The Short Answer
TapTap Send is the cheapest we measured, and the way it charges matters more than the amount: nothing in the exchange rate, and a fee that stops growing at $6.99. That $6.99 covers a $1,000 transfer, a $10,000 transfer and a $30,000 transfer alike. Sendwave sits just behind at $7.49 and BOSS Money at $9.99, both on similarly negligible margins.
The whole spread from best to worst is about 1.5 times. For comparison, Nepal's is twenty-one times and Algeria's is seven. Haiti is the tightest, most honestly priced corridor we have measured — which is not what a shortlist of three services usually looks like.
Few options does not mean bad options
A thin corridor usually means high prices — on Algeria, the two services that serve it differ sevenfold and the dearer takes over 5%. Haiti breaks that pattern completely. Three services, all taking essentially nothing in the rate, all capping the fee. The scarcity is real, the gouging is not.
Compare Live Rates & Fees
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Three rows, and that is the whole market from the US. This lists only services we have actually seen quote gourdes, rather than padding the table with providers that do not reach Haiti.
Three Services, Measured
All-in cost — fee plus anything taken in the rate, measured against the mid-market USD/HTG rate in August 2026.
| Service | Rate margin | $200 | $500 | $1,000 | $5,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TapTap Send | none | $3.29 | $4.68 | $6.99 | $6.99 |
| Sendwave | 0.04% | $3.57 | $6.69 | $7.89 | $9.49 |
| BOSS Money | 0.07% | $5.50 | $9.84 | $10.69 | $13.49 |
All-in cost in US dollars on the USD/HTG corridor, August 2026. Wise, Remitly, Paysend and Ria do not serve Haiti from the US, so they are absent rather than omitted.
In gourdes, on $1,000 at a mid-market rate near 130.4, TapTap Send delivers about 129,450 HTG and BOSS Money about 128,970 HTG — a difference of roughly 480 gourdes. Worth having, but small enough that convenience, payout location and which service your family already trusts are legitimate tiebreakers here in a way they are not on most corridors.
Sending from outside the US?
The costs on this page are for sending US dollars. Which service is cheapest to Haiti changes with the country you send from — compare live rates from:
The Fee Stops Growing
This is the single most useful thing to know about sending money to Haiti, and it is easy to miss because it only shows up at larger amounts.
On almost every corridor, cost scales with the amount — a percentage of the rate, a percentage fee, or both. Here, TapTap Send's fee reaches $6.99 at $1,000 and then simply stays there, all the way up. As a percentage that produces numbers you rarely see in remittances:
| You send | It costs | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $6.99 | 0.70% |
| $5,000 | $6.99 | 0.14% |
| $10,000 | $6.99 | 0.07% |
| $30,000 | $6.99 | 0.02% |
A $10,000 transfer to Haiti costing seven dollars is cheaper, proportionally, than almost anything in international payments — cheaper than most domestic card transactions. Sendwave and BOSS Money behave similarly, flattening at $7.49 and $9.99.
What to do with this: batch. Four separate $250 transfers cost you four fees; one $1,000 transfer costs one. And when something larger is needed — a medical bill, school fees, building work — the cost of sending it barely moves. Send it in one piece rather than splitting it up, which is the opposite of the advice that suits most corridors.
Gourdes, Dollars, and the “Haitian Dollar”
The gourde is Haiti's official currency, but the US dollar circulates alongside it in ordinary use. Rents, imported goods and many larger transactions are priced in dollars, and because the gourde has been volatile, dollars are often what people hold when they want value to keep.
Some services let your recipient collect in US dollars rather than gourdes, and this is a real decision rather than a formality. Money for immediate spending is simplest in gourdes. Money that will sit for a while, or that covers a dollar-priced cost, generally does better as dollars. It is worth one conversation with your family rather than a default.
The “Haitian dollar” is not a currency
Prices in markets and shops are often quoted in an informal unit called the Haitian dollar, worth five gourdes. It appears on no banknote and has no official status — it survives from an old fixed link to the US dollar. A price of “twenty dollars” in a Port-au-Prince market may well mean 100 gourdes, not twenty US dollars. The difference is fivefold, so confirm the unit before paying.
How the Money Lands
- Cash pickup. The most common route by a wide margin, and the one to plan around. Haiti's formal banking sector is small relative to the population, so most families collect at an agent rather than receiving a deposit. Check which network is nearest to your recipient before choosing a service — convenience of the collection point matters more here than the last dollar of cost.
