Stripe vs PayPal Fees

Side-by-side: Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ vs PayPal 3.49% + 49¢ in the US. Where each wins, where each loses, and the full economic comparison for SMBs and SaaS.

At a glance

Stripe US domestic card
2.9% + 30¢
PayPal Checkout US
3.49% + 49¢
Difference on $100 txn
Stripe is $0.78 cheaper
Difference on $1k txn
Stripe is $6.10 cheaper

In the US, Stripe is 2.9% + 30¢ on domestic cards; PayPal Checkout is 3.49% + 49¢. On a $100 transaction, Stripe takes $3.20 vs PayPal’s $3.98 — a $7.80/100 transactions delta that compounds at scale. Stripe also wins on developer experience, dispute fairness, and cross-border processing. PayPal still wins on consumer trust and the small population of buyers who prefer PayPal over typed card details.

Frequently asked questions

When does PayPal beat Stripe on price?
Almost never on transaction fees alone — PayPal is more expensive than Stripe in essentially every standard market and category. Where PayPal can win is conversion: in some categories (international consumer, older demographics), the PayPal logo at checkout adds enough trust to recover the fee delta and then some. Run an A/B before deciding.
How do dispute and chargeback fees compare?
Stripe charges $15 per dispute (refunded if won). PayPal charges $20 (refunded if won). Stripe’s dispute handling is also significantly more merchant-friendly — clearer evidence-submission flow, faster resolution, better Radar integration to prevent disputes upstream.
Should I use both?
Many merchants do — Stripe as the primary card processor and PayPal as a secondary option for the small slice of customers who prefer PayPal. Braintree (owned by PayPal) lets you take both via a single integration if you really want unified processing. Most mature SaaS just runs Stripe + PayPal Express side-by-side.

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