Stripe vs PayPal Fees (2026): What $10,000 a Month Actually Costs

Stripe is cheaper for a US business taking card payments online. On $10,000 a month of card sales, averaging $50, Stripe charges about $350 and PayPal Checkout about $447. PayPal's card rate on invoices and payment links brings it to $397, still above Stripe. The gap has two sources: PayPal's rates are higher, and its fixed fee is 19 cents higher on every sale.

Every rate below was read on the vendor's own US pricing page on 10 October 2026: Stripe pricing and PayPal's US merchant fees, which PayPal dates 1 October 2026. The arithmetic is ours.

Toolradar data: Toolradar tracks 186 payment processing tools as of 10 October 2026, and 32% of them are free, freemium or open source. Stripe and PayPal both sit in the top 10 of our payment processing ranking. Their product pages are Stripe and PayPal.

Fees side by side

The fixed fee is the line that is easiest to miss. Stripe's percentage is lower on checkout, and its fixed fee is 19 cents lower per sale, so every sale on Stripe costs less than the same sale on PayPal's button.

The monthly bill at one volume

The scenario: $10,000 of domestic US card sales a month, an average sale of $50 (200 sales), no refunds or disputes, no currency conversion, and standard payouts.

Against Stripe, PayPal Checkout costs $97 more a month, or $1,164 a year. PayPal's card route through invoices costs $47 more a month, or $564 a year. The card route narrows the gap, but it does not close it.

Which PayPal rate you pay depends on how the buyer pays. A buyer who pays through PayPal's own button, from a PayPal balance or by card, pays 3.49%. A card taken through an invoice, a payment link or Apple Pay pays 2.99%. A seller who sends invoices and collects cards by payment link is on the cheaper route. A seller whose checkout offers the PayPal button takes the higher rate on every sale that buyers make through it.

The ticket size decides how big the gap is

The same monthly volume, split into different sale sizes:

Stripe is cheaper at every size in this table, because PayPal is higher on both parts of the fee. On checkout the percentage gap is 0.59 points, whatever the ticket size. The fixed-fee gap adds 19 cents a sale, so it grows as tickets shrink. At $500 a sale, PayPal Checkout still costs $62.80 more a month on the same volume.

International buyers and currency

Both processors add 1.5% when the buyer pays from abroad, so that surcharge does not separate them. Here is a $1,000 payment from an international buyer who pays in dollars, with no conversion:

Currency conversion is where the gap widens. When a buyer pays in euros for a dollar price, Stripe adds 1% on top of the card fee. PayPal applies a 4% spread on a payment made in another currency, roughly $20 on a $500 sale, and that spread sits inside the exchange rate rather than arriving as a separate charge. A business that sells to customers in several currencies should price the conversion before choosing the processor.

Payouts, disputes and bank debits

Standard payouts are free on both, though PayPal's free transfer applies only when no conversion is involved. Instant payouts cost 1.5% of the amount on both, so a whole month of card sales paid out the same day costs $150. A business that wants its money at once pays the same on either processor, and the choice comes down to the rows above.

Disputes cost $15 on both when a buyer files one. Stripe adds a second $15 if you contest the dispute yourself, and that comes back only if you win. The PayPal fee table lists one $15 standard dispute fee and no separate contest charge. A seller who expects frequent disputes should still read both user agreements before choosing.

Bank debits favor Stripe. Its ACH Direct Debit is 0.8%, capped at $5.00, against 1% capped at $10.00 on PayPal's invoices. The caps bite at $625 on Stripe and at $1,000 on PayPal, and Stripe is cheaper at every amount because both its rate and its cap are lower.

When PayPal still makes sense

PayPal wins on one thing this table cannot price: a buyer who already trusts PayPal and wants to pay with it. The button costs 3.49% plus the fixed fee, so a seller who keeps it on checkout accepts a premium of about $97 a month at this volume. Whether that premium pays back depends on how many buyers would leave without the button, and only the seller's own checkout data can answer that.

A business that already runs its invoices through PayPal is the other case. Its card rate on invoices is 2.99%, lower than its checkout rate, and it may not want a second processor for the same clients. If you pay suppliers or contractors rather than take card sales, the B2B payment platforms list covers that side of the work, and the Wise review covers cross-border payouts. If you pay vendors in bulk, the accounts payable software roundup covers the bill side.

Verdict by use case

If you invoice clients and want the payment link built in, compare the best invoicing software for freelancers and the free invoice generators first. Where the payouts land is a separate choice. The best business bank accounts roundup and the Mercury review cover that side, and Mercury vs Relay compares two common picks. The Payoneer review covers another option, one that charges its own card rates.

How we computed it

Every rate on this page comes from the vendors' own US pages, read on 10 October 2026: Stripe pricing, which states all amounts in USD, and PayPal's US merchant fees, last updated 1 October 2026. The worked examples are our arithmetic on those rates: percentage times volume, plus the fixed fee times the number of sales. We used no negotiated or custom pricing. A rate a seller negotiates with either processor would change these numbers. The 186-tool count is our Toolradar payment processing ranking on the same date. Louis Corneloup, founder of Toolradar and Dupple, is the author.

FAQ

Is Stripe or PayPal cheaper in 2026?

Stripe, for US card sales at standard rates. At 200 sales of $50 a month, Stripe charges about $350, PayPal Checkout about $447, and PayPal's invoice card route about $397. The gap has two parts: PayPal Checkout's percentage is higher (3.49% against 2.9%), and its fixed fee is 49 cents against 30 cents on every sale.

How much does PayPal charge per transaction?

For US commercial payments, PayPal Checkout and Guest Checkout charge 3.49% plus a fixed fee of 49 cents. Cards taken through invoices, payment links, Apple Pay and other third-party wallets pay 2.99% plus the same fixed fee. The fixed fee does not change with the sale size, so it weighs most on small sales.

How much does Stripe charge per transaction?

Stripe charges 2.9% plus 30 cents per successful transaction for US domestic cards. International cards add 1.5%, and a currency conversion adds 1%. Standard pricing has no setup fee and no monthly fee.

Is PayPal ever cheaper than Stripe?

Not on the card rates in this comparison. PayPal's two card percentages, 3.49% and 2.99%, both sit above Stripe's 2.9%, and its fixed fee is 19 cents higher, so Stripe costs less on every domestic card sale at standard rates.

Do Stripe or PayPal charge monthly fees?

Not on their standard commercial pricing. Stripe says it has no setup fees and no monthly fees on standard pricing. PayPal's commercial fee table has no monthly line, and its optional Invoicing Subscription costs $14.99 a month.

What does an international payment cost?

On Stripe, a $1,000 payment from an international card in dollars costs $44.30. PayPal Checkout charges $50.39 on the same payment, and its invoice card route $45.39. A currency conversion adds 1% on Stripe and a 4% spread on PayPal.

Which processor is cheaper for bank payments?

Stripe. A $500 bank payment costs $4 on Stripe's 0.8% rate and $5 on PayPal's 1% invoice rate. The caps only bite at larger amounts: $625 on Stripe and $1,000 on PayPal.

This page is general information, not personalized financial advice. Confirm current terms with Stripe and PayPal before you open an account or change your checkout.

Cite this: Finpresso, "Stripe vs PayPal Fees (2026): What $10,000 a Month Actually Costs", October 2026.

If you want fee changes like these in your inbox, the Finpresso newsletter is at finpresso.com.

Some offers on this page may be paid placements or contain affiliate links.