- Bank deposit. Available through banks including Unibank, Sogebank, Capital Bank and BNC where your recipient holds an account. Usually the cheaper option on a given service, as elsewhere.
- Mobile money. Wallet services such as MonCash are widely used and reach people without a bank account, which in Haiti is a large share of the population. Coverage varies by sending service, so confirm rather than assume.
Conditions on the ground in Haiti can affect whether a particular branch or agent is open, independently of anything the transfer service does. If a payment is time-critical, it is worth confirming with your family that their usual collection point is operating before you send.
The 2026 US Remittance Tax
Since 2026 a 1% federal excise charge has applied to transfers funded with cash or a money order. All three services above take payment from a bank account or debit card, so using any of them keeps the charge out of the picture.
The arithmetic is worth spelling out on this route, because the capped fee makes it stark. Sending $5,000 through TapTap Send costs $6.99. Funding that same $5,000 with cash somewhere else would attract $50 in tax alone — seven times the entire cost of doing it properly. Tax rules are amended from time to time, so verify before a large transfer.
How to Pay the Least
- Send in fewer, larger amounts. The fee caps, so one $1,000 transfer costs $6.99 while four $250 transfers cost four separate fees. This is the biggest lever on the corridor and it points the opposite way to most advice.
- Do not over-optimise the choice. The three services are within about 1.5× of each other. Which agent is nearest your family, and whether they can collect in dollars, will matter more than the few hundred gourdes between providers.
- Decide gourdes or dollars deliberately. For money that will be held rather than spent immediately, dollars protect value in a way the gourde has not.
- Fund from a bank account. Cheapest on all three, and it keeps the 1% cash charge irrelevant.
- Check the collection point is open before sending anything urgent.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest way to send money from the USA to Haiti?
TapTap Send on the figures we measured in August 2026: it takes nothing in the exchange rate and charges a fee that stops rising at $6.99, so $6.99 covers a $1,000 transfer and a $10,000 one alike. Sendwave is close behind at $7.49 and BOSS Money at $9.99. The gap between best and worst is only about 1.5 times, the narrowest of any corridor we cover.
Why do so few services send money to Haiti?
Only three of the nineteen services we track reach Haiti from the US: TapTap Send, Sendwave and BOSS Money. Wise, Remitly, Paysend and Ria do not. Serving Haiti means maintaining payout arrangements in a country with a small formal banking sector and difficult operating conditions, which is a high bar. The unusual part is that the survivors compete hard rather than exploiting the scarcity.
Should I send US dollars or Haitian gourdes?
Both circulate in Haiti, and this is a real choice rather than a technicality. Many prices, rents and imported goods are set in US dollars, and dollars hold their value while the gourde has been volatile. Some services let the recipient collect in USD. If the money is for immediate local spending, gourdes are simplest; if it is being held for any length of time or covering a dollar-priced cost, dollars usually serve better. Ask what your family prefers.
What is a Haitian dollar?
It is not a currency and does not exist on any banknote. It is an informal unit worth five gourdes, left over from an old fixed link to the US dollar, and it is still used constantly in markets and shops. A price quoted as five Haitian dollars means twenty-five gourdes. Confirm which unit a price is in before paying, because the difference is fivefold.
Is there a US tax on sending money to Haiti in 2026?
Only where the transfer is funded with cash or a money order, the two methods the 1% federal excise charge introduced in 2026 covers. All three services here draw from a bank account or debit card, so none of them attract it. Given the cheapest transfer on this route costs $6.99 regardless of size, the charge on a large cash-funded transfer would dwarf what the transfer itself should cost.
Key Takeaways
- TapTap Send caps its fee at $6.99 — the same price for $1,000 or $30,000, and no margin in the rate.
- Only three services reach Haiti from the US, yet the spread between them is just 1.5× — the tightest corridor we cover.
- Batch your transfers. A capped fee rewards sending once rather than four times, which reverses the usual advice.
- Decide gourdes or dollars on purpose — dollars hold value better for money that will be kept.
- Market prices may be quoted in the informal “Haitian dollar” of five gourdes. Confirm the unit.
Send Smarter to Haiti
This corridor asks less of you than most. The prices are honest, the differences are small, and the fee stops climbing. Pick whichever of the three suits your family's collection point, send in larger pieces rather than small ones, and spend your attention on getting the money where it needs to be rather than on shaving the cost.