ToolNestFree Stripe vs PayPal Fee Calculator
Last updated: October 23, 2026
Quick answer: Stripe's headline rate beats PayPal's on most US card sales — but the gap changes completely once international cards and currency conversion enter your order mix, and a single-sale comparison hides how a small per-order gap compounds across a month of orders. This free Stripe vs PayPal fee calculator prices both processors on your numbers: average order value, monthly orders, international share and currency-conversion share, with PayPal's Checkout vs card-fields mode and an editable FX spread. On the defaults ($65 average order, 300 orders/month, 10% international, 5% converted), Stripe costs $2.32 per order ($694.50/month) while PayPal Checkout costs $2.97 per order ($890.93/month) — Stripe saves $196.43 a month, $2,357.10 a year. Everything runs in your browser; your sales numbers never leave your device.
US card rates for 2026: Stripe 2.9% + $0.30, +1.5% for international cards, +1.0% when currency conversion is required. PayPal Checkout 3.49% + $0.49, card fields 2.99% + $0.49, +1.5% cross-border; PayPal's currency-conversion spread is published as roughly 3–4% and this calculator uses an editable 3.5% midpoint — change it if your statements show a different spread. Worked check: $65 average order, 300 orders, 10% international, 5% converted — Stripe 3.10% + $0.30 = $2.32 per order, PayPal Checkout 3.815% + $0.49 = $2.97 per order, a $196.43/month gap. Verify against each processor's current pricing page before repricing.
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How to Use the Stripe vs PayPal Fee Calculator
- Enter your average order value and orders per month — the two numbers that decide whether a per-order gap matters. A $0.65 gap is $65 at 100 orders and $650 at 1,000, which is why the monthly view, not the single-sale view, is the one to decide on.
- Enter your international share and the share needing currency conversion as percentages of orders. Both processors add 1.5% for cross-border cards; Stripe adds 1.0% for conversion while PayPal's conversion spread is larger, so a store with heavy international traffic sees a different answer than a US-only store.
- Pick your PayPal mode. Checkout (the PayPal button) costs 3.49% + $0.49; card fields (cards taken directly on your site through PayPal) cost 2.99% + $0.49. Most stores comparing Stripe to PayPal should run both modes — card fields closes much of the gap.
- Adjust the PayPal FX spread if your statements disagree with the 3.5% default. PayPal publishes its conversion spread as roughly 3–4% over the base exchange rate; the field exists so the calculator follows your statements, not a headline.
- Press Compare Stripe vs PayPal. Read the per-order fee first, then the monthly totals and the annual saving — and check the gross-up line, which tells you what to charge on Stripe to net your current order value after fees.
Why Use Our Stripe vs PayPal Fee Calculator?
- Both processors on the same order mix — most fee pages price one processor at a time. Here Stripe and PayPal share your average order value, volume, international share and conversion share, so the comparison is apples to apples instead of two separate tabs.
- International and conversion modeled, not ignored — the two surcharges that actually move the answer. A US-only comparison flatters PayPal; add 10% international and 5% conversion and Stripe's lead widens from $0.57 to $0.65 per order on the defaults, and the monthly gap follows.
- PayPal Checkout vs card fields, side by side — the mode switch most comparisons skip. Card fields (2.99% + $0.49) undercuts Checkout (3.49% + $0.49) by 0.50 percentage points — $0.33 per order on the $65 defaults, or $97.50 a month at 300 orders — often the difference between switching and staying.
- Editable PayPal FX spread — PayPal does not publish one fixed conversion number, so a calculator that hard-codes it is guessing. The 3.5% default is the midpoint of the published 3–4% range and you can set it to whatever your statements show.
- Gross-up price line — if you want to net exactly your current order value after Stripe's fee, the calculator tells you what to charge ($67.39 to net $65.00 on the defaults), so a processor switch never quietly shrinks your take-home.
- Exportable for the decision — download the comparison as CSV or print it to PDF for a partner, accountant or pricing review. Your sales numbers never leave your browser.
Common Use Cases
- A store doing $65 average orders at 300 orders a month: Stripe costs $694.50 a month in fees; PayPal Checkout costs $890.93. The $196.43 monthly gap is $2,357.10 a year — roughly a month of hosting, apps and email tooling for a store this size. Switch the card volume to Stripe and keep PayPal as an option, and the saving lands without losing the buyers who only trust PayPal.
- Deciding whether PayPal card fields is worth the integration: Card fields undercuts Checkout by 0.50 percentage points — $0.33 per order on the $65 defaults. At 300 orders a month that is $97.50 saved for the same processor, the same payouts, and no new account — usually worth the afternoon of integration work, unless your buyers demonstrably convert worse without the PayPal button.
