Stripe vs PayPal Fees: Which Is Cheaper in 2026?
Online, Stripe almost always wins. At the counter, PayPal can flip it. And for international sales, the gap turns into a chasm. Here's the side-by-side that actually answers it for your business.
The Short Answer
If you take card payments online, Stripe is cheaper: 2.9% + $0.30 versus PayPal Checkout's 3.49% + $0.49. On a $100 sale that's $3.20 with Stripe against $3.98 with PayPal, and the gap only widens as your volume grows.
But "cheaper" depends on how you sell. In person, PayPal's Zettle reader (2.29% + $0.09) undercuts Stripe Terminal (2.7% + $0.05) on percentage, and costs less on any sale above about $9.76. Internationally, Stripe pulls far ahead, because PayPal's published conversion spread is 4% to Stripe's 1%. And for tiny payments under about $10.05, PayPal's Micropayments pricing beats both standard online rates.
So the honest answer is: it depends on your channel and your customers. The table below settles it line by line.
Stripe vs PayPal: The Fee Table
US standard rates as each provider publishes them (both checked October 2026). Confirm current numbers on each provider's pricing page before you commit, since both adjust pricing periodically.
Green marks the cheaper option for each line on a $100 sale. Run your own ticket size through both calculators:
Where Stripe Wins
- Online card rate.
- 59 basis points and 19 cents cheaper per transaction than PayPal's standard checkout, real money once you're doing hundreds of sales a month.
- International and multi-currency.
- This is the blowout. PayPal's 4% conversion spread versus Stripe's 1% means a converted foreign sale costs 8.99% + $0.49 on PayPal against 5.4% + $0.30 on Stripe.
- Cheap ACH.
- Stripe's 0.8%-capped-at-$5 bank debit has no real PayPal equivalent. For large B2B invoices it's decisive.
- Subscriptions and developer tooling.
- Stripe Billing, metered usage, and a genuinely excellent API make recurring revenue far easier to build and run.
- A published dispute fee.
- $15 per dispute, plus $15 if you counter it (refunded when you win), and Stripe's Radar fraud tooling is strong out of the box.
Where PayPal Wins
- Checkout conversion.
- The hardest one to put on a spreadsheet, and often the most valuable. A lot of shoppers trust the PayPal button and will abandon a card form they don't recognize. A few extra percentage points of completed checkouts can outweigh a slightly higher rate.
- In-person rate.
- Zettle's 2.29% + $0.09 costs less than Stripe Terminal on any sale above about $9.76, good for cafes, markets, and pop-ups.
- Micropayments.
- If your average sale is under about $10.05 (digital goods, tips, small downloads), PayPal's 4.99% + $0.09 pricing beats Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30, where the fixed 30 cents dominates.
- Zero-code setup.
- You can be taking payments through PayPal without touching a line of code or hiring anyone, a real advantage for non-technical sellers.
If adding PayPal lifts your completed-checkout rate by even a few percent, that extra revenue can dwarf the difference between a 2.9% and a 3.49% fee. Conversion beats basis points more often than merchants expect.
Worked Examples
A $100 domestic online sale
Stripe: $3.20. PayPal standard checkout: $3.98. Stripe wins by $0.78, about $780 a year if you do a thousand of these.
A $40 in-person coffee-shop sale
PayPal Zettle: $1.01 (2.29% + $0.09). Stripe Terminal: $1.13 (2.7% + $0.05). PayPal wins at the counter: small per ticket, but it compounds across a busy day.
A $200 international sale with conversion
Stripe (2.9% + 1.5% + 1% = 5.4% + $0.30): about $11.10. PayPal (3.49% + 1.5% + 4% = 8.99% + $0.49): about $18.47. Stripe saves $7.37 on a single sale, and this is where cross-border sellers feel the difference most.
A $5 digital download
Stripe (2.9% + $0.30): $0.44, 9% of the sale, because the fixed 30 cents hurts. PayPal Micropayments (4.99% + $0.09): $0.34. For tiny tickets, PayPal’s micro tier wins clearly.
Which Should You Choose?
- Choose Stripe if
- you sell online, run subscriptions, ship internationally, want cheap ACH on invoices, or have any developer resource. It's the default for SaaS and modern e-commerce.
- Choose PayPal if
- buyer trust drives your conversions, you sell in person with Zettle, your tickets are tiny, or you want to start without code.
- Choose both if
- you run a storefront. Stripe-powered card fields plus a PayPal button is an extremely common setup: you capture the rate-sensitive buyers and the PayPal loyalists, and pay each fee only on what it processes.
Want the mechanics behind every number above, interchange, assessments and markup? Start with the pillar guide, or read our full Stripe breakdown:
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Stripe cheaper than PayPal?
For standard online card payments, yes: 2.9% + $0.30 versus PayPal Checkout's 3.49% + $0.49 ($3.20 versus $3.98 on $100). In person, PayPal's Zettle rate (2.29% + $0.09) costs less than Stripe Terminal (2.7% + $0.05) on sales above about $9.76.
Which is cheaper for international sales?
Stripe, by a wide margin. Both add 1.5% for an international card, but PayPal's published conversion spread is 4% against Stripe's 1% conversion fee. A converted international sale costs 8.99% + $0.49 on PayPal versus 5.4% + $0.30 on Stripe.
Does Stripe or PayPal have monthly fees?
Neither, on its standard plan: both are pure pay-per-transaction with no setup or monthly fee. You only pay more if you opt into add-ons like PayPal Micropayments or Stripe's Billing and advanced Radar.
Should I use Stripe or PayPal for my small business?
Stripe if you sell online, run subscriptions, need cheap ACH or international handling, or have a developer. PayPal if you want buyer trust at checkout, sell in person with Zettle, or take very small payments. Many businesses simply offer both.
Can I offer both Stripe and PayPal?
Yes, and many stores do. A PayPal button alongside Stripe-powered card fields can lift conversion, since some shoppers only trust the PayPal flow. You pay each provider's fee only on the transactions it processes.
Key Takeaways
- Online: Stripe wins (2.9% + $0.30 vs 3.49% + $0.49).
- In person: PayPal Zettle wins above about $9.76 (2.29% + $0.09 vs 2.7% + $0.05).
- International: Stripe wins big (1% conversion vs PayPal's 4%).
- Tiny tickets: PayPal Micropayments wins under about $10.05.
- Don't ignore checkout conversion: offering both is often the smartest move.
Compare on Your Own Numbers
The winner depends entirely on your mix of channels, ticket sizes, and customers. Drop your real numbers into both calculators, weigh in checkout conversion, and remember that running both is a perfectly good answer.
Compare Stripe and PayPal Fees
See exactly what each one charges on your transaction sizes.
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Sources & References
Provider pricing and exchange rates are set by the companies named and can change. Figures in this guide are checked against these official sources. Always confirm the live rate before you transact.