay, so the employer chooses the rail
You want to keep dollars Wise USD balance or a USD bank account Hold USD and convert later; see the RCBC guide for a bank option

If you only set up one account this month, make it Wise. Then add Payoneer, because it is the backup most marketplaces accept.

Common mistakes that cost real money

Comparing the fee and ignoring the rate. PayPal’s conversion spread of 3.00% on USD 477 is about PHP 899, nearly 50 times its USD 0.30 fixed fee.

Letting PayPal convert at the moment of receipt. If your PayPal account auto-converts incoming USD to PHP, you pay a conversion when the payment lands. Keep the balance in USD and convert once when you withdraw, so you only pay the spread once.

Sending Wise money straight to an e-wallet. The 2% e-wallet top-up fee turns a USD 3 transfer into a USD 10 one. Bank first, then InstaPay to GCash.

Accepting a wire when ACH was possible. Each USD wire into Wise costs USD 6.11, about PHP 383.

Forgetting Payoneer’s annual fee at low volume. Below USD 6,000 a year received, the USD 29.95 fee applies.

Asking a client to send PayPal “friends and family” to dodge fees. That misclassifies a business payment, removes seller protection, and can get the account limited. Price the fee in instead.

Rerun the comparison with your own numbers

You only need two figures from any provider’s confirmation screen: the USD amount you started with and the pesos that will arrive. Then:

Effective rate = PHP received / USD sent

Cost in % = 1 - (effective rate / mid-market rate)

Example: if Payoneer shows PHP 30,500 for USD 500 when the mid-market rate is 62.75, the effective rate is 61.00 and the total cost is 1 - (61.00 / 62.75) = 2.8%.

Do this on the day you withdraw, because a rate that moves 30 centavos changes a USD 500 payment by PHP 150. Save a screenshot with the invoice. You will need these records for the BIR anyway.

FAQ

Is Wise available to Filipino freelancers for receiving USD?

Yes. Wise’s Philippine pricing page lists free account details in 22 currencies, including USD, and free receipt of domestic USD payments. Verification uses a Philippine ID such as a PhilID, passport, driver’s license, or UMID. Setup steps are in the Wise Philippines guide.

Is Payoneer worth having if Wise is cheaper?

Yes, as a second account. Many marketplaces pay out to Payoneer but not to Wise, OnlineJobs.ph employers often use it, and GCash charges nothing to cash in from Payoneer. The Payoneer setup guide covers opening and linking it.

How should I account for fees when setting my rate?

Decide whether your rate is the amount the client sends or the amount you receive, and write that into the contract. If a client must pay via PayPal, a USD 10 per hour rate effectively becomes about USD 9.30 to you. The beginner rate guide shows how to build that in, and the BIR guide explains which amount you report as income.

Sources and further reading

Fees, limits and platform rules change. The date at the top shows when this guide was last updated, and the sources section links to the official pages it relies on. If something has changed, tell us and we will correct it.