Digital challenger banks Monzo and Starling are both worth considering if you’re after an app-only bank account. These rivals both offer a free current account with a slick, intuitive app that tells you all about your spending habits. And both offer free transactions abroad – many people opened accounts for that benefit alone. Each bank now has millions of customers and both have consistently scored highly in Finder’s customer satisfaction surveys. We compare these banks’ business accounts in our Monzo business vs Starling business guide.
Starling vs Monzo: At a glance
Finder score
9.6Excellent
9.8Excellent
Customer satisfaction survey
4.4
★★★★★
4.4
★★★★★
Free spending abroad
Arranged overdraft
15%, 25% or 35% EAR
19%, 29% or 39% EAR
Representative example
If you use an arranged overdraft of £1,200, you'll be charged interest at 15% EAR variable.
If you use an arranged overdraft of £1,200, you'll be charged interest at 39% EAR variable. Account fee of £0
With the free Monzo current account you get its renowned coral-coloured card, while Starling’s only (and also free) current account comes with a teal-coloured vertical card.
Neither bank has branches, but you can withdraw or deposit money into your Starling account at Post Office counters.
Both Starling and Monzo have a UK banking licence, which means individual customer funds up to the value of £85,000 are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if the bank goes bust. Starling was founded in 2014 and Monzo in 2015, so both are around a decade old.
You can apply for overdrafts with both Starling and Monzo – the interest rate you’re offered will depend on your personal circumstances and credit score, although Starling’s overdraft interest rate scale starts at 15% EAR, compared to Monzo’s starting point of 19% EAR.
Round 1: App features
Visual breakdown of spending
Spending categories
53
17
Set spending budgets
Set up direct debits in the app
Top up via bank transfer
Have salary paid in
Separate savings accounts
Round-ups
Customer service via the app
Customer service via a telephone line
Cheque scanning
Freeze/unfreeze card in app
Send money abroad
Fee for sending money abroad
Local network fee + 0.4% Starling fee
When sending through Monzo, a fixed fee of between 50p and £2.68, plus a variable amount between 0% and 1.30%. For currencies Monzo can't support, Wise sets the fee.
There’s a huge range of very similar features in the Starling and Monzo mobile banking apps. Both have spending categories, where your transactions are automatically placed into pre-set categories like groceries or eating out. This in turn generates daily, weekly or monthly spending insights, which helps you set budgets. The apps alert you when payments go in and out of your account, and remind you if you’re close to overspending
Monzo’s “Pots” and Starling’s “Spaces” let you stash money away for particular things, like a holiday or a savings target. Both offer “round-ups” where spare change from your transactions can be “rounded up” and put into your savings bucket.
You can pay your salary into either your Starling or Monzo account, set up direct debits and make international payments. You can freeze or unfreeze your card in the apps, and contact both customer service teams through the in-app chats.
Winner: Monzo. It’s close, as the apps offer similar features, but Monzo’s app visuals are slightly more engaging.
Round 2: Spending in the UK
Free card transactions in the UK
Contactless card limit
£100
£100
Apple Pay
Google Pay
Samsung Pay
Free ATM withdrawals
Limited to 6 withdrawals per day, with a daily limit of £300
Spending on your Starling or Monzo card is free in the UK, and both cards currently have the standard contactless limit of £100.
You can also add your Starling card or Monzo card to Apple Pay and Google Pay, but only Starling supports Samsung Pay.
Starling offers unlimited free ATM withdrawals in the UK. Monzo offers this only if you use it as your main account. Otherwise, with Monzo you can withdraw up to £400 for free every 30 days in either the UK or European Economic Area (it’s a combined limit). Monzo charges a 3% fee on withdrawals that exceed the £400 limit.
Winner: Starling, with its unlimited free ATM withdrawals (and the ability to use Samsung Pay, if that’s your thing!).
Round 3: Using the card abroad
Free foreign transactions
Unlimited
Unlimited
Free foreign ATM withdrawals
Unlimited
Up to £400 in EEA and £200 elsewhere every 30 days
When making purchases abroad, neither Starling nor Monzo charges foreign transaction fees and both use the Mastercard exchange rate.
The key difference is that Monzo has a £400 limit on free cash withdrawals every 30 days when travelling around the UK and European Economic Area (EEA) – after which there’s a 3% charge (though, again, if you use Monzo as your main account, you get unlimited fee-free withdrawals). If you’re travelling outside of the UK and EEA, the fee-free withdrawal limit is £200 every 30 days. And that applies whether or not Monzo’s your main account.
By comparison, Starling doesn’t have fees for making ATM withdrawals anywhere overseas. The ATM withdrawal limit is an industry-norm of £300 a day, and that applies both at home and abroad.
Winner: Starling. Although neither Starling nor Monzo charges for using a card in shops or restaurants abroad, it’s hard to beat Starling’s totally free cash withdrawals overseas.
Starling and Monzo both offer free current accounts (which is presumably why you’re reading this comparison). For Starling, that is the only personal current account it operates, but Monzo has expanded its current account range with additional accounts.
Joint accounts, business accounts and teen accounts (for 16- and 17-year-olds) are all on the rosters of both Starling and Monzo. They also both offer kids’ cards that are managed through the parent account.
Winner: Monzo. It offers everything Starling does and has premium accounts on top.
There are so many similarities between these 2 banks that choosing between them is like splitting hairs, but both score very highly for customer satisfaction so you’re unlikely to go wrong with either ”
You can apply for either a Starling or Monzo account through their respective mobile apps in a matter of minutes. There are no credit checks, although a photo of your ID and a short selfie video is required. The accounts are then usually opened on the same day and both the cards are sent through the post for free, taking about the same time to arrive.
Winner: Tie. The account opening process is similarly quick and easy for both Starling and Monzo.
Round 6: Customer reviews
On Trustpilot, Starling gets 4.3 out of 5 from 43,500. Monzo scores 4.5 out of 5 from over 47,000 reviews. We checked these in April 2025.
In Finder’s 2025 Banking Customer Satisfaction Awards, Starling scored 4.4 out of 5, with 93% of its current account customers saying they would recommend the brand to a friend. Monzo also scored 4.4 out of 5 in the same survey, with 90% of its current customers saying they would recommend it.
Winner: Monzo – but only just. Both brands get very high scores from customers.
Overall winner: Which is better, Starling or Monzo?
Monzo, but it’s incredibly close, as both Starling and Monzo are great options if you want to open an account with a digital challenger bank. They offer streamlined apps with loads of cool features, can be set up quickly, let you spend fee-free overseas and can help you budget or save.
Starling is better for spending and withdrawing cash abroad, as well as its free Post Office cash deposits. If you’re not a heavy cash user, either at home or abroad, then that might not be the most important factor to you.
Monzo has more feature and choice overall and is not far behind Starling in the areas it trails.
All in all, it’s a really close call and based on our customer satisfaction survey you’re likely to have an excellent banking experience with either of them – plus you could always try both for free, if you’re still undecided.
We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables has the source: Moneyfacts Group PLC. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.
Michelle Stevens is a deputy editor at Finder, specialising in banking, credit, loans and mortgages. She has a journalism degree from the University of Sheffield and has been a journalist for 15 years, writing on topics including fintech, payment systems and retail. In her spare time, Michelle likes to travel, explore new foodie experiences and attempt to improve her own culinary skills. See full bio
Michelle's expertise
Michelle has written 108 Finder guides across topics including:
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