How we compute
Every verdict on this site follows the same open recipe. There is no black box — here is the math, with a worked example.
1. The mid-market benchmark
The mid-market rate is the midpoint between buy and sell prices on global currency markets — the “true” rate with no markup. Our benchmark is a no-fee conversion at the mid-market rate:
You set the mid-market rate yourself — check your bank or search “1 USD to PHP” for the rate with no provider markup. Every verdict shows the rate it used plus the time the comparison was run. Provider quotes go stale fast — never act on an old verdict.
2. What each provider really delivers
Providers quote in two styles, and we accept both:
- “You receive” amount: we take the figure at face value.
- Fee + exchange rate: the fee is charged in the sending currency and taken from your send amount before conversion:
3. The hidden FX markup
This is the headline number: how much less your recipient gets versus the no-fee mid-market benchmark, expressed as a share of that benchmark. It captures both the explicit fee and any rate markup in a single, comparable percentage:
A positive markup means the provider keeps that share. A zero or negative markup (rare) means the quote beats the benchmark.
4. The ranking rule
Simple and neutral: the provider with the higher received amount wins. If both land on the same amount, it's a tie. We never rank by advertised fees alone — a “no fee” quote with a bad rate routinely loses to a small-fee quote with a good rate.
Worked example
Sending $1,000 → PHP, mid-market rate 58.00 (benchmark: ₱58,000):
| Provider | Quote | Received | Hidden markup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provider A | “You receive” ₱57,500 | ₱57,500 | (58,000 − 57,500) ÷ 58,000 = 0.86% |
| Provider B | $4.99 fee + 57.20 rate | (1,000 − 4.99) × 57.20 = ₱56,914.57 | (58,000 − 56,914.57) ÷ 58,000 = 1.87% |
Verdict: Provider A wins — the recipient gets ₱585.43 more, even though Provider B's fee looks small.
What we don't do
- No live price feeds. We never silently refresh your quotes or rates. What you paste is what we compare.
- Your quotes stay on your device. All math runs in your browser and your quotes are never sent to any server. Your data never leaves your device; the only network requests on this page are the site's own analytics (Google Analytics and a Cloudflare beacon), which load when the page opens.
- No paid placement in rankings. The winner is pure arithmetic. (If affiliate links ever appear, they'll be labeled “Sponsored” and never affect the math.)
- Not financial advice. This is an arithmetic comparison tool, not a recommendation engine. We are not a money transmitter. Always confirm the final rate and fee with the provider before sending money.
The code
The calculation engine is a dependency-free ES module (js/calc.js) shared between the browser and our Node.js unit tests — the same functions the page runs are the ones the test suite verifies.