Stripe: 2.9% + $0.30
A baseline estimate for a successful domestic online card payment in the United States.
Head-to-head fee guide
Stripe vs PayPal fees
Compare two widely used payment processors across small sales, larger invoices, and international edge cases.
St
VSStripe
2.9% + $0.30Pa
PayPal
3.49% + $0.49Same sale, different result
Take-home examples at five sale amounts.
Each row models one transaction at the displayed gross amount and applies the published baseline shown above. Any modeled monthly charge is included once.
| Gross revenue | Stripe keeps | PayPal keeps | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10.00 | $9.41 | $9.16 | $0.25 |
| $50.00 | $48.25 | $47.77 | $0.48 |
| $100.00 | $96.80 | $96.02 | $0.78 |
| $500.00 | $485.20 | $482.06 | $3.14 |
| $1000.00 | $970.70 | $964.61 | $6.09 |
Verify the assumptions
What each baseline represents.
Use the detailed guides and official pricing pages before making a final decision.
PayPal: 3.49% + $0.49
A reference estimate for standard PayPal Checkout transactions in the US.
Model your own costs
Order count, product cost, shipping, advertising, and overhead can reverse a headline-fee winner.
ClearFeeMath verdict
Stripe’s reference US online-card rate is lower in our baseline model. PayPal may still earn its place when buyer familiarity and PayPal-native checkout improve conversion.
Choose Stripe when…
Businesses that want flexible checkout, developer tools, and a lower baseline domestic card rate.
Choose PayPal when…
Sellers whose customers actively prefer PayPal or who need a familiar wallet-style checkout.
Common questions
Is Stripe cheaper than PayPal?
In the simplified US baseline used here, Stripe has a lower standard online-card rate. Your product, country, payment method, and account pricing can change the result.
Should I offer both Stripe and PayPal?
Offering both can improve customer choice, but it adds operational complexity. Compare conversion gains with the extra reconciliation work.