Online banking accounts, compared with the arithmetic shown.

Every verdict here carries the calculation that produced it, in dollars: what an account gains you, and who it is bad for. Both halves matter. Most comparison sites skip the second because it costs them money — and most of the sites warning you off everything never get round to naming anything that works.

Compare accounts

• Best high-yield savings accounts The rate is the whole decision. What moving actually gains you, in dollars.
• Best fee-free checking accounts No monthly fee is the entry requirement now. What still costs you money is at the edges.
• No credit check, and what builds a file Two different problems sold as one. Only some of these products do anything at all.
• Wise vs Revolut vs N26 No overall winner — the answer flips on how much you send. And N26 is not available in the US.
• Signup bonuses A bonus is one-off; a rate is every year. When chasing one is worth it, and when it costs you.

New to this? How to choose an online bank is the short method: split the money by the job it does, then compare the two halves on different things.

Start with a calculator

These are the named rules from the work we do with The Escape Fund. They run in your browser, state their assumptions, and each one ends by naming the lever that actually moves your number.

• The Coffee Line How many coffees a month does your savings account actually pay for?
• The Hurdle Rule Does what you did with your money last year beat just paying the card?
• The Permission Clock How long before the standard advice lets you start investing?

How this site works

We publish under an editorial desk rather than a personal byline, and we say why on the methodology page rather than being quietly nameless. We earn commission on some links and set out exactly how that works. No calculator's output is adjusted to send you anywhere.