# Airwallex vs Thunes: which do AI models recommend for cross-border payments, September 2026

Finance AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, Cross-border payments and FX. Nine of twelve models named Airwallex first on the direct prompt; one named Thunes. Page: https://finance-ai-index.com/treasury/cross-border-payments-and-fx/airwallex-vs-thunes/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airwallex | 33% | #2 of 11 | 5% | 43 | 12 of 12 |
| Thunes | 2% | #5 of 11 | 0% | 13 | 8 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- GPT-5.4 mini: airwallex first (first choices: Airwallex) (alternatives: Payoneer, Stripe, Wise Business)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: airwallex first (first choices: Airwallex) (alternatives: Convera, Corpay Cross-Border, Tipalti, TransferMate, Wise Business)
- Perplexity Sonar: airwallex first (first choices: Airwallex, Tipalti) (alternatives: Currencycloud, Payoneer, Stripe, Wise Business)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: airwallex first (first choices: Airwallex, Wise Business) (alternatives: Nium, Rapyd, Stripe Treasury, Thunes, Tipalti)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: airwallex first (first choices: Airwallex) (alternatives: Convera, OFX, Tipalti, Wise Business)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: airwallex first (first choices: Airwallex, Wise Business) (alternatives: Currencycloud, Revolut Business)
- Kimi K2: airwallex first (first choices: Airwallex) (alternatives: Corpay Cross-Border, Tipalti, Wise Business)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: airwallex first (first choices: Airwallex) (alternatives: Banking Circle, Cedar Money, PhotonPay, Stripe, Thunes, Tipalti, Wise Business)
- MiniMax M2.5: airwallex first (first choices: Airwallex) (alternatives: Stripe, Thunes, Wise Business)
- Mistral Small: thunes first (first choices: Thunes, Wise Business) (alternatives: Airwallex, Nium)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Wise Business) (alternatives: Thunes, Tipalti)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named

## What the models said about Airwallex

- "their platform is fundamentally optimized for transactional operations rather than complex risk hedging programs" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, paraphrase prompt, soft negative)
- "it is usually positioned more as an all-in-one platform than the cheapest option" (Perplexity Sonar, budget prompt, soft negative)
- "Airwallex is the best all‑in‑one choice for mid‑market B2B companies needing multi‑currency accounts, multi‑entity control, and broad local payout coverage." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, direct prompt, first choice)
- "Two platforms stand out as the absolute best budget-friendly cross-border payment solutions ... Wise Business and Airwallex." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Start with Airwallex if you're growing cross-border ops needing full-stack tools, or Wise for simple, cheap transfers." (Grok 4.1 Fast, direct prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Thunes

- "Thunes: Best overall for global B2B payouts at scale, covering 140+ countries and 90 currencies." (Mistral Small, comparative prompt, first choice)
- "Thunes is considered the best overall for global B2B payouts" (Mistral Small, direct prompt, first choice)
- "Thunes (Best for Enterprise & Infrastructure)" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, comparative prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.