Stripe vs PayPal: Fees, Payouts and Features Compared (2026)

Short version: Stripe is a card processor with one flat online rate, 2.9% + $0.30 per successful domestic card payment. PayPal is a wallet first and a card processor second, and its price depends on how the buyer pays: 3.49% + $0.49 through the PayPal Checkout button, 2.99% + $0.49 for a standard card payment, and 2.89% + $0.29 for Advanced card payments. At $50,000 a month on an $80 average ticket, Stripe costs $1,637.50 in card fees, PayPal Checkout costs $2,051.25, and PayPal Advanced cards cost $1,626.25, a touch less than Stripe. The wallet button is the expensive route, and it is also the route many buyers prefer. The full profiles, with rates and fit notes, are in our Stripe review and our PayPal review.

Two different products, not two prices for the same thing

Stripe sells card processing to businesses that build on it. A customer enters a card, Stripe processes it, and the money settles to your bank account. The rate is the same whether the card is debit or a premium rewards card, because Stripe uses blended pricing and absorbs the difference.

PayPal sells a checkout button that buyers already trust, plus card acceptance behind it. A customer who logs into PayPal pays from a balance, a bank account, or a saved card, and that wallet payment is priced at 3.49% + $0.49. A customer who types a card number into your checkout instead pays the card rate, 2.99% + $0.49 on standard card payments, or 2.89% + $0.29 on Advanced card payments. Same merchant account, three different prices, decided by the buyer at checkout.

That is the whole comparison in one paragraph: Stripe charges for processing, PayPal charges for the button and the buyer network behind it, and the card rates behind the button are close to Stripe's.

The fee table (published US rates, checked 26 October 2026)

Every figure below comes from Stripe's pricing page (stripe.com/pricing) and PayPal's US merchant and business fees page (paypal.com/us/business/paypal-business-fees, last updated 1 October 2026), checked on 26 October 2026.

Two details in that table catch merchants out:

PayPal has no single fee, so any guide quoting one is hiding the spread. On a $100 sale, the PayPal button costs $3.98, a standard card costs $3.48, and an Advanced card costs $3.18. Which one your buyers choose matters more than any headline rate, and you do not control it, you can only influence it by which checkout options you show first.

Stripe's dispute cost is two fees, PayPal's is one larger fee. Stripe charges $15 to receive a dispute and $15 to counter it, with the counter fee refunded if you win. PayPal charges a $20 chargeback fee. On a lost dispute, Stripe costs $30 in dispute fees and PayPal costs $20; on a won dispute, Stripe costs $15 and PayPal still costs $20 on the figures published.

What each costs at $50,000 a month: worked example

Same volume for both: $50,000 in monthly card sales, $80 average ticket, 625 transactions, US domestic cards.

The maths, stated in full: Stripe is $1,450.00 in percentage fees (2.9% of $50,000) plus $187.50 in fixed fees (625 times $0.30). PayPal Checkout is $1,745.00 plus $306.25 (625 times $0.49). PayPal Advanced cards are $1,445.00 plus $181.25 (625 times $0.29), which is why Advanced edges Stripe by $11.25 on this volume, despite PayPal's reputation as the expensive option. The expensive PayPal is the wallet button, not the card rails behind it.

The same logic shows up on a single sale. On a $100 domestic sale, Stripe takes $3.20, PayPal Checkout takes $3.98, a standard PayPal card takes $3.48, and an Advanced PayPal card takes $3.18. On a $10 sale, Stripe takes $0.59 (5.90% effective, because the $0.30 fixed fee dominates), while PayPal Checkout takes $0.84 (8.39% effective, because the $0.49 fixed fee dominates). Small tickets are where PayPal's wallet button hurts most, and where routing card buyers to card fields instead of the button saves real money.

International sales and payouts

Stripe's international pricing is explicit: 4.4% + $0.30 on a $100 sale once the 1.5% international surcharge applies, and 5.4% + $0.30 when currency conversion is also required. There is no mystery, but there is also no discount for volume on standard pricing.

PayPal's international pricing is a surcharge on top of whatever domestic rate applies: add 1.50% to the domestic rate, then conversion on top of that. On a $100 PayPal Checkout sale from a foreign buyer, that is 4.99% + $0.49, or $5.48 before conversion, which looks cheaper than Stripe's $5.70 with conversion, until the conversion charge lands. Compare the two on your actual buyer countries and currencies, not on the surcharge alone.

On payouts, the contrast is a balance against a bank account. Stripe pays out to your bank account on its standard schedule. PayPal funds land in your PayPal balance first, and you move them to your bank from there. Neither publishes a payout speed that should decide the choice on its own; the decision is whether you want a wallet balance in the middle of your cash flow or money straight to your bank.