- An international-heavy store re-checking its processor: Raise international share to 40% and conversion share to 25%: Stripe's effective rate becomes 2.9 + 0.60 + 0.25 = 3.75%, while PayPal Checkout's becomes 3.49 + 0.60 + 0.875 = 4.965%. The per-order gap grows from $0.65 to about $0.98, and the monthly gap at 300 orders to about $294 — the more international your traffic, the more the processor choice matters.
- Pricing a service so the client covers processing: A freelancer billing $65 net per engagement finds the gross-up line: charge $67.39 on Stripe to net $65.00 after the 3.10% effective rate and $0.30 fixed fee. Without it, adding a flat 3% leaves $0.05 short on every invoice, and the shortfall compounds across a year of billing.
Stripe vs PayPal Fee Calculator vs Alternatives
- emmanuelasika.com's PayPal vs Stripe fee calculator: The closest existing tool: the same order-mix model with international and conversion shares, and the same conclusion on the same defaults. What it does not offer is the PayPal card-fields mode, an editable FX spread, a gross-up price, or CSV/print export — the four additions that turn a comparison into a decision document.
- ToolNest's own Stripe and PayPal fee calculators: Single-processor tools that price one fee schedule deeply — Stripe's tiers, PayPal's payment types — and remain the right call when you only need one processor's number. This page exists for the comparison question: same order mix, both processors, one gap, one verdict.
- feecalcpro.com and calcfees.net Stripe calculators: Solid single-processor calculators with country selectors and refund notes, useful for checking one rate. Neither runs the two processors on shared inputs, so the monthly and annual gap — the number that actually justifies a switch — has to be computed by hand across two tabs.
- Each processor's own pricing page: The authoritative rate source, and the place to verify any number here before repricing. What a pricing page cannot do is apply both rate cards to your volume, international share and conversion share at once — that is the calculator's job, and the pricing pages are its inputs, not its replacement.
Bottom line: on typical US card volume Stripe wins on rate, PayPal wins on buyer trust, and the right answer is usually both — with the volume routed by this calculator's monthly gap, not by habit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Stripe or PayPal cheaper?
For most US online card sales, Stripe: 2.9% + $0.30 against PayPal Checkout's 3.49% + $0.49 — $0.78 less on a $100 sale before surcharges. PayPal's card fields (2.99% + $0.49) narrow the gap to $0.28 on $100. The exception is stores where buyers strongly prefer the PayPal button: if offering PayPal lifts conversion enough to add more orders than the fee gap costs, PayPal can still win on total profit — which is why many stores offer both rather than picking one.
How do international orders change the comparison?
Both processors add 1.5% for cards issued outside your country. Stripe then adds 1.0% if currency conversion is required; PayPal's conversion spread runs roughly 3–4%. On the defaults (10% international, 5% converted), Stripe's effective rate is 3.10% and PayPal Checkout's is 3.815% — the conversion share is where PayPal loses the most ground, so international-heavy stores should weight it heavily.
What is the difference between PayPal Checkout and card fields?
Checkout is the PayPal button: buyers log into PayPal (or check out as guests through it) and pay 3.49% + $0.49. Card fields embed card inputs directly on your checkout, processed by PayPal at 2.99% + $0.49 — the same card, $0.50 less per order, without sending buyers to PayPal's site. The trade-off is conversion: some buyers trust the PayPal button more than a card form, so test both before switching purely on rate.
Does this calculator include refunds and chargebacks?
No — and that is deliberate, because the policies differ in ways a single rate cannot capture. Stripe does not return the original processing fee when you refund; PayPal's refund treatment depends on the payment type and region. If your refund rate is high, add your actual monthly refund fees to the monthly totals before deciding; the per-order fee comparison still holds for completed sales.
What is the gross-up price, and when do I need it?
The price you must charge so that after the processor's fee you net a target amount. The formula is (target + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − percentage rate): to net $65.00 on Stripe at 3.10% + $0.30, charge ($65.00 + $0.30) ÷ (1 − 0.031) = $67.39. Use it when a client or customer agrees to cover processing, or when repricing after a processor switch so your margin does not silently shrink.
Should I run both Stripe and PayPal instead of choosing?
Often yes. The fee gap says Stripe is cheaper per order; conversion data says some buyers only complete checkout with PayPal. The common setup is Stripe for cards plus PayPal as an additional option, and this calculator's monthly gap tells you what that PayPal volume costs you — on the defaults, every 100 PayPal Checkout orders instead of Stripe costs about $65.48 a month, which is the price of the conversion those orders bring.