Features and fit: what else you are buying

Stripe is the faster build for a business that sells online and wants control. Self-serve signup, checkout and payment links included with Payments, a large developer ecosystem, and add-on products with published prices: Billing at 0.7% of billing volume, Invoicing at 0.4% capped at $2.00 per invoice, Terminal readers for in-person sales. The trade-off is that the ecosystem is priced per product, and a full stack can push your effective rate well above 2.9% + $0.30.

PayPal is the conversion play. The button is recognised by buyers who already have an account, Venmo sits inside the same checkout, Pay Later is built in at 4.99% + $0.49, and QR code and point-of-sale rates (2.29% + $0.09) make it cheap for in-person sales. The trade-off is the wallet-button rate on online sales, the fixed-fee drag on small tickets, and a risk system that can hold funds while an account is reviewed. For the recurring-payments angle on Stripe, see our Stripe vs Adyen recurring payments comparison, and for a pricing-only breakdown of a PayPal-owned gateway, see our Braintree pricing breakdown.

You do not have to choose one. Many stores run Stripe for cards and PayPal as an extra button, because the buyers who want PayPal often will not check out without it, and the extra 0.59 points on those sales (3.49% + $0.49 against Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30) is cheaper than a lost sale. The question is not which processor to keep, it is which button to show first, and whether your card buyers are landing on the expensive wallet route by default.

Verdict: who should pick which

Pick Stripe if...

• You sell online, mostly by card, and want one predictable rate with no wallet-button premium.
• You build on developer tools, Billing, or Terminal and want published add-on prices.
• Your average ticket is small, so fixed fees dominate and PayPal's $0.49 hurts.
• Most of your sales are domestic, so you pay the flat rate and nothing else.

Pick PayPal if...

• Your buyers ask for PayPal by name, or abandon checkout when it is missing.
• You want Venmo, Pay Later, invoicing, and in-person QR and point-of-sale rates in one account.
• You sell in person, where PayPal's 2.29% + $0.09 card-present rate beats Stripe's 2.7% + $0.05.
• You run Advanced card payments, where 2.89% + $0.29 essentially ties Stripe on domestic cards while keeping the wallet button available.

Run both if...

• You sell online to a broad audience: Stripe for cards, PayPal as an extra button, and card fields shown before the wallet button so card buyers do not default to the expensive route.
• Your ticket size varies: the wallet premium matters less on large orders and more on small ones, so measure your actual mix before dropping either.

Look elsewhere if...

• You are high-risk or restricted: confirm eligibility with both first, and check PayPal's acceptable-use rules and Stripe's restricted-business list, before building an integration on either. Compare both against every alternative in the processor directory before committing.

FAQ

Is PayPal more expensive than Stripe?

On the wallet button, yes. PayPal Checkout costs 3.49% + $0.49 against Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30, which is $2,051.25 against $1,637.50 on $50,000 a month at an $80 ticket. On card payments, it is close: standard PayPal cards cost $1,801.25 on the same volume, and Advanced PayPal cards cost $1,626.25, slightly less than Stripe.

What is PayPal's fee for a $100 sale?

It depends on how the buyer pays. Through the PayPal Checkout button, $3.98. By standard card, $3.48. By Advanced card, $3.18. Through Pay Later, $5.48. Add 1.50% if the buyer is abroad, plus conversion where it applies.

What is Stripe's fee for a $100 sale?

$3.20 for a domestic online card payment (2.9% + $0.30). An international card that needs conversion costs $5.70 (5.4% + $0.30). In-person, a domestic card costs $2.75 (2.7% + $0.05).

Does PayPal charge a monthly fee?

No monthly fee appears on PayPal's published US merchant fee schedule for a standard business account, and Stripe charges no monthly fee on standard pricing either. Both charge per transaction, plus optional products.

Which is better for international sales?

Neither wins outright. Stripe charges 4.4% + $0.30 without conversion and 5.4% + $0.30 with it, on a $100 sale basis. PayPal Checkout charges 4.99% + $0.49 before conversion. Your buyer countries and currencies decide which is cheaper, so compare on your actual mix.

Can I use Stripe and PayPal together?

Yes, and many stores do: Stripe for cards, PayPal as an additional checkout button. Show card fields before the wallet button if you want card buyers on the cheaper route.

Sources and method

Fee figures were checked against Stripe's published pricing page (stripe.com/pricing) and PayPal's published US merchant and business fees page (paypal.com/us/business/paypal-business-fees, last updated 1 October 2026) on 26 October 2026. PayPal totals are per payment route, because PayPal prices by how the buyer pays, not by one flat rate. Rates change, so confirm current pricing with the provider before you sign.

Compare both against every alternative in the PSPDex processor directory, or read the full Stripe review and PayPal review for features, risk fit and supported business models.